Switch Pitcher (ace of diamond)

Chapter 11: Missing

         Ren had spent the rest of practice trying not to self destruct which she managed just barley. She felt like an idiot she had pitched decent enough with her left but everything to the right was almost completely trash. She was way out of her level of play. She was trying to think of what she could have done better as she was attaching her glove to her bag.
"Nice pitching." Ren looked up to see Furuya.
"It was completely trash." Ren said shouldering her bag as she stood up. "I think I just sealed my fate I might as well go pack my bags now."
"No really. You could tell that you were stressing but for as bad as it was you still pitched great." He said quietly.
       Ren raised her eyebrow. Man this guy was confusing to her. He was always so quite. Why would he talk to her.
"What are you so chatty for? I honestly don't think I have really seen you say anything other than when you absolutely have to. Like I said it was trash. Even a 10 year old could have laid a bat on some of those pitches."  She said as she started walking away
"Why do you have no confidence in your self?" He asked Ren looked at him.
"I don't deserve it. Any time I did any good it was because of Koshu not me." She said than added quietly. " and because I am nothing other than just one big mistake." Ren said walking away completely.
****************
          Ren should have been happy. She had been given the scholarship she needed to stay and she was selected for the first string for the practice season... but instead she felt empty Koushuu and Seto had been put on second string. So she was going to be all by herself on first. Koushuu still would not talk to her.
Ren was sitting by her self trying to eat the rest of the first bowl of rice she had in front of her. She felt like the whole world was closing in around her. Waiting to attack at just the right moment. She basically just spinning her chopsticks around in rice at this point. Everyone else had left already. She wanted to leave but she was still hungry but lacked to motivation that she would have pushed on herself to try to eat like she normally did. This was the first time since moving in with the Okumuras that she felt truly helpless. Why did she have to feel this way? She was vaguely aware when two people came in the door.
"Okumura, what are you still doing here." Shouted Sawamura  oh how Ren wanted to die
"I am eating" Ren said well still shoving the rice around her bowl.
"Everyone else has been done for almost an hour."
"Look I am completely willing to go round two with rice Sawamura. If you don't leave me the hell alone." She said still looking at her bowl.
"Is that your third." Furuya asked skeptically
"What does it matter to you?" Ren said
"A couple of us are getting together in Miyuki's room. You want to come?" Sawamura asked exactly.
"Is this for that game calling thing you have been doing?"
"Yes! So you coming?"
"Naha I was a catcher once I know the basics of it. Besides my brother is Miyuki's roommate. So unless you want all hell to break lose during your little class..... why don't you leave me to my rice?"
"What bowl is that?" Furuya asked again
"My third." Ren lied but Furuya to her surprise was on it like a spider on fly.
"No it is not." He said. Ren was shocked because his voice had a  Sharp Tensity about it that she would never have associated with him.
Ren picked up her bowl and flung the leftover rice in Furuya's face and left.
**********
        Furuya was actually shocked at what had just happened. But bent down and began picking up the mess.
"What the hell is her problem?"  asked Sawamura
"She is thinner." Furuya said
"Eehh?" Asked Sawamura
"First years gain weight on the rice, right?" Sawamura looked at his best friend weird
"Yeah I guess so...." he said
"Than why is she thinner?"
"You noticed this why?"
"That shirt was tighter on her when she came. It hangs different."
"Furuya!" Sawamura yelled "that is a Kohai!"
***********
            Later that night there was knock at Ren's door she opened it and found a very pissed off Miyuki standing there.
"You throw rice on Furuya!?"
"Yeah! Now good bye!" Ren said as she attempted shutting the door in his face. Miyuki put his hand on the door and pushed it back.
"No, we are not done. What the hell is the problem. I can kinda understand Sawamura he can be annoying as all hell. but Furuya?"
"He was sticking his nose where it did not belong." Ren said simply "He had no right."
"No right to worry that your not eating?" Ren looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes. "Okumura everything you do effects the team. You can't play baseball by yourself."
"I know that!" She said retreating back into her room. Grabbing her earbuds and her phone.
"Where you going!?" Miyuki asked
"Running."she replied
"you ran this morning right? "
" what does that matter?"
"You can't endlessly run with out a Reason. You will injure yourself! That will effect everyone here! Not just yourself!"
"Oh please" she said trying to push past him "No, one needs me... I should've never been born. I should have just died in that fucking wreck. I would have saved everyone so much trouble. Mei and our sisters would still have mom. Koshu and Seto would not have had to defend me...and the Okumuras would never have had to take me in." She said then her phone started buzzing she looked at it. "Shit! could this day get any worse?!" She said finally pushing past Miyuki.
*************
"Your sister is a right pain in the ass." said Miyuki as he came barging in his room. Making Yui jump from where he was sitting on the floor. Okumura looked at him from his bed.
"Well, she just does not like people prying into her personal life." He said laying back down.
"Well her attitude is diving all her upper classman to hate her." Miyuki said looking around the room. "Where did Furuya and Sawamura go?"
" vending machine." Yui Replied "they thought you would take your time chewing Ren- Chan's ear off."
"She pushed past me before I could talk to her." Miyuki said
"Honestly, you should cut her some slack..." Okumura said looking up at the bunk above him. "She has been through a lot shit. She blames herself for a lot of the stuff that happened with her mother and stepfather. Especially the car wreck and her mom's death... though she never told anyone what happened... I think Mei is the only one that knows. Since he was with them when it happened. Though Ren was the only injured physically."
"That is still no excuse to not even eat a single bowl of rice."
"Actually.... Ren struggles to eat rice she can sometimes eat two on a good day. She eats other things that won't make her sick. So don't worry about."Okumura said then added " Honestly I would not worry about her unless she starts running nonstop."
"Running!" Yui said looking at Okumura.
"Yeah that means she is probably not sleeping. She runs about 3 km a day normally. But when she is not in a good mental state she will run none stop."
"That is where she was headed just now." Miyuki said
"I saw her running this morning." Said Yui "Ren said The coaches limited how much she was aloud to run." He added
Okumura sat up and look them then said
"wait what?"
"Ren said that they were trying to get her down to 1km on her free time. Because they were worried about her losing weight or something. Yui said looking at Okumura "She didn't tell you? She was pretty pissed about it."
"No, and she never would have!" Okumura got up and grabbed his phone and looked at it for couple seconds scrolling through something. He eyes widened then he calledsomeone. "Damn she declined!" He began shifting through his phone.
"What are you doing?" Yui asked.
"Looking to see if her "find my phone" is still turned on. She turns it off if she doesn't want me to find her."
"Why are you so worried?" Miyuki asked
"Because our running apps are linked and look at this!" Okumura said as he handed his phone over to the other two. Their eyes widened
"Should I be telling a coach?" Miyuki asked
"No! Please don't let me see if I can get ahold of her first!" Okumura said Yui was starting to get worried then he asked
"Do you want me to try calling her?"
"You can try. What have I been doing!? I was so worried about trying to get on first string that I forgot to looked after her! I should have been paying closer attention as soon as Mei started poking his nose around her... instead I pushed her away. I am going to call my mom." He said and he walked out of the room. Sawamura and Furuya walked in. As Okumura left the room.
"Hey! cap your back! Did you wring that little delinquents neck?" Sawamura said
"No, I didn't." Miyuki said looking back at Yui. "Did she pick up?"
"No it went to voice mail." Yui replied
"What is wrong?" Furuya asked
"We can't find Ren." Yui replied Okumura came back in. "My Mom says she tried calling her earlier today to congratulate Ren but she did not pick up. She thinks we should tell the coaches!" Okumura actually sounded near panic which was not something that Yui would have ever associated with him. Furuya looked alarmed as well. Okumura darted back out the door.
"Voice mail again." Yui said
A minute later the all three coaches and the team's manger were standing at the door. Okumura and Miyuki explained what was going on.
"Okay go get everyone and tell them to start looking around the campus for her." Coach Kataoka said

Yui and Furuya were assigned the north east Direction of the levee trail. Yui was worried about Ren he felt he should have been paying closer attention she had seemed off today. He looked over at Furuya to Yui's surprise Furuya actually looked pretty worried.
"What's wrong" Yui asked?
"I pushed her and she didn't need pushing." He said
"With the rice?"
"That and I kept asking her why would not believe in herself. What if part of this is my fault." He said " it's just she is an amazing pitcher but she won't take any credit for it. You saw how she tried to squirm out of first string for practice season."
"It's not your fault. It is some weird form of survivors guilt or imposter syndrome. She won't let others recognize anything good in her. Because she won't let herself feel anything other than pain." Yui said as He stopped "Damn this is normally where she goes." He look along the side on the levee close to the path were it was light up. Then the two boys heard a cell phone. The saw light down by the river as the phones screen was light up. They carefully walked down to the bank were Ren was lying with her back in the water. Yui looked at the phone it read Koshu. Yui Picked it up and answered it.
"Ren! Oh thank.."
"Okumura it's Yui we found her by the river but she is not awake and she is laying in the water."
"I will get the coaches." Okumura said and hung up. Yui looked back at Furuya and
Furuya was trying wake up Ren... they heard a slight grown...
"Ren! Don't move..." Yui said as Ren's eyes. Flickered  opened
"What happened?" Ren asked as she was trying to sit up.
"Don't move" said Furuya. They heard ambulance sirens coming.
"No I am fine!"  said Ren getting to her knees. But when she tried to stand she fell back down Furuya and Yui catching her and helping her out of the river. The heard the sirens getting closer and foot steps running on the path above.
"We are down here!"  Yui yelled. Okumura came running down the steep embankment
"Ren!" He said taking his sister from Yui. "Are you okay?"
"I am fine! honestly I don't know why you were making such a big deal with this!" Ren yelled The ambulance was at the top of the path now. "Seriously I am fine!" She said shaking off her brother and Furuya. She started to climb fell. The three boys helped her up the bank where the coaches and the paramedics where. Ren was soaked.
"Okumura Ren I should slap you right now!!" Said Coach Takashima
" I am fine!" Ren said "and sure as hell don't need an ambulance!"
"Like hell you don't!" Okumura said as he spun around to face his sister. "You were laying in a river! Unconscious! Do you even know how you got there or have you run your self so sick you don't remember!?" His phone buzzed and he looked at it. "Mom is coming just an FYI. So you better have a damn good explanation for this!"
Yui was surprised at Okumura's intensity. But he understood why this time.
10 minutes later. He , Okumura and Furuya watched as the ambulance took. Ren with coach Takashima to the hospital.
"Coach can someone take me to the hospital?" Okumura asked the head coach.
"That can be arranged." The coach replied
"Only can I grab Ren some dry clothes first?"
"Sure."
Okumura jogged back off towards the dorm and Yui and Furuya followed behind at a walk.