"So you've never played" Megumi looks over to me, I feel his stare and it's as if he were nervous.
"Once" I press my lips together as we watch Nishimiya get scolded by Mai.
"NISHIMIYA DONT RUN YET!" Mai shouts angrily.
"Huh?! Why?!" The girl responds to the Zenin.
"I do know how to play though" I grin, looking over to Megumi who was already looking at me.
"You better! We need to win this!" Nobara cheers and claps, soon bringing her attention to Yuji who's playing catcher.
"Oh, we will" I smile.
I see the Kamo Clan guy walk for batter. He stands in front of Yuji, though they both seem to be talking to each other instead of playing.
He easily misses the ball and Yuji catches it with ease. I expect the referee to say a trigger word so I cover my ears and look away.
I hum, hoping that the man had said it so I could let go. I take deep breaths and let go, soon finding Nobara gone from her seat and Megumi looking at me alongside Inumaki.
"Mustard leaf?" Inumaki furrows his eyebrows.
"It's a long story" I force a smile and look back up to see Yuji jogging over.
"Did you see me?! (Y/n)? Did you see me?!" He sits beside me and smiles bright with pink cheeks.
"Yes, I did. Good job" I ruffle up his hair and look up again, seeing Nobara in a confident pose.
"You can call me Tohoku's Masahiro Tanaka!" Nobara says, standing as baseman.
"Who's that?" I scratch my head.
"Tohoku's Tanaka is... Tanaka" Megumi begins to ponder.
"Tanaka's a pitcher anyway" Yuji says.
"Fish Flakes" Inumaki adds.
"WAIT A MINUTE" Kugisaki panics, seeing a pitching machine instead of a person.
"Is that supposed to be Mechamaru?" I ask Megumi.
He nods slowly and we all look back up to see her run. I'm guessing she got a hit and jheez she is very competitive.
"She's nuts" Megumi says blankly.
"Hey, she got on base" Yuji adds as we all observe her speed and skill.
Soon Fushiguro is up on batter, than Panda and soon it's my turn to be pitcher.
Here in front of me stands Mai as batter and behind is Yuji as catcher. I stretch out and get the ball passed to me.
I bring my leg up and as my arm winds back my leg helps me push the ball further. Mai steps away, scared of the ball, soon passing Yuji and referee as well.
The ball rips through the metal fencing and I sigh. "Apologies!" I wave at the referee who gives me another ball.
"Just try going a little lighter" Maki says awkwardly as she leans towards me and her hand cuffed around the side of her mouth.
"Got it" I go again, much lighter which makes Mai miss. She seemed nervous, I don't have any intention to really hurt her. I liked the scare though.
She misses and the call for strike announces before I could cover my ears.
"Strike!"
I feel like my body is going on rest mode, all my muscles are far less tense and my mind clears. I take a step forward but resist, this shit has to ruin everything doesn't it?
"Catch!" I hear someone say but a ball hits me in the head.
"Oh, sorry!" I hear Nobara pull me away very easily from my thoughts.
I look down and take the ball, accidentally cutting myself with my extended claws. This happened so easily because of that damn 'power word'.
"Don't worry" I force a smile and nod, reclining my nails and looking at the ball before winding up my arm.
I try making it easier for her, but I could hear her heartbeat from here. She was anxious and she was unable to focus.
I throw the ball and she misses again. I sigh, wanting to really see her play and have fun like the rest of us.
"Strike!"
It's happening again, but much worse than before. I look at the girl with narrowed eyes. I could see her hands trembling and her legs ready to give out. I resist another step forward towards Mai.
A ball comes from my side and I take it without looking. I was too focused on trying not to kill Mai before, that's why I didn't notice the ball.
Mai's eyes widen due to the fact of my sudden change in reflexes.
I wind up my arm and prepare to shout "Play right!" I throw the ball, this time with her actually trying.
She still misses again "Strike! You're out!"
This is so hard, to resist such a peaceful, hypnotic feeling. Yuji had probably noticed from before but couldn't say anything.
Now, he hops up and jogs over to me as I walk to the benches. "Hey, hey! Are you okay?" Yuji asks me bringing both hands on my shoulders to turn me around.
My eyes stay focused on Mai as she walks away. I cover my eyes and rub them before looking over to Yuji.
"Go" I say sternly, causing his eyes to grow wide.
"W- what? You can talk to me, (Y/n). What's bothering you?" He holds my face gently, looking into my eyes for any answer.
"Don't touch me. Go" The words weren't mine, neither were they of Nariko.
I didn't like saying it, but I couldn't risk hurting anyone, especially Mai. Being the batter makes her my direct target.
They tweaked my hypnotic behaviour many times, I forgot since it became so casual. Here, I learn new things about myself everyday, and this weird word they put in my head... it's turning me back to my past self.
I sit down and on the ground away from my teammates.
"Zero! Is everything okay?" Panda walks towards me. He isn't human, so I guess I don't feel the need to kill him.
"Hey, Panda.. I'm fine" I force a smile and scratch my hand, soon accidentally cutting my forehand. "Ah shit" I let my hand hang while my arm rests in my knees.
I sit with both knees brought up, but not close to my chest. I look up to see Panda walking closer to me with his paws up.
"May I sit?" He asks with his usual smile.
"Sure" I shrug and chuckle.
I feel Yuji's eyes on me. I hope he doesn't think I'm mad at him.
A weight it put on the metal fence I lean on, obviously being the Cursed Corpse beside me. "What's going on?" Panda nudges me and looks at my now healed hands.
"The hands?" I raise my clawed hands and he shakes his head with a chuckle.
"No, on the field! You seemed a bit off" Panda says as he looks over to me with a kept smile.
"Oh.. It's a long story" I look out in the distance where students continue to play.
"You say that a lot" Panda chuckles.
"Because it's hard to explain" I say softly, soon letting out a deep and long held sigh.
"I see... Fushiguro doesn't like to share either y'know. When you guys were gone for those two months, he struggled the moment your names were mentioned. Yuji is different. He's got a simple story, no disrespect, though it's easy to understand. That's not the same for you, is it?" Panda casually speaks. His tone of voice and attitude could make anyone feel comfortable, he's always upbeat, and nothing bothers the guy.
"It's not a simple story.. nor is it a fun one, that one wouldn't want to hear" I scratch my head and look up at him with a smile.
"I like stories, but maybe a time where we aren't playing baseball!" He hops up and pulls me up with him. "They reclined? Awesome! You're a fascinating human" Panda chuckles and pulls me to the benches.
"Well, thank you... I guess I could say that you helped" I smile, though it goes away when I realize I've been sat beside Yuji.
He tries not to look at me, I'm guessing he doesn't want to bother me.
He's so considerate and sweet it makes my heart warm up. I take his hand and gently hold it. I nudge him and as I hear him I whisper. "You did nothing wrong" I pat his hand and hold my own hands as we watch the game.