"so, you want chris to catch for you." katsumi nodded. kataoka hummed, not taking his eyes off of the practice. "chris, if katsumi wants to keep this under wraps from the others, you'll have to do it after practice, and after you work with sawamura. is that okay with you?" chris smiled, nodding. kataoka nodded, looking down at katsumi without turning his head. "when you slapped that kid during the practice match... takashima said your wrists had a similar snap to that of eijun." katsumi looked over at the smirking woman.
takashima nodded, "he slapped a kid- actually, a lot of kids, when i was scouting him. his wrists had a nice snap, and i was thinking about yours compared to his. plus, your brother seems confident in your pitching potential." she chuckled.
"hey, sumi sumi!" the girl looked over, seeing kuramochi wave her over. she poked kataoka, handing him a tiny note that said 'thank you'. she ran over to the second year, who raised his leg to kick her. she whined, the boy laughing loudly. kataoka smiled slightly, staring after the girl.
"she's got a good heart, a lot of determination." takashima smiled. "she's like her brother, that way." chris nodded, watching the girl get chased around by kuramochi and get tackled.
later that day, katsumi watched chris walk off the field and smiled. she could hear eijun yelling in the distance as she walked with kuramochi to the bus. she shook her hands rapidly, and kuramochi looked down at the girl.
"hey, sumi sumi, why so hyper?" she looked up at him, then realized what she was doing. she immediately stopped, reaching into her pocket to pull out her fidget cube. kuramochi watched in silence as she started pushing the buttons, before it hit him. "ah, sorry, katsumi." she hummed, shaking her head and smiling. she offered the boy the cube, and he shook his head with a smile.
"oi!" jun ran over, chopping the two on the head. "you better be ready, katsumi! your first real game!" katsumi puffed her cheeks out, nodding. kuramochi let out a hyena-like laugh, kicking the girl's butt.
"hey, careful with my baby sister." kazuya chided from behind. "can't hurt her too bad before her first game."
"what if we just rough her up a little?" ryosuke smirked, and katsumi sweat dropped, writing on her notepad.
you talk awful tough for someone so short, ryo-senpai.
kuramochi laughed, and a dark aura appeared around the kominato. "you wanna say that again, katsumi-chan?" the girl was already running up the bus stairs, kuramochi and ryosuke not far behind her.
"get her!" kuramochi cackled.
"smite her!" ryosuke smiled evilly.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi watched the game from the dugout, humming in discontent. seidou was losing to yokohama kouhoku institute, 2-6. "first half of the eighth inning, seidou pitcher and left field change." katsumi perked up. "the substitute for tanba is... pitcher furuya! and the substitute for sakai is... left fielder miyuki!"
katsumi gasped happily, grabbing her mitt and running into the field, passing a calm furuya on her way out. furuya gasped when the girl ran past him, watching her sprint to left field and sweat dropping. masuko smiled and kuramochi laugehd at the girl as she sped past them, getting into position.
"furuya satoru and miyuki katsumi? hey, these kids are just first years! and a girl, too!"
"to play two first years in such an important match..."
"is seidou throwing in the towel?"
"they're really underestimating us!" the coach from yokohama grinned. "to actually send a first year to the mound, and sending a girl to the outfield... let's give those two a taste of the harshness of high school's baseball!"
"yes, sir!"
katsumi bounced on the balls of her feet as furuya winded up his pitch. he threw the ball, and the yokohama batter swung with a grin. the ball hit kazuya's mitt with a loud 'bam', and everyone sat in silent shock. furuya continued to throw hard pitches, and katsumi internally groaned.
'i just wanna catch hits...' she watched as another batter was struck out. the crowd roared, yelling for furuya to strike out a sixth batter. furuya did not disappoint, striking out his sixth consecutive batter from yokohama. katsumi smiled, jogging towards her team
"haha! this brat really did it!" kuramochi yelled. "nice pitch!" ryosuke punched the first year in the stomach. katsumi clapped softly, gaining furuya's attention. she smiled and held her thumb up, and he smiled ever so slightly.
"ah? katsumi made furuya smile!" ryosuke teased, and the mentioned boy immediately replaced the small smile with his normal straight face. katsumi chuckled, following her teammates to the dugout.
"let's turn this game!" yuki exclaimed, the others nodding.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi watched from a distance as chris left practice. he turned his head, eyes meeting hers, and she nodded slightly. she stood, making sure no one would see her, before she started following chris. he looked down at her with a smile as they walked to the furthest bullpen from the other practice, and katsumi smiled.
"so, what kind of pitches do you throw?" chris asked the girl. she wrote in her notepad, handing it to the boy.
nothing, yet. kazuya wants me to try pitching because i used to pitch balls to him after school.
chris nodded, looking back up at the girl. he explained the basic pitching form, and the girl nodded with furrowed eyebrows. "if it helps at all, just pretend you're playing with your brother at home."
she nodded and chris walked back, crouching with his mitt out. she took a deep breath, lifting her leg and bringing her arm down, the ball flying off of her fingertips. chris smirked, the ball landing in his mitt with a loud 'smack'.
"heh, no wonder your brother told takashima you had potential." katsumi watched him as he stood, gently throwing the ball back. she hummed, looking down at the ball in her hand. "come on, don't start hesitating now."
she looked up, nodding with a soft 'hm'. she continued pitching to the third year, each one leaving a tingling in her fingers, leaving her wanting more. 'is this... why eijun is so driven to be on the mound?' she held her mitt up as chris threw the ball back. 'this feeling... is amazing.' she tensed up as footsteps sounded behind her.
"ah, coach told me i would find you here, sumi." she relaxed at her brother's voice. "how's she doing, chris?"
chris smiled, "she's a natural. i think if she keeps at it, she'll be at kawakami's level. we just need to find what pitches suit her." katsumi smiled, looking up at her brother. chris smiled, standing. "i believe we'll have to stop there for today, i must get going." katsumi waved to the boy, kazuya bidding him a 'goodbye'.
"always knew you had a good arm," he threw an arm around her, but she just looked up at him. "what?"
'you're angry.' she signed. he sighed, looking ahead as they walked.
"sawamura is just a dumbass who doesn't know what he's talking about." he muttered, and katsumi nodded.
'he has a lot of heart though.' she smiled. 'it's admirable.' kazuya chuckled.
"yeah, yeah.. i guess you're right... now c'mere!" he wrapped an arm around her neck, giving her a noogie. she squealed, grabbing his arm and attempting to break free. "kya ha ha! bow down to your superior!"
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
the next day, katsumi was sat in her english class, the only sounds in the room being the teacher's voice and a small clicking noise among the sound of pencils on paper. katsumi repeatedly pressed a button on her fidget cube, jumping when the bell rang for lunch. the students all stood, and eijun jerked awake.
"katsumi!" eijun smiled, waving the girl over. "katsumi, what's my strong point?" be asked when she finally reached him.
"hm?" she tilted her head, before pulling out her notepad. you've got a lot of heart, and the ability to get anyone fired up. eijun smiled at the words on the page.
"thanks, katsumi!" he beamed, turning to haruichi. she nodded, tuning the two boys in front of her out as her gaze turned to someone next to the window. furuya was silent as usual, gazing out the window.
'probably thinking about pitching again...' katsumi smiled softly.
"mwahaha! we're advancing to the first string!" the girl jumped at the sudden loudness of eijun yelling. "i'm going to give it my best shot!" he grinned, pointing up. katsumi rolled her eyes with a smile.
'idiot.'
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
"hrrrah!" jun yelled, hitting the ball with all of his might. "soar, baby!" he yelled, watching the ball fly into the outfield.
katsumi watched from the bench as yuki and masuko both hit as hard as jun, gaining three bases for seidou. eventually, the teams switched out and katsumi was standing in left field, bouncing on her feet excitedly.
"hey, katsumi! stop wasting all your stamina on bouncing!" jun yelled over at her. she pouted, listening to the boy and trying to stay still. a loud smack sounded from home plate, furuya striking another batter out.
"excuse me." he waved his hand. "timeout, please." katsumi watched her brother run over to furuya, and she looked to jun. the boy shrugged, looking back to the pitcher's mound.
kazuya grabbed the boy's shoulder, pushing him towards the dugout. tanba walked onto the field, and katsumi watched furuya stop in front of the coach. she watched the boy's aura grow shocked and disheartened, and frowned.
'what'd you do wrong, furuya...' she looked back over to tanba, bending her knees slightly. the third year winded up his pitch, sending a curve ball to the batter. it hit kazuya's mitt, and katsumi smirked at the determination coming off of tanba in waves.
"heeeey, do we outfielders just have to stand here like this all day?! let them hit a little and give us work tanba!" jun yelled. "but don't panic!!" he added, quieter.
"he's getting into his stride fast!" kuramochi cackled. the batter swung as tanba pitched another curve, missing the ball. katsumi glanced over at furuya, frowning at the sight of his head bowed down in disappointment. she hummed quietly, quickly turning back to the game.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi walked through the boy's dorms, eyes scanning over the names next to the doors. she wasn't sure why she was looking for him, maybe she just felt bad because he'd been pulled from the game early. her thoughts and feet came to an abrupt stop when she finally read the name 'furuya satoru'. she held her fist up to knock, before stopping herself.
'this is stupid, he's probably fine-' the door swung open, revealing a tired furuya. he looked down at the girl, jumping slightly.
"i- uh-" she turned a dark red as furuya stammered. "i was just- gonna go get something from the vending machine." he shut the door behind him. "are... you okay?"
she held out her notepad. you looked upset after you got pulled out of the game. are you okay?
furuya couldn't help but to blush slightly, and he glanced up at the brunette. he took in her taupe colored hair and identical eyes, suddenly being hit by the realization that she was pretty- no, beautiful. face wise, she looked similar to kazuya, sharp eyes that could pierce through your soul and lips that were stuck in a permanent pout, but loved curling up into smirks. "uh- yeah, i'm fine.. my fingernail just started bleeding because of my pitches, so coach said for the next two weeks i'm running.."
katsumi nodded, then tapped her fingernail gently. furuya held his fingernail up, and katsumi grimaced at the sight of the split nail. she took his finger gently, brown eyes peering at the injury. furuya blushed darker, turning away as the girl hummed, oblivious to his flustered state.
"i can help." she whispered, and the boy looked down with wide eyes. she was looking right back up at him, brown eyes glinting as the light nearby shined on to them. "to- tomorrow after di- dinner. in my d- dorm." she pulled out a pack of gummy bears, forcing them into the boy's hand before walking away. the boy stared after her, face slowly returning to its usual paleness. he looked down at the gummy bears, smiling slightly.