Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kataoka Tesshin never meant to become a father. He was young; in his first few years of college, completely focused on playing baseball as he had for years. But then, he had met your mother.

She had a class or two with him, and eventually, they were put in a group project together. Even after the project was done and over, they had become closer. They started talking outside of school and had gone on a few dates, though they weren't in a necessarily ”exclusive” relationship. She was a pretty foreign girl, and he thought it would be an easy, carefree relationship, and he would hopefully be able to relieve a little stress from time to time.

But, of course, nothing is ever that easy, is it?
It had come as a complete surprise - they had been so, so careful so that this wouldn't be able to happen. But perhaps they had forgotten that one time, but there was no reason to dwell on that now.

She was pregnant, with you.

Your father couldn't believe it. It's not like he was mad or anything, he knew she was no more responsible than he was. He was just so shocked, and to be honest, extremely terrified. He was barely twenty and he wasn't sure he would be able to handle the responsibility of a child while he was trying to play baseball.

When he brought this up to her, she was surprisingly understanding and forgiving when he stated that he didn't think he would be able to handle this. Her only condition was that she still wanted to be in touch with him, just in case, but he wouldn't necessarily have to actually act as a father.

And so, seven and a half months later, you were born.

Tesshin, at the request of your mother, had been there after she had given birth, and he met you for the first time. Like most (or to be honest, all) newborn babies, you were pretty ugly. Because he didn't want to be a parent, he didn't feel any sort of connection to you, really. You seemed like every other baby he had seen in his life. It was then that your mother spoke.

”I like the name (y/n). What do you think?” she asked. He paused for a moment before answering with a nod. It was a nice name, and it wasn't as if he really had any right to say whether or not you could be named this or that. Though he wasn't present for your actual birth, he still signed the birth certificate and acknowledged his paternity. Just in case, your mother had said once again.

He hadn't held you at all, and felt no desire to do so. He went back to his dorm at Meidai. You were promptly placed into the back of his mind.

Years passed, and he saw you from time to time, and to his knowledge, you had never been informed as to who this seemingly random man that visited you from time to time was. Your mother had also never married in the years she had had you, and her family was back in her home country, so it was just you and her going through life together.

------

You were young, probably six or seven when she died.

It was something that nobody had seen coming. She seemed perfectly fine to you and everyone she knew, but you would find out years later that when you were put into daycare every once in a while, she had probably been going to see a doctor. But you were young, and obviously didn't think anything of it.

Then the problem of where you were going to be placed came up. You could go back to your mother's home country and live with her family, but you had never met them, and moving somewhere so different when you were young was seen as something that would have been unnecessarily stressful. So you were ultimately put into your fathers care.

You recognized him, of course, and then it was finally revealed that he was your father, and you connected the dots in your head and, oh, that's why he was around sometimes.

The beginning was very rocky. Your father knew very little about you, and you nothing about him. You were only in your second year of elementary school, but you had already learned how to be somewhat independent. You would sometimes make your own lunch and bring it to school since your father was usually busy with his duties as a teacher and an assistant coach. But over time, your relationship started to get somewhat better.

You would go out every once in a while, either to get a late dinner because he didn't feel like cooking that day, and you had even gone to the movies once or twice. By the time you were going into junior high, your relationship had improved significantly, and it mostly resembled a typical father-daughter relationship. It was around that time that your father started coaching the baseball team at Seidou.

Because he spent even less time at home, and more at practices late into the day, you saw each other less and less, and when he was home he was usually found poring over scorebooks and journals in his room or the living room. You went back to making your own breakfast, lunch, and dinner and doing errands like buying groceries whenever needed.

To be honest, at this point in your life you might have held a small grudge against your father. You knew that, rationally, he was simply doing his job as a teacher and coach, but did he really have to come back home long after dinner had passed? His attention was on his players and you couldn't help but feel a little jealous. After all, you were his daughter. Maybe you just needed to find a way to get his attention without outright asking for it?

So, throughout your junior high years, you focused on your grades; striving to be at the top of the class so that he could be as proud of you as he was of his own students.

It had worked somewhat, because when you brought your report card home at the end of the term he had patted your shoulder and said, ”Keep up the good work, ” before leaving for work. That was enough to keep you pleased for a short while, but after he stopped reacting to you once again being top of the class, you knew that it was time to find something else.

Your junior high had no shortage of clubs to join, and so you decided that at the beginning of your second year you would try out a few of them and see where it went from there. You had, at first, joined the tennis club, and you had gotten the hang of it quite quickly. After practicing for hours upon hours, you had quickly climbed up the ladder to be one of the top players at school, and even in the prefecture. It seemed you had your father's athletic ability in your blood.

Because of how hard you worked, you won most of your matches and tournaments, and you were able to travel all around the Tokyo prefecture and a few other places in the Kanto region, and you eventually secured a spot at Nationals.

When you told this news to your father, he once again praised you for your talent and, when you gathered up the courage to ask, he said that he would try to see if he could make it to your first match.

When the day finally came around, you were waiting just before your match to receive a message from your father confirming that he was there. No such message came. Okay, you thought. It wasn't like he had ever been someone who used his phone a lot, and maybe he was there and he just didn't tell you.

But upon looking around at the mostly packed bleachers, you found no sign of him, even after searching for what seemed to be forever. Your teammate tapped you on the shoulder to signal that it was time for your match to start; and when it did, it was a disaster.

You had really only been doing this for him, and so to not have him there was clouding your mind. You were making mistakes that an amateur would; your volleying was missing its mark, your serves were going wild, your reaction time was nowhere near the level you were known for, and you were self-destructing. What was the point, anyway? You didn't think that you particularly found any joy in playing, you were doing it for attention and validation.

In the end, you lost in full sets and your journey at Nationals was over before you could properly comprehend it. When you went home that night, and passed your father who was sitting at the table, all you could do was say a few words.

”I lost, ” you mumbled. You could see him tense up out of the corner of your eye, and you slowed until you were barely shuffling across the floor.

He took in a barely noticeable deep breath, before replying with, ”You’ll do better next time.” It took all of your strength to stop yourself from yelling something about him not being there, and how it was all because of him that you lost, but you knew somewhere deep inside of yourself, that he had promised nothing and so there was no valid reason for you to be mad.

Your hands were shaking as you faced half-away from him, before giving him a weak nod. You clenched your teeth to prevent your chin from wobbling, and you were just outside of your bedroom door when he spoke up again.

”I’m proud of you, ” he said quietly. You clenched both your fists and your jaw. Those were the words you've been wanting to hear for years, so why were they not filling you with the happiness and pride like you imagined they would? You had so many conflicting emotions inside of you, and you only opened your door, stepped inside, and shut it behind you.

Your room was just like how you had left it when you left home earlier; the light was off, and there were piles of things spread across the floor from when you had been searching through your room because you couldn't find everything you needed because you were so nervous.

Your shoulders started to shake, and as all of your emotions came crashing down upon you, you started quietly sobbing. Salty tears ran down your face; tears of disappointment, anger, and maybe a little sadness at simply losing a game. Maybe you cared more about tennis than you thought you did.

Stumbling over something in the nearly pitch black of your room, you eventually crashed into the side of your bed, and you collapsed on top of the covers. You buried your head into your pillow as your sobs got louder, in an attempt to conceal them from your father in the next room over. After an embarrassingly long period of crying, your eyes started to flutter shut when you heard your father's bedroom door close.

You were suddenly reminded of the words he had said after you first told him about your loss. You'll do better next time.

Too bad you had already decided that you weren't going to play anymore.

------

After spending a few days wallowing in self-pity and getting concerned looks from classmates, you started to go back to your normal self. Your tennis season was over, even though it was still only the beginning of your second term in your second year. You hoped that maybe you would maybe be able to find a club that would allow you to join halfway through the year. You had already decided that you were going to stop vying for your father's attention like you used to, but you would still try your best when it came to your classes.

Your quest to find a new club to join came up mostly short, and the only club that would accept you so late into the year was the shogi club, and that was only because they were desperate for more members. Who knows, maybe this would become an important skill later on in your life.

Your second year went by in the blink of an eye. You ended up sticking with the shogi club for the rest of your junior high career, and you had become quite a good player over time. You actually were in the movie club for a short while since the times they met didn't conflict with shogi, but the movies they watched weren't much to your liking, so you went back to your throne as the shogi queen.

Your grades ended up better than ever since you didn't spend all of your time practicing. You ended up number two in your year, and the only person who had beat you was some guy named Watanabe Hisashi, but you didn't pay much attention to that.

Your high school was practically already chosen for you; your father's position at Seidou guaranteed you a spot there as long as you passed the entrance exam, which you did with flying colors.

You were both lucky and unlucky enough to not have made many close friends throughout junior high (and your closest acquaintances were the people you had left behind after quitting tennis), so there were no tearful goodbyes or anything of the sort. You were starting a clean slate; a new chapter in your life.

This is where your life at Seidou begins.

Chapter Text

You weren't sure if you really liked Seidou that much. Sure, it was considered a somewhat prestigious school, but it sure seemed that the student population was filled with some rather, erm, interesting individuals.

Your first day had been mostly fine. You made a few acquaintances in your class (namely a one Watanabe Hisashi, who you keenly remembered being the boy who had taken your spot at the top of the class in junior high), and each teacher that came in seemed to be normal. Then, lunchtime came around.

You had just grabbed your bento when you realized that you had forgotten to pack something to drink. You grabbed a few coins from your cubby, excused yourself from the room, and set out on your mission to find a vending machine before break was over. After a few minutes of speed walking and trying to not run into anyone, you found the glorious vending machine.

Staring in amazement at all of the drink options, the only thought on your mind was whether you wanted milk or orange juice. You eventually decided on the milk, and fumbled with the coins before pushing them into the little slot and pressing the correct button. You quickly grabbed the carton, and immediately popped it open and inserted the straw and took a sip. Looking up at the clock to check the time, you cursed in your mind and started at a place that wouldn't get you reprimanded by a teacher passing by, but still fast enough to get back to your room to properly enjoy your lunch.

In your food-driven mind, you didn't think of the consequences of not slowing down before turning the corner just before your room. Your eyes widened as you sharply turned the corner, and so did someone else. Your hand unconsciously clenched at the milk carton in your hand, and so it promptly spurted out at your brand new blouse and skirt.

You hadn't even looked up to see who it was that you ran into, and instead let out a quiet, ”Damn it.” you couldn't exactly go to your dorm and change in the middle of the day, not unless you wanted to skip lunch. As you mourned your lost milk and soiled clothes, someone in front of you snickered.

Head instantly shooting up to stare at whoever it was that was responsible for the death of your milk, you were greeted by the sight of a bespectacled, brown-haired boy who was hiding his grin terribly behind his hand. You opened your mouth, eyebrows furrowed in fury, but he somewhat composed himself before speaking.

”You should really watch where you're going, ” he said. ”Especially when you're carrying an open carton of…” he paused for a moment to look at the carton that was slowly getting more and more crushed in your hand, ”milk.”

”It wasn't just my fault, ” you shot back. ”You weren't paying attention either.” You grimaced at the feeling of milk dribbling down your wrist, and it was then that you realized how tightly you were clenching the carton, and you loosened it.

”Sigh,” did he just say sigh out loud? ”I guess I owe you milk then.”

You actually sighed, before dismissively waving your hand at him and making your way around him. ”It’s fine,” you said a little snappily. It wasn't something to dwell on; you were sure that he wasn't even in your class. There was only a small chance that you would see him in the future. You needed to find the nearest trash can, and hopefully at least some napkins.

After cleaning yourself up best you could while still saving some time to actually eat, you make your way back to your classroom, clothes slightly damp and smelling faintly of milk. As you sat down at your seat and opened your bento, you silently vowed to never run while holding an open carton of milk ever again.

As you picked at your food, Watanabe, who you were having a polite conversation with before you left, turned around to face you.

”I thought you left to go get something to drink? Did you get lost?” he asked. You grumbled out a reply that consisted of that he could barely comprehend, consisting of words like hurry, ran into, dumb glasses, and a few other, ahem, choice words. He just nodded in understanding before changing the subject to something or other. He was a nice guy, so you didn't home much of a grudge against him for getting higher scores than you.

After heading back to the general student dorms, and finally changing out of your uniform, you realized just how... milky(?) you smelled. You said a silent apology to Watanabe and everyone else who sat by you for having to smell that for the rest of the day. You were just glad that you had a second, emergency uniform so you wouldn’t have to stay up late and get the laundry when it was done.

Curse that stupid glasses guy, you thought, maybe I should make him buy me another milk. But, on the other hand, you didn’t want to see him ever again.

Things have, unfortunately, not always gone your way.

------

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that you saw him again, but this time he wasn’t alone. By his side was a green-haired, somewhat delinquent looking guy. They seemed to be bickering about something, but to be honest, you couldn’t care less.

It was once again lunchtime, and you had just left your classroom to go get milk, and it had become a routine over time. You get out your bento, excused yourself from a casual conversation with Watanabe and a few of the other boys he was talking to, and you started walking to the vending machine. You had become considerably more cautious about moving further from the wall and walking slower when rounding corners.

You had just slid the classroom door shut behind you, when another one a door down opened from the inside. Out walked the two previously mentioned boys, and you tried to hide your face as you quickened your pace to walk past them. Your attempts at passing by unrecognized were futile.

Glasses had looked at you just before you passed and stopped in his tracks, and his (friend?) continued a few paces before realizing there was nobody beside him anymore, and he turned to see what had taken his attention.

”Milk girl? Is that you?” he questioned. You made a face before spinning on your heel and facing him.

”’Milk Girl’? Seriously? Is that the best you can come up with?” you asked, quite obviously annoyed. Delinquent boy’s brows were furrowed in confusion before his face suddenly unscrunched and his mouth formed an ’o’.

”Kyaha!” he let out a shrill laugh, ”Is she the one who you got milk all over?” He let out another laugh and clutched his stomach.

Your first thought was, what the hell kind of laugh is that? Your attention was turned back to Four-Eyes, who was once again trying and failing to hide his snicker behind his hand. As his shoulders shook, he simply nodded at Delinquent’s question.

You were suddenly faced with the realization that you knew neither of their names. It was infinitely more amusing to refer to them as something else, like how they had deemed you Milk-Girl. But, you figured that if you at least made the attempt to know their actual names, they would hopefully use yours too.

”So, ” you started, ”who are you two, anyway?” They stopped their laughing before green-hair spoke up.

”Kuramochi Yōichi, ” he pointed at himself work his thumb before gesturing at four-eyes. ”He’s Miyuki Kazuya. We’re both in class 1-B. How about you?”

”1-A. I recall you saying that you owed me a drink?” you said. Miyuki hummed in agreement, before nodding his head in the direction of the vending machine.

The short walk there was filled with the two of them bickering, and you awkwardly trailing behind them. When you finally made it there, you stared through the glass and thought about what you wanted. Miyuki grabbed some coins from his pocket, before pushing them into the machine. He glanced at you questioningly, gesturing for you to choose a drink.

As you once again decided on milk, he spoke up. ”Milk again, Milk-Girl? I thought you would have learned your lesson by now.”

You scowled in annoyance at the nickname. ”Will you stop calling me that?”

”I would, but you haven't said your name,” he grinned triumphantly. Your fingers switched in embarrassment as you realized that you, in fact, hadn't told them.

”(l/n) (y/n). Just call me (y/n), please,” you grumbled. You crouched down to grab your milk from the little slot, but this time you didn't open it; instead just holding it by your side. Miyuki didn't miss that detail.

”Ah, so you did learn something, after all,” he was still wearing a smug smirk on his face. You rolled your eyes before Kuramochi spoke up.

”Hyaha! He’s got a terrible personality, ” he was also sporting a grin on his face. ”It doesn't look like it's going to go away any time soon, either! Hyaha!”

”Yeah, I can tell,” you huffed. You started walking back to your classroom, this time you were the one in front and they were behind you. As you got closer and closer, finally stuck the straw into the carton and your mouth. When you finally reached the door, you turned and put a hand up to say goodbye. They did the same, so you turned around, slid the door open, and went inside.

After making it back to your seat, you were greeted by Watanabe and a few other classmates, and you started eating your lunch. Those two were weird, you thought as you chomped on your fruit. Hopefully, that would actually be the first and last time you were bothered by them.

------

The next day, you had just gotten your bento out and ultimately decided to just drink water from your water bottle for today. You heard the door slide open, and you instinctively glanced over, only to do a double-take and widen your eyes in surprise.

Standing there at the door, scanning the room, were Miyuki and Kuramochi. A grin appeared on the latter's face when he found you, and he turned to Miyuki and said something while pointing toward you. Your brows raised in revelation at the fact that they seemed to be here for… you?

The green-haired boy quickly made his way towards you (seriously, was he in a hurry or something?), while glasses followed behind him, albeit at a slower pace. The seat behind you and to your right were conveniently open, and they each took a seat; Kuramochi to your right and Miyuki behind you. You realized that they each had their own lunch in their hands. Were they planning to be here all of lunchtime?

You turned in your seat so you could see both of them, setting your chopsticks down. Starting at them questioningly, you asked, “Uh, why are you two here?”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Miyuki shrug with a look of disinterest on his face as he shoved food in his mouth. Kuramochi’s grin hadn’t faded at all.

“What, do you not want us here or somethin’? Hyaha!” he teased. His attention was caught by by boy in front of you. “Oh, uh, Watanabe, right? I didn’t realize you were in this class too!” He reached his foot out to kick at Miyuki, but he moved it away just in time, and his foot just swung through the air.

Watanabe turned to face backwards in surprise, as he recognized Kuramochi’s distinctive voice. He presented a somewhat uneasy smile. “Um, yeah. Kuramochi and… Miyuki, right?”

You were feeling a little out of the loop - looking back and forth between the boys with confusion written all over your face. It seemed that the ever perceptive Kuramochi noticed this, and quickly said, “We’re all on the baseball team!”

Your brain kind of froze at this. They were all on the team? Was the universe angry at you, or something? You were trying to stay away from anything or anyone related to baseball, but now literally all of the people you talked to played? You forced a smile and nodded your head in understanding, but in your head you were freaking out. What Kuramochi said next didn’t help either.

“You should come watch practice sometime!” he said with a volume that was far too loud to be used for someone sitting right next to you. You nearly choked in surprise. That was literally the worst idea you've heard, like, ever. How awkward would it be for you if you were somehow seen by your father? You were fairly sure that he wouldn't say anything, because he was a private man, but still. You stammered out a reply.

”I, erm, I don't think I have time to do that!” you stuttered. Your volume nearly matched Kuramochi’s. He looked at you quizzically.

“Do you even know when our practice is?”

“Well, y’know, studying takes up a lot of time?” you didn’t even sound sure to your own ears. You looked at Watanabe pleadingly, hoping that he would agree with you. He simply shrugged with an unsure look on his face and took a bite on his food. Traitor, you thought.

Miyuki finally spoke. “The faster you agree, the less he’ll bug you about it.” Damn it, you didn’t know why you thought he might be on your side. You looked over at Kuramochi and were unsurprised to see the grin on his face bigger and ever. How could he look so much like a delinquent but so…childlike(?) at the same time?

After a moment, you relented and let out a sigh of exasperation. “Fine. I’m not going to stay for the whole time, though.” His face lit up in satisfaction, and Miyuki had a smug smile on his face, too.

“Hyaha! I knew you would agree eventually! Afternoon practice starts half an hour after school!” You nodded glumly, annoyed at yourself for giving up so easily.

Lunch continued as normal, just now with the addition of two others. You chatted until lunch was almost over, and just before they excused themselves, you asked them something.

“Are you planning on eating in here every day?” You were answered with an ambiguous shrug of both of their shoulders, and you muttered something about how that wasn’t an answer, but okay.

Just before class started once again, Watanabe turned around. “Was Miyuki the one you ran into?” You nodded your head glumly. He hummed in understanding, just before the teacher walked in and the class went silent.

As the rest of your classes went by, you found yourself becoming more and more anxious as to how you would attempt to avoid being noticed by your father. You couldn’t wear a hoodie or something similar without being questioned as to why when it was getting so warm outside.

You were so preoccupied with your thoughts that you didn’t notice when the school bell went off. You came back to your senses after Watanabe tapped your shoulder. You said a quiet thank you before gathering your stuff and made your way back to your dorm.

How were you going to do this?

Chapter Text

Your hands shook as you picked up and stared at your phone that was laying next to the manga you had all but abandoned. When were you supposed to get there? Right when practice started? A little after? Would your plan even work? Would your father say anything if he saw you? Oh God, maybe you just shouldn't go and say you weren't feeling well.

No. You had to do this; you needed to make at least a couple of friends. Though leaving junior high with none was a lot easier than if you actually did have some, you had actually felt quite lonely, especially after your one-sided falling out with your father.

You jumped and nearly had a heart attack when your alarm went off, signaling that it was now four o’clock. You shakily rose from your spot on your bed. You were just glad that your roommate hadn't ended up being in your room because she was kind of scary when she was woken up from her afternoon nap. As you walked to the door, you checked yourself in the mirror. You had decided upon wearing muted colors (so as to not draw more attention to yourself than needed), and street clothes. You knew that sometimes, there were some alumni who came to watch practice, and you would hopefully blend in with them somewhat.

You decided upon taking a slower pace than usual, so that more people would be there already and you could hide in the crowd. The sun was beating down on you, and you were glad that you hadn't decided to take the hoodie route.

Though you had tried to prolong the inevitable, it seemed as though you had gotten to the field at the speed of light. As you walked to the so-called ’viewing area’, you noticed that, to your horror, there were only a couple of people there watching practice. You begrudgingly stood in the middle of the few people, because if you were going to be here for a bit, might as well get a good view of that was going on, right?

Wrong.

Standing near front and center had only made it easier for Kuramochi to spot you and nudge Miyuki, who was running next to him for warmups, and obnoxiously point towards where you were standing. This brought a lot of unwanted attention to you, from both the people standing around you and some of their teammates. They turned their heads from where they were looking forward and looked at you curiously as they continued their jogging.

As you tried to hide your warm face from them without making it obvious, you vaguely noticed a pink-haired boy karate chop Kuramochi in the side with what looked to be a frighteningly happy(?) expression on his face. He grasped at his side in what seemed to be exaggerated pain (or what you assumed to be exaggerated, since the boy who had done the chopping was somewhat small, though he was on the baseball team).

Miyuki sent you one of his signature wide grins, at which you clenched your fists and sent an obviously forced smile back at him, but he just turned his head back forward and continued jogging, not sparing you a second glance. You crossed your arms in indignation. It seemed that all of their teammates had refocused on warmups also.

After secretly scrolling through your phone with boredom since it seemed that your father had them on an annoyingly long jog, your attention was caught by all of the boys finally stopping and panting. Geez, he was really running them into the ground. You watched as they got out all of their equipment do practice what seemed to be different situations that they could encounter in a game. You had to give it to him; with all of the time your father spent away from you, he really was a good coach.

What surprised you was the fact that they both seemed to be on the first-string, despite only being first years. Kuramochi was practicing in his position as shortstop, and Miyuki was… catching? Their positions did fit their personalities, you thought. You watched, your face showing just how impressed you were. Kuramochi was surprisingly fast, though he did seem to make a few mistakes when trying to get the ball to and from the second baseman, who you recognized as the pink-haired boy from earlier.

Miyuki was doing his thing as catcher, and though you were somewhat well-versed when it came to baseball, you didn't really know what went through their heads when playing. You did remember that catchers had to think on the fly a lot, and they had to trick the batters. Yup, definitely sounds like Miyuki. What stood out to you about him was the speed and force with which he threw the ball when runners were trying to steal. You definitely didn't want to be on the opposite end of that.

After a bit, they switched so that both Kuramochi and Miyuki were up to bat. You grimaced a little bit at Kuramochi’s flubbed hit, but it quickly faded away as he sprinted toward first base; the infielders hadn't even had the chance to throw to first. Kuramochi ended up making it home with the help of other batters, and it was Miyuki's turn to bat, and there wasn't anyone on base. You watched as he popped the ball into the air and third base caught it easily. You overheard his teammates laughing and clapping him on the back, saying stuff mostly like, ”You really are terrible at batting with nobody on base.”

You might have laughed a little bit at that remark.

You continued watching practice, making quiet remarks under your breath. Seriously, how the hell was Kuramochi so fast? And the second baseman; how did he save balls so easily?

“Geez. They’re all so… good,” you muttered. Maybe you just hadn’t been quiet enough, but the woman next to you (who definitely hadn’t been there earlier) let out a quiet laugh before pushing her glasses up her nose.

“We’ve got a long way to go if we want to make it to Koshien,” she said with a smile on her face. Uh, who was she? As you looked at her with a hint of confusion only your face, she opened her mouth to speak again.

“You wouldn’t happen to be (y/n), would you?”

Okay, seriously, this was a little weird, who was she and how exactly did she know your name? You stared at her for a moment, hesitation written all over your face, but when you really got a good look at her, she didn’t look all that threatening. Also, you were surrounded by almost one hundred other people, so you weren’t all that worried about something happening. You nodded your head after a moment.

She must have noticed your hesitance and quickly explained herself. “I’m the assistant coach and scout for the baseball team; Takashima Rei.” At this, you finally allowed your body to relax again.

“Your father’s mentioned you a few times,” she explained. Your face once again was filled with a little bit of alarm. Had he talked about you in front of the players? Did they know? “....only in private, though.”
At this rate, you were going to have a heart attack. You were surprised he’d talked about you at all, though. He was, in general, someone who preferred to keep their personal life private, but maybe he had changed, somewhat.

”Are you still playing tennis? A couple of years ago, probably when you were in your… second year? He mentioned that you had made it to nationals,” she asked. Now that threw you for a loop. He hadn’t even made it to see you play once, but he still said something?

“Oh, erm, I actually stopped playing that year, after nationals,” you said a little awkwardly. You shuffled your feet as she gave you a scrutinizing look. It seemed like she was trying to stare into your soul. There was a pregnant pause, before she once again pushed her glasses up her nose. Seriously, was she some kind of anime protagonist or what? Maybe she just needed new glasses.

“I see,” she said simply. She turned to face the practice field once again. Uh, okay, that’s the end of that conversation, I guess. You followed suit.

When you refocused on practice, you were greeted by the sight of the players standing in front of your father. They were too far away for you to hear what he was saying, but after a moment they dispersed into what seemed to be groups designated by what position they played; Miyuki and what seemed to be a few other catchers were walking toward the bullpen that was closest to the benches where people watched, along with those who you assumed to be pitchers. There was one in particular that you noticed; a first-year with a round face who you were pretty sure was in your class, though you couldn’t recall his name.

One of the other groups that you saw were those who were grabbing bats, most likely going to do some batting practice. Kuramochi was one among many, and he rested his bat on his shoulder while he chatted to a very…large…guy. You didn't realize that while those pitching and catching were coming closer to you, your father and another, shorter man that looked suspiciously like your History teacher were trailing behind them. Before you left practice early like you had said you would earlier, you grew curious as to what Miyuki looked like up close when he was catching. It surely wouldn't hurt anything.

You started walking over to take a peek (and you dismissively observed that Takashima from earlier had disappeared and you hadn't even noticed) and when you finally arrived you saw that Miyuki was catching for that boy from your class. As you watched for a moment, you heard the familiar gravelly voice of your father on the opposite end of the bullpen, watching just as you were, though he was discussing something with that man from earlier.

Eyes widening, you quickly went to spin on your heel and speed-walk away, but it was at that time your father turned back to face forward toward the pitchers, and, consequently, you. Your eyes met, and though you were sure your eyes were the largest they’d ever been, they widened a little bit further when you father...nodded at you? It was a simple gesture of acknowledgment, and only noticeable if you had been paying attention, but a greeting nonetheless. You quickly schooled your face into a forced close eyed, weirdly large grin, but when you opened your eyes his attention was already elsewhere.

You took your opportunity to escape while you had no eyes on you, and you jogged so that you could just get away from there. You slowed to a walk and squeezed your eyes shut in embarrassment at how exactly what you didn't want to happen did. Your eyes were still closed in thought when you were walking along the path back to the general dorms, and you yet again embarrassed yourself by running into someone (and this time it was definitely your fault).

Your eyes shot open in surprise and you took in the sight of a boy, who was wearing a baseball uniform, and a bag over his left shoulder. You were a little confused - practice was still going on, right? Oh well, not your problem.

Bowing your head in an apologetic manner, you quickly said, ”I’m sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.” Were there lessons on how to stop running into people? Because you were pretty sure you needed to take them.

”Don’t worry about it,” he replied, although in an unusually quiet voice. You raised your head from it's slightly bowed position and looked up at him. He had brown hair, and he was fairly handsome, but his eyes just looked…dull and lifeless. Whatever he had been through seemed to be a lot more than your teenage angst. He looks like he could use a hug, you thought, though it wasn't like you were going to act on it because hugging a total stranger was kind of a weird thing to do.

Since there was nothing left to be said for either of you, you both just continued walking wherever you needed to go. This day had most definitely not gone the way that you wanted it to. First, you were ambushed at lunch and basically forced to go watch practice (though you hadn't put up much of a fight), when you were about to leave you had been noticed by your father (but you hadn't really been doing much of a good job actually hiding from him), and the cherry on top was running into some poor guy who looked like he had already been having a rough month (and that was absolutely on you). In conclusion, everything that had happened today was all your fault. Wow, you were not prepared to realize just how much it would suck to admit that to yourself.

In all honesty, you just wanted to go back to your dorm and flop onto your bed and rethink all of your life decisions.

(That’s exactly what you ended up doing, by the way.)

------

It was the next day, at lunch (wow, lunch seems to be the time everything happens), and you were nowhere near surprised when the door to your room slid open and the two most annoying people in your life appeared. They took their now designated sets next to you.

”Sho,” Kuramochi began, mouth somehow already full of food, ”hwa did oo dink a’out ractish?” Your face twisted into disgust as you heard him attempt to talk.

”For the love all of that is good, ” you groaned, ”please don't talk with your mouth full.” Miyuki snickered at this, as usual.

Kuramochi quickly swallowed what was in his mouth before repeating himself, ”What did you think about practice?” You pondered for a moment before coming up with a suitable answer.

”It was fine, ” you started, before deciding to say what he was fishing for, ”you were pretty fast. Wasn't really expecting that.” His face brightened immediately. Jackpot.

”Hyaha! I know, right?” His grin stretched across his face. ”What did you think about Mr. Catcher over here?” He nodded his head toward Miyuki.

”Yeah, what did you think about me, Milk-Girl?” He asked, teasingly. Dammit, that nickname was going to stick for a while, wasn't it?

”Well,” you said, ”I was certainly impressed by how terrible you were at batting.” His face went from smug at hearing ’impressed’ to a forced pout from what followed.

Kuramochi spoke up, ”Hyaha! He's gonna lose his spot on the first string if he doesn't hurry up and get better fast!” He leaned his grinning face on his fist.

Miyuki instantly reached over with a scowl on his face and swatted his arm out from underneath him, causing Kuramochi to nearly faceplant into his food. (You might have laughed a little bit at the sight.) Kuramochi lifted his head up and furrowed his brows in an attempt to look intimidating, but he only looked comical because of the red spot on his forehead.

They started their bickering, and you finally started eating your lunch. After you finished a good portion of it, you asked a question.

”Is there someone on your team who leaves early? Quiet, kind of intimidating…” you trailed off. Miyuki and Kuramochi looked at each other for a moment, before Miyuki answered.

”I think you're talking about Chris. Brown hair, right?” You nodded at this. ”He got injured recently, so he hasn't been able to practice for very long.”

Kuramochi had an uncharacteristically solemn look on his face. ”Yeah, it was pretty bad; something to do with his shoulder. He's a catcher like Miyuki, but he's a year above us.” Your face screwed into a look of guilt. You had been so careless as to run into him; what if you had accidentally hurt him? Kuramochi must have noticed, and he sent you a curious look.

”I ran into him yesterday, when I was leaving, ” you explained sheepishly, hand going to rub at the back of your neck. ”Is he going to be able to play this year?”

They both shrugged. ”Depends on how fast he recovers, ” Miyuki said. ”But Coach doesn't want to risk getting him hurt, so he's not gonna play in any games for a while.” You hummed sympathetically.

”That’s rough.”

The conversation stopped for a while as you all thought. Apparently, Kuramochi had been thinking about something different, because what he brought up came out of nowhere.

”You should meet some of the others on the team!” he said loudly.

You looked at him curiously, ”Uh, why exactly should I do that?”

”’Cause we’re your only friends, hyaha!” he said. You couldn't really tell if he was trying to be malicious or not, since he was just kind of, uh, like that, so you just ignored his tone.

”I have friends other than you two!” you defended yourself. ”Like, uh, Watanabe!”

Said boy turned around to face you. Oops, I forgot he sits right there. ”We’re friends, right?” You laughed a little nervously. Oh God, what if you weren't and you were the only one who thought you were??

He nodded in surprise, to your happiness. You turned back to the others. ”See what I mean? I have lots of friends!”

”He doesn't count,” Miyuki claimed. ”He’s in your class, so he has to be your friend.” I mean, he wasn't exactly wrong, but did he have to shove it in your face and say it like that?

You grumbled in indignation, trying to ignore Kuramochi as he tried his hardest to coerce you. ”It’ll be fun!” he exclaimed. ”You can just come at the end of practice, and you can sneak in while we eat dinner!” He had one of his eyes closed in a wink.

”I’m almost one hundred percent sure that me going there is against the rules, ” - you were grasping at straws at this point - ”and even if it isn't, do you just expect me to watch as you all eat? That's just plain weird.”

”You can just eat with us! It'll be like our normal lunch!”

”I’d have already eaten dinner by then.”

”Well, we have to eat a lot, too! You'll get the whole experience of what it's like to play baseball!” You were starting to give up, once again. Curse you, weak resolve!!

”Why do I need to know what it's like to play baseball?” you asked. I swear, if he says something about making better friends with people on the team-

”So you can make better friends with everyone on the team!” Of course he would say that.

”Fine! I'll go to your stupid dinner, ” he opened his mouth to say something, but you cut him off, “but, if we get caught, I'm totally telling whoever it is that you two kidnapped me.”

”That's all good, right Miyuki?” he nudged him with his foot. You were supposed to be scared of that, but whatever. Maybe he wasn't fazed by it because he used to be a delinquent, and was used to this sort of thing. You had kind of expected that he would try to be more careful, now that he was playing baseball in high school, but you guessed not.

”Just come at the end of practice, maybe 7:15?”

”Yeah yeah, I'll be there. By the way, how exactly are you going to sneak me in?” He had to have a plan right? Or else he wouldn't have suggested this in the first place; he could be somewhat of an idiot, but he had his surprisingly bright moments.

”Uh, we don't need a plan! It's not like any of the others will say anything!” Oh God, you absolutely needed a plan. ”Miyuki’s a master sneaker! Did he tell you about how he was late to the first day of practice, but he wasn’t even caught by Coach?! Hyaha!”

When you looked over at the mentioned boy, he nodded in confirmation. You narrowed your eyes - could you really trust them? Whatever, you were already caught up in this, might as well not worry about it. You only hoped that their teammates were somewhat more normal than they were.

------

You texted them both to let them know that you were trying to keep out of the way by hiding behind the grounds sign at 7:17. You ended up exchanging Line handles with both of them earlier at lunch, and Kuramochi had been quick to send a bear emoji, but Miyuki didn't send anything until you were added into a group chat with the both of them by Kuramochi. He claimed it was for sneak in purposes, but you were sure that he was just thinking that it would be a whole lot easier to annoy you both at once.

You played on your phone as you waited for practice to end. You weren't feeling nearly as nervous as you thought you would be. They had talked about some of their seniors, a few being a loud Isashiki Jun, cruel Kominato Ryosuke, and devout shogi player Yuuki Tetsuya, at which you perked up a little bit and had to explain that you had been in the shogi club for nearly two years in junior high. Miyuki immediately said something about how Yuuki would finally have a new opponent to play against. Is there some sort of history there?

You were drawn out of your thoughts at the many footsteps that were suddenly coming your way. You checked the time and saw that it was already a few minutes past 7:30. Time flies when you're…standing and doing nothing, apparently?

You straightened from your hunched over, leaning position on the large sign. You looked down as your phone pinged with a message notification. Oh yeah, did you mention how obsessed Kuramochi was with using emoticons with every message he sent?

Mochi: we’re coming!! o(｀ω´ )o

[nickname]: yeah, I can tell.
you guys aren't very quiet, you know.

Miyuki: the only person louder than him is Jun-san.

You heard the easily recognizable cackle of Kuramochi quickly approaching. You pushed your phone into your pocket and turned toward the source. Kuramochi was running nearly full speed, straight at you, though he was (somehow) able to stop right before he ran you over.

”That was a little excessive,” Miyuki, who was casually trailing behind him, said dryly. You made a comment under your breath about a cheetah, and Kuramochi only responded with another laugh.

”So,” you began, ”where are we supposed to be going?”

Kuramochi stopped his cackling and grabbed onto your wrist and started pulling you toward a building straight down the path, Miyuki by your side. As you got closer and closer, you could see the horde of boys that had already passed. Geez, I knew that there were a lot of people on the team, but was everyone even going to fit in there? Were you even welcome?

As if reading your mind, Miyuki clarified, ”Kuramochi opened his big mouth, so they know you're going to be there, and they said they'd leave a spot open.” You let out a tiny sigh of relief.

Because they had stopped (even though it was for only a moment), you were among the last few people to enter. When you walked inside, you were surprised to notice that nobody spared you a second glance. Some of the boys had already gotten their food and were eating it. You stood in between Kuramochi and Miyuki as you waited in the line to get food. Even though you claimed you weren't hungry at all because you had already eaten (that was kind of a lie; you weren't hungry because you were kind of anxious), they had claimed that, in order to make friends, you needed the whole experience. Bastards. That doesn't even correlate!

The line grew shorter and shorter, and Kuramochi was receiving his food before he continued on to get a giant bowl of rice. You took the food and did the same as he had, although you got maybe half as much rice as he did. You followed Kuramochi as he found three open seats with ease, and of all places, it was basically in the middle of the room.

You began eating your food as both Kuramochi and Miyuki attached the names you already knew to faces, and pointed out people they hadn't talked about before. You noticed that Watanabe was sitting almost all the way across the room.

”The one over there that had black hair and looks real serious is Yuuki, the shogi guy, remember? Next to him, with the brown hair and beard, is Jun-senpai. Tanba’s the guy with most of his hair shaved off. Masuko, the big guy sitting a few people over, is my roommate. Ryousuke-senpai’s…” This went on for a while, and you were sure that your head was going to explode from all of the information they were forcing on you; they had even begun to tell you which position they each played…

They had eventually stopped talking and instead ate. You were surprised when they both got up to get another bowl of rice, and after looking around the room in curiosity, you noticed the sign that said that everyone had to eat three bowls of rice. Just eating one was making your stomach hurt a little bit. A few of the boys had finished eating and, after cleaning up after themselves, left to presumably take a bath.

After they both came back, someone took the now empty set across the table from the three of you. You recognized him to be Ryousuke- the apparently ’cruel’ (that's what Kuramochi had claimed, anyway) second-baseman that he had to team up with. Kuramochi nearly choked on his rice when he noticed the pink-haired boy sit down, and he had a weird look on his face. Ooh, maybe he had some embarrassing stories to tell…

”Well, what do we have here, Kuramochi?” he immediately asked. His mouth was curled into an almost wicked looking smile. Kuramochi quickly composed himself.

You cringed at Kuramochi’s loud laugh, since he was right next to you. ”Hyaha! This is (l/n) (y/n)!”

”Just call me (y/n), please.”

The seats near you were clearing even faster as everyone finished eating, but they were being filled almost just as fast by those who had been brought up earlier. Kuramochi, for whatever reason, decided to introduce yourself for you, but at least it was somewhat less awkward on your end.

Miyuki, ever the asshole, mentioned to everyone (mostly Yuuki) that you were an amazing shogi player.

Yuuki’s face somehow grew even more serious, before saying, ”We should play sometime.” You nodded your head unsurely, and it seemed as though everyone else at the table had relaxed their shoulders, for some reason. Unknown to you, they were all breathing a sigh of relief because he would hopefully start terrorizing you about playing instead of them. Miyuki grinned for the same reason.

You eventually started chatting (albeit kind of awkwardly) with the others, and things were going fine. To Kuramochi’s horror, Ryousuke brought up how horrible he had been when he first started, and Kuramochi interjected that ”Ryou-san is evil! He's lying!” and to appease him you nodded in reassurance, but when you looked back at the others faces you could tell that he had definitely not been lying.

When you started off a conversation with Isashiki by asking what position he played (even though you already knew), his cheeks started to turn a bright red. His voice was quieter than you had thought that it would be from Kuramochi’s description when he asked you to call him Jun.

”(y/n), can you guess what his hobby is?” asked Kuramochi. You shook your head and saw Jun’s mouth open, ready to verbally assault him with his face redder than ever, but Kuramochi was quicker. ”He likes to read shoujo manga! Hyaha! You wouldn't expect that from someone as scary looking like him, would you?” He continued laughing as Jun settled back into his seat, arms crossed and face blazing and filled with annoyance.

You decided to reassure him. ”Don’t worry about it, Jun-senpai! I like to read that stuff, too!” He seemed to calm down a little bit at this, relaxing his shoulders, and his face was less red than before.

”He’s been reading Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun, recently.” someone from further down the table called out. Your face brightened a tad. That had been the manga you were planning to read next.

”Could I borrow it from you sometime? I've been wanting to read that for a while!” you asked eagerly. He nodded his head, uncharacteristically timid. He was just glad that you weren't going to poke fun at the genre of manga he liked.

”Wow,” Ryousuke started. ”you’re the first person that’s been able to calm him down like that. Maybe we should keep you around. His shouting gets annoying over time.” All signs of Jun acting differently disappeared, and he yelled down the table at him.

”Uh, sure…?” you responded to what he had said about keeping you around. He didn't seem to hear you, so you just brushed it off as him joking.

”Ryousuke-senpai, what do you like to do?” you asked. It wouldn't hurt to get to know everyone a bit better, would it? He ignored the yelling that was being aimed at him and turned toward you.

He hummed in thought for a moment before answering, ”I like to watch horror movies.” Well, it certainly suited his personality.

There was one person who you noticed hadn't been talking much - Masuko, who Kuramochi had told you was his only roommate. He must have overheard your conversation with both Jun and Ryousuke, because when you opened your mouth to ask him about what he liked to do, he simply said, ”Pudding.” You lifted an eyebrow in confusion, before giving a look of understanding and nodding your head. Hell yeah, pudding. Whatever that meant.

Miyuki and Kuramochi both finished their food, and now a few minutes past 8. Weren't they supposed to take baths or something? As if reading your mind, many of the boys stood up, and at your quizzical look, Miyuki said, “We’re going to wash up.”

Kuramochi interrupted, “You should hang out in the dorms with us! I need to test you on your videogame skills, hyaha!” You looked around at all of the others to confirm that you were even welcome. They looked at each other for a moment, before they all looked back at you and nodded their heads simultaneously.

“We should play shogi,” Yuuki said seriously, with a glint of a challenge in his eyes. A small smile found its way onto your face, and you nodded before a thought struck you.

”I’m almost one-hundred-percent sure that I’m not supposed to go into your dorms, especially when it's so late.”

Kuramochi, ever the delinquent, simply brushed this off. ”You’re not supposed to be here either. It’ll be fine!” You sighed internally. Well, might as well hang out with them while I still have the chance, you thought.

”Fine. But am I just supposed to wait here while you all…do your thing?” you asked awkwardly. You didn't really want to think of them taking a bath, especially together.

”Well yeah, it's not like anyone comes in here after they're done eating.” Miyuki said with a ’duh’ look on his face. He really does have a terrible personality.

After confirming that they would all come back after they were done, they all took off to the bathing area, leaving you sitting at one of the tables playing a random game on your phone. You nearly thought that you were the only person left in there, before you heard the sound of someone standing up from a table behind you, closest to the serving station.

You flinched and turned around, and were greeted by the sight of Kawakami Norifumi, the slightly squirrel-faced boy that you now realized really was in your class. You felt kind of bad for not having noticed until just now. He gave you a wobbly smile (his face looked kind of green, maybe he wasn't used to all of the food that he had to eat yet?) and you returned it with a polite wave as he quickly walked out of the building.

You waited, and waited, and waited, just how long were they going to take? You fiddled with the charm on your phone, played a few games that you only had to pass the time, until they finally came back.

”So, whose dorm are we going to?” you asked.

”Mine!” Kuramochi said in his overly loud voice. ”I've got the best video games, ” he boasted.

”Tetsu-san wants to stop by his room first,” Miyuki interjected. ”He wants to get his lucky shogi board since you're apparently so good at it, ” he clarified.

”You mean to tell me he doesn't have one on hand at all times?” you joked. It was suddenly quiet, and when you looked over at the boys to see why, they all looked exasperated, and you understood why when you saw Yuuki nodding obliviously and almost proudly.

”Of course I do,” he said. ”But if you are as good as Miyuki says, I believe I will need extra luck on my side.” Your shoulders, along with most of the others, started shaking in silent laughter, though Yuuki didn't notice.

You waited outside of his dorm as he grabbed his so-called lucky board, and when he returned, board tucked under his arm, you continued to Kuramochi’s and Masuko’s room.

After arriving, Masuko opened the door wide so everyone could shuffle in. As you made your way inside, you noticed just how small the dorm felt when it was suddenly packed with seven people. You looked around the room, slightly impressed. It was remarkably tidier than you had thought it would be, especially with someone like Kuramochi inhabiting it. Hell, your room wasn't nearly this clean.

You noticed a large presence coming towards you, and when you looked, you saw that it was Masuko - two pudding cups and spoons in hand. Ah, this is what he meant by pudding. He held out one of the cups invitingly, but when you took it you swore you could almost see a look of sorrow on his face.

An indignant squawk made its way to your ears. ”Masuko! You never share your pudding with me!” cried out Kuramochi, because of course it was him. Masuko simply shrugged before opening his pudding and eating it. A small, pleased smile formed on his face, you noticed. Kuramochi started grumbling about how it wasn't fair, but he quickly directed his attention toward the stack of video games next to the tv.

He shuffled through the pile before pulling out a game, which he promptly shoved toward you so that you could read the case. It read, in bright text, ’Street Fighter IV’. You recognized the name, but you had never played with anyone (or even had anyone to play with). You nudged the game back toward Kuramochi, who quickly turned the tv on and entered the game into the XBOX.

As it started loading, you looked around to see that most everyone else had found somewhere to sit down; Jun laying sprawled out on his stomach across the floor, Yuuki setting up his lucky shogi board near the door, Miyuki begrudgingly sitting across from him since it seemed that you would be playing with Kuramochi instead of taking his place, Masuko eating his pudding on his bed, Ryousuke sitting with his back leaned against the beams of one of the beds, watching as the screen booted up, and Kuramochi now sitting cross-legged directly in front of the screen. You joined Kuramochi, knees bumping each other as you tried to get comfortable.

He tossed the controller that was connected to the gaming system into your lap. You were suddenly aware that you had no idea how to play this game, but were you going to admit that to them? Absolutely not. The screen came up to choose your characters, and you looked at your choices for a short moment before randomly picking a woman with red hair that was wearing a tight suit and super cool sunglasses. Kuramochi chose a super beefy looking guy, of course.

You heard Jun grumble behind you, ”I need to get a massage.”

Ryousuke immediately replied with, ”Maybe if you ask (y/n) nicely-” before he was interrupted by Jun’s yelling as he tried to cover up Ryousuke’s malice filled voice so that you wouldn't hear what he had said (which you did, by the way).

Your attention turned back to the screen when the fighting intro started. After it ended, you peeked over at the controller in Kuramochi’s hands so you could hopefully learn some combos. When the game commanded you to, you started mashing buttons in an attempt to get the upper hand. Unfortunately, this only resulted in you randomly dodging and attacking when Kuramochi’s character wasn't even close to you yet. After a valiant attempt to win, you lost in less than thirty seconds; only landing two hits on him by pure luck.

This went on for a few rounds, and you had only gotten a little bit better because you had remembered some of the buttons that you had pushed when you landed hits earlier. Out of five rounds, you lost 5-0. Maybe you would have to do some studying for games like this…

You let out a groan of frustration as Kuramochi laughed at how terrible you were. ”Hyaha! Have you even played this before?” You plotted his murder in your head as you felt your face grow warm out of irritation. Before you knew it, the controller was gently pulled out of your clenched fists and you were nudged away by someone.

”I’ll beat him for you, ” said Ryousuke. ”Go take Miyuki’s place. I'm sure he’s tired of playing shogi with Yuuki.” When you looked over, you saw that he was indeed hunched over, looking quite dead inside while Yuuki pondered his next move. You grabbed your unopened pudding cup, carefully stepped over Jun, whose face was for some reason firmly planted into the floor. Miyuki looked up and when he saw you he looked as if the gods had presented him with immortality.

”Yuuki, look, (y/n)’s here. You can finally play against her! Good luck!” He jumped up from his sitting position before pulling you over, making you stumble. You glared at him before turning to the black-haired boy in front of you, whose face was serious, as usual. You allowed him to re-setup the board, opening the pudding and taking a spoonful of it into your mouth. Your eyes widened at the taste. This was probably the best pudding you’d ever had in your life. You turned toward Masuko, spoon sticking out of your mouth, and you exchanged a thumbs-up and a smile.

As time passed, you came to the realization that, although Yuuki was a shogi fanatic, he was definitely not good at it. At all. Unlike how badly you had been beaten at Street Fighter, you won all three games against Yuuki. He looked almost distraught, but also somewhat impressed.

”I must admit,” he started, ”you are an excellent shogi player. Even bringing my lucky board didn't help me…” You gave him a kind smile. Even though he hadn't been the best of opponents, it was nice to actually play against someone. You glanced at your phone, only just then realizing how late it was.

”Damn it,” you cursed. Heads turned toward you in confusion. ”It’s almost eleven,” you clarified. Their mouths formed ‘o’’s and their eyebrows raised. You stood up from your sitting position on the floor, knees popping as you stretched. Everyone but Kuramochi and Masuko also quickly stood up. You picked up your now empty pudding cup, looking around for a trash can. Masuko held his hand out, and you gratefully handed it to him and thanked him.

You slipped on your outdoor shoes and opened the dorm room door.

“Wait,” Ryousuke said. “Do you want us to walk you back to your dorm?” You quickly shook your head ‘no’ for a few reasons; it wasn’t that long of a walk, you were still on campus, and you definitely didn't want to be harassed by your roommate if she woke up and saw you with a boy or boys. He hummed in agreement, though his brows were furrowed.

You stepped outside, where it was chillier than it had been earlier. As you turned around to shut the door, you looked at the room full of boys and gave a small, actually genuine smile and a wave of good-bye. All of them besides Yuuki gave you one back, but that was because he bowed his head toward you (your face might have warmed a bit at that).

You shut the door, but you stood there for a minute, staring at it. You had actually had fun tonight. You had thought that it would have been a lot more awkward or tense, but you only relaxed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to make new friends, even if they were on the baseball team.

Smile still on your face, you began your journey back to your room. To get back, you had to pass by the bathing rooms and where you had eaten dinner, but surely nobody would be out when lights out was happening soon.

You were proved wrong when you were met with the sight of your father, who was walking in the opposite direction that you were, presumably going toward the coach's office.

Your walking staggered and your smile fell off of your face and turned into a tightly clenched jaw. You met his eyes (he was surprisingly not wearing his sunglasses as he usually did, even at night), that were narrowed in confusion. He slowed his long strides until he came to a full stop, just two meters in front of you. You did the same.

You stood, anxiously frozen, as he looked you up and down, as if looking for anything wrong. After a couple of moments, he met your eyes once again, staring into them. You tapped your fingers against your thigh as he scrutinized you, and you only relaxed when he started walking again.

He briefly laid a hand on your shoulder as he passed (which made you tense up again). You awaited a scolding, but all he said was, ”Good night,” before he continued walking, without stopping this time.

You stuttered out, ”Go-good night..?” You cursed at yourself in your head at how wobbly your voice was and how questioning you sounded. You turned your head to look at him, but he didn't acknowledge it.

You turned your head forwards and walked back to your dorm on autopilot, thoughts hazy until you bumped into the door of your room, resulting in a bang that seemed incredibly loud in the silence and pitch dark of your shared room. You cringed as you awaited the yelling of your roommate, but she only let out a snort before turning over to face the wall.

You sighed out through your nose in relief. Quickly getting changed into night-clothes, you crawled into bed and wrapped yourself in your blanket. You pressed your face into your pillow. Seems like whenever something nice happens, something else ruins it, you thought bitterly. You reconsidered all of your life decisions, (seriously, was this going to become a nightly thing?) as you drifted off to sleep.

But when you thought back to how carefree you had felt earlier and the new acquaintances (friends?) you had made, a smile formed on your face once more.