𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 [𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐬.]

𝐭𝐞𝐧.

katsumi stood in between eijun and furuya, bouncing on her heels anxiously. "i thank you for the effort of coming here today.." kataoka said to takahiro matsumoto, coach of osaka kiryu high, who smiled eerily at him. "summer's nearing too, let's have a good game!"

takahiro chuckled, shaking kataoka's hand. "hehe.. a good game? if you want to have a good game... are you sure you want to have first years as starters?"

his eyes scanned the first years, lingering on katsumi before moving on. she shifted uncomfortably, trying not to stare at his smile that most certainly came out of a horror movie. "even though i do understand that positions in the team will inevitably be experimented on to find the best lineup before summer arrives... but i never would've thought that we, kiryu high, would have to face first years as our opponents. especially... a girl."

katsumi stiffened slightly, holding her chin high. "can i assume that your first years are pitchers with unlimited potential before them? or could it be... they're secret weapons that you don't want opponents in the same prefecture to know about?" takahiro smiled wider as kataoka stayed silent. "well, whatever the case... we will do our best and enjoy the match." the teams bowed to each other, seidou getting ready to defend first.

"play!" the umpire shouted, and katsumi immediately got ready.

"what is it?! starting to feel scared?!" eijun yelled to furuya from the dugout. "even if the opponents score like crazy, don't worry, there's still me!" katsumi rolled her eyes, watching furuya wind up a pitch. the batter swung, hitting the ball up into the air, shocking nearly everyone.

katsumi frowned, watching furuya throw another ball. 'a base on balls again...' she watched the batter jog to first. kiryu was already up three points, and katsumi bit her lip. furuya pitched again, the ball being hit right in front of him and bouncing behind him. ryosuke dove for it, kuramochi calling for him. the shortstop laughed loudly, sending the ball flying to first, giving seidou their third out.

katsumi smiled, jogging to the dugout. ryosuke punched kuramochi in the stomach, and she giggled. "that hurts!" the second year yelled.

"everyone's hurting anyways..." ryosuke smirked. katsumi hummed as she took her mitt off, sitting on the bench and bouncing her legs excitedly.

'i'm up after jun-senpai, and our batting lineup up until that point is pretty strong, so i should get ready soon...' she placed her helmet in her lap just in case.

kuramochi walked up to the batter's box, grinning at the pitcher, tachi hiromi. she watched the pitch fly, kuramochi swinging and only hitting it a few feet in front of him, the ball bouncing towards third. he raced towards first, only to get out by a second.

"damn it... a hit just flew away like that..." kuramochi growled, pulling his helmet off. katsumi smiled up at him reassuringly, and he couldn't help but to smile back. "you better kick their asses when you bat, sumi sumi."

the girl grinned in response, watching ryosuke walk on to the field. after several fouls, he finally got to first base on four balls. katsumi stood, pulling her helmet on and picking up her bat as jun walked up.

"hyaaaaaa!" the third year yelled loudly as he swung, the ball skipping through the dirt. "break through defense, damn it!" he yelled, rushing to first base and sliding safely. katsumi walked up to bat, frowning as she watched takahiro's smile grow bigger.

'so creepy...' she shook her head, looking up to the pitcher. the boy was staring her down, sending a chill through her spine. 'so, so creepy....'

tachi smirked, 'the field is no place for someone like you...' he thought, looking to his coach, who chuckled.

'sending such a tiny girl onto the field... against such a powerful team? you're throwing her to the wolves...' he nodded to tachi, and signaled for the infield to move in. katsumi frowned deeply, her grip on the bat tightening.