𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 [𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐲𝐚 𝐬.]

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

'i won't be outdone... i won't be out pitched. not this time.' katsumi's grip on her bat tightened.

"come on, katsumi!"

"hit it far, sumi sumi!"

"if you don't get a hit, i'll buy all the gummy bears from the vending machines!" at jun's comment, the girl frowned as shunshin pitched the first ball.

'like i'll let him take my gummy bears!' she smirked, swinging her bat forward. the ball flew and landed in right field, and katsumi took off sprinting.

"kunimi!" shunshin ran to first, holding his mitt out. 'damn.. she's still so fast!'

'i can make it.. i can make it!' katsumi threw herself at the base, tapping it with her hand.

"safe!" katsumi sighed in relief, picking herself up.

"katsumiiii!"

"nice hit, katsumi!"

"miyuki-san~!"

"nice running, sumi sumi!" the girl blushed darkly, wiping loose dirt from her side.

"my turn!" jun stomped up to the batter's box, bowing to the umpire and catcher. 'the first year brats showed us their feelings..' jun scowled. 'and us third years.. can't just stay quiet and watch here!' shunshin pitched, and jun growled. "don't.. look down on me!"

he swung forward, the ball ricocheting off of his bat. katsumi smiled, taking off for second base. she tapped the base with her foot, running around to third and looking to jun. he hit first base with his foot, looking to katsumi. she signed for him to go to second and he pushed off of first, sliding into second.

shunshin stared at the girl from the pitcher's mound, eyes narrowed, before turning to glare at jun. 'stop glaring at us!' the boy growled, glaring back at shunshin. yuki walked up to bat, glaring intensely at shunshin.

shunshin brought his arm back, throwing the ball to yuki. the boy swung forward, hitting the ball past the right foul line. shunshin's eyes widened and he signed to his catcher, throwing four balls to yuki in a walk. katsumi smirked, knowing that yuki's swing scared him.

'the precise machine has started to break down...' she watched masuko walk up to bat.

'it'd be too dangerous to bunt, even with how fast katsumi-chan is..' masuko looked to kataoka, who signaled for a bunt. his eyes widened, and masuko signaled to katsumi that he was planning to bunt.

the girl nodded, preparing herself to run. shunshin threw to masuko, who quickly got into the bunting position and sent the ball to third base. katsumi took off of third base like a jet, racing to make it home before you reached the ball.

"to first!" shunshin yelled, shocking the girl as she reached home plate. masuko got out, jogging back to the dugout.

'he didn't.. try to get me out?' katsumi frowned in confusion as her brother approached her.

shunshin smirked, looking at the girl. 'let's keep pressuring that knee..'

"nice running, sumi." kazuya called out to her.

'good luck, brother. you'll need it.' katsumi signed, smirking.

"brat." kazuya chuckled, high-fiving his sister as they walked past each other. she walked into the dugout, smiling as kuramochi kicked her butt and haruichi handed her a cup of water. she sat down next to furuya, who was breathing heavily with closed eyes.

she frowned, putting a hand against his forehead. he jerked awake, looking down at the girl. she smiled softly, handing the boy her cup of water and standing to get another. furuya downed the water quickly, sighing in relief and looking to haruichi, who smiled knowingly at him.

furuya blushed, looking away quickly. katsumi sat back down, her breathing slightly uneven. "you did well." furuya said, unmoving. katsumi hummed in response, sipping her water. "make sure you don't overwork yourself."

'ironic, coming from you.' she thought, smiling up at the boy. she watched her brother hit two fouls, his demeanor turning less calm and more nervous.

"somehow, his usual calmness is..." eijun gaped.

"because it's all going at you's pace." kuramochi interjected, watching with a frown. kazuya swung at the next ball, sending it flying into left field. it bounced along the ground and hit the back fence, bouncing back and confusing the left fielder. jun and yuki both ran home, yelling and high-fiving each other.

"yeah, we're up by one point!"

"nice, we're up!"

"nice hit!"

katsumi rolled her eyes with a smirk as her brother rose his fist, an identical smirk on his lips. the girl grabbed two cups of water and handed them to the two third years. she clapped softly for them and they smirked at her, yuki patting her head and jun ruffling her hair.

katsumi gasped quietly as kazuya and shirasu attempted a squeeze play, but shunshin grabbed the ball and tossed it to the catcher in a successful attempt to get kazuya out. kazuya smirked, wiping sweat from his forehead and walking back into the dugout, being greeted by katsumi with a cup of water.

he took it with a nod of thanks, lightly bumping his shoulder against katsumi's as he went to put his catcher's gear on. the girl smiled and rolled her eyes, quickly undoing her braid and tying her hair up. furuya watched the girl from the bench, feeling a small sense of envy as she ran out to the field.

'she always has so much energy..' he followed her with his eyes, before looking over to eijun with a frown. 'so does he...'

eijun pitched and the batter swung, hitting it straight into masuko's mitt. the batter scowled and eijun yelled happily as the next batter walked up. he hit it to kuramochi, who caught it on its bounce and sent it to yuki. eijun yelled happily once again as he readied his next pitch, ignoring jun yelling at him from center field. the next ball was hit, flying to ryosuke.

"second!" the boy stuck his arm up, catching the ball and giving seidou a third out. "yeah! three easy outs!" eijun grinned as they jogged off the field.

jun was up at bat next, swinging and missing his third pitch. "damn! thin as a paper!" jun yelled, hitting himself on the helmet with his bat.

'he'll give himself brain damage doing that..' katsumi sweat dropped as the boy angrily stomped back to the dugout. kuramochi was struck out quickly after, and ryosuke's hit was caught by an infielder. 'this is bad...' katsumi frowned, tightening her shoelaces. 'we can't let them tie.. we can't let them get another point.'