Thrill [BNHA]

Chapter Three

Natsuo mentally kicked himself as he watched Nell look strangely at the helmet he'd handed her. It was pink and covered in daisies. She looked amused. Perhaps he should have taken her somewhere else, she wasn't exactly dressed for the batting cages with her combat boots, fishnet tights and tight black shredded shorts.

Nell placed the helmet on her head with a shrug and followed him out to the batting cage. She stood behind the fence as he directed her and watched as he stepped into the cage. There was a machine at the far end of the cage and after a moment it let out a loud noise that made Nell jump and it launched a baseball at Natsuo.

He swung the baseball bat in his hand with ease, as if he'd done this thousands of times before. Nell watched as he seemed to check out for a moment and focus solely on the ball. His bat connected with a loud cracking sound and Nell let out a cheer as it went flying into the net on the other side of the cage.

Natsuo blushed as he heard her cheer behind him. He turned to see her smiling and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. "Y-you want to try?" He asked.

Nell nodded and stepped into the cage.

Natsuo showed her where to stand before taking a few steps back, not exiting the cage so he could offer her any pointers since this had been a frequent after school activity of his over the years. All the employees knew him by name and gave him a lot of free sessions. "Alright, it should be launching soon, get ready." He called to her.

"I'm ready!" Nell attempted her best Spongebob impression causing Natsuo to chuckle.

"You're so weird." Natsuo laughed.

"It's part of my charm." Nell smirked.

The machine at the opposite end of the cage let out a loud sound that once again made her jump. Nell swung at the ball, treating the bat in her hand like a sword and attempted to hack and slash at the ball.

Natsuo burst into a fit of laughter, "what are you doing?!"

"Trying to show this ball who's boss." Nell replied seriously. She'd completely missed the ball with each of her ten swings and it bounced off the back of the cage and rolled past her. "Ha, it has been defeated." She smirked and placed her foot atop the ball.

"I thought you were American." Natsuo snickered, "what sport do you think this is?"

"Didn't sport much." Nell shrugged. "So, not baseball hunting?"

"There's no such thing." Natsuo laughed and took the bat from her hands, "give me that before you hurt somebody."

Nell smiled, finally feeling completely at ease after her earlier episode. "Have you ever played real life fruit ninja?"

"What?" Natsuo asked her curiously.

"You know like buy or rent a katana, get a friend and a bunch of fruit and just throw fruit at each other and see who can hack up the most?" Nell shrugged.

"No! Who does that?!" Natsuo laughed.

Nell held up her hand and flashed him a scar on the back of her left hand, "me. It's fun as long as no one let's go of the sword."

"That sounds horribly unsafe." Natsuo shook his head at her.

"That's what makes it thrilling." Nell smirked.

The machine at the opposite end of the cage let out another loud popping sound. Natsuo hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her out of the way as he realized she was in the line of fire.

Nell gasped as she was suddenly wrenched out of the way. Her heart pounded in her chest as she found herself pressed up against his very firm and muscular torso. "...thanks..."

"Y-yeah, n-no problem." Natsuo blushed and slowly released her from his hold.

"How about lunch?" Nell suggested.

"Sounds good." Natsuo smiled and headed for the door to the batting cage, he held it open for her before following her out.

They returned their gear to the counter and the older gentleman behind the counter smiled at them, "you brought a friend with you today, Natsuo?"

Nell looked over at him curiously.

"Yeah, she's new to the area so I thought I'd show her around." He answered, throwing a bashful look in her direction.

As they took their leave Nell threw him a smile, "you really do come here to blow off steam and from the sounds of it, often." Her bright green eyes were inquisitive, though she didn't pry further.

"I thought that's what you wanted?" Natsuo pondered before blushing, maybe she'd been teasing him before with her request just to see where he'd take her.

Nell held back a laugh, "honestly I was thinking one of those rage rooms where you get to break shit, underground street racing or something a bit more dangerous, that was pretty tame."

"Tame? You almost got hit by the ball, it would have hurt..." Natsuo paused, not sure why he was defending the batting cages so much, they probably were tame for her, she seemed so wild. "So, rage rooms?" He asked.

Nell smiled, "I'll look one up and take you sometime, I'm sure you'll love it. It's very therapeutic."

"Sure." Natsuo felt strangely happy that she wanted to spend time with him again.

He took her to a small cafe that had the best ramen near campus and helped her with the confusing menu. As they went to sit at a tiny table for two, his phone started to buzz. It was Fuyumi, again, asking him if he was planning on making it for dinner. The thought of sitting through a meal with his father made his skin crawl.

He looked over at Nell, she was watching him intently, a curious look in her bright green eyes. "Could we possibly work on our Literature project tonight after Physics?" He asked.

Nell glanced at the phone in his hand to the unfinished reply he'd been about to send, "sure. We could meet at the campus library or my apartment isn't too far and is probably more comfortable to wait out whatever it is you're avoiding." She said calmly as she sipped at her glass of water.

Natsuo blushed as he realized she'd seen right through him. "I-."

Nell turned her insanely bright green eyes back at him, they were filled with compassion and understanding, "really, it's fine."

He nodded and sent Fuyumi a response telling her he couldn't make it. He felt guilty, he didn't want to let Fuyumi down but he just wasn't ready to be in the same room as his father, he wasn't sure he'd ever be ready.

"Thanks." Natsuo relaxed once he'd realized he had gotten out of dinner with his father.

"For that kind of reaction, it must be family." Nell said with a sad knowing smile. "I'll gladly help get you out of any family functions you want."

Video- "Dead End in Tokyo" By MAN WITH A MISSION