4

It was about halfway through lunchtime when the school entrance finally calmed down from being crammed full of students purchasing from various lunch vendors. Mio and Momoka jumped on the opportunity to grab a drink from the vending machine.

Mio put in a few coins, reaching for the strawberry milk button. But right at the last second, she switched over to coffee milk. She leaned over to pick up the carton that had fallen down.

“Finally over the strawberry milk fad?” Momoka looked at Mio’s hands, a question in her eyes.

“Finally?”

“You’ve been getting that stuff ever since we were in the same class last year. I figured you were addicted.”

Actually, Mio had been getting it ever since she was a first-year, so it had been longer than Momoka knew.

“Something happen?”

“Well, kinda, I guess.” Mio had wanted to switch things up, or at least feel a little different… She was trying to change whatever she could, but wasn’t really sure where any of that change was directed yet.

“Hey, there’s Souma… with that transfer student everyone’s talking about. Check it out.”

Mio looked in the same direction as Momoka, and sure enough, there was Souma Haruto and Izumi Eita. They both had pretty serious expressions on their faces as they changed into their outside shoes and headed outside. As Mio watched them leave, a girl started chasing after them. It was Komiya Ena, with a camera case slung over her shoulder.

“Wonder what that’s about,” Momoka pondered.

“Got me.”

“Let’s go see!” Momoka pulled at Mio’s hand, having found something interesting to fixate on. Without any energy to resist, Mio ended up getting dragged outside in her indoor shoes.

“They were going to the sports fields, right?”

“Look, Momoka, I really think we should go back-”

Before Mio could even finish her sentence, a high-pitched metallic ping rang in the air.

“Ooh, look, there they are.”

Standing on the top of the staircase that went down to the sports fields, Momoka pointed into the distance. A baseball flew down the first baseline in a high arc, eventually landing on the grass on the other side of the line.

“Wow, what a hit! Was that a home run?!” Momoka yelled excitedly.

“No, just a foul ball…”

One boy stood in the batter’s box, and the other on the pitcher’s mound. Eita was pitching, and Haruto was batting.

Ena had a camera set up on a tripod at the bottom of the stairs. Mio followed Momoka down the side of the stairs, and Ena noticed their approach, stealing a quick glance their way before quickly turning back to her subjects.

Mio had stopped trying to convince Momoka that they should go back in.

The way Haruto looked as he gripped the bat froze her in place. She was similarly captivated by Eita’s profile as he intently looked towards the strike zone.

Eita deliberately swung his arm around, lobbing the second pitch. A fastball, straight down the line.

Haruto rotated, responding with a full-power swing.

The bat only got a piece of the ball, sharply sending it across the first baseline again. It went over the line again. Another foul ball. Haruto was swinging too late, from what Mio could tell.

“That fastball’s getting faster, ain’t it?!” Excitement laced Haruto’s tone, but Eita didn’t respond. He was taking deep breaths, evidently trying to hold off the fatigue building up from his strenuous pitches.

His serious profile almost looked etched in stone.

“…Why’s this so important to him?”

Haruto fouled the next ball, too. He was still swinging late. Then again, and again… Eita threw a fastball, and Haruto swung late for a foul.

They both stood their ground. Eita was on the mound wheezing. Haruto wiped off his forehead with his sleeve.

Eita took the eighth ball out of the basket, rolling it in his hand to check the feel. The ball chosen, he adjusted his grip in the glove. His irregular movements from his heavy breathing stopped, his body becoming completely still.

As if in response, Haruto exhaled, readying his bat.

The ball was thrown with excellent form. Anyone could see that it was fast, perhaps his fastest pitch yet. Just as Mio was processing that thought, a satisfying ping rang out.

The ball spun into the air following that wondrous sound. It flew out in center field in a beautiful arc all the way to the edge of the field. It only stopped when it hit the back screen.

“YEEEAAAHH!!” Haruto threw both of his arms up, roaring in delight.

“He did it, Mio! That was a home run, right?! A real home run!” Momoka jumped up and down happily, grabbing Mio’s hands. It was like she was feeling happy in Mio’s place.

“That’s what’ll happen when you only throw fastballs…” mumbled Ena, who had been taking pictures of Eita and Haruto right nearby. She checked through the photos on her camera display, looking a little upset.

Maybe she was just getting infected by Ena, but Mio couldn’t bring herself to be happy for Haruto’s home run, either. Rather than watching Haruto’s triumph, she found herself looking at Eita as he stood motionless on the pitcher’s mound, his arms limp. There was some kind of strange sadness in the way he stood there, different from Ena’s.

Haruto was busy circling the diamond, taking his victory lap. Something that could only be enjoyed by the victor.

Mio slowly began walking towards Haruto.

“Mio?”

“Sorry, this won’t take long.” Mio didn’t turn around as she answered Momoka, just continuing to walk out to the field. As Haruto was coming up on second base, Mio yelled out his name. “Souma!”

“Hm?” Haruto stopped on second base as he heard his name, looking rather confused.

“I’m returning this!” Mio pulled an eraser out of her pocket, stopping a good 15 or 20 feet from Haruto and throwing it at him with all her strength.

Ever the perfect baseball player, Haruto was able to catch the slightly off-course eraser with just his bare hands. He looked at it in his palm, only getting more confused. “What’s this?”

Riding the waves of her emotions, Mio responded, “An eraser.”

“Well, I can see that. But why an eraser?”

“You lent me one, remember? Back in middle school.”

“Wait… did I?” Haruto tilted his head dramatically, lost in thought.

Mio kinda figured that would happen. Even if it was her own special memory, it was just another day for Haruto.

“You did. I’ve wanted to return it for the longest time, but… I kept forgetting, and some other stuff got in the way.” She had started speaking before putting her thoughts together, so it all came out in a fairly disorganized jumble.

“…Other stuff?”

“Oh, you know what I mean. That kinda stuff!”

Mio couldn’t bring herself to say any more, so she resolutely ended her sentence, turned around, and walked back to Momoka.

“Hmm? What was that about?” Momoka’s eyes were sparkling, and she clearly wanted to hear more as Mio began walking back towards the school building.

As Eita watched Mio walk away with her friend, Haruto asked, “So what was that all about?” offhandedly.

“Figure it out yourself.” Leaving it at that, Eita began picking up all the balls he’d thrown.

“Hold on!” Haruto started to say some other stuff, but Eita completely ignored him.

Eita figured he could get away with being at least a little mean.