Stealing First

Chapter 19

After drawing a blank on the bus ride home, Kuramochi had started to worry that he wouldn't be able to come up with an effective ruse to get his two not-so-blissfully-ignorant friends to be in the same place at the same time. Having been the confidant for both Miyuki and Charlie around how they felt about each other, the shortstop was sure that they could work things out – if he could somehow just get them talking. This task became a little easier when Miyuki returned from the hospital with news that he needed to rest for three weeks so was not able to participate in training sessions.

Whilst it may have been helpful in creating Kuramochi's ruse, it certainly was not easier for the team to have Miyuki on the sidelines. As talented as their relief catchers were, they were not Miyuki. And with only a few weeks to go before their next tournament, the pitchers needed the captain to be back behind the plate and at his best – physically and mentally. Also, Miyuki's frustrations about his injury (and, Kuramochi thought, his problems with Charlie) were making him a pain in the ass during practice, firing sharper than usual comments and adding his opinion on drills all over the field, frustrating the players to no end. Kuramochi knew he would have to work fast before the starting catcher's attitude had a chance to make a lasting impact.

'Excuse me, Sullivan-sensei. Do you have a minute?' The second year jogged up to the assistant coach during the next drinks break, bowing slightly as he approached.

The tall, well-built man nodded his head uncomfortably in response. Despite having lived in Japan for almost a year now, Jack Sullivan had only picked up a smattering of conversational phrases and was still struggling to adapt to Japanese social customs. His pale blue eyes looked directly at the young player before he broke into a wide, genuine smile. 'Sure. What's up Kuramochi?'

'It's about Charlie,' he began. At the mention of his daughter's name, Kuramochi noticed the older man's eyebrows raise in a meaningful way and his smile transformed into a knowing smirk. The shortstop's eyes widened as he released what Jack must have been thinking, and he took a slight step backwards, raising his arms instinctively in his defence.

'No, no. It's not like that, sir. I mean Charlie is a great girl and all, it's just that..' he stammered nervously, trying to regain some sort of coherent speech. He stopped and took a breath. 'It's just that, as her friend,' he continued, emphasising the last word, 'I have noticed how down she seems lately, and I wanted to arrange a surprise to try to cheer her up.'

At this, Kuramochi noticed the father's shoulders drop and the smile fell from his face. He looked down at his feet in a manner eerily similar to the way his daughter averted her eyes when something bothered her. 'Yeah, I have noticed she has seemed upset, but she won't talk to me about it. Her mother was always better at the girl-talk stuff. I am not sure what to do.' He looked up again, his eyes showing a fleeting look of desperation before he quickly masked it with an attempt at a grin. 'I'm glad she has friends like you, Kuramochi. Thanks for looking out for her.'

Kuramochi felt a heaviness in his chest. He had forgotten about Charlie's mum, and could see the obvious worry weighing on Jack as he struggled to help his daughter. In case the call to help his friends and to strengthen his team were not enough, the desire to now also help his assistant coach made success in his endeavour an even greater imperative.

His sense of responsibility sharpened his thoughts as he explained. 'I was just wondering if you knew what afternoons Charlie had free this week? I know she has a fairly hectic training schedule with gymnastics at the moment, but I don't want to ask her myself as I didn't want to tip her off about the surprise.'

'Oh, that's easy,' replied Jack, obviously relieved he could help somehow. 'Charlie has Wednesday night free this week. We were going to go for burgers after practice, but I'm happy to reschedule if you think you can do something to cheer her up.'