Reckless Muse

Ch. 4: The Kusunoki Dinner (Part 2)

"So you're competing with Fumiya for the first string?" Mirai asked, leaning on her elbows towards the shortstop.

Kuramochi nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, I am. But Kusunoki-san is an amazing player. It's going to be hard for me to beat him."

"You could," Sakura said casually as she grabbed the empty bowls from the table. Kuramochi felt a light red creep up his cheeks and he noticed Nikko quirk an eyebrow at his daughter.

Mirai's eyes went wide. "Wow! You must be really good if Sakura thinks you could beat Fumiya. She usually doesn't have much interest in who's on the team, but if she thinks you could then she must have watched you practice." Sakura hurried off to the kitchen slightly faster than normal, not looking at either of them. "So how good are you? Are you a good hitter? What about fielding? Or about other baseball stuff?"

"Ah well, my batting could use improvement. I'm really fast though," Kuramochi told the younger girl.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle. "Really? Wait, you said that you raced Sakura, right? Who won?"

"She had a head start," Kuramochi said, his voice trailing off slightly.

Mirai laughed and beamed brightly. "She's fast, right?! I'm on my school's track team as a sprinter. I also do high jump. But Sakura can give me a run for my money."

Sakura had reentered the room by now and stood between Mirai and Kuramochi. "I won, but just barely. Like Kuramochi-kun said, I had a head start. If it was a longer sprint, he would've caught up."

Mirai's eyes glistened with mischef. "Oh wow! You really are fast then. Say, think we could have a race some day?"

"I'm not opposed to it," Kuramochi said rubbing the back of his neck. "But I should probably be heading back for the night."

"Oh no you're not," Mizuki said as she emerged from the kitchen. "This storm is lasting until early morning. I'm not letting you walk back to the school in this."

"But I don't want to intrude anymore," Kuramochi said, giving her a nervous smile.

Mizuki crossed her arms over her chest. "This isn't up for discussion."

"But-," Kuramochi started, just to be waved off.

"I've already asked Fumiya and he's okay with you borrowing his room. He also said he'll vouch if your coach asks, and you can tell the man to call here if he has any questions," Mizuki said simply as she crossed her arms.

Kuramochi was silent for a minute trying to let the information sink into his mind. Beside him Nikko sighed. "I know you're looking out for him, Dear, and I agree, but the poor kid just met us today. Let him have a chance to process everything."

"I really don't want to cause you any issues, Sir," Kuramochi tried appealing to the older man.

Nikko smiled. "If you haven't noticed, the storm isn't letting up any time soon. It'd be dangerous for you to head back. I'm sure you'd rather not be drenched as well." Kuramochi was quiet so he added, "If Fumiya has already agreed, then I don't see any reason for you to not use his room. The fact that two of my kids trust you is enough to make me feel comfortable inviting you into my house."

"I appreciate that a lot, Sir," Kuramochi said, at a complete loss for words. "I suppose I don't really have a choice either."

"Nope!" Mirai said happily. "Once Mom and Dad agree on something like this, there's no convincing them otherwise."

"I'm sorry for causing all this trouble," Kuramochi said as he stood and bowed to both of Sakura's parents.

Beside him, Sakura spoke up. "You know, Mirai, Fumiya has told me that Kuramochi-kun is excellent at video games." The underlying bait didn't go unnoticed by Kuramochi, but Mirai ate it up.

"Really? What games do you like?" Her demeanor had shifted from a hyper young child to hold an air of confidence and challenge.

"Mostly fighting and racing games," Kuramochi answered with a shrug.

"Feel like playing some?" Her voice was dripping with hope and Kuramochi didn't know if he could turn her down. In any case, he always loved a chance to kick ass in a video game.

"Sure," he answered, giving the girl a mischievous grin.

Nikko chuckled at the air of challenge between the two and the satisfied look on Sakura's face. "First, why don't you all wash up. Kuramochi-san, you can borrow some of Fumiya's clothes. Sakura will get them for you."

Sakura nodded at her father before turning back to Kuramochi. "I'll show you to his room and grab some stuff for you."

"Ah, alright," Kuramochi answered. He followed Sakura back to the entrance hallway, not missing the smirk dancing on Mirai's face or the sharp gaze from Mizuki. However, none of the three said a word as he followed Sakura up the stairs and down a short hall.

She opened the oak colored door to reveal a neat and organized room. A twin bed was against one wall with nicely made sheets and a dresser was next to it. At the foot of the bed was a desk and on the opposite wall was a closet. A few items were scattered on some shelves and there was a handful of baseball posters up. What caught Kuramochi's eye however, were the several sketches and paintings taking up most of the wall space.

"Does Kusunoki-san draw, too," Kuramochi asked as Sakura made her way to her brother's dresser.

"No, those are, uh, my drawings," she answered, her cheeks tinting pink. Kuramochi thought to himself how cute she looked blushing while Sakura internally scolded herself for being so flustered with him.

"Here," she said as she held out a change of clothes. "The bather room is directly across the hall and the door next to it is the linen closet. I'll grab you a towel."

Kuramochi nodded and followed her out. Taking the towel, he showed himself into the bathroom while Sakura went back downstairs to rejoin her family.