Here to Stay

Chapter 7: When people are alone

She fisted the grass beneath her fingers, her gaze fixed on the boy in front of her. Her other hand lies over her skirt with the grace she was known to have as she sat a little farther away from the practice grounds, on the slope, in the care of safety nets to protect any bystander from stray balls. His teammates chattered among themselves, occasionally giving her a look or two before slinging their bags over their shoulders, wishing him goodbye and running off. He waved at them too, casually, but his eyes never leave the practice dummy. She has to admit that she is impressed how almost all of his balls hit the intended target and but she cannot help but think, maybe that accuracy and precision comes from the times they practiced throwing rubber knives at someone unimaginably faster than his opponents were ever going to be.

A corner of her mind reminded her that the energy drink she had brought for him would get warm soon. But something rooted her to the place. Maybe it was his controlled form, the swing of his arm in a practiced arc or the light in his eyes that kept her unmoving. He might have been practicing the same routine for hours now, but she didn't know. She hasn't yet seen the glanced on her wrist.

Or maybe they were her own insecurities threatening to swallow her whole. Watching him act with so much direction in his life stirred something in her heart. He had a purpose, a goal that he wanted to achieve.

To become the best pitcher out there! Whom the world would remember.

That was his dream. But...what did she have?

A desire to break through the perfect doll persona her parents had forced upon her. A desire to not end up as a trophy wife to some rich businessman with no accomplishment for herself. But these were vague dreams, Something so far away in the future that she didn't know how to reach towards them.

What would Korosensei think if he sees her now? Would he be disappointed? Angry? Sad?

She didn't know the answers. Maybe did not even want to.

Suddenly his gaze flicked up to her, dark eyes widening a little when he realised that he has been the object of her observations. He blushed, averted his gaze and then stalked to his sports bag. It took him only a few seconds to gather up his things and then rush to her.

"You didn't need to cut short your training for me." Kanzaki said, looking up at him.

"No! I was done anyway, Kanzaki-san." He blurted out, bending down a little and offering his hand for her to take.

She smiled, gathered her things, stuffed them into her bag and took his hand to pull herself up. She noted how he is careful with his strength. She stood, dusted the grass off her skirt and rummaged through her bag.

"Here." She offered him the energy drink she bought and he looked delighted.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed, "I was honestly beat!" He took the can from her, opened the lid, a happy smile on his face and Kanzaki was unable to hold back her's in return. Together they walked down the sunset, talking about everything and anything, close enough to touch but tentative enough not to. And the way he looks at her with wide innocent eyes, thinking the world of her makes her wonder if she can actually drag herself out of these mess of feelings she's drowning in. Being with him gives her hope and honestly, she cherishes every moment of it.

...

Manami glared at the test result lying in front of her. How could she have written Nucleophilic substitution reaction wrong?But, here was the paper lying in front of her - a plain evidence of her failure. She stared at the paper some more before folding it and stuffing it in her bag a little violently.

"My, my...Manami-chan? What's with all that rage?" Izumi. Who had noticed her out of character behaviour didn't hesitate to make a remark.

Manami pouted a little. "I got the seventh question wrong."