She was ready.
The ball wouldn’t get past her this time.
“I got it…. I got it…,” she said as she raised her hands up and prepared to hit the descending volleyball back over the net. However, the ball was going farther back than she had originally thought and she had to back up in order to hit it.
“I’ll get it,” she heard him say behind her.
“No, I’ll get it,” she insisted… then accidentally tripped over his feet as she backed up a little too quickly and ran into him.
“Look out!” she heard someone warn too late as they began to fall backward. Fortunately, he was able to thrust a fist out and bounce the volleyball back up again for someone else to send back over the net before they hit the ground. Unfortunately, no one was able to reach the ball in time.
Winning point for the other team.
“Are you two all right?” Naru asked as she offered a hand to pull Usagi up off of Ryoku.
“I’m okay,” Usagi replied as Naru helped her to her feet.
“Same here,” Ryoku added as he stood up.
“Sorry about that, Ryo-kun,” Usagi said apologetically.
He shook his head. “Do not worry about it,” he replied with a shrug. “It happens. Often, in your case, but it happens.”
Usagi frowned. “Hey!” she retorted. Ryoku smirked and gave another shrug in reply.
“That was a nice try, though,” Naru commented. “You even managed to save the ball, even though it didn’t go high enough for anyone to get to it before it hit the ground.”
Ryoku shrugged again. “It didn’t keep us from losing. Still, it was a good game.”
“I didn’t mean to trip over you, Ryo-kun…,” Usagi began again, but stopped when Ryoku raised a hand, forestalling her.
“Don’t blame yourself. I should’ve gotten out of your way quicker,” he replied. “Maybe we will win next time.”
“Hey!” one of the girls from the other team called out. “Wanna play again?”
“No thanks,” Ryoku replied. “One game of volleyball is enough for me.”
“Aw,” the girl pouted. “And we were hoping for another game, too. I mean, it’s not everyday we get a guy to play volleyball with us.”
“They’re usually playing baseball or soccer or some other guy sport,” another girl added facetiously.
“Come on, Kino-san!” one of the girls on his team pleaded. “I’m sure we’ll win this time!”
He grimaced slightly, then sighed as he glanced over toward Usagi. “Another game?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
Usagi nodded emphatically. “Let’s go!” she shouted and brandished an enthusiastic fist skyward.
He half-shrugged, then turned back toward the others. “So, who’s serving?” he asked.
“That was fun!” Usagi said happily as they left the volleyball court.
“I’m glad we won this time,” Naru added, smiling as well. “I’m surprised that you even made the winning shot, Usagi-chan.”
“It was easy,” she replied with a smug grin. “Especially since Ryo-kun set it up for me.”
“That was luck and you know it,” Naru countered with a laugh. “You tripped again and just barely managed to remain on your feet. It was only by sheer luck that your hand hit the ball and spiked it.”
“Luck or not, she did win the game,” Ryoku replied. “You have to give her that.”
“Yeah, so there,” Usagi added cheerily.
“All right, all right,” Naru relented with a laugh. “I’ll admit that’s true, but I still say that was luck.”
“Heads up!” they heard a boy shout at them suddenly.
At once, all three of them looked up to see a baseball hurtling toward them from above. Both Usagi and Naru quickly darted out of the path of the plummeting ball, but Ryoku merely stared skyward and stood his ground.
“Don’t just stand there! Look out, Ryo-kun!” Usagi shouted, certain that the ball would hit him if he didn’t move.
Ryoku made no move, nor showed any sign that he had heard her. Instead, he raised one hand over his head and caught the ball barehanded.
The boy that had called out to them halted in his tracks and stared at Ryoku in complete amazement. “Whoa…,” he whispered as he stared at him with his mouth hung wide open.
“That was cool!” Naru said, surprised. “But, didn’t that hurt? You didn’t even flinch.”
“Here,” Ryoku said as he tossed the ball back to the boy and turned to continue on his way.
“Ryo-kun, wait!” Usagi called out as she and Naru went to catch up with him, while leaving the boy to stare after him in awe.
“Who was that guy?” he said to himself as he watched the boy leave, then shrugged and turned to head back to his game.
“Are you sure that didn’t hurt?” Usagi asked as she watched him wince painfully.
“I never said it didn’t…,” he muttered as he gingerly held the hand he caught the baseball and blew cool air into his palm in order to ease the stinging sensation. “Oww…,” he muttered painfully.
“So, you just wanted to look cool in front of the others,” Naru asked with a wry smirk. “I guess you’re a guy, after all, Ryo-kun.”
“I will choose to ignore that remark…,” he muttered dryly with a slight grimace.
“And you caught the baseball, just like that?” Minako asked, blinking in surprise. “Without a glove?”
Ryoku just nodded. He sat between her and Ami on one of the park benches in Shiba Park while Usagi, Rei and Makoto sat in the other one just across from them.
“I bet that must’ve hurt,” Ami commented, her expression matching Minako’s.
“It did,” he replied.
“Oh, but the good part was that Ryo-kun acted like he didn’t feel a thing,” Usagi continued. “He acted all cool until he was out of sight, then started blowing on his hand in order to soothe the pain.”
Makoto started to laugh. “Since when did you start acting the tough guy, Ryo-chan?” Her laughing died away as she noticed that her brother was neither laughing, nor smiling. “Ryo-chan?” she asked, blinking in confusion.
“Yes?” he asked, turning to look at her.
She blinked in surprise again. “Never mind. For a minute I thought…. Never mind,” she said dismissively.
“Still, I’m amazed that Usagi actually won that game,” Rei commented. “I mean, I would’ve expected her to do something like trip and fall backwards, while knocking someone over and losing the game.”
Ryoku and Usagi shared a look and sweatdropped. No, there wasn’t any point in bringing up the game prior. That’d just make Usagi look bad… again.
“She did better than I thought she would,” Ryoku told her. “She took the shot I set up for her and spiked it… in her own special way.”
“I’ll bet,” she said with a smirk.
“Hey, I feel like going to the arcade to celebrate,” Usagi said.
“To celebrate what?” Rei asked. “That game was just for your P.E. class, wasn’t it?”
“So what?” Usagi retorted. “I just wanna go to the arcade.”
“I’m ready for a few rounds at the arcade myself,” Minako stated. “I wanna try out that new racing game that came in a few days ago.”
“How about you, Ami-chan?” Makoto asked as she and the others stood. “Wanna go to the arcade with us?”
“You still have yet to show me those vaunted video game skills that Usagi-chan told me she witnessed when you two first met,” Ryoku told Ami.
Ami turned a slight shade of red. “Well… that was just luck….”
“I’ll believe it’s luck when I see it,” he said they both stood up as well. “I’ll even pay for the game.”
“How about me, too?” Usagi asked hopefully.
“Usagi…,” Rei said chidingly.
“I’m in a slightly generous mood, so you get one game from me,” he relented. “But after that, you’re on your own.”
“Yay!!!”
“You spoil her too much, you know,” Rei told him.
“Maybe…,” he replied with an impassive shrug as they all headed for the arcade.
Ryoku could only stare. “And you’re telling me you’ve never practiced this game before?”
“That’s right,” Ami said as she stood up. “I’ve only played this game once before, when I first met Usagi-chan.”
He continued to stare at the high-score that Ami finished her game with. “1,892,300 points is very impressive for someone who has played this game for only the second time ever,” he said as the crowd that had gathered to watch Ami play parted as she made her way over to him and smiled.
“That was even more fun than the last time I played,” she said with a small grin.
“She made first place on the high-score board,” someone in the crowd finally said.
“And with only one game,” another said in awe.
“Sounds like you have fans,” Ryoku said jokingly as they headed toward the others, who were watching Usagi play one of the video games… and losing.
Ami flushed slightly. “You’re joking….”
“Not really. After all, I’m a big fan of yours.”
Ami blushed a bright red as she stared at the ground in front of her. “Now, quit that, Ryo-kun….”
“No, no, Usagi-chan,” Minako said urgently. “Quickly, jump there! Now shoot that! That’s it! Ah! Look out!”
“Aaaaah! No!!!” Usagi moaned as the huge ‘Game Over’ flashed predominantly on the screen.
“That wasn’t too bad,” Makoto said consolingly. “You did much better than last time.”
“Are you kidding?” Rei asked with a smirk. “I could do better than that! Hey, let me have a go next.” Before she could oust Usagi, she spotted Ryoku and Ami walking toward them. “So, how did she do, Ryo-kun?”
“1,892,300 points,” he said proudly while Ami blushed again.
“Wow!” Usagi exclaimed, hopping out of her seat and running over to Ami to shake her hand. “I think you set a new record, Ami-chan!”
“There’s no need to go that far, Usagi-chan…,” she said quietly.
“Ooh! Look out for that rock, Rei-chan!” Minako suddenly exclaimed.
Usagi whirled around to see that Rei had taken her place at the game. “Hey! I wasn’t done yet!!!”
“You left, so you must’ve been finished,” she retorted as she continued to play.
“Well, I wasn’t!” she shot back. “I only wanted to congratulate Ami-chan.”
“It was my turn, anyway. You were on this game too long. You shouldn’t selfishly hog the machine when others want a turn.”
“Selfish? Who’s selfish?”
“You’re selfish!”
“I am not!”
“You are, too…. Aah!” Rei exclaimed as her head whipped to the machine. “Now look what happened! My player died! You killed me!”
“I wish…,” Usagi muttered and stuck out her tongue at Rei as she turned her concentration back on her game.
Ryoku and Ami shared a look, then both looked to Makoto, who just shrugged in reply.
While Rei continued to play and everyone continued to watch, a boy walked past the group on his way out. Before he reached the door, he paused and glanced back at the group. “Him again…,” he said to himself before turned back to leave.
After choosing to let the others continue to play at the arcade – Usagi and Rei were still at that one game, while Minako and Makoto wanted to race each other at that new racing game Minako liked so much – Ryoku decided to walk Ami home.
“It looks like my mother isn’t home again,” Ami said as she glanced around for any sign that her mother would be home. Her car wasn’t there and the windows and curtains were all closed.
“I see,” Ryoku said with a slow nod. “Maybe next time, then.”
“I sorry, Ryo-kun,” she said apologetically. “I know you want to meet my mother….”
“That’s all right, Ami-chan,” he replied understandingly. “Your mother is a busy woman. You will eventually get the opportunity to introduce your boyfriend to her.”
“I know,” she said with a smile as she unlocked and opened her door. “I’ll see you later, Ryo-kun.”
“Until then, Ami-chan,” he said as he half-smiled back, then turned to leave.
Mako-chan said she’d be a while at the arcade, so I might as well take the long way home, he thought to himself as he left Ami’s house and started for home. However, instead of taking the normal route home, he decided to go walk around the city while gradually making his way home.
It wasn’t often that he had the urge to just walk randomly around the city, but things were beginning to fall into a rut. Too much routine – get up, eat, school, home, eat, homework, practice, shower, bed, repeat. Throw in the occasional enemy attack, but that was work. Might as well throw that in with school. The trip to the park and then to the arcade was all right, but that was him with his friends. He needed to do something… and by himself.
As he continued his walk, his travels took him toward a park where there was baseball practice apparently underway. Curious, Ryoku walked over toward the diamond and watched from the sidelines as the boy at bat yelled out to the other boys out in the field as he hit the ball toward them. Some of them managed to catch the hits without problem, while others just missed, but not too often.
“Ryosuke, go deep for this one!” the boy at bat said as he tossed up the ball and hit it deep into left field over to where Ryoku was watching. The ball went past Ryosuke, who was running after it as fast as he could, and headed straight for Ryoku.
“Not again…,” Ryoku muttered to himself as he reached up and readied himself to catch the ball again. This is really going to hurt.…
“What the…,” Ryosuke murmured as he slowly came to a stop and stared at Ryoku. “No way you could’ve caught that without a glove….”
“Here,” Ryoku said and tossed him the ball.
“Hey, thanks,” he replied and started to leave, but stopped and turned back. “Hey, are you sure that didn’t hurt?”
Ryoku grimaced, then began to shake his right hand vigorously in order to ease the pain. “All right, it did hurt! A lot!”
Ryosuke laughed. “I thought so. But that was a cool catch anyway. Thanks.”
“Hey, you!” the boy at bat said as he pointed at Ryoku. “You look familiar…. Oh, yeah! I remember you from P.E. class. You were the one who caught the ball barehanded earlier today. What’s your name?”
“Kino Ryoku.”
“You’re Kino Ryoku?” the boy replied, a little surprised.
“Unless you know more than one,” Ryoku replied flatly. “I take it you heard of me from someone.” And I thought that all that stopped a long time ago.…
“Oh. Well, sorry,” the boy replied contritely as he began to walk toward him. “It’s just that you’re a little different than from what I heard. Sure, some things were absolutely true, but….”
“What… things?”
“Like you being a really good athlete,” he quickly told him. “After all, not many people can catch a baseball barehanded like that.”
“It hurts… a lot,” he said flatly.
The boy nodded. “I bet it does. Anyway, can I ask you something?” He paused as Ryoku raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah! I forgot! I haven’t told you our names yet! Stupid me. Anyway, I’m Watanabe Asuma. You’ve already met Akai Ryosuke. The others are Tamaei Seirou, Kaetsu Hiroshi, Sumazaki Ryu, Daishima Kentarou, Hoshina Masao, and Ouko Touji.” Each of the other boys nodded as their names were mentioned.
“So, what do you want to ask me?” Ryoku asked.
“Have you ever played baseball?”
“At my old schools, I did occasionally,” he replied offhandedly. “Among other things.”
“Do you want to practice with us?” Asuma asked.
“Hmm…. Well, all right, but only for a little while.”
“Cool,” he said with an eager grin. “Say, since we already know how good you are at catching a ball….”
“And since you don’t got a glove,” Touji cut in.
“Yes, and since you don’t have a glove,” Asuma amended as he gave Touji a dry look, “why don’t you take my place at bat? Hit a few out to us. Let’s see if you’re as good with the bat as you are with your hands.”
Ryoku noticed Asuma’s challenging smirk and smirked back in response. “All right, but don’t blame me if all of you end up just running after all the balls I hit over your heads.”
“Hah! I’d like to see that!” Ryu said as he glanced around to the others, who nodded and gave similar sentiments.
“All right,” Ryoku said condescendingly as he walked over toward where Asuma was standing and picked up the bat. “You asked for it….”
“Bring it on!” Seirou called out from his position at center field. “I dare you to hit it past me!”
Ryoku smirked as he tossed up a ball, readied his bat and swung.
And everyone started to laugh as Ryoku missed the ball.
“That was the best you got?” Masao taunted from third base. “You suck!”
Ryoku sweatdropped as he bent down to pick up the ball, then tried again. This time, he connected with the ball, sending it flying toward Kentarou at right field, who easily caught it.
“Not bad,” Asuma noted from the pitcher’s mound. “Looks like you can hit.”
“That was just a warm-up,” Ryoku stated as the ball made its way back to him. This time, when he hit the ball, it hit the ground quickly and bounced over to Hiroshi at his position as shortstop.
“The guy may be able to catch, but he’s no better than the rest of us at bat,” Ryu said from first base.
“Too bad,” Touji said at second base. “I was looking forward to seeing Seirou chase after a couple of balls.”
“You’re the one who chases after balls, Touji,” Seirou shouted back. “You can’t even keep the ball in your glove!”
“I can, too!” he shot back indignantly.
“Heads up!” Ryoku shouted as he hit another ball.
“Woah!” Asuma gasped as he looked straight up and watched the ball fly through the air.
“Damn…,” Masao breathed in surprise.
“Wow…,” Hiroshi agreed, just as surprised as Masao.
“Holy…,” Seirou exclaimed as the ball sailed over his head.
“There you go!” Ryoku called out. “Right over your head, like I promised.”
“Now go fetch, Seirou!” Touji shouted after him as he turned to run after the ball.
“Shut up!” he shouted back after he ran after the ball.
“That was a lucky hit!” Kentarou shouted. “I’d like to see you do that again!”
And Ryoku did, right over his head.
“It’s your turn to fetch, Ken,” Touji called after him.
“Shut up, Touji!” Kentarou shouted as he ran after the ball.
“I’d like to see you do that again,” Ryu said.
And once more, the ball flew past the outfield, over Ryosuke’s head.
“Go fetch, Ryo!”
“Shut up, Touji!”
“One of these days, they’re gonna beat the hell out of you, you know that, Touji?” Asuma asked flatly.
“Aw, they know I’m only kidding,” he replied with a grin.
The next ball hit the ground and rolled right past Touji, who missed it.
“Go fetch, Touji!” Seirou, Kentarou and Ryosuke all shouted at the same time.
“Very funny,” Touji muttered as he ran after the ball, while Ryoku started laughing. “Shut up, Ryoku!”
After an hour or so, the guys called it a day and went their separate ways home. Since Asuma’s home was in the same direction as Ryoku’s, the two walked home together.
“You’re pretty good, Ryoku,” he told him as he continually tossed his ball up into the air and caught it in his glove. “Not that I was too surprised.”
“Of course not,” Ryoku replied dryly.
“Seriously, I had a feeling you would be a great ballplayer.”
“Why?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because I can catch a baseball barehanded?”
“Well…. I guess….”
Ryoku snorted and turned his gaze forward. “I’m not a baseball player, Asuma.”
“But, you could be.”
“Oh?” He turned back toward Asuma and gave him a look. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, you could play on our team!” he told him. “We’ve been missing a catcher since Kaneda’s family moved to Yokosuka. You can play catcher, right? We could use a guy like you when we play against other local teams. I mean, we haven’t been playing against anyone since we only have eight guys, but with you on our team….”
“I’m kinda busy with other things,” he told him flatly.
“Oh,” he said, slightly deflated. “That’s all right. Hey, it was fun practicing with you, though. You gave the guys in the outfield a good workout. Lately, I’ve been sucking with distance.
“By the way, I saw you earlier in the Crown Arcade with a few of your friends,” he continued. “Boy, I sure envy you, being around five cute girls like that. Let me guess, one of them’s your girlfriend, right?”
“Well…,” Ryoku began hesitantly.
“I knew it!” Asuma said as he slapped him jovially on the back. “Let me guess who it is. I know! The blonde with the odango hairdo. I saw you two together during P.E., you know.”
“She’s got a boyfriend, and I’m not him,” he told him.
“No? Well, I bet it’s the other blonde. She’s a real babe.”
“Not her.”
“What? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
“Um… the dark-haired girl?”
“Wrong again. You’ll never get it at this rate.”
“Hey, now that’s not fair.”
“I never claimed to be fair.”
Asuma laughed at that. “All right, then, I bet it’s the blue-haired girl!”
“About time,” Ryoku said with a laugh.
“All right! What’d I win?”
“You win the right to ask me another question,” he replied with a wry smirk.
“That’s it?” Asuma said disappointedly. “Aw, man. I got gypped.”
“Yes, that’s it. And I just answered the question you just won. Too bad. Thank you for playing.”
Both boys laughed at that.
“So, why were you and the others practicing there?” Ryoku asked. “I mean, you did play during P.E. class today.”
“That was at school,” Asuma answered. “The guys and I…. We wanna play on the baseball team when we get to high school. That’s why we’re practicing now; so we can all have a better chance for when we finally do get to high school.
“What about you? What sport do you wanna try out for when you get to high school?”
Ryoku shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m gonna try out for a team, or if I even want to. I’m not really into sports.”
Asuma stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “Don’t know if you even want to?!? Not really into sports?!?” he exclaimed in shocked disbelief. “Are you joking?” He gave him a flat look. “Are you sure you’re really a guy?”
That took Ryoku aback. “What?!?”
“I mean, most guys would give their left arm for the power you’ve got at bat,” he told him seriously. “What kinda guy with your abilities doesn’t want to use them?”
Maybe it’s because I’ve got other things I have to do, he thought with a hint of a frown starting to form on his face.
“You really worked Seirou, Kentarou and Ryosuke back there,” Asuma added, changing the subject. “I have to admit that I haven’t been able to pull off as many deep hits as you did and I almost envy you for that.”
“Almost?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Asuma added with a smirk. “I could do that, too, with some practice.”
“A lot of practice.”
“Despite what you may think, you’re not exactly the greatest ballplayer in the world, either. Sure you can hit and catch, but everything’s different when you’re actually playing the game. It takes reflexes, thinking on your feet, and the determination and desire to win. You may be good, but you don’t really care about the game. Apathy has never won a game and it never will.”
Ryoku stayed silent, not really sure of what to say. He had never really been into sports; he had only dabbled in them just to play with the other kids when he was younger. Still, he remained silent, pondering Asuma’s words.
As they turned the corner onto another street, Emerald walked past where they turned, her attention riveted onto the crystal earring she held dangling out in front of her. When her earring started reacting, she glanced up to see where it had led her.
“This must be the next negative point,” she said as she walked closer toward the baseball diamond. As she approached the stands behind the backstop, the crystal began to spin faster. A light came out of the lower tip of the crystal and into the ground behind the stands.
“Dark Henge!” she shouted as she summoned another crystalline statue from the future which struck the ground in the exact spot the earring jewel had marked. She grinned arrogantly to herself as a column of dark energy from the future flowed down into the figurine. As more energy poured into the figurine, a small black hole appeared on the ground around the figurine.
“Come forth, Droid Toushu!” she ordered, summoning a white-skinned Droid to appear from within the darkness.
Emerald laughed as she looked over the Droid. Her right arm ended in a sort of tube-like apparatus, and she wore a black and red outfit that slightly resembled a baseball uniform.
“What kind of place is this, anyway?” Emerald mused as she looked over the diamond. “All of that dirt piled up there like that… and this odd shape,” she added as she glanced behind her at the pitcher’s mound and the outfield.
“This is a baseball diamond,” Toushu told her simply.
“A diamond? This place?” Emerald said, blinking in perplexity. “What an unfitting name,” she said, then laughed while Toushu merely stared at her and sweatdropped.
“There you are, Ryo-chan!” Makoto said as he walked through the door to their apartment and closed it behind it. “I thought you were going to come home before I was. Where’d you go?”
He said nothing as he walked past her and into his room, causing Makoto to stare after him in concern. Something was bothering him. She could see it in his face.
“Ryo-chan?” she called after him as she stood at his doorway. He was sitting on his bed and staring at the floor, apparently deep in thought.
“Hmm?” he said as he looked up from the floor at her. “What is it, Mako-chan?”
“Is something wrong, Ryo-chan?” she asked as she walked into the room and sat down on next to him on the bed. “You looked like you were thinking about something when you came in. What happened?”
“After I took Ami-chan home, I went to go take a walk,” he told her. “Nowhere in particular. Just a walk. Anyway, I just happened to come across a group of guys practicing baseball. A guy that recognized me from school asked me to come play with them, so I did.”
“You played baseball?” she said with a pleased grin. “And I thought you weren’t interested in playing sports.”
Ryoku shrugged. “I know, but for some reason….” He trailed off with another shrug. “Anyway, since one of the guys lives in a house on the way here, I decided to walk with him for a while as we went home. We talked for a little bit and something he said made me wonder about something.
“Was there a time when I actually did like playing sports?” he asked. “It’s been a long time since I played a sport just for playing the game and not just because others were playing it, too.”
“Does it really matter whether or not you like to play sports?” Makoto asked after a while. “Shouldn’t it matter more about whether you had fun or not?”
Ryoku looked at Makoto for a moment, then gave her a half-smile. “Of course,” he said as he stood up and headed out of the room. That wasn’t exactly along the lines of what I was thinking, but maybe it’s better that she thinks that that was what I meant, he thought as he started to leave. This is something I have to think about myself.
Makoto watched him leave from the hallway and frowned in concern. “Was it something I said?”
Ryoku sat down on a bench in Shiba Park and frowned in thought. What am I getting so upset about? he wondered. It’s not like I cared about these things before.…
“Ryo-oniichan!” he heard Chibiusa shout.
“Kiddo?” he said, turning to watch the pink-haired little girl as she ran up to him. “What are you doing here?”
“She all but dragged me here,” Usagi said as she came up to them. “She said she wanted to come play here.”
“Yeah!” Chibiusa nodded as the Luna Sphere floated up beside her. “Hey, Ryo-oniichan, you wanna play with us?”
“What have you got in mind, kiddo?” he asked standing up.
“Luna Sphere, change!” she shouted as she bounced her Luna Sphere and let it change into a soccer ball. “Come on, Ryo-oniichan! Let’s play! You, too, Usagi!”
“Yeah, all right,” Usagi agreed and shrugged as she glanced over to Ryoku. “Coming, Ryo-kun?”
Ryoku shrugged as he went to join Usagi and Chibiusa. I guess it really doesn’t matter. Still, I wish I knew why that was bothering me.…
“They asked you to play baseball with them?” Usagi asked as he walked home with her and Chibiusa. “I didn’t know you played baseball, Ryo-kun.”
“Back when Mako-chan and I were going from school to school, I played as many sports as I could. It was mostly so I could make friends with the guys I played with.”
“So, that’s why you’re such a good athlete,” Usagi reasoned. “Lots of practice in so many different sports.”
“That was only part of it,” he continued with a shrug.
“Part of it?” she asked.
“It also helped that I was a strong kid.”
“Right,” Usagi said with a wry grin. “So, why haven’t you ever tried out for any sports like baseball? I mean, most guys usually do. But then, you’re not like most guys, are you?”
Ryoku stopped suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” Chibiusa asked, concerned.
“What did you say?” he asked quietly.
Usagi blinked, bewildered at his sudden change. “I just asked why you haven’t tried out….”
“No, not that,” Ryoku cut her off. “The last part.”
“I said, you’re not like most guys,” she said, then frowned. “Oh, Ryo-kun, I didn’t mean anything bad by that. I mean, it’s a good thing to be unique, right?”
“Tell me,” he continued in a soft voice, “how am I not like most guys?”
Usagi and Chibiusa exchanged worried looks. “Well, you are a Sailor Scout, Ryo-kun.”
“I somehow doubt that was what you meant,” he countered dryly.
Usagi sweatdropped. “Well… I guess, I meant that you don’t act like most guys would act,” she explained. “I mean, you’re more serious, more quiet, more mature…. You know, the more I think about it, the more that sounds like Mamo-chan,” she added thoughtfully.
Chibiusa sweatdropped. “Usagi…,” she said in chagrin, then turned to Ryoku. “Ryo-oniichan, don’t worry about being like most guys. I like you the way you are.”
“Yeah, me, too, Ryo-kun,” Usagi added with a wink.
Ryoku gave them a small half-smile. “Thanks.”
The next day, Asuma and his friends met at the baseball diamond as usual and began their practice. However, he began to notice that his playing had improved greatly since yesterday. Well, he was bound to get over his slump sooner or later. Not only that, but the other guys were doing much better, too. Even Touji… amazingly enough.
As he continued to bat balls out to the guys, he began to wonder if it didn’t have to do with them playing with Ryoku yesterday. The guy was a good player, especially for someone who didn’t play wholeheartedly. Maybe the guys were trying harder just to prove to themselves that they could be better. Well, whatever the reason, there seemed to be a fire lit within them. Maybe within himself as well.
Just wait until the next time Ryoku could play with them. They’d certainly show him something then.
“Hey, Usagi-chan, did you say something to Ryo-chan yesterday?” Makoto asked as she, Ami, Usagi and Luna all walked home from school. “He seemed to be deep in thought when he came home yesterday. When I asked him what happened, he said he had a talk with you and Chibiusa-chan.”
“I kinda said that he wasn’t like most guys,” she told her. “At first, he seemed to take it the wrong way, but we told him that we liked him better the way he is, rather than if he started acting like most normal guys do.”
“Why would Ryo-kun take what you said the wrong way?” Luna asked.
“I don’t know,” Makoto said with a worried frown. “For some reason, he’s been quieter than usual, but he says nothing’s wrong. I just wish he’d let us help him with his problems other than having us try to force him into letting us help him.”
Ami looked up from her pensive scrutiny of the sidewalk and blinked as she spotted Ryoku just he was turning around a corner. “Hey, I just saw Ryo-kun walk by over there,” she pointed out to the others.
“Well then, let’s go after him!” Usagi suggested.
Makoto nodded. “Right. I think if all of us asked him, he’d be sure to let us help him with whatever’s bothering him.”
“That’s right!” Usagi agreed, nodding enthusiastically. “Especially since we have Ami-chan to help us. Ryo-kun wouldn’t say no to his own girlfriend, after all,” she added with an insinuating smile as Ami flushed slightly.
“You don’t have to go that far, Usagi-chan….”
“Usagi…,” Luna muttered flatly.
“Come on, Ami-chan, Luna!” Usagi said as she and Makoto started to follow Ryoku with Ami trailing slightly behind them.
“How are things progressing, Toushu?” Emerald asked as she appeared beside the Droid, who was observing the Dark Henge’s steady growth.
“Very well,” Toushu replied.
“Good,” she said with a nod. “Just watch out for those Sailor Scouts.”
“Of course,” Toushu answered as Emerald left again, then turned her attention toward the boys practicing out on the diamond. “And I have just the thing to keep them out of the way….”
“I’d like to see you try and get this!” Asuma shouted as he tossed the ball into the air and swung. He connected and the ball sailed rapidly through the air.
“You call that a hit?” Seirou retorted as he ran after the ball. As the ball plummeted earthward, he performed a dive with his glove extended and caught the ball. “Nice try, but you’ll never get one past me.”
“Catch!” Asuma shouted as he batted another one toward him, but farther. “There! Home run! Now, what was that you were saying?”
“Lucky break!” Ryosuke shouted. “But then, this’s Seirou we’re talking about. Now, me, on the other hand….”
“Hah!” Kentarou spat. “You’d like to think you’re better than me, wouldn’t you?”
“Think? I know I’m better!”
“Says the both of you!” Seirou cut in. “I’d like to see either of you top that last diving catch I made!”
“So what?” Hiroshi remarked with a bored yawn. “All you three have to worry about are pop flies. We have to worry about the stopping balls close to the ground, which are flying past much faster than when they come flying down to you.”
“Hey! Less talking and more practicing!” Asuma snapped. “How do you guys ever expect to be a winning team if you’re all blathering like a bunch of little kids? I swear, you guys talk more than girls do!”
“Busy day?” a voice called out from behind the backstop. “I see you guys are here again. How often do you all practice? Everyday?”
“So, you’ve come again, Kino Ryoku,” Asuma said with a grin as he glanced over his shoulder at him. “Hey guys, the hotshot’s decided to grace us with his presence once again! Aren’t we lucky?” Everyone grunted in apathetic unison.
Ryoku frowned at the sarcastic tone in his voice. “Something wrong, Asuma?”
“Why are you here, anyway?” he asked in a completely straightforward manner as he turned to face him while propping his bat over his shoulder. “You told me yourself that you’re not into sports. So, why come here again? Don’t tell me that you’ve come to cheer for us?” he added with a hint of a sneer creeping onto his face as the others chuckled at the jibe.
Ryoku’s frown deepened. “Excuse me?” he asked in a low voice.
“Why else would you be here?” he asked, shrugging as if the answer should be obvious. “I mean, that’s more your sort of thing, isn’t it?”
Now, his frown began to turn into something more dangerous. “Explain.”
“Face it, Kino-chan,” Asuma said in a derogatory tone. “You act more like a girl than a boy. You don’t care for sports, you hang around with girls most of the time, especially those two other girls and your sister…. Do you even have any male friends?” he asked. “In fact, the only thing that keeps me from thinking that you’re actually a girl dressed up as a boy is the fact that you actually have a girlfriend,” he paused, then smirked contemptuously at him. “Then again, you could just be a girl who swings that way.” All eight boys began to laugh at him.
That did it. He could feel rage seeping into him like water into a sponge. Now, it was time to cause some serious physical damage. He was about to go take them all on when he felt something hold him back.
“Ryo-kun, don’t!” Usagi said as she, Ami and Makoto all held him back as the laughter continued to increase.
“Don’t interfere,” he growled as he continued to struggle. “They’ve gotta pay for what they said to me. No one insults me like that and gets away with it.”
“Big talk for a little girl,” Asuma taunted again. “Are you really gonna try to make me shut up?” He began to laugh again.
“Shut up!” Ryoku shouted as the three slowly began to pull him back and drag him away from the diamond.
“Bye, Kino-chan!” Asuma called out mockingly as he and the others continued to laugh.
“Ryo-chan, pull yourself together!” Makoto said concernedly. “You’ve never let talk like that bother you before. Calm down!”
“Not until I shut those bastards up,” he stated as he struggled some more.
“Ryo-kun, this isn’t like you!” Ami called out to him worriedly. “Please, stop this!”
Luna frowned. “Listen, everyone,” she said suddenly, causing the girls to glance over at the black cat. “I have a feeling that the enemy is behind all of this. The change in the boys, Ryo-kun’s unusual aggressiveness….”
“Ryo-chan, snap out of it!” Makoto shouted as she spun Ryoku around and suddenly slapped him hard across the face. After that, they all stopped moving, even Ryoku.
“Wha…?” he said in a dazed voice. “What happened? I felt so angry all of a sudden and….” He cut off as he realized what must’ve happened. “Emerald…. This must be another plan of hers.” He scowled angrily. “Damn her…. Messing around with me like that….” He reached behind his back and pulled out his transformation wand and let the blade of the Star Sword come forth. “She won’t get away with it!” he exclaimed as he raised his Star Sword overhead while the others brought out their transformation wands.
“Knight star sword power!”
“Jupiter star power, make up!”
“Mercury star power, make up!”
“Moon crystal power, make up!”
Mercury reached up and pressed her earring and her visor slid across her eyes. “I’m picking up a source of dark energy coming from around the baseball diamond we just left,” she informed them. “I think that’s what was influencing Knight and the other boys.”
“Right,” Knight acknowledged. “Let’s go find it and take care of it.” He turned and headed for the diamond, followed by the others. However, once the four Sailor Scouts reached the diamond, they had to duck as a number of projectiles nearly took off their heads.
“I had a feeling you would show up sooner or later,” Toushu stated as she strode forward and raised her right arm, aiming the barrel straight toward Sailor Moon and fired a shot similar to a white energy ball.
Sailor Knight swung his Star Sword and knocked the energy ball away. “So, you’re to blame,” he said, scowling fiercely. “You’re the one who changed Asuma and the others.”
“Those boys who were playing here a short time ago?” Toushu asked, then grinned. “I suppose that was me.”
“How dare you force boys to turn against one of their friends!” Sailor Knight shouted angrily. “You’ve turned a team of good-hearted baseball players and twisted them into cruel, spiteful monsters such as yourself, and I cannot forgive you for that!”
“Hey, Knight! What about me? I was supposed to do my speech, you know!” Sailor Moon fumed.
“Eh?” Knight said, then sweatdropped. “Oh. Why don’t you just finish it up, then?”
Sailor Moon frowned. “Oh, all right,” she huffed, then turned toward Toushu. “At any rate, I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon!”
“Likewise, Sailor Mercury!”
“Likewise, Sailor Jupiter!”
“And, Sailor Knight!”
“On behalf of the Moon, we’ll punish you!” all four shouted together.
Toushu laughed derisively as she snapped her fingers. At once, the eight boys positioned themselves between her and the four Scouts. “You were saying?” she asked smugly.
“Everyone, I will handle them,” Knight said without taking his eyes off of Toushu. “You all take care of her.”
“Are you kidding, Knight?” Sailor Moon asked. “Taking on eight people at once?”
“I will take care of them. Don’t worry about me.”
Jupiter frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re still mad at them,” she said disapprovingly. “I thought that was just the influence of the enemy.”
“This is not about me being mad,” he said flatly, then half-grinned slightly at her. “I am not going to go any farther than I have to in order to stop them. I promise.” He turned back toward Toushu and glared at her.
“Now!” he shouted and rushed at the Droid and kicked at her. She leaped away just as the eight boys started to close in on him.
“Shabon spray!” Mercury shouted, raising a thick fog in order to give Knight some cover as she and the other Scouts went after Toushu.
“Sparkling wide pressure!”
“Shine aqua illusion!”
Both attacks missed as Toushu quickly dodged. The Droid raised her cannon-arm and started firing white energy balls at them, causing the Scouts to scatter.
Knight was having a hard time dodging attacks coming in from eight directions at once despite all the mist. It was fortunate that none of them were skilled fighters. It was also fortunate that none of them were bothering to coordinate their attacks. However, it was very tiring just dodging all of the attacks. He was sorely tempted to just put them all down hard for all they had said to him, but he knew that everything that they said was not their fault. Still, the temptation was strong and he was slowly being cornered.
“Sparkling wide pressure!” Jupiter shouted again, flinging one of her lightning balls into an oncoming barrage of energy balls, causing the whole group to explode at once, filling the air with white smoke.
“Where is she?” Sailor Moon said as she glanced around, looking for Toushu. At the same time, Toushu was aiming her cannon-arm right at her head.
“Sailor…!” Knight began to shout, but was cut off as Ryu charged at him and knocked him to the ground with his shoulder. Knight tried to get up, but he was kicked in the head by Kentarou and Hiroshi. When he went down again, Asuma set his foot on Knight’s chest and put all his weight on it. Touji and Masao each stepped on his hands while Ryosuke and Seirou stepped on his legs in order to keep him from getting back up.
“So, the great Sailor Knight can’t even fight back against normal humans,” Asuma sneered as he spit on Knight’s face. “He’s just as much a girl as the other Scouts.”
“You don’t mean this, Asuma,” he said as he struggled against his captors. However, he couldn’t get enough leverage in order to free himself.
“Now, Sailor Knight,” he continued as he took his foot off Knight’s chest and moved it to his throat, “you will die.”
“Look out, Sailor Moon!” Jupiter shouted when she saw that Toushu was about to fire at Sailor Moon from behind.
“Knight!” Mercury gasped worriedly once the fog and smoke all began to clear, showing Asuma getting ready to crush Knight’s windpipe.
Sailor Moon began to turn around as Toushu fired her attack and Asuma began to bring his foot down. Suddenly, nine roses flew through the air, colliding with the incoming energy ball and crashing, blossom first, into each of the boys’ faces. The energy ball exploded just before reaching Sailor Moon; while each of the boys were stunned by the rose attack, allowing Knight to wrench himself out of the boys’ hold and leap away.
Sailor Moon looked up toward the source of the rose barrage and spotted him perched on top of the backstop, cape fluttering in the breeze. “Tuxedo Kamen-sama!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“I will not allow you to use those boys as your own personal shield,” he declared as he leaped down to the ground.
“What I do is none of your business,” Toushu declared as she fired at Tuxedo Kamen. He countered by flinging several roses at the energy ball. When the first one hit, the energy ball exploded, but the rest flew through the smoke and struck the Droid.
“Now, Sailor Moon!” Luna shouted.
“Right!” Sailor Moon said as she brought out her Moon Scepter. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as she waved the scepter in front of her, firing a blast of white energy at Toushu. The attack stuck her shattering her skin to pieces, leaving only her figure in crystal, which disintegrated into a pile of powder. The jewel with the upside-down black crescent moon turned from a bright yellow into a dull lifeless gray.
Emerald scowled from her vantage point behind the stands as the Dark Henge fell to the ground and shattered. “Damn…,” she muttered angrily. “They almost had that one Scout, before….” She huffed furiously in frustration as she turned and vanished.
“What happened?” Asuma asked as he and the others stood up.
“Hey, what’re we doing over here?” Touji asked. “I thought we were practicing.”
“I thought so, too,” Ryosuke agreed as he scratched his head in confusion. “At least, that’s what I thought we were doing….”
“I feel strange,” Seirou added rubbing the side of his head. “Kinda like I blanked out for a second. I remember coming to the field, then all of a sudden, I’m right here.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Ryu agreed, nodding.
“Same here,” Hiroshi seconded, followed by the rest.
“I’m glad you guys are all right,” Ryoku said as he, Usagi, Makoto, Ami and Mamoru – who decided to stick around after the battle – all walked up to them.
“Ryoku!” Asuma exclaimed in surprise. “Hey, we were wondering if you’d ever show your face back here again.”
“Well, here I am,” he said with a noncommittal shrug.
“And you’ve brought friends, I see.”
“Actually, they kinda followed me here,” he admitted.
“We wanted to see him play ball,” Makoto said, smirking at her brother.
“Oh, so you wanted to play ball with us some more, eh?” Masao said with a laugh. “So, who’re your friends?”
“They’re Tsukino Usagi; Chiba Mamoru; my sister, Kino Makoto; and my girlfriend, Mizuno Ami.”
“So, that’s your girlfriend, Ryoku?” Touji asked. “Man, she’s cute! You lucky bastard.”
“Shut up, Touji,” Ryosuke said as Ami blushed at the comment. “Sorry about Touji. He talks too much sometimes and mostly without thinking. Anyway, I’m surprised that you’re here, Ryoku. Asuma was saying that you weren’t all that interested in playing ball with us.”
“Oh?” Ryoku asked, raising an eyebrow at Asuma.
“Hey, you were the one who told me that,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“So I did,” Ryoku replied with a shrug. “Well, I thought about it and….”
“You’re gonna play ball with us?” Asuma asked excitedly.
“I thought I’d come around every now and then and practice with you guys,” he finished. “But, I’m not joining the team. However, I’m sure I can ask one of my friends if she knows someone at her school who could be your new catcher.”
“Really?” Asuma asked. “Oh, man, that would be great. Hey, I’d appreciate that, Ryoku. It’s too bad that you don’t wanna join the team, though. You’d be a pretty good ballplayer.”
“It’s just as well that you’re probably not going to join any team,” Kentarou added. “I’d hate to play against you with talent like yours. Maybe if you practiced as much as we do, then you could really do some damage. Hell, you could probably turn pro, right guys?” The others laughed at that.
“What’s so funny?” Usagi asked.
“It’s just that it’d be funny to watch Ryoku play pro when he doesn’t really give a damn about playing sports in the first place,” Seirou told her.
“Oh,” she said without really understanding. She looked up to Mamoru, who just shrugged in response.
“Still, I thought I’d never see the day that I’d meet a guy that didn’t care about sports,” Touji said with a short laugh. “Not that that’s a bad thing, of course. Different people like different things, right?”
Hiroshi blinked. “That’s the most intelligent thing I’ve ever heard Touji say,” he said to the others.
“The world’s coming to an end!” Ryu exclaimed fearfully as he and the others laughed.
“Shut up, Ryu,” Touji muttered, causing the others to laugh more.
“So that’s why you’ve been brooding lately,” Makoto said as she and the others left the diamond an hour later.
“At first, I thought that when I lost Keiko-chan, part of that which made up Ryoku died as well, leaving me to rebuild myself almost from scratch,” Ryoku explained as Luna rode on his shoulder. “And since I had always stayed with Mako-chan, and she always hung out with mostly girls….”
“As a result, so did you,” Mamoru finished.
Ryoku nodded. “I thought that maybe, part of my subconscious thought of myself as just one of the girls, since I had spent most of my time around them and they treated me as such when I was with Mako-chan.
“That led me to wonder about myself. Was I one of the girls? Or, am I still one of the guys who just happens to spend most of his time with his best friends, who happen to all be female?”
“We don’t care about any of that, Ryo-kun,” Usagi told him. “It’s like Chibiusa-chan and I told you, we like you the way you are.”
“That’s right, Ryo-chan,” Makoto added. “You don’t have to be one of the guys, one of the girls, or one of anything.”
“No matter what, you’ll always be our Ryo-kun, and you’ll always be one of a kind,” Ami finished as she touched his hand with hers.
“I guess you've got no more excuses, then,” Mamoru added facetiously, then grinned as well.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Ryoku said suddenly with a sly half-grin. “Usagi-chan said something interesting to me the other day.” Usagi’s eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about and vigorously shook her head at him.
“Really?” he asked, grinning as he noticed her reaction. “What was it?”
“She says I remind her of you,” he told him as she blushed in embarrassment. “Serious, quiet, mature….”
“All right, all right!” Usagi exclaimed as the others laughed.
“Mamoru-san, I think you’d better be careful or she’ll mistake Ryo-chan for you one day,” Makoto said, laughing.
“That’s not funny, Mako-chan!” Usagi fumed as the others continued to laugh at her expense.
To Chapter 79: Deceptive Illusions