“Haaah.” A black haired boy with spiky hair sat down on the bench beside a brunette that had a similar hairstyle.

“It’s so hot today, isn’t it Yuji?” The brunette asked, wrapping his towel around his neck. “Training was harder than usual.”

“Yeah.” Yuji replied. He twisted the cap of his cold drink and a loud fizzing sound was heard as it separated from the bottle. “But you know what’s more hotter than the weather, Kojuro?”

“What?”

“Ozaki-san.”

Kojuro raised a brow as he looked at his friend. “No, you got it all wrong. Tachibana-san is better.”

Yuji nodded in response and took a long gulp but followed up. “Tachibana-san might have a slender athletic physique. However, Ozaki-san has mounds of flesh on top.”

“You’re probably right.” The brunette commented and took off his cap to ruffle his hair. “You caught that too? Seeing those jiggle as she tried to catch the ball was immaculate.”

“Of course! No one escapes these eyes.” Yuji planted a lecherous look on his face. “Things like that makes our weekly training more fun.”

“You bet.” Kojuro remarked. “If our team was a sausage party, I wouldn’t want to be in it you know.”

“Speaking of which.” The black haired boy emptied his drink in one swoop. “Did you see Motoyama-san? She ran so fast today and her chest bounced like crazy!”

Amidst the conversation of the two young boys, Inaba Motoyama hid at a nearby corner. She was about to congratulate them on working harder than usual but came upon an awkward time.

“Don’t tell me that you like Motoyama-san, Yuji?” Kojuro asked, curious.

“Don’t you?”

“Sure but she’s pretty boyish for me.”

“That’s true. She seems more like a man than us.”

_

Murasaki High, Girl’s Locker Room.

Inaba came out of the shower room, drying her hair with a small towel. She still remembers what Yuji said before she left.

She seems more like a man than us.

“That cant be.” She muttered to herself, wondering if she did look like a man as her two teammates say.

“Oh, Inaba.” A voice called out breaking her concentration. The tanned girl turned her attention to the tall brunette girl with long hair.

“Do you want to come with us? I know a place that serves great milkshakes.” 

“Sae.” Inaba uttered. Her tone was low and the expression on her face told the brunette that this is a serious matter. “Do I look like a man to you?”

Sae Ozaki was taken aback at what she heard from the black haired girl and took a few seconds to give a reply.

“N-No. Why did you ask that?”

“Nothing much.” Inaba replied, slightly annoyed. “Thanks for the offer but I think I’ll head home for today.”

The brunette planted a confused look on her face and didn’t pry any further. She figured that Inaba must be dealing with something on her own. 

“Okay, I guess next time will do.”

With that said, Sae left the tanned girl alone and headed back to her locker.

After changing back to their casual clothes, Inaba waved goodbye to her teammates and walked along the sidewalk. Her mind was distant and wondered if she didn’t train her body to be in peak condition.

Would the boys in her team like her more? Will they find her attractive too?

Seeing Sae in the locker room made her feel insecure about her own body as she was tall, beautiful and had a lot of suitors too. Whereas, she had a lot of guy friends but they treated her as one of the boys.

“Yo, Motoyama!” A loud husky voice called out her name.

Her concentration was broken once again and looked to see where it came from.

“Senpai!”

A tall black haired young man stood in front of her holding a menu sign. He was dressed in a semi formal attire and had a white apron tied on his waist.

“You look like you lost the lottery. What happened to you?”

“I just got back from training and it was more intense than usual.”

“Is that so?” He asked with a smug grin. “Come inside the shop.”

_

“Nothing beats a cold drink after training.” Inaba released a refreshed sigh as she emptied her mug. Truly, it was the best pint of juice that she had.

“Care to tell me what’s troubling you?” The black haired young man asked while cleaning an empty mug. “Let me guess it’s a girl thing huh?”

“Do I look like a man to you senpai?”

He raised a brow upon hearing what his junior said.

“Not at all.” The young man placed the mug aside and refilled the tanned girl’s glass. “Why did you ask? Did somebody tell that to you?”

Inaba took a long gulp and sighed before answering.

“I heard Yuji and Kojuro talking about the girls they like on our team.” She stated. “At first, I didn’t want to interrupt on their discussion and decided to eavesdrop on them but as I was leaving. I heard Yuji tell me that I look more like a man than a woman.”

“Well.” He nodded his head in approval. “He’s not wrong.”

The tanned girl’s eyes widened in shock and couldn’t believe what she heard. “Not you too, Senpai!”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you.” Her senior chuckled heartily and scratched the back of his head. “You still look you, Motoyama.”

Hearing those words made her feel assured and somehow the doubt in her heart vanished at an instant.

“Why do you concern yourself with those things? You’re a beautiful girl and it’s okay to feel insecure about your body. Nobody is perfect, you know.” He added. “Besides, those two only joined the baseball team because they liked seeing you girls run around.”

“Thanks, Senpai.” Inaba took another gulp of her drink and smiled.

Senpai is right, I’m still myself and nothing changed.

_

The next day

Crack

A sharp and resonant sound echoed throughout the open field as the baseball came in contact with the bat. While it flew away, Inaba made a mad dash for the first base. In the corner of her eye, a pitcher ran towards where the ball landed and positioned themselves to toss the ball to an infielder after picking it up.

The distance between the first base and her was great. With every step that she made, the chances of being safe or tagged out are also catching up to her.

A loud whistle was heard afterwards and the umpire declared that Inaba Motoyama was safe as her hand touched the first base.

She made a huge gamble after taking a dive when the ball was inflight to the infielder and it turned out to be worth it.

“That was a close one.” Sae commented while helping Inaba on standing up. “I didn’t expect that you’ll take a huge dive.”

She then tossed the used ball to the ball boy in the bench area.

“Are you okay, Inaba?” 

“I think I hurt one of my sides doing that.” 

The black haired girl rubbed the sore part of her body.

In order to prevent her chest from being hurt, she shifted her body to the right and the impact of the fall made her ache.

“I know this is completely unrelated but you look down yesterday.” The brunette infielder said. “Are you doing fine now?”

“Yeah.” Inaba dusted her body and planted a warm smile as she looked at Sae. “So, is the milkshake offer still good?”

“Of course! Rika is the one who’ll be treating us today.”

“Is she the other team’s captain?”

Sae raised a brow at the tanned girl.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of her?”

Inaba had a sheepish look on her face. She was guilty of the fact that she didn’t know who Rika Tachibana was even though her male teammates constantly talk about the rival captain during breaks.

“I-I don’t.”

“Well… I couldn’t blame you since you’ve been recently assigned to afternoon practice as your previous one had a ton of seniors on it who are working during this break.”

_

After the practice game, Inaba patiently stood in front of the school gates for Sae and Rika’s group. The brunette told to wait for them as they got stuck in the committee’s meeting.

Dressed in a white short-sleeve baseball jersey that had a large number twenty four in gold print, red track pants and white sneakers.

The tanned black haired batter didn’t care much for style as she wasn’t that much feminine to begin with.

She also scanned the people passing by to kill time while tossing a 500 yen coin back and forth in the air.

Loud and quick footsteps came approaching her location and she turned around to see who it was.

Sae Ozaki came clad in a white sleeveless shirt over a light blue jumper short and brown sandals.

“Did you wait long?” Asked the brunette, panting while her hands were on her hips. “Homura-senpai had a long discussion about the unethical things happening in this school”

Inaba placed the coin back into her pocket and gestured a thumbs up sign.

“Where’s Tachibana-san?”

“Rika is just finishing up some work in the student council office.”

A trickle of cold sweat dripped down the tanned girl’s forehead and her palms became cold all of a sudden. The reason for that feeling was Misaki Fujibayashi, the third year student council president.

The silver haired girl had a monotonous expression but exuded an aura of poshness with every step that she made.

She came along with a tall slender girl that had long blonde hair.

“This is where we part, Tachibana-san.” Said the silver haired girl. “I hope you’ll consider what I told you.”

“I will think about it, President.” The blonde girl bowed her head in response.

Misaki turned around and went off, leaving the three first years girls.

“Woah.” Inaba uttered as she looked at the silver haired girl walk away. “President really gives me the chills.”

“Really now?” Sae commented, looking over to the tan skinned girl. “The president is so nice once you get to know her.”

Inaba turned to the tall blonde girl and gave her a good look.

Rika Tachibana had a very attractive face, coupled with blue eyes that shone like the ocean. Her figure was similar to Inaba but her porcelain white skin glistened under the scorching rays of the sun and was flat as a chessboard. She was clad in a plain white t-shirt with a dark blue plaid long sleeve shirt tied along her waist, brown shorts and black hi-top sneakers.

In the words of their male teammates who like to gossip about girls. The rival team captain has the score of 10 / 10 but due to her turning down her suitors. She was considered an impossible mountain to climb.

Inaba’s eyes widened in delight and her jaw slowly dropped. It was as if, a literal goddess came down to earth and turned into a human being.

“You must be Inaba Motoyama. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Rika extended her hand. “I hope we can get along.”

“Same here, Tachibana-san.” Said the tan skinned girl as she shook Rika’s hand.

“What were you and president talking about earlier?” Sae interjected.

“It was an offer to model for the Fujibayashi Group. Apparently, one of her sisters saw my pictures in social media and contacted her.” Replied the blonde. She then turned her attention to Inaba who was still holding her hand. 

“Motoyama-san?” Rika called out with a confused look on her face.

Inaba released the blonde’s hand as soon as she realized what’s going on.

“Sorry, Tachibana-san.” The tan skinned girl sheepishly said while scratching the back of her head.

“I think you should accept it, Rika.” Sae commented. “With that gorgeous face and a body to die for. I’d accept in a heartbeat.”

“Modelling is very hard and you’ll have to be in constant watch for your image. While in baseball, I get to be myself.” Explained the blonde.

Both Sae and Inaba seemed to agree on what Rika said as modelling can be a very tough battlefield.