after school

[unexamined]

The conversation was subdued as they trickled out of the locker room, the members of the mens baseball team standing slightly apart from the other students hurrying from practice. They'd just scrimmaged against another team and lost, and it stung even if the game didn't count.

Kota certainly felt it, and one of his teammates slapped him on the arm. "Don't look so down, Kota-kun. You played well, there just wasn't anything we could do."
"That guy could hit homeruns easier than I can breathe," someone else complained, setting off a round of grumbling.
"Alright, enough of that," the captain eventually interrupted. "We've obviously got some work to do, but we can start on it tomorrow at practice."

That signaled the group to start walking again...minus one member. The captain turned back once he noticed Kota wasn't following the group. "Kota-kun, aren't you coming?" Win or lose, they always went to an arcade afterwards to unwind; after all, a bad day on the diamond didn't mean you had to lose at everything!
But Kota shook his head. "Sorry, not this time. I think I've had my ass kicked enough today," he said with a small, strained smile.
The captain hesitated, but now the whole group had paused, with someone shouting for them to hurry up. "Alright," he said. "If you change your mind, you know where to find us."

And so Kota was left standing by himself, making no motion to leave at all. He was looking at the ground with a small frown. They... really couldn't have done anything different during the game. Maybe if their pitcher was a little better, but Kota couldn't really fault him - he'd obviously been doing his best. All their time and effort, and this is where it had gotten them. Losers with nothing better to do than console themselves with an old routine.

Kota turned, his head down, his steps stilted, and walked against the flow of students to slip back inside the locker room. A full length mirror at the end of a row of lockers beckoned him over and he stopped in front of it, only then lifting his eyes.

Comments

[homeruuun]

Sometimes it was good that Ren didn't pay attention to her surroundings. Not looking up from flipping through recent text messages on her cell phone, she opened the door to the wrong locker room, equipment bag slung over her shoulder. She stopped when she felt an eerie atmosphere making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked up from her phone - the locker room seemed deserted from where she stood, but she crept past the rows of lockers until she could spot what gave off the creepy vibe.

Wasn't that Satou from her class? Moreover... what was that in the mirror?! Was that what Seiya had seen when she found her in the girls' bathroom? That was it. It was the same situation, wasn't it? If he didn't snap out of it, then...

She stepped out from her hiding spot, hurrying towards the mirror. "Satou!"