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]

Ren boggled at the sight of Seiya's wounds healing just like that, and eyed the little vial she was given. Popping the lid off with her thumb, she took a sip, and found herself rejuvenated. Whoa. Now she'd seen everything.

Ahem, and she regained her composure. "I went through the same thing as you, just a few days ago." Putting the lid back on the vial, she put it away on a side pocket of her bag. "You've heard about the weird mirror rumors, right? Well, I'm pretty sure this is it. Only not everyone's experienced this level of... this." She made a gesture with her hand, as though to say whatever this is.

[unexamined]

Ren wasn't the only one staring; the medicine was the last straw for Kota because okay, now they were in crazy magic land. His priority just changed from trying to fit things into his understanding of the world to redefining the entire universe to include this.

"The mirror rumors? Yeah, I'd heard them, but..." But he hadn't really believed them. Even with the "ghost" in Yamada's place, he'd thought it was more his eyes playing tricks on him, just the result of an overactive imagination. As he trailed off he looked at Seiya, frowning slightly at her state.

"Hey Grandma, not that I want to keep harping on this, but you did just save my life. I consider that pretty damn important." Kota glanced back at Ren, trying to gauge her reaction as well. "I mean, a few days ago? If this happens again in a few days, isn't it enough to save that person too?"

[seiyayamada]

"It's impossible to determine who's next..." She smiled weakly at the nickname, fondly patting his shoulder. "You did good in there, sonny. That's all that matters. You too, Ren-chan."

Seiya gathered her things, tossing her bag over her shoulder. "We should all meet up and talk about this more in depth after some rest. Somewhere co-ed." She gestured to the locker room with a little grin.

[homeruuun]

Ren snickered and nodded in agreement, zipping up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she stood. "Hopefully no one catches us coming out of here." She didn't comment when she felt her stomach growl; she didn't really care whether people heard it, unlike other girls she knew. That fighting worked up a bit of an appetite for her.

Still... that was a little unsettling. She had fallen on Kota by chance, and it was the same when it happened to her. They couldn't rely on something like that to save any possible future victim unless they posted someone at every mirror, and that was just silly.