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 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.