Chinami II

The first game of the season was the following day and Nobu had suggested everyone meet at Isashi's again to help up their spirits before the big day. He of course invited the nursing students again.

That same orange neon light on the front facade of the café greeted Hiroki as he entered. Once inside, he looked around, but his teammates were nowhere to be found. Odd.

He checked his phone for the time – 7:14 p.m., it read. Weren't they supposed to be here for seven?

Checking back through his texts, he realized they had agreed to meet at 8:00 p.m. Well, better an hour early than an hour late.

He ordered a tea and sat in the same section the team had taken over the last time they were there.

Without anything else to do, he opened a game on his phone. A simple word game, something he felt wouldn't be too incriminating, but it certainly didn't compare to fighting Akumatsu.

His fingers tapped away a the screen. S-A-L-A-M-A-N-D-E-R. Correct!

Suddenly, the chair in front of him squealed as it was pulled out. Hiroki looked up to spot Aki, his classmate, or alternatively, Nobu's "like a sister". She sat in the seat directly in front of him. 

Hiroki assumed she wanted to apologize for forcing such a sight on him earlier in the week. She didn't.

"Hey, you were in my class on Tuesday, weren't you?" she asked. Boy, was he."Yes I was, we sat in the same row," he replied begrudgingly. "I thought so. Don't worry, I don't have my games with me right now," she joked, with as mischievous grin, "anyway, do you and Nobu know each other?"

She seemed unbothered to be talking to a stranger; a male stranger. There was a confident glow to her, a complete lack of fear he wasn't used to in women.

"Ya, we're on the baseball team together."

"Oh, interesting. What's your name?"
"I'm Hiroki. And yours is... Aki?" he questioned.

She blushed a little, slightly embarrassed, but returned a smile, "Murasaki, actually."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's just what Nobu called you, so I assumed..." he trailed off, also flustered.

He found it odd that she was embarrassed to be called Aki, a nickname, but not by presenting to a stranger, her – private interests – in a classroom setting.

"Don't worry about it. I was just a bit caught off-guard. Are you here to meet up with the baseball team?" 

She was so forthright, it scared Hiroki a little.

"I am, ya," he responded."Aren't you pretty early?" Murasaki questioned. How did she know that?

"I got the times mixed up. Were you invited too?"
"Nobu invited me, but I also met some friends here earlier who just left. And I recognized you so I figured I'd come over and chat until everyone else got here."
"I'm surprised you remembered me."

She shrugged, "I spent a lot of time laughing to myself about the face you made, so it was hard to forget."

She brought her fast to rest on her right hand, its connected elbow rested on the table, as another devilish grin grew upon her face. She was surely entertained by her own antics.

Hiroki let out a defeated sigh, which she was even further amused by. Her poise made him feel he was the oddball. He didn't hate talking to her, but she was certainly strange.

"How do you and Nobu know each other?" He already knew the surface-level answer, but needed to end the silence.

"We grew up together."

"Like family friends or?"
She slowly wagged her head, "something like that, ya."
"What do you mean?" he squinted.

For the first time since Hiroki had me her, she seemed to really think about what she was going to say.

Her eyes watched her own hand as she traced circles on the table top with her left index finger, her thoughts mirroring it.

Her hand stopped and she looked back up to Hiroki, "Did you ask Nobu?" she queried.

"Kind of, but he didn't say much."

An unenthused half-smile formed on her face which was still rested on her hand, "Unfortunately, it's not my story to tell."

They sat in silence for what Hiroki perceived to be hours, but in reality was closer to two minutes.

His discomfort grew with the silence. She seemed completely unbothered by it as she once again traced circles on the table with her left index finger.

Her body made a clear signal a thought had grown in her mind. The hand tracing circles once again stopped, and her eyes looked back to Hiroki without her face moving from its rested place on her right hand.

"Do you play any video games?" she asked. Shit.

His eyes went wide from that question he was not at all prepared for, "uh... no... not really," he choked.

The tilt of her head and facial expression told him that was a peculiar way to answer, "Oh — okay. I just thought because you asked me what I was playing in class, you might."

Behind her, Nobu walked through the front entrance of the café, followed by two others from the baseball team, the starting catcher and an outfielder whose names Hiroki had yet to remember.

Murasaki's head turned to see what he was looking at.

"Hey Nobu!" she called, a little too loudly for the, not-yet-bustling, café. Nobu waved back and walked over to them, the two players closely behind.

"Are you giving him game suggestions?" Nobu chuckled. Hiroki feared this would be a never-ending joke, forever haunting his remaining university days.

Murasaki gave a brief, but hearty, laugh, "We just both happened to be early is all."

"I see, I see," Nobu said as he sat down next to Hiroki at the table.

"What did we miss?" the catcher asked.

"Aki just has an explicit taste in games that she surprised Hiroki with in class the other day," Nobu said with a wide smile.

Both the catcher and outfielder smirked, "I will not be asking anything more," the catcher exclaimed in surrender as his palms raised in the air.

Over the next fifteen minutes, baseball players and nursing students started to fill up their corner of the café. Laughter of the young and eager filled the air.

Hiroki mingled with other baseball players and made brief comments with some of the nursing students. His mind was completely engrossed into the witted conversations.

Then front door of the café opened once more, and Hiroki's eyes peered over to see who had entered.

Chinami walked in with three girls behind her, the same who walked her home the last time they met.

She strutted with shy elegance, as Hiroki observed each stride, leading her group to the tables claimed by another cluster of nursing students and baseball players.

Hiroki watched until her eyes finally met his – he gave a muted wave and what he hoped looked like a warm smile. She smiled back, and they sat down at their distant table, one Hiroki noticed Murasaki was also sitting at. Oil and water, he thought.

The conversation at his table was bustling, but his mind was too busy with Chinami's. The one which he belonged, but all the seats were claimed.

Every minute for the next thirty, his eyes found their way in her direction, but never did a seat make itself available.

Defeated, he eventually headed for the café counter to order a drink. Staring intently at the menu, he debated on what to order. A latte would be great, but then he'd be up all night.

The last time he had suffered in baseball practice on little sleep, he promised himself not to do it again. A promise that would assuredly be broken as soon as a new game of interest came out.

"What are you thinking of getting?" a soft female voice chirped from behind.

Caught off guard, Hiroki's head whipped around to see Chinami standing gracefully, her eyes now directed to his.

He beamed with a warm smile, "well, I wanted a latte, but I also want to sleep at a reasonable time tonight, so I was trying to come up with something else."

"Hmm," she hummed as she looked to the menu board, "what about a chai latte?"

Hiroki wagered on the thought of it, "that sounds like a great idea," he bubbled, "what are you getting?"

"I was thinking a matcha latte," she replied.
"It will be my treat then."
"No, you don't have to," she blurted.
"I want to," he grinned. She relented with a blush, moving her hand to cover a smile.

Hiroki made the order, paid, and handed over the matcha latte. He followed her back to the tables where a seat had finally opened up beside Chinami. It was Murasaki's – who had moved to his seat beside Nobu.

Murasaki's eyes met his, she smirked and flicked her eyebrows at him before going back to the conversation at her newly plundered seat.

Hiroki took the open seat beside Chinami and the two continued to talk in a world completely isolated from the others.

Laughs were had. Smiles exchanged. And eyes of passion watched one another as the night grew ever more enchanted.