Chapter 12

A few days later, Izumi rushed out in the morning to meet the boys.

Yanagi smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning! Wait..." Izumi froze. "Where's Kuruma?" Is he okay? I hope he's not out sick.

"Ah, I thought you might notice." He chuckled. "Kuruma went to school earlier to have a meeting with his brother."

With his brother? Her eyes lit up. "Does that mean the club's been approved?" Maybe my notebook full of ideas will come in handy.

Yanagi tilted his head to the side in wonder. "Well, maybe. Takumi hasn't told us yet, so it's still possible he's calling him in to deny it."

"Oh." Her shoulders drooped.

"Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to burst your bubble like that." He patted her head. "But we don't know what's happening yet."

"I get it. Thanks for letting me know." She hooked her thumbs around her backpack straps as they started on their way to school.

"It still means it might've been approved."

With my luck, who knows?

"Hey." Yanagi flipped around, walking backwards as he looked down at her. "Baseball practice is starting today, and they want to see everyone's skills in a game. Newbies versus veterans. Want to come watch us play? I know it's not an official match, just a friendly home game, but it could be fun. We can even invite Shiori."

An image of Kuruma in a baseball uniform flitted through her mind. It might clash with his look, but also might look weirdly good. "Hmm..."

"Something wrong? Baseball not your thing?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that." Those SD baseball games are fun. "But if we get approval, wouldn't we want to have our first club day today?"

"Ah, I see what you mean. Kuruma will definitely be eager to start, but he's also working to fit it in alongside baseball. It means we'll be late to practice two days a week, but today isn't one of them."

"I see." Rats. Even if it's approved, we won't start yet. "Well, I don't know if Shiori will come." Even if I want her to... "But I'd love to watch you two play."

"Great!" Yanagi gave her a thumbs-up and flipped back around. "It'd be awesome to have two cute girls cheering on the newbies."

"Sorry if it ends up being just me."

"Don't be." He winked at her. "We'll be happy to have you there."

"Are you sure Kuruma would want me there? He keeps going on about being a benchwarmer..."

"He won't be in this game, and he's just trying to lower people's expectations of him. He's an excellent player, regardless of what he says. Once the team sees him play, they'll know the truth."

"Unless he blunders it on purpose."

"He better not! The newbies want to win this game."

Do they even stand a chance?

"Oh, I see skepticism on your face, but we do stand a chance, I assure you."

How does he do that?

"Because you're easy to read. A lot of people are."

Izumi shuddered. If I'm easy to read, how am I going to hide my hobbies? Definitely not with a notebook full of ideas! Shoot, this is going to be harder than I thought.

"Please don't make that look; it's not a bad thing to be easy to read. It shows how genuine your expressions are."

That's rich.

"Most of the time, anyway."

Izumi froze mid-step. "What do you mean by that?"

"Sometimes, your smile doesn't reach your eyes." He pointed at the corners of his own. "It's not like you mean anything bad by it, but I kinda wish you didn't have to force a smile. Your natural smile is pretty, though."

"Thanks..." I practiced that smile all summer, and he can tell right away it was fake. Epic failure.

"Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have said anything. Sometimes I run my mouth too much and just... blurt things out. Not everything needs to be pointed out, and I know that, but bleh, out it comes."

"It's okay." Izumi bit her lip, staring at the ground as they walked.

"Watch it!" Yanagi yanked her back into his arms before she could walk straight into the road as a car drove by.

"Oh!" Izumi gasped, her heart hammering as she stared at the car. I was almost hit. I need to pay more attention.

"Geez. It's bad enough when Kuruma does this," he grumbled and let her go.

"Sorry." Izumi bowed to him. "And thank you."

"It's okay, since you're not injured, but please don't do that again. I'm not sure my heart can take it." He patted his chest over his heart and sighed.

He worried that much about me? I guess no one would want that happening right in front of them. She shuddered. How do you train yourself not to get lost in thought?

He tapped her nose. "You're doing it again."

"Sorry."

"I can't help but wonder what you're always thinking about."

"It... changes."

They continued across the street.

"Oh, look, it's Shiori." Yanagi waved to her.

She glared at him, her eyes briefly meeting Izumi's as she kept going.

"I swear she didn't use to hate me this much." He sighed.

"I don't think she hates you, but you have a lot of energy, and you're a lot to take in."

"Hmm. I'd tone it down, but that's not me, and she's likely to completely ignore me then."

She felt a stabbing pain in her chest. Way to hit that spot again.

They ran into Kuruma in the hall outside of class, his brows furrowed as he stared at papers.

"I don't like that look." Yanagi poked his forehead. "Was it bad news? We can handle it."

Kuruma smirked and held up the paper. "It's official. We have our own club. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Takumi has set us up with a shared lab on the first floor."

"Yes!" Yanagi high-fived him and picked him up in a bear hug.

"Ack! Put me down!"

Yanagi swung him around and released him, laughing. "This is so awesome. One step closer to your dream."

"Congrats." Izumi smiled.

"Thanks." Kuruma smiled back.

Oh! Her heart thumped hard. Such a sweet smile.

Yanagi wrapped his arm around Kuruma's shoulders, talking about his ideas for the game as he led him in.

Izumi set her backpack on her desk and turned to Shiori. "We have good news: our club is official!"

"Great..." Shiori frowned as she stared down at her tarot cards.

"What's wrong? Did it predict a bad day?"

"I'm confused... and wary."

"Three of Cups," Izumi read the first one. "They look happy, so why is that a bad thing?"

"Because it probably means another disrupted day for me." She sighed, knowing for certain it would be because of Izumi.

"The Chariot?"

"Someone... driven." She glanced at Yanagi, and he winked at her.

"And the Five of Wands? Okay, that one looks chaotic." Izumi frowned.

"And yet they all trouble me."

"Oh, right!" Izumi's face lit up. "Want to come with me to watch Kuruma and Yanagi's first practice baseball game? It's newbies versus veterans."

"Ah, so that's what they're referring to." Shiori collected her cards.

"The cards predicted the baseball game?"

"Sort of."

Cool. I wonder if I could learn how to read them. "So, will you come with me?" She clasped her hands together and smiled. "Please."

A small piece of crumpled paper landed on Shiori's desk.

Shiori flattened the paper. "Please come." She glanced back at Yanagi, who copied Izumi, clasping his hands together. "Ugh." Shiori rolled her eyes. "This entire year is going to be exhausting."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Last time I tried to avoid what the cards told me, it still ended up happening, so I guess I will."

"Yes." Izumi pumped both her fists. "This is going to be awesome."

"Alright, class, in your seats, please," Mrs. Nagao said as she rushed in.

Izumi turned back around and knocked her backpack over, spilling its contents.

"Oops." Izumi laughed awkwardly as she knelt down to pick up her stuff.

Kuruma and Honda, who sat in front of her, reached down to help her.

"Ha, what's this?" Honda asked, picking up the notebook that fell open.

"That's..." Oh no. She froze, eyes widening. Is it happening again?

Kuruma snatched it from Honda. "Whatever it is, is none of your business."

"But that looked like some weird—"

"Seriously? Did you not understand?"

"It's mine, anyway." Shiori grabbed the notebook from Kuruma and glared at Honda. "Problem?"

"No..." He swallowed hard and sat back in his seat, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

"Thanks, guys," Izumi mumbled as she stuffed everything back into her backpack, minus her notebook. When will I learn not to bring so much stuff with me?

"Done now?" Miss Nagao asked, and the students nodded. "Good, now onto class."