If there's one thing that Momokan has learned about Takashima Rei, it's that she's a merciless player thief.
She's been coaching long enough at Nishiura now to put her--to put their, in reality, it has little to do with hers and everything to do with her boys--on the map, after two trips to koushien with Mihashi in his third year and growing strong. It's true that Momokan loves her original Nishiura Nine as much as she would love her own children (in the same way that it's true that she never has to have kids because all of them are more than enough for the rest of her life), but the older they get and the more attention they get, the more players she wants to grab.
For Nishiura, she wants the world, and if that means taking down big school like Seido or Inajitsu or Komadai, so be it.
They have yet to win, but it's so close--if only she was able to bring in a couple more pitchers, a backup catcher for Abe, another power hitter like Hanai, Nishiura could become a powerhouse in their own right.
Thus: Takashima Rei.
Momokan's a good scout. She doesn't have a lot of time to do it, but she makes time, now that she has a team that's established, that doesn't grab good players out of luck (even if she still thanks her lucky stars once a week for Tajima, then promptly curses them when he opens his mouth, or if it's hot enough, drops his pants). Momokan's always there at junior high games, starting local, and it's there that she started seeing Takashima, every other time, always in the back with a clipboard and her glasses pushed up her nose.
Being a woman in high school baseball is a lonely life, and Maria's only human, even if she watched one of Nishiura's best prospects for next year, a cleanup with a mean batting average, sign for Seido by Takashima's smile. It's as infuriating as it is charming, so when she makes her move, it's with a smile after a dusty mid afternoon game, adjusting her cap over her head. "You're with Seido, aren't you?"
"I am," Takashima answers, lifting her head to gaze at Maria inscrutably, before her lips pull into that same smile, a little demure, and very, very charming, "And you're from Nishiura."
(Maria is only human.)
"That's me." she offers, lifting her eyes up to look at the brim of her black hat, then back down to Takashima with a faint surge of pride--Nishiura as a nobody is still familiar, and it's admittedly nice to know her boys' hard work has gotten them as far as it has, to be a name whispered from Saitama as a threat rather than a laughingstock, "What'd you think of the catcher?"
Takashima smiles, and Momokan drops into the seat next to her on the bleachers with a matching grin.
--
Three hours later, in a local bar, Maria with a beer and Takashima with a glass of wine, she tells a story about Tajima stripping to "feel the grass at Koushien, naturally" while Takashima informs her about their monster fastball pitcher's habit of falling asleep wherever possible when it's hot outside, about the southpaw throwing his first in game changeup straight into the dirt. By the time Takashima recounts for her in stunning detail the shade of red the pitcher turned, Momokan's howling with laughter, slapping the table between them and wiping a tear from her eye. "Man--teenagers are teenagers no matter what kind of school they go to, huh?"
"Exactly." Takashima replies, that pretty mouth of hers turning up in another little smile as she takes a sip of her drink, "Coaches, however."
Maria grins into her beer, lifting it in half of a toast, laughter still in her voice. "Yeah, can't imagine growing a beard."
To her delight, to her surprise, Takashima snorts, and Momokan's in giggly tears of laughter a second later, clutching her stomach with the revelation that Takashima Rei is really, really cute.
It's nice to have a friend in baseball, another girl, she tells herself.
(When Takashima gives her her number, she decides very quickly that it's more than just another friend.)
--
The next time she has a scouting trip in Saitama, they go out for drinks in Maria's apartment, instead.
As it turns out, kissing a woman who loves baseball is just as fun as befriending one.
FILL: Team Kominato Ryousuke/Kuramochi Youichi, PG
lira how did you know
If there's one thing that Momokan has learned about Takashima Rei, it's that she's a merciless player thief.
She's been coaching long enough at Nishiura now to put her--to put their, in reality, it has little to do with hers and everything to do with her boys--on the map, after two trips to koushien with Mihashi in his third year and growing strong. It's true that Momokan loves her original Nishiura Nine as much as she would love her own children (in the same way that it's true that she never has to have kids because all of them are more than enough for the rest of her life), but the older they get and the more attention they get, the more players she wants to grab.
For Nishiura, she wants the world, and if that means taking down big school like Seido or Inajitsu or Komadai, so be it.
They have yet to win, but it's so close--if only she was able to bring in a couple more pitchers, a backup catcher for Abe, another power hitter like Hanai, Nishiura could become a powerhouse in their own right.
Thus: Takashima Rei.
Momokan's a good scout. She doesn't have a lot of time to do it, but she makes time, now that she has a team that's established, that doesn't grab good players out of luck (even if she still thanks her lucky stars once a week for Tajima, then promptly curses them when he opens his mouth, or if it's hot enough, drops his pants). Momokan's always there at junior high games, starting local, and it's there that she started seeing Takashima, every other time, always in the back with a clipboard and her glasses pushed up her nose.
Being a woman in high school baseball is a lonely life, and Maria's only human, even if she watched one of Nishiura's best prospects for next year, a cleanup with a mean batting average, sign for Seido by Takashima's smile. It's as infuriating as it is charming, so when she makes her move, it's with a smile after a dusty mid afternoon game, adjusting her cap over her head. "You're with Seido, aren't you?"
"I am," Takashima answers, lifting her head to gaze at Maria inscrutably, before her lips pull into that same smile, a little demure, and very, very charming, "And you're from Nishiura."
(Maria is only human.)
"That's me." she offers, lifting her eyes up to look at the brim of her black hat, then back down to Takashima with a faint surge of pride--Nishiura as a nobody is still familiar, and it's admittedly nice to know her boys' hard work has gotten them as far as it has, to be a name whispered from Saitama as a threat rather than a laughingstock, "What'd you think of the catcher?"
Takashima smiles, and Momokan drops into the seat next to her on the bleachers with a matching grin.
--
Three hours later, in a local bar, Maria with a beer and Takashima with a glass of wine, she tells a story about Tajima stripping to "feel the grass at Koushien, naturally" while Takashima informs her about their monster fastball pitcher's habit of falling asleep wherever possible when it's hot outside, about the southpaw throwing his first in game changeup straight into the dirt. By the time Takashima recounts for her in stunning detail the shade of red the pitcher turned, Momokan's howling with laughter, slapping the table between them and wiping a tear from her eye. "Man--teenagers are teenagers no matter what kind of school they go to, huh?"
"Exactly." Takashima replies, that pretty mouth of hers turning up in another little smile as she takes a sip of her drink, "Coaches, however."
Maria grins into her beer, lifting it in half of a toast, laughter still in her voice. "Yeah, can't imagine growing a beard."
To her delight, to her surprise, Takashima snorts, and Momokan's in giggly tears of laughter a second later, clutching her stomach with the revelation that Takashima Rei is really, really cute.
It's nice to have a friend in baseball, another girl, she tells herself.
(When Takashima gives her her number, she decides very quickly that it's more than just another friend.)
--
The next time she has a scouting trip in Saitama, they go out for drinks in Maria's apartment, instead.
As it turns out, kissing a woman who loves baseball is just as fun as befriending one.