InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dressing the part ❯ Don't Hate the Player...(Hate the Game!) ( Chapter 18 )

Dressing the Part

Chapter Eighteen

Don't Hate the Player...(Hate the Game)

"STRIKE THREE!!! THE BATTER IS OUT!"

The guys hustled in after the third out of the inning. They had shortly paused to congratulate Kagome. She was extremely embarrassed when a number of them slapped her butt. She knew that was how some baseball players applauded each other, but it just felt weird.

She couldn't blame the guys who did it. They couldn't know how uncomfortable it made her feel. She excused their habit. Although, when Kouga came up to her and tried to do the same, she saw the perverted gleam in his eyes and decked him.

"I had to give it a shot," he whined as he rubbed his jaw from his position on the ground. "Hey, nice job out there Kagome. I know you felt like we were struggling before, but now that we're a little more used to this, we're doin' a lot better."

It had taken her a while to warm her arm up and although her stomach hurt, she had been ready to go. Dawned in her white pants and red uniform top, Kagome took the field. Her nerves settled after the first inning, a shut out. The guys were having trouble adjusting to the underhand motion Kikyo was delivering.

She was good, but she wasn't great.

Kagome was hitting off of her with no problem, but no one could score her.

Jak had just struck out on a screw ball, a ball that appears it will go straight, but twists inside to jam the batter. "Sorry guys. I'll get her next time." He then took off his helmet and put it next to the bat rack.

Kagome was calculating something in her head. "Um, Jak?" Quickly gaining his attention, she continued. "You may not even get up again."

"What are you talking about?! It's only the middle of the fifth inning. We got like three and a half innings to go."

"Jak, this is a softball game. They only play seven. There's only an inning-and-a-half left."

One. Two. Three. Fou-

"WHAT!!! But we're down 2-0!"

"I KNOW that! I'm the one busting my butt to pitch to these girls. Why did you think we would play nine innings? It's their rules remember?"

"This is really weird. We've never really been down before. Have we? Hey Yash. What happens if we lose?"

Inuyasha's grip on his water bottle tightened, causing the bottle to break open.

"We're NOT gonna LOSE, asshole!!!"

Jinenji hit a long fly ball to left field, which was caught for the second out by an overly eager girl named Nazuna.

"Damn it!" shouted Inuyasha. "How can we get more runners than just Kagome?! This is really pissing me off!" Inuyasha was irritable and had already chewed his way through three bags of sunflower seeds. His competitive nature was demanding victory.

But he didn't care because his opponents were the girls. He cared because they challenged him and were attempting to beat him. Gender played no role in his mind. They were the enemy until after the game.

"Oh great! Kohaku's up. He's been playing like a mindless idiot. He couldn't get on if his life depended on it," mumbled Inuyasha hopelessly to himself.

"Ball four! Take your base!"

`He got on? Someone other than Kagome got on base? And of all people, it was Kohaku? This was the strangest day ever.' Miroku was truly confused about the less than ordinary happenings of the day.

"Yeah! Kohaku, I knew ya could do it you little runt!"

Miroku saw the competitive twinkle in his eyes resurface. Did Inuyasha realize just how improbable it was for anything to come of this? One runner was not going to change the outcome of the game unless Kouga could get on. If Kouga got out, then the inning would be over before Kagome could get up to bat.

Now it was wimpy wolf's at bat. He hadn't been hitting at all today. Maybe he should call time out and tell him to...He bunted. Oh no! The idiot was screwing it up. He sent the ball straight to the pitcher, the team's captain, Kikyo.

Normally, a bunt with two outs would not be the best option to go with. However, some people know how and where to bunt in any situation. Inuyasha had learned this as one of the strategic differences between the two games.

Bunting was usually only used in baseball if the batter was sacrificing himself for an out in hopes of moving the runner to the next base. In softball, it was a major tool in catching the defense off guard, getting on base, as well as advancing the runner.

"He's gonna BEAT the throw!"

Meanwhile, with two outs, Kohaku would not be stopping at all from his starting point at first base. He knew he had to keep going at full speed passed second and to third in hopes the defense would mess up. Kohaku would be headed for third when the ball hit the ground because no one would be covering the base. The third baseman always moves up to take the bunt, leaving third base open.

Too bad for Kikyo that Kouga's blazing speed was enough to advance Kohaku to third base and get to first base himself before her perfectly fielded ball was thrown to first base. Now, this little development was very significant. For the first time in the game, not only was there more than one runner, but those runners were not Kagome. Point in fact, Kagome was due up to the plate.

Kagome had gone two for two this game and Kikyo had no idea how to pitch to him. Kikyo knew the last two pitches thrown to that bastard, Higurashi, were a screw ball, which he hit all the way to the fence without bouncing, and a change-up he flared into the gap between the left and right fielders.

Would he chase a first pitch curve ball? Well she tried, but Higurashi wasn't biting. Maybe a rise ball out of his hitting zone. No. It was odd. Most baseball players were used to a strike zone that ranged from the knees to the waist. However, the rules clearly stated that zone went up to a batter's armpits.

It was more strictly enforced in softball. Because the guys were aware of this difference, they had a tendency to chase high pitches. Higurashi, however, didn't.

She now had to try an outside fastball.

`Oh no! It slipped. It's going right over the plate!'

Kagome couldn't believe the gift she had been given. This pitch was perfect for her. She swung at the mistake from Kikyo and drove the ball to the gap in left center field. Had the fence gone all the way around the field, it would have definitely cleared it.

The boys could see Ayame and Nazuna's numbers as they chased after the ball. Kagome was rounding first. Ayame reached the ball as Kagome flew passed second base. Kagome had already passed third as Kagura received the relay throw headed for home.

It would be very close. Sango caught the ball at home plate and forced all her weight to the side as she to block a correctly predicted slide by, in which Kagome tried to avoid the tag by Sango and sneak her hand to the plate behind Sango.

Kagome never reached the plate. Sango had used so much force in her tag that Kagome was thrown off course. The blow landed just below her bound breasts. He left side was in serious pain. And, although Sango had gotten the out, she started to cry as the visible pain in Kagome's face made her feel horrible.

Did she have to tag that hard?

"Oh my god. Kagome's bleeding!" Souta was horrified. Why didn't he just tell her to leave when he made the team. He was her brother, damit! He should be protecting her. Not hiding behind her like the coward he felt he was. `I'm sorry Kagome.'

"God Sango! What the hell did you do?" Inuyasha was scared shitless. The blood had seeped through the uniform of his unconscious teammate and was spreading. What should he do? He couldn't just let his friend sit there while he stood by and watched. He had to do something. He had to pull everyone together, even though he himself was falling apart.

"Jak! Call the ambulance! Kikyo get something to take in the blood. Miroku! Take care of Sango! Get her outta here! We don't need hysterics. Souta! Kouga! Go wait for the ambulance out front so they can find the field when they get here!"

Leading Sango away, Miroku held the weeping beauty in his arms. She had always seemed so strong, especially with her in catching gear. She looked like a warrior, ready for battle. She seemed invincible in her `armor'.

`Oh no!' She struggled in Houshi's arms.

"Sango! Calm down!"

"You don't understand! I have to get back! He's going to expose her!"

`What? She's hysterical.' "Sango, what are you talking about? Who is Inuyasha going to expose?"

Should she tell him? She didn't have a lot of time. Could she trust him?

"He's going to expose Kagome."

Miroku stared at her questioningly. That didn't add up. What was she hiding? "Before, you said he would expose `her'. Kagome's not a girl."

It was then Miroku understood. Everything now made sense. How could he not have seen it before. Sango staring at the ground with silent tears trickling down her face explained everything. She looked like a child whose hand had been caught in the proverbial cookie jar. The defeated look. The slumped shoulders. He had been such an idiot.

"Kagome doesn't have a sister. Kagome is the sister."

Inuyasha knelt down beside Kagome. It's too bad for Kagome that, coincidentally, the people who knew her secret, the ones who cared about her the most, the only ones who would have prevented such actions Inuyasha was about to take, were sent away to try to save their friend in whatever way they could.

He tore Kagome's uniform open and his eyes widened in shock. There was already a bandage? wrapped around Kagome's chest.

"Oh my God! Higurashi's a chick?!" That only confirmed the startling conclusions the few who had remained at the field were thinking. Kagome, the boy they had been playing with for the last couple of weeks, the boy that half of the girls' team had envisioned in their beds, the boy that could handle Jak, was indeed a girl.

Kagome picked this precise moment to start to stir. She looked up with her half lidded eyes to see the man of her dreams sitting over her. What happened? Why is he there? Is this a dream? Kagome opened her mouth and labored to speak. She was barely able to speak.

"Inu...ya...sha? What hap...pened?"

Inuyasha did the unspeakable. He leaned forward and claimed her lips in a gentle kiss that conveyed all the worry, anguish, and longing he felt for the girl. His advance was met with little protest.

As he rose up, the approaching sound of an ambulance siren met his ears. She would be okay. But could he ever forgive her?

AN- How was it? I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took forever because of homework and a showcase tournament. I truly hope it was worth it. So many people knew about Kagome that I had to make them leave in order for it to work.

Those We Leave behind should be updated within a couple of days.

Did you know they make you play so early that you have to wake up at five in the morning not only on Saturday, but Sunday too. It is totally not cool.