Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Arisugawa's Locket ❯ Baseball! ( Chapter 58 )

Arisugawa's Locket: Baseball

Arisugawa Juri looked out at the green field below them and shook her head slightly, her orange hair shielded by a white cap. "I still don't get why we have to have a baseball team," Juri finally said with a little smile.

"Tradition," Setsuna answered, her black hair tied back in a long ponytail. She looked over at Juri, "And the girls all insisted, of course."

"Good point," Juri agreed, watching the game with amusement.

"And it's fun," Hotaru added, the normally grave dark haired girl watching with interest. Of course, much of her good mood could also be attributed to Chibi-Usa sitting there beside her.

Not too long after the Locket opened the staff had found out about an informal league of baseball teams, each one sponsored by a certain bar in the Tokyo region. Excel and the others had gone to Juri and a combination of whining and pleading led her to agreeing to setting up the team. Under the fairly ridiculous name 'the Locket Rockets' they competed, though the membership of the team varied a lot, staff often just grabbing whomever was handy before heading out to the games.

"You can do it!" Nenene yelled from the players' bench, her glasses gleaming as the brown haired young woman waved eagerly.

"Do I have to?" Maggie asked back plaintively, hesitating nearby the batting box.

"If you hit one," Nenene answered, "I'll give you a kiss!"

Maggie blushed sweetly, then the black haired girl stepped up to take her turn at bat. The pitcher wound up, the ball streaked through the air and Maggie connected solidly with the bat! The ball soared up and away, over the outfield and past the fence.

"Run!" Michelle yelled, the green haired girl sitting by Nenene and Anita.

Maggie ran her way around the bases as the other two players did too, eventually going back to home. She was making her way back to the bench when Nenene threw her arms around her neck, dragged her down, and kissed her firmly.

"Mushy stuff, yuck," Anita muttered, the little red headed girl making a face.

May sat down beside Keiko, watching with amusement as the two walked over to the bench, Maggie blushing fiercely. "Looks like Nenene is making progress," Keiko noted, her brown braid bouncing in the breeze.

"Considering she used to threaten her with kisses," May agreed, her long brown mane flowing down her back. They snuggled closely, watching with amusement as the next bunch of players got ready to go.

"But I don't even know how to play this game," Akari protested uselessly, her long brown hair bouncing cutely.

"You're an athletic genius," Ichino pushed her forward gently, the black haired girl smiling at her friend cheerfully.

Kris smiled slightly, watching admiringly as Akari walked by. "She certainly fills out the uniform well," she noted.

"Do you have to say things like that?" Akari blushed furiously.

"Hot-dogs, snacks, and drinks" Sasami called, walking through the stands cheerfully, carrying a cute tray full of foods with her.

"How are things going?" Minagi asked, collecting her food.

"Pretty well," Sasami agreed, her twin ponytails bouncing as she took a short break beside her girlfriend. "Mahoro has taken over cooking at the stand for awhile," she added.

"You, Mahoro, Shampoo and Ukyo are running this, right?" Minagi asked, the blue haired woman munching on her hot-dog happily.

Sasami nodded to another section of the crowd where Shampoo was serving noodles and bento boxes, then over to where Ukyo was serving another group. "Nabiki organized it for us," she smiled, "but she's only taking a percentage."

That made Minagi raise an eyebrow. "Being in love with Ayaka must be slowing her down," she noted, thinking of the intense redheaded medium.

"I hope so," Sasami laughed. A young man waved tentatively and she got up, "Back to work, I'll see you later."

The inning ended and the team shifted, members moving out to the bases, outfield and onto the mound. Ryouko took the pitcher's position, the cyan haired space pirate grinning dangerously at the nervous looking batters.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Ryouko said with a wicked smile, an unearthly glow flaring up all around her slim body.

"Isn't that against the rules?" the batter muttered, the young man looking worried.

The umpire flipped through the rulebook thoughtfully before saying, "Nope, nothing specifically against that."

"Don't hurt him too badly this time," the catcher yelled to Ryouko, 'I hate calling for the ambulance!" Mihoshi looked almost as nervous as the poor batter did, even with the dusky skinned blonde safe behind all her padded gear.

"I'll try," Ryouko answered.

"Don't worry," the coach reassured his batter while tossing nervous glances at Ryouko, "she's just trying to psych you out."

"Well, it's working," he answered.

"Go Locket Rockets!" Excel bounced up and down on the sidelines, the energetic blonde waving two pom-poms around wildly.

"Do they have cheerleaders in Baseball?" Hyatt asked mildly, the black haired woman laying not far from where Excel leapt about.

"If there isn't, there should be," Excel said cheerfully.

"Hai," Hyatt agreed weakly.

CRACK!

The ball soared up into the outfield, but the catcher there was ready. Anita plucked the ball out of the air then turned, throwing it like a bullet across the field. Michelle plucked it out of midair and tagged the shocked boy out on first.

"Sorry," Michelle smiled cheerfully at him.

"I wonder if Anita will get into pro baseball when she grows up?" Tenchi Misaki asked with a smile, shaking his head.

"She is impressive," Ayeka agreed. The purple haired princess looked towards the pitcher's mound before adding, "And so is she."

"You and Ryouko are happy together," Tenchi said, smiling slightly. His black hair fell in a ponytail down his back, his gaze warm as he watched his friends at play.

"She makes me happy," Ayeka agreed. She looked over at Tenchi sympathetically, "Have my Mothers and Father stopped trying to matchmake you?"

"Not yet," Tenchi sighed. He tilted his head back tiredly, "I just wish they'd let me decide for myself."

"Considering your track record in choosing between girls," Ayeka said to him dryly, "I can't really blame them."

Tenchi blinked, then he began to laugh. "Good point," he admitted.

Juri smiled, helping Setsuna collect their stuff as they prepared to go, Hotaru and Chibi-Usa following. "Do the Locket teams usually win like this?" Chibi-Usa asked curiously.

"Not by that great of a score," Juri looked up at the scoreboard where they had struck or tagged out every batter the opposing team had put up.

"Banzai!" Excel cheered, "Juri's paying for drinks tonight!"

"Oh?" Setsuna looked at Juri in surprise.

"I promised free drinks whenever we won," Juri shrugged. She looked thoughtful, "I didn't expect it to happen as often as it does, though."

"Oh ye of little faith," Ryouko laughed as the team and friends headed for the vans.

To be continued....

The Staff: The bar's owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Setsuna is from Sailor Moon. Minagi, Ryouko and Sasami are from the series Tenchi Muyo. Keiko is also from Utena. Cyberdoll May is from Hand Maid May. Excel and Hyatt are from Excel Saga. Mahoro is from Mahoromantic. And finally, Tendo Nabiki is from Ranma 1/2.

Our Cast This Episode: Chibi-Usa and Hotaru are from Sailor Moon. Anita, Maggie, Michelle and Nenene are all from Read or Die TV. Akari, Ichino and Kris are from Battle Athletes Victory. Ayaka is from Phantom Quest Corp. Shampoo and Ukyo are from Ranma 1/2. And finally, Ayeka, Mihoshi and Tenchi is from Tenchi Muyo.