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.
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