Shigekuni and his surprised players all stared at one another. It was obvious that everyone was thinking the same thing. The team members quickly got Canti to stop cleaning up the field and gave the robot a glove to see if he would catch some balls.
The team pondered the possibilities of Canti being a real find, but the robot turned out to be more than a real find. No matter what kind of fly ball or grounder the players hit at Canti, the robot cleanly fielded it with perfect form, throwing it back. His nimble movements were far better than the Martians had hoped. To top it off, the robot pounded his glove with his fist, as if to say, "Bring it on!" showing he had heart, too.
"He's amazing, coach!"
"With him, we're going to win the next match."
"A hidden jewel, our secret weapon—we're going to ride that robot to victory!"
The players ate up Shigekuni's excited boasts.
"Plus, Tasuku is coming home soon," the proud coach added with conviction.
"Hooray!" yelled the players.
The news of Tasuku's return brought even more joy to the players who'd excitedly observed the robot's prowess. That's how much the amateur baseball team revered Naota's big brother.
Nobody was thinking about the substitute player from earlier any longer. As the team cheered in unison, "Tasuku's brother" stood up and left dejectedly, without anyone noticing.
After walking up an embankment, Naota found a Vespa on the waterside road with Haruko standing by it, counting several bills that looked freshly swindled. The money was probably the reason she'd played in the game earlier. When she saw Naota, she shoved the money into her pocket.
"The bandages look good on you," she said.
It was unlikely that Haruko felt an ounce of responsibility for beaning Naota with the ball. Actually, he could envision her telling him, "You couldn't get out of the way? Gosh, you suck at baseball, Takkun!" — and she did.
"Whatever," Naota sulked. "I don't care about baseball."
"That's not cute at all."
"Stop it," Naota insisted, covering his head.
Haruko reached for her guitar case that was strapped to the Vespa, so Naota thought for sure she was going to hit him as she usually did.
Idiot, don't play around where people can see us. They're going to start gossiping, Naota thought. Then again, I wonder what the players from both teams who were making fun of me would think if they saw me and Haruko together?
In the end, Haruko simply slung the guitar over her shoulder, glancing at the bat Naota held in his hand and saying matter-of-factly, "If you don't swing, nothing will happen."
"Well, it isn't as if I can hit your pitches anyway!"
"Takkun, you think you're special, don't you? That's why you don't swing. If you swing, people will know you're not special."
What is she saying? Naota wondered.
Haruko slapped on her helmet and sped off at full speed, leaving Naota standing there.
Shigekuni and the other players had gone somewhere else to hold a second "meeting of reflection," which meant they probably went to the barbeque restaurant near the station.
When Naota made his way back home, he found Haruko on the living room floor, still wearing her uniform, and Kamon massaging her back.
"Ooh, it hurts. Not so haaard," Haruko moaned.
"Sorry, Haruko."
Naota was more than a little shocked by what he saw. Kamon was openly giving a massage to Haruko, who was calmly accepting it, as if it weren't strange whatsoever. It was strange. When had they forged such a comfortable relationship?
"Welcome home, Naota. Dinner soon," Kamon declared cheerfully.
"What are you doing?" Naota asked dryly.
Kamon ignored Naota's question and continued his suspiciously sordid massage. He was now using his own chin to press down on Haruko's back and rub her.
"Oh, your beard!" Haruko exclaimed with delight in her voice. "That feels good—like an electric massage."
Naota felt as though a cold hand had ripped out his heart and sensed that he'd been betrayed. "But I saw you first…"
The night Haruko had first come to the Nandaba house, she'd uttered that very phrase to Naota. She'd insisted she'd come to the house because Naota was there. That moment had been special to Naota, if only a little.
"You stink of sweat. At least change out of your uniform!" Naota suddenly complained in a vicious tone.
"Takkun isn't sweaty at all. Oh yeah, that's right—you just stood there."
"Why are you playing for the other team, anyway?"
"Part-time job," Haruko replied. "I thought I should pay a little something toward the electric bill."
The Nandaba house's electric meter had been running at least ten times higher than usual. Naota wouldn't find out the reason for this until later, though.
Canti, who was wearing an apron and had made dinner, carried the dishes from the kitchen. The robot was an ideal housemaid who worked for no pay at all, but his repertoire of dishes didn't exceed that of an elementary school home economics class. Tonight, the menu comprised a large plate of fried eggs, sunny side up.
"Oh, Haruko let me…" Kamon insisted, taking one of the fried eggs in his chopsticks and offering it to her in a sensual manner. Haruko opened her mouth wide to accept the egg. It was exactly like something a newlywed couple would do.
Needless to say, Naota was incensed. "What are you two doing?" What he really wanted to say was, When did you two start having that kind of relationship? but nothing came out.
What Naota was feeling was simple jealousy, although he wasn't going to admit that to himself. That's why he couldn't complain. All he could do was grip the bat tighter in his hand. When he could bear it no longer, he left the room, enraged.
"What about dinner?" Kamon called out. "We have your favorite—genetically modified bean curd!"
To Naota, Kamon's jovial voice sounded like nothing more than antagonistic.
Naota darted out to the front of his house and instinctively hit a guardrail with the bat in his hand, leaving a scratch on the rail and causing a metallic sound to ring out.
You said I was the one you saw first! Naota shouted to himself, lifting the bat high and hitting the guardrail at least three more times. This time, there was a large dent left in the white rail.
"Hey, you're damaging public property!"
Surprised by the man's voice, Naota turned around. Standing under a streetlamp was a man he'd never seen before. The man was dressed in a suit and was tall and muscular like a professional swimmer.
"Look at the poor rail getting hit by a bat," the man said.
That incident with the bat was the first time the man appeared.
Chapter 2
Dusk had fallen at Mabase Bridge.
Naota was sitting with Mamimi on the bank.
"So, you had a fight with Haru?" Mamimi asked.
"As if I'd argue with her."
"Ha! So grown up!"
Naota remembered that Mamimi had looked up to Haruko in the recent past. She often said how cool she thought Mamimi was or how sexy she looked. Naota, who'd been fuming about the dodgy relationship between Kamon and Haruko since yesterday, had reluctantly revealed all the things he was unhappy about to Mamimi. He couldn't talk to his classmates about it, so he didn't have anyone else he could talk to.
It was at times like these that Naota wished his brother were around, but if Tasuku were around, Naota wouldn't be spending time alone with Mamimi. He had mixed feelings about it all.