The night before, around dinnertime, Natota was practicing his swing in the backyard, which was buzzing with crickets. His batting form didn't look as though it had improved at all, but Naota's expression now bore a confidence that hadn't been there a few days before.
In this very special baseball season, Naota had gained confidence—to the point that he was feeling a little high. The basis for Naota's confidence was that he had saved the town with his batting. That was, of course, when the satellite bomb had fallen to Earth, and Naota had knocked it out of the atmosphere with a guitar.
My batting saved this town. Perhaps I'm already a great man, an equal to my brother. No. My brother never would've been able to hit a falling satellite bomb with a guitar. I'm already stronger than my brother!
When it came down to it, Naota had indeed saved Mabase from ultimate destruction; however, he couldn't deny that Haruko, that superhuman girl, also had been a part of the equation. Remembering that fact, Naota doubted that he'd surpassed his well-admired brother, and that thinking so was just his imagination gone wild.
When you're happy, though, you don't notice that you're mostly just pleased with yourself. Having some confidence in oneself is not such a bad thing, of course; after all, if you don't believe in yourself enough to meet new challenges, then you'll never grow. True confidence is not simply the result of growing older, though; for true confidence, one must possess grace. And true diligence is needed for someone to believe he really has tried his best.
For Naota to realize that kind of true confidence, it would take some more time still.
"Good swing."
"Grandpa!"
Although Naota had been unaware of it, Shigekuni had been watching the boy's swing from the balcony.
"Haruko said so, too. You have potential."
"Yeah?"
Looking at his grandson with an expression that wasn't all that dissatisfied, the old man nodded.
Now, coming from Shigekuni, those words didn't actually mean Naota's grandpa was impressed with Naota's batting. In fact, when Shigekuni compared the boy to his older brother, batting genius Tasuku, the Martians' veteran coach could see that the younger child was nothing more than second-rate when it came to baseball.
But though he suspected Naota would never live up to his older brother's promise, this grandson of Shigekuni was still only twelve, too young for his grandpa to second-guess what lay in store for him. And watching him practice his swing, it seemed as if he wasn't adverse to baseball. And he continued to train even though he was bad, which wasn't entirely a wasted effort—after all, he could learn a lot from team play. At any rate, the old man was satisfied that Naota had some interest in baseball; he would just have to nurture him with a lot of praise. Or so thought Shigekuni, who had built his whole life around baseball.
It was a picturesque scene, the old man who loved baseball watching his grandson play.
The problem lay in what happened next.
After practicing his swing to his heart's content, Naota cheerfully made his way up to the second floor, walking into his room without thinking twice, and stopping dead in his tracks. There, in his room, was Haruko. Haruko had been sharing a room with him for a while now, so it wasn't surprising that she was there; what was surprising was her appearance.
Naota was confused about where to direct his gaze. Haruko was wrapped up in her towel as though she'd just gotten out of the bath, and it looked like she'd just moments ago put on her underwear. This was the first time since they'd started living together that Naota had seen her like this. Plus—though he had merely dismissed her as a ridiculous girl in the beginning, Naota had found himself having other thoughts recently when he'd casually glanced at her body.
"Me, have personal feelings for him?" Haruko, clad only in her underwear and a towel, was pacing up and down, and talking to someone who wasn't there again.
"That's not true. That's not the reason this mission is taking so long. The N.O. channel is still open, so it doesn't make a difference if I like him or not… Oh, hey, were you listening?"
Haruko finally noticed Naota. Of course, she didn't care at all that he was there while she was half-naked. Instead, she took off her bath towel and started adjusting her bra.
Naota averted his eyes from her naked skin and looked around the room. Only Miyu Miyu was present, sitting on the desk, so Haruko had been talking to no one again.
But today, rather than worrying about her talking to herself, the contents of what Haruko had said were on Naota's mind.
Haruko had said, "Me, have personal feelings for him?"
"Is there… anyone?" Naota asked, pretending to be calm.
"What?"
"Anyone you like?"
Me, have personal feelings for him? Him. Maybe that person was himself. Haruko had come to live here because of him, after all.
"Do you like it? The way I smell straight out of the bath? Here, sniff me."
Instead of answering Naota's question, Haruko laughed provocatively and suddenly pushed out her breasts, covered only by her bra, toward Naota. She was a childish girl.
As she aggressively pressed her body against him, Naota brushed off Haruko with words: "Put on some clothes."
"You're blushing. You should grow up some more."
"Who are you to talk?"
Embarrassed, he forcefully pushed away Haruko's arms, which hugged him from behind—but then, he lost his balance and fell over. His feet got tripped up, and he fell face up, coming directly into contact with Haruko's clean skin. It almost seemed like he had been pushed over.
Suddenly, their faces were right next to each other. Feeling as though those green eyes could see straight into him and sense his hidden desire, Naota went pale.
"Want me to teach you guitar?" Haruko asked.
Guitar?
"Why?"
"Why doesn't Takkun try using his guitar again? Bam! You were so great last time."
As she said that, it almost looked as if Haruko blushed— but perhaps that was just Naota's imagination acting up again.
No, Haruko definitely just praised me. She definitely praised me!
His heart started to thump wildly. It was a weird sensation, as though he were being enveloped by a powerful magnetism coming from Haruko's eyes, mouth, and breasts. The scent released by her bare skin seemed to assault Naota's senses.
From the back of the boy's head, another bump suddenly popped out. And as the force of the horn pushed him forward, his lips pressed against Haruko's.
Mouth to mouth, the feeling of Haruko's lips…
"Oh, Takkun, that's it!" Haruko beamed deliberately.
"No, the horn, it—"
"My first kiss…"
"Liar! You've done it loads!"
"… with Takkun. Ah!"
"No, it was the horn!"
While attempting to push in the horn that was coming from the back of his head, Naota desperately tried to explain. It was because of the horn that he had kissed her. Explaining that he hadn't done it of his own volition seemed to be more important to him than the new horn at that moment.
"Naota!"
Suddenly, Kamon screamed from outside the window.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"That's what I wanted to ask!"
Oh no, Naota thought. Apparently, Kamon had been out on the balcony, spying on them. He'd probably been watching Haruko change. It was unfortunate—or perhaps fortunate—that his father couldn't see the horn growing out of Naota's head from the balcony. All Kamon must have seen was Naota giving Haruko a real kiss.
Kamon's expression was one of pure jealousy.
"Naota, you and I will duel for Haruko."