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Gondawara Kirei was one who never thought that she’d be defeated by a measly weak team that sprung up from the Park of Beginnings. Perhaps she had set herself up for underestimating the fruits of their labor from the poorly-funded training system created by that weird coach of theirs.
Hatsumori Bemars.
To understand them better, she decided that it would be best to start with inviting them over to the Gondawara mansion for tea. She wanted to introduce them to the vast resources that were provided by the Gondawara Research facility, solely for softball practices.
However, her invite failed as some of the members such as Imadoki, Marukyu and Sherry were against the idea in their locker room. Despite the sudden transfer from Polaris to the Hatsumori Bemars team, there were bound to be a few girls that were skeptical of Kirei’s intentions, thinking that she was up to no good instead.
“Isn’t she just going to flaunt her money?” Imadoki whispered to Kote who gave her a dreamily-like stare, while clasping her hands tightly to the side of her cheek.
“No way! I think it would be awesome to see what’s it like to live like a princess!”
Kote’s spirit was drifting off to Lalaland, where Kachan and Academy had to start shaking her by the shoulder to come back to reality.
“Hello?! Kote! Earth to Kote!” Academy half-yelled before Imadoki stood up and began to roll up one side of her short-sleeve, preparing to mega-slap Kote’s soul back into her body.
“Move over, Academy!”
Kirei eyed the others sitting on the other side of the room–Chopin and Yuttsu seemed to have no problems with it. On the other hand, Nanamaru did seem troubled by the tension in the locker that was caused by her impulsive invite over to the Hatsumori Bemars team.
“So, what do you think?”
Kirei pursed her lips, slightly looking forward to Nanamaru’s opinion as she was the girl that managed to triumph over her team last year, heavy carrying them to victory.
“I’m sorry, it looks like some people aren’t too fond of your idea.” Nanamaru awkwardly rubbed the back of her nape.
“Ah, wait a second!”
She suddenly stood up, surprising the older girl as she ran to her locker while the others continued to bicker over Kirei’s harmless invitation.
“Kirei’s not going to let you peasants into her mansion!”
“Wait, isn’t our baseball practice good enough?!”
“Think about all the tea time we could have…”
Nanamaru dug around in her bag before pulling out a stack of flyers to a local amusement park over in the town next to theirs.
“How about this?” She offered to Kirei, handing the flyer to her. “My mom said that we can go to the amusement park on the weekend, by taking the bus.”
She looked at the others who turned their attention as soon as the word ‘amusement park’ was mentioned.
“What do you guys think? I asked coach about having a free day and they agreed–only if we put our all into practice and clean up the field afterwards tomorrow.”
Kachan furrowed her brows before turning her head to Nanamaru, “Can I bring my siblings too?” As much as she wanted to go, she still needed to look after the two children who were full of energy even after school had ended.
“Of course!” Nanamaru smiled widely, handing the flyers out to everyone in the locker room who took a look at it. “I have enough for everyone!”
“…Amusement park?” Kirei furrowed her brows, as she couldn’t understand why everyone seemed extremely excited, quite more than earlier when she wanted to bring her teammates over to her mansion.
Why?
It was another blow to her pride, as she couldn’t understand the thinking of commoners–especially Nanamaru, who was the most commoner of all.
Kirei still believed that she owes her one from before–when she invited the young heiress to eat monjayaki which tasted sweet in contrast to its’ grotesque appearance on the grill. She couldn’t understand how to get along with the other members, while Nanamaru had no problems with it and even managed to work it out with her.
“Yes, Kirei!” Shelly butted in, taking the flyer from Kirei’s hand as she held it up the air, “I’ve always wanted to go to an amusement park! Kirei, this is a gathering of commoners for fun rides and watch fireworks!”
“I see,” Kirei nodded, taking in notes–everyone wanted entertainment. Couldn’t they receive the same thing from her if she brought in a variety of entertainment, such as musicals and professional artists? What was the difference between her mansion and Nanamaru’s amusement park?
“Then…I’ll make sure that we’ll be driven there and arrive on time!” Kirei turned to Nanamaru with a hopeful look–that this was one way to win the trust of the other Hatsumori Bemars teammates.
“Ah, well…um, I’ll be there earlier,” Nanamaru scratched her cheek as she gave a nervous glance at the others. “I actually took up a temporary job at the amusement park so I think I’ll be joining you guys later.”
“W-What?! Why?” Kote got up and stormed over to Nanamaru, who backed away from the sudden close physical contact, “Are you in debt still?!”
“That’s not it!” Nanamaru made a ‘X’-shape with her arms, “I saw a nice softball mitt that I wanted to buy, but you know I can’t ask my mom to buy one for me…it’s expensive too.”
Kirei arched a brow as she grabbed Nanamaru’s hands and clasped them tightly, “There’s no need–I will buy you all the softball mitts that you want in the world!”
What was the point of all of them going to the amusement park, if Nanamaru wasn’t going to be with them for a good half of the day?
Nanamaru shook her head as she pulled her hands away from Kirei’s grasp, “N-No thank you, I want to buy it with my own hard-earned money.”
The brunette’s heart drooped a bit as she noticed that her kind offer had managed to create another gap between her and the younger girl.
“I-I see!” Kirei quickly cleared her throat as she looked away, “We can’t force you to do so. Now, what about the rest of you?”
She eyed the others who seemed skeptical or hesitant on the amusement park offer now, knowing that Nanamaru would be only working while they had fun.
Chopin raised her hand, “I’m interested! We can still see fireworks at the end when Nanamaru is done with her shift, right?” She looked at the girl mentioned who nodded quickly.
“Yes! I’ll see if my boss lets me go earlier,” Nanamaru smiled as the others slowly began to cave in to the agreement that they’d meet at the amusement park later on the weekend.
“Okay!” Kote stood up as she raised her arms in the air, “Posi-peace!” Everyone aside from Kirei and Sherry who were reluctant to do the weird pose, got up onto their feet and did the same.
“Posi-peace!”
Kirei smiled to herself as the others were quick to understand and respect Nanamaru’s wishes. Now that they all had agreed to meet up at the amusement park, she began to look forward to the weekend.
Somehow, Nanamaru had a charm that was able to pull in everyone together and unite them–it was something that she lacked, and wished she could do as well.
-
Once Kirei stepped foot out of her limousine, she felt all the stares upon her as she looked ahead and saw that the bus that transported the rest of the girls to the amusement park, arrived just moments ago.
Imadoki and Kote had their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, as they hopped off the bus together.
“Let’s eat everything we can get our hands on!”
“Yeah! More buns and ice cream for me to eat!”
She sighed to herself, wondering if it was truly fine for her to enjoy the day with the other girls who seemed as if they would go on a rampage if they were unsupervised by someone.
“There they go,” Marukyu said with a deep sigh, out of amusement as Harvard followed after her.
“I’ll be studying while you guys go run off,” the bookworm said as Chopin suddenly pulled the notebook out of her hand from behind, holding it up in the air.
“No studying! Only playing today!” Chopin said, while forcing Harvard to jump up and grab her notebook back–only to be defeated as she watched it get stowed it into a bag.
“You’ll get it back later, Harvard! Let’s go enjoy the rides now!” Chopin ran behind Harvard and began to push her towards the amusement park’s entrance.
“Wah!”
Seeing Kachan having her two siblings grab her by the hands and followed along like a stumbling mess, was amusing.
“Slow down, kids! I know you’re excited but–ahh! Wait–”
Kirei sighed as she noticed Sherry follow along with Academy and Bunan, who were probably the most laid-back, when Academy suddenly started to recite lines from Romeo and Juliet out of the blue.
“Oh–where art thou, Juliet–!”
Yutsu appeared next to her, holding up her colony of ants container, surprising Kirei as she shot her a mysterious smile before going on ahead.
How did Nanamaru manage to get a weird bunch together? Including her.
She smiled to herself, following along with her personal butler who was holding up a parasol besides her.
“Would you like me to make a freshly brewed tea at once?” The butler asked before Kirei turned to him and shook her head.
“No thank you. I’ll be fine on my own,” she smiled as the butler gave her a nod.
“Very well, Lady Kirei. Do not hesitate to call out as our men are in position and ready at your command.”
Kirei blinked for a second and suddenly everything became clear to her–hidden among the crowds of people entering the amusement park, were her father’s security guards, judging by the formal black attire, ear-piece and sunglasses.
Hidden behind trees and on the roof of the amusement park entrance, it was clear as day that her father was here as well–in a separate limousine from a far.
“Well! My daughter is growing up–aha, she has a heart of a diamond! I hope she has fun with those Hatsumori commoners!” He let out a laugh, fanning himself as his chauffeur suddenly cleared his throat.
“I believe you meant to say that she has a heart of gold, sir.”
“Ah, whatever!” He waved his hand, at the correction of his driver. “It’s all the same.”
Once Kirei had dismissed her personal butler, she looked ahead to enter the amusement park with the others who waited for her so that they could all gather around and make plans for the day.
“Kirei, over here!” Kote waved as the brunette gave a curt nod and walked towards them, with a smile on her face. She was surely beginning to feel the excitement now, seeing everyone look at her expectantly.
-
Kirei went through various rides and games, but there was one that she couldn’t handle–it was the main attraction of the amusement park–the legendary roller coaster.
Of course, she had to sit out while everyone else seemed to be excited for the ride, but there were a few, such as Academy and Yuutsu who wanted to conquer their fears.
“I must to do it! For the sake of my passion for acting!” Academy exclaimed, with her nose held high before the safety belt was pushed and locked into place. It would be seconds later, that she started screaming her head off when the countdown started, getting everyone to feel like jumping off the ride.
Kirei sighed as she watched the roller coaster take off and sat under the shade nearby the trees, waiting for the time to pass by so that she could see the fireworks later.
It was her chance to see where Nanamaru was working–so she quickly went off in her search for the younger girl.
“Have you been able to find Nanamaru?” Kirei asked as her butler magically appeared by her side as he kept his word that he would be right by her side when he was needed.
“My apologies, Milady Kirei. None of our men were able to find Nishino-san.”
The butler spoke truthfully, “Perhaps she may be on break. But we’ll let you know where she is at once when our men do find her.”
“That’s fine,” Kirei sighed as she noticed a pink bear mascot, holding up balloons from a far, handing them to nearby children before leaning over to take photos with other amusement park-goers.
The mascot noticed Kirei sitting alone under the shade, and tipped-toed to her before handing her a balloon.
“Thank you,” Kirei noticed the kind gesture as the mascot suddenly did a quirky pose, as if it were trying to cheer her up.
She chuckled as it nearly lost its’ hold on the dozens of colorful balloons in their hand, if it weren’t for her quick reflexes–jumping into the air and swiftly grabbed them each before tying it into a knot.
“Here you go, be careful!” She extended her hand to return the balloons to the mascot.
The mascot nodded, showing its’ gratitude as it stood there, waiting for her to say something.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, as the mascot waved its’ hands at her in a swatting motion, before pointing to her.
She arched a brow, confused at the sudden gesture.
She pointed to herself.
“Me?”
It nodded.
“Ah,” Kirei quickly understood–the mascot was concerned for her by giving her a balloon, it hoped that it would console her a little. Of course, that trick would only work for little kids especially the ones who were crying, not her. She had to give the mascot some credit for the half-baked effort at least.
“There’s nothing wrong, really.”
The mascot tilted its’ head, before patting the spot on the bench next to her and sat down, waiting for her to do the same.
“What’s with you?” The brunette obediently followed along to sit down, furrowing her brows as the mascot pointed to itself, before holding its’ paw behind their ear, as if it wanted to hear her talk.
“You want me to tell you something?”
It nodded.
“Erm…what should I talk about?”
Kirei tried to be thoughtful–instead of riding with the other girls on the roller coaster, here she was, talking to a weird pink bear mascot who was probably mute for the sake of their job.
“Well, it’s not like we’ll ever meet again.” Kirei turned to the mascot, “I actually have a lot of things on my mind lately–you might think that it’s nothing.”
The mascot shook its’ head before gesturing for her to continue, the back of their paw held out to signal that they were willing to listen to her speak.
“I’m currently in a softball team called ‘Hatsmori Bemars’. The misspelling of the word ‘bear’ is in poor taste, but I think it’s what makes the team unique.” Kirei continued, “I’ve learned that each member of the softball team is precious, and have an individual quality that can contribute to the team as a whole.”
The mascot nodded, waiting for her to continue her thoughts.
“But I really want to get along with the whole team. There’s another member, Nanamaru–I think she’s a really interesting person. Admirable, I must say. She managed to defeat Polaris–the name of the team that I was with before at the championship game.”
The mascot appeared to be in long thought before it would nod again for her to continue on speaking.
“I want the team to be the best in Japan. But it seems like some of us just don’t click.”
The mascot shook its’ head at her assumption, giving her a pat on the shoulder.
“…What do you think?” She asked the mascot, before it would do another shake of the head.
“I wish that we can get along–but our ways of thinking doesn’t mesh well. What should I do to get closer to them?”
Kirei had to pause for a moment as the mascot was now sitting still, not making a single move as she was about to continue rambling on.
“Hello? Are you still there?” She waved in front of the mascot who grabbed her by the hand suddenly, pulling her towards the crowd of people waiting nearby the roller coaster.
“Eh?” Kirei followed along, letting herself get dragged somewhere, along the way she had noticed her butler approaching from a far, looking like he was about to take out the mascot.
“Lady Kirei! We will protect you–”
Kirei shook her head as she gestured for them to stay there–she could see that the mascot wanted to show her something.
It led her back to where the softball team members were now getting off the roller coaster, pushing her towards them.
“Eh?” The mascot gave it a small bow before it handed them each a balloon, some of the girls finding it adorable that it kept doing a little giddy jump of happiness before it went off, holding the colorful balloons tightly in hand.
Right then, the mascot gave Kirei a thumbs up before leaving, knowing that she was in the right place and time to say what she wanted to the Hatsumori Bemars members.
“…How did it know that I was with them?” She furrowed her brows as the other members wanted to follow the cute bear mascot, messing around with it’s little furry tail before it turned around with a farewell bow and saluted them.
“What’s wrong, Kirei?” Sherry noticed the small action coming from the mascot, as the girls turned their attention to the young heiress.
“Sorry about having you wait for us!” Kote exclaimed, “We’ll make it up for you by winning a big stuffed toy for you!”
“W-What?” Kirei furrowed her brows as the others had surrounded her closely, making her follow them to the next amusement attraction that caught their eye.
“We know that you’ve been trying to get close with us.” Marukyu said coolly, her eyes never leaving Kirei’s as they were walking to a nearby cotton candy stall, “Everyone was trying to figure out how to cheer you up.”
“Eh,” Kirei mumbled to herself, “Then…did Nanamaru ask us to go to the amusement park for this?”
“She did it out of concerns, and for everyone’s sake.” Marukyu smiled as Kirei slowly nodded. “Especially for you, she wanted to cheer you up.”
“I see.” Kirei smiled as the mascot from afar had went back to distributing balloons and bouncing around, causing some people nearby to gush at its’ bubbly persona and activeness.
Thank you, weird pink mascot.
-
The hours flew by quickly as the girls went on a rampage to win tons of prizes, some who were lucky to get stuffed animals and others who lost some as well.
“Nanamaru should be done with her work soon!” Kote excitedly exclaimed as she was holding onto various sorts of food such as soft taro ice cream, stuffed red bean paste bread, and chocolate covered bananas on a stick.
“You’re amazing, Kote. Your stomach must be a black hole, with all this non-stop eating you’ve been doing all day,” Yuutsu said as Imadoki nodded in agreement.
“Let’s see how many calories you’ve been digesting–starting with the cotton candy,” Harvard pulled out her spare notebook out and a pen, ready to scribble away when Chopin quickly glared at her. Her hands were ready to steal the items right before her eyes again.
“Give them here!”
“N-No!”
Kirei smiled upon seeing the bunch noisily chattering away as they were in search of a good spot to watch the fireworks from. Just as they were about to settle down near the front of the pond on a grassy field, Marukyu noticed Nanamaru approaching them from afar.
“Over here, Nanamaru!” She called out, getting the attention of the others who quickly got up and waved at the girl.
“Hi guys!” Nanamaru greeted them, as she was able to get off work on time–the girls clamored around her to give her some of the things that they bought or won off the amusement park’s attractions.
“Here,” Kote offered her the sweets that she was keeping for the younger girl who decided to accept the red bean paste bread out of the piles of food that she was carrying on both of her hands and arms.
“Thanks, Kote.” Nanamaru smiled, before noticing Kirei sitting in a chair that was set up by her butler next to her.
“Did you have fun today, Kirei?” She asked, as the brunette gave her a small nod.
“…I did,” she was reluctant to say anything else, as she was exhausted by all the girls in the team’s energy, earlier they were trying to get her to try everything in the world of the commoners.
She didn’t mind, as she found it rather enjoyable to get a taste of the sweets and the various rides of the park, even seeing cute animals like penguins and monkeys along the way.
“The pink bear mascot. That was you in it, right?” Kirei curtly asked as Nanamaru had quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact with her.
Kirei was sharp some times–she knew that the girl was precise to the detail but it was a part of her, knowing how much of a perfectionist she was at times, especially towards softball.
“N-No…”
Kirei sighed as she turned to Nanamaru, “Then where were you for the whole day? We walked almost everywhere to find you, but you weren’t around.”
Kirei thought that it was odd that they couldn’t find the girl at all–going through mirror mazes and haunted houses even to catch a glimpse of Nanamaru, only to be disappointed when they asked the staff that shook their heads once they were asked if they knew where or who Nanamaru was with.
Along the way, they had encountered the pink bear mascot who waved to them from time to time. Of course, the others weren’t able to recognize it until Kirei had connected the dots quickly as the mascot skipped away from them.
“…Okay, you’re right,” Nanamaru confessed, “You seemed a bit down earlier.”
Kirei smiled nonetheless at the younger girl’s honesty and quickly understood that the girl was just wanting to cheer her up.
“That was kind of you to listen to me,” Kirei said as she looked at Nanamaru with a smile, before the younger girl turned to look at her with furrowed brows.
“Hm?”
“You knew that I was struggling to get along with the others, so you decided to invite us here–and you were able to succeed.”
Nanamaru smiled, as Kirei was as calculative and careful as always not to miss the smallest details in her simple actions.
“Because you’re also a part of the team–all of us wouldn’t have been able to be here if it wasn’t for softball.”
Kirei quickly realized then–that it wasn’t just Nanamaru’s power alone that managed to bring everyone together, but it was as she said, their love for the sport itself.
“You’re right,” the young heiress said as she felt that the distance between her and the commoner wasn’t so far as she thought, before the fireworks began to shoot in the air.
The girls began to quiet down as the fireworks started shooting up the night sky before their eyes, giving them the chance to connect their feelings with each other.
“Ah, it’s beginning!”
Nanamaru’s eyes sparkled at that moment in excitement, her hand pointing into the air as Kirei turned her attention to the fireworks that began rapidly increasing, painting the dark sky with bright colors and flowery explosive designs.
She smiled to herself after noticing how everyone’s eyes had changed drastically, as if they were mesmerized by the beautiful attractions that signified the end of their fun day.
It feels like we’re back at the Park of Beginnings.
-
“Lady Kirei, would you like me to drive you back?” Her chauffeuer offered as he had opened the door to the limousine after everyone was starting to enter the bus to be driven back to Hatsumori.
“No. I want to join the other girls in the bus.”
The chauffeur had no choice but to obey the young lady’s wishes. Her father watched from a far, noticing how his daughter’s expressions seemed much more happier than before.
“Very well, milady.”
She smiled as she noticed Nanamaru from afar, her hand extended as she turned away from her chauffeur.
“Her Lady Kirei is here!”
Kote gasped dramatically as the others turned their heads to see that Kirei was entering the bus, deciding to sit next to Sherry as Nanamaru sat next to Kote with a slightly shy smile.
“I’d love to join you guys on the bus ride back,” Kirei nervously said before the others, such as Imadoki and Marukyu were amused at the turn of events.
“Of course!” The girls were excited nonetheless, fully aware of Kirei’s spontaneous appearance.
“You’re always welcome here,” Nanamaru said with a wide smile, “You’re a part of Hatsumori Bemars, after all.”
Kirei smiled, nodding as they were still off their high from the fireworks moments ago, before Kote decided to have them all gather around and do their team chant before the bus would finally take off.
“Gather around, guys!”
“Ready?” Kote signaled as the girls had their arms up in the air, forming a circle together.
“Starting!” They chanted, “From here on…”
“Starting!”
Everyone looked around, making sure that each one of them were connected by heart, before raising their arms up in the air.
Kirei smiled widely, knowing that her worries were dispersing and now replaced with a sense of unity among the team.
“Hatsumori…Bemars!”