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Miyuki Kazuko is a spitfire of a girl. She may not look it, but if you’ve met her for more than 5 minutes you’d find it out. When she started school she joined the baseball team. Her father encouraged her to take sport seriously, and she did just that. In fact she excelled at it to the point that her older classmates would get upset at how well she played. She was the queen of strategy on the field, the power behind most aggressive plays, and downright cutthroat when i came to voicing opinions. She never held back, always a quick remark or a jab wrapped in a joke. This isn’t why she was ostracised in school, no. Well it might have had something to do with it. But really it was the fact that she was a she, and she played baseball, not softball like all the other girls.
Her parents were brought in to try and dissuade her from playing baseball. But the coaches and principals were met with stark refusal. Mr and Mrs Miyuki fully supported their daughter playing baseball, it was the only thing she seemed to talk about ever. To take it away, even substitute softball for it would be a devastating blow to her. So the coach came up with a compromise, if she must play baseball, have her wear a boy's uniform at school. People might think it weird, but it might help take the criticism off the girl. Besides at this age it's really not hard for girls and boys to pass off as one or the other.
So her last year of primary school she cut her hair short and started wearing the boy’s uniform. She really didn’t mind, she got to play baseball and fewer of the students seem to whisper mean things behind her back, not to mention the other baseball teams stopped laughing at her team when they showed up with a girl.
Tragedy struck the Miyuki household, just before Kazuko entered middle school her mother was killed in an car crash. She left behind a strong willed but socially withdrawl daughter and a husband that wasn’t sure how to pick up the pieces of his life from there.
Kazuko had to sign documents on her father's behalf, when he would forget to do it, or make sure they had food for the week. When she went back to school after the break she started signing all her own classwork as Miyuki Kazuya, since she had practiced it so many times. It took hold in her. Again she was happy on the field, making fast plays, seeing opponents weaknesses, and how best to exploit them. The coach had spoken with the principal before Kazuko’s mother died, and had already arranged for her to wear the boy’s uniform. If anyone ever thought it weird that ‘he’ would change in a stall rather than in the locker room, no one said anything. Life slowly but surely carried on.
Although it may have been her sanctuary, the field wasn’t any easier on her that life. She would constantly have to fight for the respect of the other players. A quick wit became an even sharper tongue. A play on the field wasn’t good until she had made it great several times over. She practiced throwing quickly and accurately to all the corners of the diamond. She was going to conquer this realm even if she had to do it by force.
She meets Chris- sempai and is totally outmatched. In her awe she bows deeply to him. Rei sees the game. Approaches her after.
“you’re a bit young to scout yet, but here is my card. You are?”
“Miyuki Kazuya” without hesitation, wearing a male name like her uniform, as a shield of armor.
Rei gives ‘him’ an appraising look, “Well Miyuki-kun, when you’re older look up Seido. We could use talent like yours.” Without any other words Rei saunters off.
Kazuya wants to run home and tell her father, scream and shout that a recruiter wants her! But then she remembers that her father won’t be at home. So she sits down on the bench. Watches the sun set over the field before picking up her bag and wandering home.
She does exactly as Rei suggested, she looks up Seido as soon as she is old enough.
When she arrives on campus alone, she goes up to her dorm and finds that she has a room to herself. No biggie there, but they have supplied her with girl school uniforms. She sighs, this should have been expected. Afterall she did fill out the paperwork herself, and it didn't occur to her to add a note, ‘oh by the way, please supply this girl with boy uniforms, k? thanks’. Nope. She doesn’t want to step off on the wrong foot with the coach, but she might be able to convince Rei-chan that she needs a change of uniform.
She finds Rei’s office, and boldly knocks on it. She is still in her street clothes, unwilling to wear the girl uniform if at all possible. Rei opens the door.
“ah Miyuki-kun what can I do for you?”
In her deepest tone of voice she states “There seems to have been a mix up.”
“Oh with what?”
“The uniforms.” She holds up the offending item, to display the issue.
Rei looks it over once then back to Miyuki. “I see it's a uniform, what is wrong with it?”
Now how is this supposed to go? She tries to remain calm, don’t start blushing just because she is challenging the issue. “I prefer to wear a boy's uniform, on and off the field.”
“ah I see. Well,” Rei tents her fingers in front of her, gazing at Kazuko, not Kazuya. She feels naked in front of this woman, but not uncomfortable, it's a very strange sensation. “let me see what I can do to fix that, Kazuko.”
Oh snap. she knows and yet? What is she going to do now, she can’t go back to the ridiculing and getting pushed around like she didn’t belong on that diamond. It was her home, he safe haven, her quest for nirvana. She breaks out in a cold sweat.
Rei seems to notice how still she has gone, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell you not so secret secret to the team. I’ll let you decide on that. But until the time you feel safe, being who you are, I will happily supply you with the boy’s uniforms.”
Kazuko exhales, she goe to hand the uniform to Rei, when she motions the student to stop.
“No, you can hold onto that one. I’ll have the others brought back when they change out the uniforms in your room.” Rei pauses, giving a considering look, “in case you change your mind.”
Strangely enough her gender doesn’t come up as an issue for a whole 2 weeks. The team doesn’t seem to mind or care, as long as she plays as hard as the rest of them, which she does and then some. It takes a lot of determination to tone a female body to the degree that its on par with boys her age. But when she isn’t practicing she is swinging her bat, or working out in the weight room, or reading score books to figure out the other teams. Since coming to seido she lets her plays do most of her talking. No need to be anything other than a baseball nut, which apparently what this school runs on. So its pretty close to nirvana.
The first month goes by, and somehow she starts talking to one of her teammates that is in her class, he sits next to her. He is perceptive and cunning. Lightning fast on the field. They talk for a few days on and off before they actually introduce themselves to one another.
“Kuramochi Youichi,” as he nods to her/him (she’s not sure which he thinks she is…)
“Miyuki,” she hesitates and decides to go for the safer bet, “Kazuya.”
He seems to hmm with that statement, he looks her over once more, before taking a look around the classroom (its lunchtime but no one else is near them, baseball idiots alone together.) “I was going to swear…”
Kazuko stomach drops like a lead weight, wondering how he is going to finish that sentence, but then one of the managers of the baseball team storms over asks them which onigiri they want the managers to make for next away game. Kazuko wants to thank the manager profusely, but instead she swallows the lump in her throat and answers.
Kuramochi is the first person she tells, since coming to Seido, that she is infact a girl. By this point Youichi and her a really casual friends, so thankfully he doesn’t clam up at the info. She suspects he knew, but was being too nice. It’s strange how he has no problem talking to her, but to see him attempt to converse with the managers outside the classroom he completely melts down.
It seems that most of the team know by the end of the first year. She is alright with this. But she still wears the boys uniform to protect herself. They know her from the field, that is her true self.
She still is rather isolated and prickly to everyone when they get on her bad side. But she has a couple of people she’d dare to call friends on the team. Then she meets an idiotic ball of sunshine, Sawamura Eijun. She commits the name to memory because he is fun to work with, all loud blustering confidence and still really caring. He picks a fight with an upperclassman for picking on a teammate, and the kid isn’t even in high school yet. She thinks this kid will be a handful, but the kind that might pay off bigtime. The ice around her heart starts to thaw a little more.
She isn’t sure what changed but less than a month after her second year starts the managers all seek to befriend her. They invite her to join them after practice in the baths, really hush hush, since not everyone needs to know she is not what she appears on first glance. The managers in her grade invite her and Kuramochi to join them for lunch on occasion, and other little things. She is very suspicious at first, but after watching them, time and time again she decides what does she have to lose? Kuramochi grumbles about the lunch part, he gets all flustered if they talk anything outside of baseball or sports. It's like a safe topic for these idiots, most of the time they all accommodate for his lack of vocabulary and stick to what they all know.
One day soaking in the bath, only one of the first year managers is with her. She is braver in smaller groups, so finally she asks the other girl,”Why’d you invite me to join you?”
“Huh?” the other girl is taken aback, not sure what Kazuko is asking.
“You and the other managers, started inviting me to the baths, or lunch. But what made you ask?”
The other girl blushes, “well it wasn’t our idea, but it seemed like such a good suggestion we had to take it up. Why? do you not like spending time with us? we can leave you be if its bothering you.”
“No, no quite the opposite.” she hmms to herself at this warm feeling spreading through her. In a very quiet voice, “I like it. it's less lonely.”
“Oh well! I’m glad, we like everyone on the team, you included, so it makes sense to be friendly with one another.”
Kazuko ponders the other girls responses. Hmms before inquiring, “Wait, if it wasn’t your idea, whose idea was it? Was it Wakana’s?”
The manager blushes again, fiercer this time.
“Oh come one, tell me, Please!” Now Kazuko is feeling playful about her new found friendships..
She bites her lower lip, “promise you won't be mad at him if i tell you.”
Kazuko stops her flailing, its a he? who could have asked the managers to spend time with her. “Is it someone from the team?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’m not going to play 20 questions with you, just spill it. I won’t be mad, I promise.” She crosses her fingers to try and convince the fist year she’s telling the truth.
“It was Sawamura.”
“What?! That loud mouthed idiot?!”
The first year nods several times. “yup, he asked us if we had spent any time with you outside of practice. We hadn’t, obviously, so he suggested we should try to.” She pauses, like there is more to tell to the story. She adds quietly, “He said you looked lonely.”
“That idiot!” She starts to get up from the bath, when the manager lays a gentle hand on her forearm, she stops dead.
“You promised. Besides was he wrong?”
That has all of her attention. She sits back down, flabbergasted at this clairvoyance of an Idiot.
The manager takes her hand away but adds, “He may be an idiot but sometimes even blind dogs get treats.”
The next day Kazuya is retired to the diamond, as Kazuko puts on her girls uniform for the first time. Sure she turns heads, but her team is there to support her. And one big idiot grins at her from across the shoe lockers. “Morning Miyuki” He waves energetically.
“That’s Miyuki Kazuko to you!”