บท 23: 23. Family Time ( Part-I )

I woke up feeling a bit dull. I looked out of the window and saw that the sun was already setting. I looked around the room and remembered that I'm not in my home anymore and am now living with the Kamizato family. I turned around and saw my luggage kept at the side left unpacked. I slowly opened my bag and took out two photo frames. One was me and dad and another with Izumi.

I kept them on the study table which was by the side of the bed and took out only a few clothes for about a week as we will move from here again. I neatly arranged them on the shelf available in the room. I went and opened the door and saw that the corridor was empty. I slowly went towards the stairs and made my way down. I then heard the Television sound and went into the hall noticing Meiko seeing the baseball match being played on the television.

She turned back noticing me standing by the entrance of the hall and waved her hand indicating to sit down. After sitting down on the chair next to the couch she is sitting I looked around to see if anyone was there.

As if noticing my thoughts she said, "Everyone went out its only me and you. Dad and mom went out to buy groceries and Sora went to meet his friends as we will be moving out. Tell me if you need anything."

It was awkward for me to sit there so, I just nodded and saw the baseball match. It was a match between Tokyo blazers and Hokkaido Breezers. It was an intensely close game. The pitcher for the Blazers was not Tenma Yakhama but some other person who I don't know.

As I was seeing the match I heard Meiko's voice, "Which team do you like."

I replied not turning my head from the television, "Saitama Crushers." They had the best offense and even the best catcher in my perspective. I felt it will mostly be them winning the tournament this time.

"Oh! I like Tokyo Blazers. They have a better pitching arsenal and Tenma is also good." I just nodded as what she said is true. In the whole tournament, the Blazers have the biggest arsenal but their offense was not that great. They did a great job in defense but always came short in batting.

"But their offense is not that great," I replied turning my head to face her. I saw her staring at me and I felt a bit nervous seeing her stare. It was as if she was assessing me.

She just nodded and said, "Yes that is also true. By the way, my name is Kamizato Meiko. You can just call me Meiko." I then nodded and said, "My name is Toujou Rei. Nice to meet you."

She looked at me and said, "I and Sora are going to play catch tomorrow morning after breakfast do you want to come with us. You can just see as you don't play anymore."

I nodded as I don't have anything to do and some fresh air was needed. I simply replied, "Ok."

We continued to watch the game in silence. As we watched we heard the door opening we both instinctively turned our head to see Shirogana-san, Narumi-san, and Sora coming into the hall. Shirogana-san and Sora were holding some groceries. Seeing them I instinctively stood up.

Seeing me Shirogana-san chuckled and said, "No need to stand Rei." I sat back feeling a bit embarrassment standing like that.

I heard Sora asking Meiko as he came and sat beside her, "So who is winning."

Meiko replied, "It's a tie. It will probably go down to the last inning." he just nodded and continued to watch.

Shirogana-san also came and sat down with us and saw the match. Narumi-san was likely preparing dinner and so didn't come to sit with us. The match then ended with the Hokkaido Breezers taking home the win in the last inning just like Meiko said. The match was very dramatic as no one expected a home run from them in the last inning.

It was hit by the clean up in the team due to a small mistake done by the pitcher. The clean up looking very bulky made it seem very easy to hit a home run. It was very long and the whole field can only see it passing by and do nothing about it. This allowed the Breezers the first team to enter the finals. The other semi-finals would be held after a few days to determine the other

Sora turned his head towards his dad and said, "So Otou-san now it's only your team and the Breezers in the finals right."

I also turned head to hear the conversation. He then said, "We have another match to win to be in the finals."

We all nodded and heard Narumi-san calling for us, "Come eat dinner it's ready."

We all made our way to the dining room and sat down to eat. After eating I went back to my room and also noticed that Meiko was also going back. Sora was still in the hall watching some television. I had no mood to continue watching television with him.

After reaching the room Meiko turned to me and said, "Good night Rei."

I nodded and said, "Goodnight to you too Meiko." and entered the room.

I went and sat on my bed took the photo frame which has my dad in it and held it against my chest and slumped down on the bed and slept.