Part 9"Miki!" Coach yelled.
"Yes?" answered Korenaga.
Coach shook his head and corrected himself. "I meant Fujimoto!"
Miki was sitting on the players' bench, dozing off, her head buried in her arms unaware of her name being called.
"Fujimoto!" Coach yelled again.
Miki jumped up to her feet. "Yes?!"
"You'll be on the yellow team. Go up there!"
"Yes coach." Miki put on a yellow jersey and walked out into the court with the rest of her team.
It was only a practice game and the girls of Gatas Brilhantes H.P. were divided into two teams. The red team was Rika, Asami, Mai, and Ayumi, with Nono at the goal. The yellow team was Yossi, Miuna, Saitou, and Miki, with Konno at the goal. As the whistle blew for the game to start, everyone hustled around chasing after the silver ball. Miki trodded along the sidelines, not really paying too much attention. Her mind wasn't all together since last night.
So much for the pills. She scoffed. She really didn't want to be there today but she tried her best to focus on the game. The red team has gotten the ball as they closed in on the other team's side. Yossi teasingly taunts Rika, who has the ball, and it was pretty obvious that they were flirting around on the court, Miki noticed. Yossi manages to steal the ball away from Rika as she tells her team to push forward. Yossi could see three red players ganging up on her as she reached the goal. She looked for an open player and that was Miki.
"Miki!" She yelled to her and passed the ball. Miki turned her head at the sound of her name but reacted too late and powerkicked the ball over the goal. The referee blew the whistle.
"No good!" he yelled.
"Come on Miki!" Yossi grunted in disappointment. "You were right next to the goal!"
"Sorry!" She apologized as she got back into position.
The ball went to the red team as they gained ground to the other side. Yossi manages to steal the ball once again and passes it to Miuna who was then intercepted by Asami.
"Miki block her!" Yossi yelled.
Miki, distracted once again, was unaware of the little Country Musume girl running towards her direction until she felt her body hit the floor...hard. The whistle blew once again. Gasps and footsteps came toward her. As Miki opened her eyes she saw her whole team staring down at her.
"Eh? What is this?" She mumbled, shaking off the sudden blow.
"I'm so sorry Mikichan!" Asami apologized.
"Fujimoto, are you ok?" Coach asked.
As they picked her up she felt a sharp pain in her back. They sat her down on the bench.
"Korenaga, go in for Fujimoto." Coached called.
"Yes coach!" She answered as she got into position.
Miki looked up and saw Yossi glaring at her as she returned to the game.
"Fujimoto." Said coach. Miki's eyes were on him now. "What's going on? You're one of our best players out there. What's gotten into you lately? I've noticed you haven't been playing well in the last few practices. Don't be getting soft now, we need all the training for the tournament coming up soon."
Miki looked down at the floor, feeling apathetic rather than guilty.
"You haven't been drinking or taking any medications, or that sort of thing?" He asked.
Miki shook her head, lying about everything.
"Well, stay focus this time. You're vice captain after all, you know? You should be helping out the others. Now get some ice for your back."
Miki got up and limped over to the cooler and got a bag of ice. She winced as the coldness touched her skin. It felt like it was burning rather than cooling. She limped back to the bench and grunted. She had never felt pain this bad before. She gritted her teeth trying to prevent herself from tearing up. In her mind she wish she hadn't come, she just wanted to go home. A few long minutes had gone by and coach called for a time out. Everyone came running back to the benches, huffing and sighing, happy to have a break. Yossi intentionally bumps into Miki's as she passes by her.
"Meet me after practice." She said sternly as she sat down. Miki could only glare back at her.
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Miki slowly limped her way into the locker room. She saw Asami heading out.
"Ah, Miki, are you ok? I'm really sorry." She apologized once more.
"It's ok, it's just a little sore." Miki answered. "Where's Yossi?"
"Somewhere in the back." Asami answered.
"Ok, thanks." Miki said and limped on.
The locker room seemed quiet and empty. The sound of metal squeaking echoed off the walls. Miki looked through the rows of lockers, all of them looked the same, it was like an endless maze. It would've been easier just to call out Yossi's name but Miki was somewhat struck with a feeling of apprehension though she didn't know why. Yossi doesn't intimidate her at all but she walked cautiously, careful not to make a sound and then she finally found her. Her back was turned to Miki and she was wearing nothing but a towel. Water dripped from her blonde head on to her muscular shoulders. Miki couldn't help but stare at her body which was so manly and womanly at the same time. She felt awkward coming up to her like this and looking at her, but she couldn't help it. Underneath her towel she can almost see her the curve of her...
"Hey! What are you staring at?" Yossi yelled at her.
Miki's face flushed with embarassment as she got caught. "I'm...I'm sorry."
"When I said
meet me after practice I didn't mean like this." She turned her head and shook the water out of her hair.
"Sorry, I'll just come back later then." Miki replied and turned around but Yossi stopped her.
"Since you're already here anyway." She motioned her to come foward. Yossi was sitting there wearing next to nothing yet she was not at all embarassed as she went at Miki.
"What's up with you lately? You played like crap today." She said sternly.
"Coach already gave me that lecture." Miki sighed, coughing up an attitude.
"Yeah, well I've got more to add." Said Yossi. "I know what's bugging you lately. And her name's A-ya-ya. You've been screwing up everything ever since you found out that Aya and Keita were going out."
Miki clenched her fist at the sound of that name.
"What's this? Jealous, are we? You're so lucky she's no longer on the team 'cause if she was and that happened it'd be so ugly right now." She looked at Miki who was beginning to fume. "Come on, you knew about it and you didn't do anything about it? I mean what happened? I thought you two are together, right?"
Miki didn't answer her and Yossi realized.
"Oh? I was pretty sure you two were. Seemed like it. I guess people should stop spreading gossip around the-"
"What do you want?" Miki cut her off, getting aggravated now.
"All I'm saying is you better drop this crap and focus on the tournament. We are going to win this no matter what so you better get yourself together! And not just that but with Morning Musume too. Now that Yagu-san's the leader, she has to work extra hard and she doesn't need you to drag her down with your personal problems." Yossi got up and dug through her locker. "But this tournament, even though it's still a few months away, I really want to win it. This is something I'm really good at." She turned around and faced Miki again. She took a deep breath, feeling slightly embarassed for the next thing she was going to say. So she lowered her voice. "Besides, Rika ain't putting out unless we win."
Miki choked on the air and snickered at Yossi. "What? So it's gonna be my fault that you're not getting any?" She started to laugh and it echoed loudly.
Yossi knew Miki would react that way. She couldn't stop herself from going up to her and pushing her hard against the lockers behind her.
"Hey! What the hell?" Miki grunted, trying not to show her pain as she glared at Yossi.
"Look who's talking!" Yossi yelled. "Looks like you won't either. For all we know Aya and Keita are probably banging each other right now!"
"Shut up!" Miki yelled back, fighting back the tears that were forming in her eyes.
Yossi sneered as she wiped a tear off of Miki's face. A wave of sympathy came over Yossi and she suddenly found herself leaning toward Miki's face but Miki turned away. "Funny," Yossi said, pulling back from her rejected pass. "I always thought you had a thing for me."
Miki didn't say anything again. She wanted to leave already. She was in too much pain and anger to deal with Yossi anymore but she wouldn't let her go.
"Can I go now?" Miki asked as she tried to move away, but Yossi pushed her back again.
"I just want to make sure you understand all this." Yossi confirmed.
"Don't touch me!" Miki yelled, pushing Yossi's arms off of her.
Yossi held her back again. "Well...do you?"
"Stop it!" Miki growled and suddenly threw a punch at Yossi and just barely missed her face. Yossi countered by slamming Miki into the lockers again. Miki came at her once again only to get slammed again. Loud thuds of Miki's body against the metal lockers echoed loudly, yet she kept persisting despite how badly defeated she already was.
"You wanna fight huh?!" Yossi yelled, clutching her towel with the other hand. "I have no trouble beating the crap out of you like this!"
Miki glared with rage as she went at Yossi one more time with full force. Like a bull, Yossi charged at Miki, slamming her really hard against the lockers one more time.
"I-TAI!" Miki cried out in pain and fell to the floor gasping for breath.
Yossi stooped down over her and shook her head in disappointment. Water from her hair dripped on Miki's face.
"I thought you were different, Fujimoto." Yossi sneered, rubbing her shoulder. "We can handle one less player on the team but too bad we need you. Look at you, you're so pathetic. You better get yourself together and stop screwing up. Now get up, you're embarassing me."
Yossi got up and disappeared somewhere in the back of the locker room. Miki laid on the floor huffing and throbbing in pain. She wanted to lay there and die. She cried softly to herself. The pain on her back has spread to her shoulders. It felt like her body was shattered inside. She grabbed onto the bench and tried to pull herself up. She began to walk but was reduced to a dragging limp. She whimpered in pain with each step. A few minutes later Yossi came back fully clothed.
"You're still here?" She asked. She watched as Miki limped toward her. "Damn, you're really busted up. Sorry, but you were asking for it." Miki got close to her till she up to her face. "What? You want to fight again? Save it for a game, Miki!"
Miki just fell foward, collapsing in Yossi's arms.
"Whoa! Get up!" Yossi cried, trying to prop Miki up. Realizing it was her fault Yossi decided to help her. "Do I have to take you home or something?" Then she thought for a moment. "Or I guess you can stay over. Come on." She put Miki's arm around her shoulder and tried to help her walk. Miki was weighing her down, dragging her feet. "Pick yourself up! I'm not going to carry you out of here!" Yossi growled and Miki stood up and assisted herself as they walked out of the locker room.
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ChrNo: Yeah I know, don't you hate when that happens?
rndmnwierd: it's ok! hehe
Mikan: It is huh? makes you wonder if they'll ever resolve it, but I won't say anything.
lil_hamz: Beautiful? :embarrassed: You're too nice. You mean my other fics like E.R.I.? Sure, but I was going to rewrite it before I post it here. Plus I'll post new fics here too once I get them done.
Topic: Milestone: A Reluctant Idol (complete) (Read 27380 times)