FLCL

The pitch had struck Naota's head, and he'd collapsed in the batter's box. That was all there was to it.

After being replaced by a pinch runner, Naota returned to the bench. To be safe, Naota wound a bandage around his head.

That was a pretty dangerous pitch, Naota said to himself. As he watched Haruko on the mound with a sulky face, he heard a camera shutter behind him. Canti was standing behind Naota and, for some reason, had taken a picture of Naota's bandaged head. The robot had a tendency to do things for no reason whatsoever.

The photo developed instantly and printed out from part of the robot's body. It was an X-ray, and the white circle in the middle of the black film was Naota's skull. Canti nodded happily while reviewing the picture.

Staring at the robot, one of the players commented, 'Taking X-rays of players during a game seems a bit dangerous.'

'It's one of the machines MM makes, isn't it?' another player asked, studying the logo on Canti's chest. 'Is the radiation safe?'

'Does MM do weapons research for the American military?'

'Hey, we started losing right around the time that the plant was finished!'

Canti's reputation wasn't very good among the Martians. Everyone was suspicious of this robot that wandered around town, whose true colors and intentions were unknown. To make matters worse, because the Martians were a team based in an older shopping district, they were critical of anything MM.

'Cut it out,' Shigekuni ordered, feeling there was no point in finding fault with such a convenient machine, which would run and fetch things for the team. The players didn't say another word about their coach's possession and stopped the badmouthing of the robot then and there.

The batter who went up after Naota also struck out, and the Martians once again ended their stint at bat without having scored any points.

It was time to take the field again, but Naota, whose head was wrapped in bandages, remained on the bench without going out to play defense. He probably could've said a quick apology and left the game, but he decided to stay and watch the Fragments' turn at bat.

The first batter up was Haruko, and that alone was enough to warrant watching. After all, Haruko's swing kind of reminded Naota of his awesome brother. It wasn't that Haruko's swing itself was similar to Tasuku's—it was the level of skill with which she swung. Both of their swings were so complete, each the epitome of perfection.

'Hiii-ya!' With a loud shriek, Haruko swung the aluminum bat without holding anything back.

As the ball soared skyward, it was clear to everyone that it was a home run. With another run for the opposing team, the Martians drooped their shoulders. The ball quickly disappeared into the blue sky, and the players gave up trying to follow it with their eyes.

There was something that kept watching the ball for a long time, though—Canti, the robot.

When the game was over, the scoreboard showed a massive difference in scores. It was an overwhelming win for the Umaguma Fragments. Sadly, the Mabase Martians didn't score any points and had suffered indisputable, utter defeat.

Regardless of whether the Martians had won or lost, it was customary for the team to hold a meeting after every game to reflect. Naturally, all the players could talk about this time was Haruko.

'We need a substitute player like that girl.'

'Every time she batted, she hit it out of the park!'

'She even hit home runs off our intentional walks.'

'Who is that girl, coach?'

Shigekuni usually severely scolded the players after a defeat, but today, he silently gritted his teeth. Of course, he kept it a secret that the girl the team was curious about was his housekeeper.

Shigekuni had been surprised when he'd first seen Haruko wearing a Fragments uniform. He was the person who wondered the most about why she was on the other team. What wound him up was the fact that he and Haruko had been so close, but he'd never known she was so good at baseball.

I have to do something, Shigekuni said to himself. There were still two games left against the Fragments, and something needed to be done, or the Martians were sure to lose all three games. He didn't know what he could do about it, though.

'Wow, take a look at that,' one of the players exclaimed.

Upon glancing in the direction the player pointed, Shigekuni saw balls flying into a basket near the bench, one after the other. The sight of the skillfully aimed balls landing one by one in the smallish basket almost seemed to be a trick.

The responsible party ended up being Canti, who'd been instructed to tend to the grounds. The robot had been retrieving the scattered balls and throwing them from long distances.

Shigekuni and his surprised players all stared at one another. It was obvious that everyone was thinking the same thing. The team members quickly got Canti to stop cleaning up the field and gave the robot a glove to see if he would catch some balls.

The team pondered the possibilities of Canti being a real find, but the robot turned out to be more than a real find. No matter what kind of fly ball or grounder the players hit at Canti, the robot cleanly fielded it with perfect form, throwing it back. His nimble movements were far better than the Martians had hoped. To top it off, the robot pounded his glove with his fist, as if to say, 'Bring it on!' showing he had heart, too.

'He's amazing, coach!'

'With him, we're going to win the next match.'

'A hidden jewel, our secret weapon—we're going to ride that robot to victory!'

The players ate up Shigekuni's excited boasts.

'Plus, Tasuku is coming home soon,' the proud coach added with conviction.

'Hooray!' yelled the players.

The news of Tasuku's return brought even more joy to the players who'd excitedly observed the robot's prowess. That's how much the amateur baseball team revered Naota's big brother.

Nobody was thinking about the substitute player from earlier any longer. As the team cheered in unison, 'Tasuku's brother' stood up and left dejectedly, without anyone noticing.

After walking up an embankment, Naota found a Vespa on the waterside road with Haruko standing by it, counting several bills that looked freshly swindled. The money was probably the reason she'd played in the game earlier. When she saw Naota, she shoved the money into her pocket.

'The bandages look good on you,' she said.

It was unlikely that Haruko felt an ounce of responsibility for beaning Naota with the ball. Actually, he could envision her telling him, 'You couldn't get out of the way? Gosh, you suck at baseball, Takkun!' — and she did.

'Whatever,' Naota sulked. 'I don't care about baseball.'

'That's not cute at all.'

'Stop it,' Naota insisted, covering his head.

Haruko reached for her guitar case that was strapped to the Vespa, so Naota thought for sure she was going to hit him as she usually did.

Idiot, don't play around where people can see us. They're going to start gossiping, Naota thought. Then again, I wonder what the players from both teams who were making fun of me would think if they saw me and Haruko together?

In the end, Haruko simply slung the guitar over her shoulder, glancing at the bat Naota held in his hand and saying matter-of-factly, 'If you don't swing, nothing will happen.'

'Well, it isn't as if I can hit your pitches anyway!'

'Takkun, you think you're special, don't you? That's why you don't swing. If you swing, people will know you're not special.'

What is she saying? Naota wondered.

Haruko slapped on her helmet and sped off at full speed, leaving Naota standing there.