Chapter 60: Book 2 – Chapter 3b

Kingo let out a shriek of horror.

 

Most people missed what happened, because they weren't watching. Toshi hit the ball. The ball went straight for Madoka’s forehead. Reflexively she raised her glove to catch it, but the force was still enough to cause the glove to smash into Madoka’s head. So when people looked up, they saw Madoka face first in the dirt.

 

Toshi turned white as a ghost.

 

Toshi just froze, almost not believing what he saw. It was Kingo's scream that snapped Toshi out of his trance. He dropped his bat and broke into a run for the pitcher’s mound. Oddly enough, Kingo's screeching voice drew all the attention to him, and not to Madoka, delaying people heading out to help. The coach was the first to figure it out, “What The Fudge?” He looked over at the kids by the cooler, “Someone grab the first aid kit!” Finally people started to move onto the field, but Toshi got to Madoka first. He dropped down next to her and quickly checked her neck. It didn't seem broken and she still had a pulse. Toshi looked up to see what help was coming and had a moment where his brain short circuited for a second.

 

The girls present were the ones who were coming out to help. They acted first, almost reflexively. The coach was in the lead, but the boys present were acting like Kingo. They cried out, they said, 'Oh No' or 'Someone do something'. They would cover their mouths and look sad, or maybe go so far as to point, but not a single one was doing anything to actually try and fix the problem. This was such an alien concept to Toshi that he couldn't function. He just wanted to shout at the guys present, 'What the fuck is wrong with you?', but he managed to force himself to turn his attention back to Madoka. He already knew the answer and this was not the time to have an existential crisis.

 

Toshi carefully put his hand under her head to support it when he rolled her onto her back, “God? I know you're very busy but, please oh please, do not let her die. I would consider it a personal favor, thank you very much!” The coach was the next to arrive, “Stop moving her! She might have a neck injury!” Toshi glared back at the coach, “She was lying face first. Breathing dirt is Bad!” The coach rolled her eyes and pushed Toshi out of the way, "Stop playing nurse and let the licensed paramedic handle this." Toshi fell back a few feet and glared at the coach's back, but let it go over his concern for Madoka. The coach leaned over Madoka as she checked her out, "Hold on. I'm not sure she's breathing." Toshi heart leaped up into his chest, ~Did I just kill her? OhFuckOhFuckOhFuckOh-~

 

What actually happened was the coach hunched over Madoka when her eyes opened. Madoka, while momentarily stunned by the impact, really wasn't that hurt by the ball. In the moment immediately afterwords, she thought ~Why not play up the sympathy angle?~ Not above a little deception, she promptly dropped to her knees then face planted into the fairly soft dirt of the pitcher's mound. She waited for the right moment and when the coach arrived, Madoka gave the coach a wink and pointedly looked towards Toshi while waggling her eyebrows.

 

Now the coach wasn't an idiot. The coach was once a young girl herself and so she understood what was going on. Putting two and two together, she saw a way to buy points for her star player with her future boyfriend. It certainly wouldn't hurt to play along, and might even get her star player laid. So the coach added a little bit of drama to the situation. She didn't plan on letting the doubt go on long. Just give Toshi a little scare, nothing more. A normal boy would then wail and moan and act all worried, begging for someone to do something. Madoka would then 'dramatically' wake up. Toshi would then be relieved and oh-so apologetic towards Madoka. It was a text book romance novel plot line, to be honest.

 

Unfortunately, Toshi does not react to stress like a normal boy.

 

Toshi is not the type to panic and yell for help. He was far more proactive than the coach was expecting. Toshi ordered the coach, "Start chest compressions!" as he shoved her out of the way. He pinched Madoka's nose closed as he took a deep breath, completely covered her mouth with his, then forced an adrenaline fueled lung full of air into her.

 

Now, in romance novels, this is played up as something sexy. Most people think of CPR as something from the movies or a TV show. In fiction, it is an opportunity for the 'lovers' to have their lips meet in an unexpected fashion. However, Toshi wasn't thinking romance. He was thinking, 'GET HER LUNGS WORKING'. If you have ever had someone who had serious lung capacity FORCE air into your lungs when you are not expecting it, you would know that it is a less than pleasant experience. Madoka, lying there with her eyes closed, had but a moment to experience the sensation of Toshi ENGULFING her entire mouth to make a perfect seal, then suddenly had a lung full of air forced into her by said panicking Toshi.

 

Madoka's eyes flew open and bugged out as Toshi emptied all the air in his lungs into her. It honestly felt like a bunch of those tiny air sacks might have burst from the pressure. There is a big difference between air being drawn into your lungs, and air being forced into them like one was blowing up an inflatable inner tube. Toshi pulled back with a mighty gasp as he refilled his lungs, intending to administer a second breath. Even if Madoka wanted to keep up the facade, she couldn't as she immediately started to cough uncontrollably. She pushed Toshi away as she suddenly was having ACTUAL breathing problems.

 

The coach was caught off guard and would have stopped it, but was a little too slow on the draw. In the end, she shrugged as she thought, ~Hey. She got a kiss out of it, at least.~ Not that Madoka would consider what happened a 'kiss' by any stretch of the imagination.

 

This was the scene when Kingo finally arrived. The phrase 'daggers shooting out of his eyes' was never more descriptive than the look Kingo gave Toshi in that moment. Not only had Toshi given Kingo's *ahem* 'one true love' a concussion, but Toshi also gave Madoka the 'Kiss of life'. It was quite apparent to Kingo that this whole incident was done on purpose. The injury and subsequent revival of Madoka was so she would be indebted to Toshi and thus Toshi could use those feelings to steal away HIS WOMAN. Only a total MONSTER who was a sociopath would risk another person's life in such a manner just to try and win their heart.

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Kingo had already felt something was seriously wrong with Toshi to begin with. Anyone who would save someone like Naora couldn't be a saint. It sounds like the heroic thing to do, but more likely, he saved Naora so she would be in debt to him and everyone knew that Naora was connected with organized crime. Toshi came from a family of cops. Why would he do that, unless he was pure evil? This fit the pattern. Toshi put women's lives in harm's way, then saved them so he could manipulate them for his own nefarious desires. Toshi is not the saint everyone thought he was. Toshi was clearly the goddamn antichrist. Or so the thought process went through Kingo's mind as gazed upon Toshi with an expression that screamed to all that witnessed of nothing less than pure, unadulterated hatred directed at Toshi.

 

 So it should come as no surprise that Toshi didn't notice in the slightest.

 

"You..." was all Kingo could say as he trembled with rage. Toshi looked up at Kingo, “Oh. Hey.” Toshi jogged his head towards Madoka, “Yeah. My bad.” The coach ignored the unfolding drama and focused on Madoka, "Hey. How many fingers?"  Madoka coughed a bit more before she finally could focus, “Wha?” Toshi looked back towards Madoka as he bit his lower lip and held his breath.

 

The coach repeated, “How many fingers?”

 

Madoka groaned, “Uh… three?” Toshi let out a long sigh of relief. The coach nodded, “Good. How’s the neck feel?” Madoka tried to sit up, “Fine, I-” The coach shook her head and pushed Madoka back down, “Whoa whoa whoa! You took a baseball to the face. Take a breather.” Kingo had taken off the jacket he wore for cheerleading practice, wadded it up, and put it behind Madoka’s head. He glared at Toshi, “I think you’ve done enough.” Kingo looked like he would have torn out Toshi’s throat with his teeth at that moment, if there weren’t so many people who would stop him.

 

Toshi finally read the situation and backed off. There was a part of him that felt like he should fuss over this girl, because it was his fault. There was another part that was grateful for this mess, ~Clearly this was an opportunity for Kingo to connect with Madoka and who am I to stand in the way?~ Toshi held up his hands as he stood up and backed off, "You're totally right. I helped enough." He started to leave, letting Kingo take his place by Madoka’s side. Madoka noticed this and frowned slightly as her plan started to go south. This was a lot of effort to then get stuck with Kingo. Madoka called out in a pitiful tone, “Where’s Toshi?”

 

Toshi almost replied when Kingo moved to block Madoka's view of Toshi, "Don't worry. He's not anywhere he can hurt you again." He glared over his shoulder at Toshi, "I'll make sure of that." Toshi just winced and turned to slink away. Madoka spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "Well, someone tell him that was a hell of a hit! He should try out for the team.” Kingo's eyes narrowed as he ran his hand over Madoka's forehead, "Shush. You need to rest. Focus on yourself instead of the team." The coach nodded in agreement, “Yeah. Stop talking and lie still.”

 

Toshi’s sister and Kenko had come running along with everyone else and had arrived at the tail end. As Toshi moved out of the crowd, they circled around to join him. As the three walked away, Toshi kept his head down and shoulders hunched out of embarrassment, "What the hell is she thinking? 'Join the team'? I almost killed her!" Kenko looked worried and gave Toshi a pat on the shoulder, "Nah. I'm sure it's fine..." He paused before adding, "and she's right. It was a hell of a hit."

 

The crowd was of a mixed opinion about the situation. Kingo and the cheerleaders had merely disliked Toshi, but now they flat out hated his guts. By the time Kingo would finish putting a spin on this, they would forever more think of Toshi as the bastard who nearly killed the best player on the team. A few people would echoed this sentiment, mostly those seeking to curry favor with the cheerleader's clique. However, the majority of the school would alternate between, ‘It could have happened to anyone’ and ‘That was a nice hit. I wonder if Toshi is also good at baseball.'

 

His sister gave Toshi a comforting hug, “Don’t worry. I’ve seen her take worse hits to the head. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Kenko looked thoughtful, “Remind me sometime to explain to you what ‘hitting on’ someone actually means.” Toshi blinked at Kenko, “You think that was FLIRTING?” Kenko grinned, “You certainly knocked her off her feet!” Toshi looked glum, "This isn't funny, Kenko" Kenko sighed and shook his head slowly, "Toshi, Toshi, Toshi... what are we going to do with you?"

 

Toshi just sighed. Something was nagging at him. Something didn’t quite add up about all this. Something just outside of the edge of his sight or forgotten in some corner of his mind. He couldn't put his finger on it. Alas, he had been so caught up in the event, he completely missed what happened. Not entirely his fault, mind you. What he missed only lasted for maybe half a second, so it's quite understandable that he didn't catch it. If he had, he'd be far more worried than he already was.

 

He failed to notice how his teeth started to itch just before he hit the ball.

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