Prepping the room once again, Kaoru felt a little more at ease than the previous night. At least with a bunch of first years there shouldn't be any issues as she wasn't going to question them individually about struggle topics.

Instead she decided she would go broader and cover each topic. She had spoken with one of the first year teachers and got example homework questions to pass out.

Once everything was set up, Kaoru was nervously playing with some of the papers in front of her. It was so awkward to not know any of the first years.

She heard the doors open, bringing her attention to the hoard of first years that were invading the space. Her eyes were wide, 'tutoring isn't even mandatory!' she thought in surprise.

Once they were all sat and looking at her expectantly she swallowed her nerves. Squaring her shoulder, Kaoru smiled at the room as she greeted them, "Hi everyone, thank you for coming even though it isn't mandatory!"

'So bright!' thought all of the first years as they shielded their eyes. They had heard it was an upperclassman tutoring them, but they didn't expect a beautiful and shining senpai!

"My name is Bokuto Kaoru, I am a second year student and I played for the softball team during my first year here. Now, Coach Kataoka has asked me to tutor the baseball team with the exception of the third years," Kaoru continued.

Sawamura Eijun visibly tensed at her mention of softball, this was definitely the damsel in distress he had seen the night before!

Eijun opened his mouth to interrupt Kaoru, a question about why she gave up softball rising up his throat. Before he could ask though, Haruichi tugged on his sleeve roughly.

Looking at his pink haired friend, Eijun was reminded that Miyuki and Kuramochi had told him not to say anything. 'But I want to know! How does someone give up a sport they love so easily?' he thought.

Kaoru was feeling awkward at the amount of eye contact each boy was giving her, 'so intense,' she thought. Clearing her throat she continued, "so, if everyone could go around the room and introduce themselves, that would be appreciated!"

Introductions were nearing an end, there were about 15 first years in attendance, much more than she had expected. One very loud introduction stood out among the rest, "Sawamura Eijun! First year and soon to be Ace of the first string!" he screamed out.

Holding back a laugh, Kaoru was shocked at his loud mouth. 'This is definitely the kid that I saw last night, he must not have seen me crying because he seems like the type to tell everyone,' she thought.

"Alright! Thank you all for introducing yourselves, I am looking forward to working with you all," Kaoru said with a smile as she lightly bowed to the group.

Clapping her hands together, she grinned, "now, Kominato, can you help me hand out these packets?" she asked the shy pink haired boy.

Nodding, he tried to fight the blush on his cheeks at being called on by a beautiful senpai as he took half of the papers and began handing them out.

He noticed that there were handwritten notes and explanations on each piece of paper, 'that had to have taken hours,' he thought. His respect for his senpai grew as he sat back down and saw his own notes.

'They're so detailed,' the group of boys were taken aback. All of them decided to pay full attention to her once she began working through the subjects.

Unbeknownst to Kaoru, she had been dubbed Kaoru-Hime by the first years. Without so much as a spoken word, the group of students had agreed that they would follow and protect her as though she was their own sister.

'Why did the mood get so serious?' Kaoru thought as the boys all had a look of determination on their faces.

The hour passed by quickly and Kaoru was thankful she didn't have to lift a finger in cleaning as the group of first years did it themselves without hesitation. 'If only the second years were as gentlemanly' she thought with a laugh.

Once all of them had said goodbye, Kaoru grabbed her bag and headed to her own dorm. She didn't want to walk out with any of the guys in order to avoid any misunderstandings.

Walking into the cool night air, Kaoru was reminded how much she loves spring nights. She hadn't made it far from the building when she paused to look up at the sky, a smile making its way onto her face.

'Tonight was fun,' she thought, 'this is good for me, I would have never done this alone,' Hearing male voices around her, Kaoru snapped out of her thoughts, looking around warily.

The campus is very safe, but walking alone as a woman is always dangerous. Turning around, she saw Miyuki, Kuramochi and Sawamura arguing loudly. The scene was funny enough to make her laugh out loud.

Miyuki was smirking devilishly as Eijun was being held in a headlock by Kuramochi, who despite clearly being irritated with Sawamura, was yelling at Miyuki.

Her laughter caught the attention of the trio as they paused their childish actions for a moment. "What is going on here?" she asked with a smile.

Miyuki opened his mouth to reply before he was cut off by Eijun's yell. "Kaoru-Hime! Don't listen to anything this damn Tanuki has to say!"

Kaoru's eyes widened at the nickname, as she repeated it aloud with surprise, "Kaoru-Hime?" she giggled at the name, "I had no idea I was so angelic."

Miyuki broke out into laughter so loud he was clutching his stomach with tears in his eyes, Kuramochi released Eijun as he also laughed himself onto the ground.

Eijun's face was red with embarrassment, causing Kaoru to halt her own laughter, she hadn't meant to tease him. "Sawamura, thank you for the nickname, I hope to live up to it," she said with a gentle smile.

"Now can someone explain why you three are out here being loud and disturbing my peaceful stroll back to my dorm?" Kaoru asked curiously. The three looked at each other awkwardly before Miyuki coughed.

"Sawamura was waiting because he wanted to walk his precious Kaoru-Hime home," he teased the younger boy. Kuramochi laughed as Eijun blushed, causing Kaoru to frown at Miyuki's rude remark to Eijun.

Walking towards Eijun, she linked her arm around his own. "That's very much appreciated, Sawamura, thank you!" she said as she smiled at the younger boy.

Pulling him towards the softball dorms, she looked back over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue at the other two boys. "At least someone is a gentleman!" she called out loudly.

Eijun was a blushing mess, and once they rounded a corner Kaoru released him. "Sorry, I just had to shut them up, especially Miyuki and his smart mouth," she said.

Turning to face the boy she smiled, "thank you for offering to walk me back, but right here will do! See you Thursday Sawamura-chan!" she said walking away.

"Why did you give up softball?!" Eijun yelled after her without thinking. Kaoru's eyes were wide with surprise, "what?" she asked softly.

Eijun took a deep breath before deciding to respond, he had made it this far being blunt and he wasn't about to stop now. "I saw you crying last night and when I asked Miyuki-senpai about it he said that you got injured and don't play anymore!"

Continuing, Eijun grew bolder, "but you obviously miss it! Why did you decide to tutor the baseball team if you would rather be playing softball!" He was about to continue when he saw the look of venom on Kaoru's face.

"Sawamura, you have no right to speak as if you know anything about my situation!" she said, her voice rising, "you act as if I had a choice in whether I continue to play or not!"

Her voice broke at the end, she felt her shoulders shake, "thank you for walking me back, and for your concern, but please do not ever talk with me about this again."

Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down. He didn't know any better, it wasn't his fault. Eijun stood there dumbfounded. He hadn't thought he would get that reaction at all.

He watched his senpai walk away, as guilt started eating away at him. He was the one that upset her, biting his lip he began walking back towards his own dorm.

He knew he wasn't very good at hiding his emotions, Kuramochi would see through him in an instant and then he would have to tell him what happened.

Letting out a frustrated yell, he was already tensing up at the idea of running into Miyuki. The catcher was definitely going to be upset with him, he shuddered to think of his reaction after their altercation regarding Chris-senpai.

'I need to make up with Kaoru-Hime first,' he thought, 'before I tell anyone what happened.' Eijun turned around, he knew where she was probably heading.

Kaoru walked towards her dorm before veering off towards the field. She went to her usual place overlooking the field, listening to the rustling of the trees and admiring the peaceful night life.

She heard footsteps approaching behind her and was not surprised to see Eijun walking towards her, a determined look on his face. Honestly she nearly smiled at his presence, he seemed like the type to meddle.

"Hi there Sawamra," she greeted. He sat next to her in silence. His unusual silence was making her uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.

Kaoru laughed a little, "Sawamura, I am sorry for snapping at you," she said again, eyes forward. "Kaoru-Hime! You have no reason to apologize!" he yelled, nearly deafening her ears.

"I am sorry, I couldn't understand why you gave up softball, but now I know you didn't have a choice," he continued, there was pain evident in Eijun's eyes.

Eijun took a deep breath before yelling loudly, "please tell me what happened so I don't make you sad!" Kaoru blinked at him in surprise before letting out a laugh.

"Okay, there's not much to the story though," she replied. "I played softball my whole life, it was my entire identity."

Looking up at the sky, she continued, "and then in the deciding game last year, I was sliding into home when the catcher accidentally stepped on my shoulder - right on the joint."

"I was rushed to the hospital where they performed surgery and checked for nerve damage," sighing, she listed her right hand up, "unfortunately there was a lot."

Eijun looked at her right hand, he hadn't noticed it before but it shakes just a bit even without her moving it. "And that was it, everything I knew about myself, my biggest love was taken away."

"I can't throw ever again, I can swing a bat but not with any force," she said, "and worst of all, all of my friends are softball players so I never get to spend time with them and my brother doesn't go to this school so I don't even have him to rely on," she was tearing up now.

"I feel so alone," Kaoru said softly. Eijun shifted nervously next to her, before reaching a hand out to pat her shoulder gently.

Kaoru laughed at the contact, "thank you for listening, and coming to make up with me," she said, "you remind me so much of my brother."

Eijun smiled brightly, "can I call you nee-san?" he asked, Kaoru smiled, "Only is I can call you Eijun-chan" the latter laughed joyously.

"Alright nee-san, it's nearly curfew and we can't get in trouble!" he said loudly, "let's be sure to do our best everyday!" a determined look on his face.

Kaoru nodded, moving to her feet, "yes! Let's do our best!" she said, matching his volume and energy.

Parting ways, Kaoru went back to her dorm, surprised at how relieved she felt. Maybe it was good to talk about her feelings, and admit out loud that she is lonely.

Getting into bed, Kaoru looked at her phone, there was a message from her brother and Akaashi, as well as one from an unknown number.

Clicking on the unknown number, she was surprised to see a text that was clearly from Miyuki.

"Sawamura came back babbling about you being his nee-san...

don't tell me you have a new favorite player - how will I focus after

being replaced?"

Kaoru stifled a laugh at the text, quickly typing a response. She hid her grin with the bed covers after hitting send.

"Who is this?"

Her phone buzzed very quickly after she had responded.

"You really do have a nasty personality"

The response made Kaoru laugh again as she thought about a proper response.

"Oh Miyuki Kazuya, you should have just said so, I thought you were a stalker"

She replied. Placing her phone on the bedside table, she rolled over and did her best not to think about the handsome catcher because that would be problematic.

'I definitely do not like him, at least not like that,' she thought to herself as she began to drift off to sleep.