Fortunately, Masa didn't seem to catch on to my ulterior motive. He patiently stood there waiting for me to be satisfied. I scanned the faces of the baseball club members and then glanced back at Masa. Hmm. An ikemen by your side is worth two in the distance, I suppose. I briefly wondered if Masa would agree with the original idiom about the bird in the hand. Maybe he might prefer watching two in a bush instead.

Shrugging, I turned around to leave when I heard a strange whistling sound and some shouts coming from the field. Reflexively, I whirled around and ducked into a ready pose, reaching for my sword. Then I recalled where we were and saw Masa's hand grasping something where my head had just been.

"Oh," was all I managed to say.

He didn't say anything and simply tossed the baseball back to the club member who had run up to retrieve it. "I'm really sorry about that," the boy in a baseball cap said. "Did your friend get hurt? You've got good reflexes, by the way. Are you in any club?"

Masa gave me a quick glance, but I stood up again and shook my head, giving both him and the talkative boy a smile. "She's fine," he said. "It's our own fault for coming so close, so don't worry about it."

"Hey, wait, you're Tanaka-senpai from Class 2B, right? One of my upperclassmen is in your class and told me about you!" exclaimed the boy. "He said you're great at sports but never showed any interest in the sports clubs. He kept on trying to ask you to join our club but you always turned him down. Haha. And he's pretty popular himself, so he just—“

Wow, this guy was talking so fast I couldn't catch some of what he said. I glanced at Masa, but the guy was just standing there with barely any expression on his face apart from a slight frown. Maybe he was trying to figure out a way to interrupt without seeming rude. I tugged at his sleeve and when they both turned to look at me, there was finally a lull in the endless stream of chatter.

"It was nice to meet you, but we have a schedule to keep. Good luck with your practice!" I told the younger boy as I started walking back where we came from.

"Ah—ah, right, right. Sorry for talking so much, it's a bad habit of mine," he apologised. "Have fun on your date," he added, giving Masa a dramatic wink.

The latter twitched, but he didn't give a reply as he followed me. Once his underclassman was out of sight however, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Now you know why I prefer to watch birds to dealing with that."

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I chuckled. "Surely not everyone's that chatty, and besides, you talk to me just fine, don't you?"

"Huh. Now that you mention it, that's true. Maybe it's because we usually talk to each other in English," he said, putting one hand on his chin. "The level of politeness is different from using Japanese. Or maybe because I've visited your house—“

"Or maybe it's because we've spent so much time together," I suggested. "Camping together outdoors and stuff..." After I said that, I started feeling embarrassed for some reason. Apparently Masa felt the same, as he averted his gaze and his ears turned slightly pink. Oh no! What was with this awkward atmosphere! Me and my stupid mouth! Quick, say something else to change the subject before I die of embarrassment!

"O-oh r-right, we're going to the shopping street next," I stammered hastily, looking at my watch. "Is it far from here?"

Masa shook his head, but he abruptly started to pick up the pace. "It's not far, but we should hurry and get out of here soon."

"Huh?" I tilted my head in bewilderment, but it just made him grab my hand to pull me along. Wha—! Why? We practically flew out of the school gates and brisk walked until the building itself was out of sight before he slowed down and let go of my hand.

"I saw some of my classmates heading towards us," he explained at last.

Ah. "But won't they have even more to talk about after seeing you holding my hand?" I pointed out ruthlessly.

His eyes widened in realisation and he actually stopped walking for a moment. "Um, well, hopefully they'll forget about seeing that once the holidays are over," he said, not sounding very hopeful. "...Let's just do some shopping."

"Agreed."

~*~

Unbeknownst to us, some people were discussing what they saw. "That was definitely Masa, wasn't it?" came a high-pitched girl's voice. "I would recognise that face anywhere."

"I told you I saw him with a girl! Do you believe me now?" said a boy in a pleading tone.

"Grr, fine, you win! Here's your three hundred yen!" yelled another girl. "I should have known better than to make a bet with you."

"Ooh, thanks for your generous contribution."

"She wasn't even that pretty!" complained the first girl.

"I know, right? And I can't believe they were holding hands too!" said the second.

"I was surprised she could keep up with him though. They were running pretty fast, right?" remarked a third girl. "Did you manage to get a shot?"

"I think so... Oh no! All the photos i took with my phone are blurred! Just how fast were they running?"

"Wait, no way, the pictures I shot with my camera are blur too!"

"Why do you even have a DSLR on you anyway?"

"For cases like this, of course!"

"Well, that was a waste of time. If we can't get photos, we have no choice but to interrogate him once school starts."

"Only if you manage to catch him before he goes home."

"That will be a challenge all right."

"Hey, the direction they were going, could it be the shopping street?"

Everyone turned to look at the girl who spoke, then exchanged glances and unanimously started walking in the same direction.