The sound of an alarm broke through the silence, its droning causing a figure to toss and turn in bed in annoyance.
"Just a few more minutes mom." A husky voice called out.
Yet there was no reply, nor did the alarm stop.
The figure sat up in a huff, looking like a bear who had just emerged from hibernation. Her hair was frizzy and out of place and she seemed confused, yet there was an obvious sign of annoyance on her features.
With practiced movements, her hand chopped down on the digital alarm, killing the sound and possibly doing some damage to its internal structure.
There was a moment of indecision as Ai decided whether she would lay back down or get out of bed. She looked at the clock which said 5am and had a heated internal debate.
In the end, her conscience won out and she got up off the bed with a sigh.
If this was her own home, she would have been woken up by the sound of her father's rap music in the mornings. Yet as she was now living alone in an apartment in Tokyo, she had to rely on an alarm.
Ai let out a sigh, feeling a little lonely. It had been almost 2 weeks since she'd moved away from home to chase her dream at a new school, yet it seemed far longer.
After putting the kettle on, she quickly took a shower and began to get ready. Thanks to being in close proximity to Joshibi High, she had plenty of time to prepare herself.
Yet she had a different reason for setting her alarm so early.
She felt like a new woman after showering and taking the first sip of coffee. Ai wore a towel on her head as she opened up her laptop and clicked on a bookmarked link.
The logo of the U18 World Cup website popped up onto her screen. With familiarity, she clicked on Japan and found the most recent game from Japan.
"It's still playing?" She muttered in question.
The feed was live, showing a blond delinquent upon the mound getting ready to deliver a pitch. He looked scary, as if he wanted to hurt someone.
Yet in the next moment he sent a ball towards the catchers glove.
DONG
"Oh no!"
Ai almost spilled her coffee as she saw the big guy smack the ball into the outfield. Yet her eyes lit up when the camera panned to the fielder.
"Ken!"
Her face instinctively moved closer to the laptop in order to try and see him, yet due to the camera following the ball, he was a little out of shot.
"Oh my goodness." She exclaimed in shock.
Ken scaled the back wall in a single leap, stretching out his arm and plucked the ball out of the air in one fluid motion. His athleticism was off the charts as he corrected his body and landed safely.
"Out! Game set!"
"Huh?"
Ai was surprised at the call, yet as she turned her attention to the top right corner of the stream, she saw the score.
Japan - 13
Cuba - 2
"Whoa! I can't believe it. This is the second time in the World Cup that Ken has robbed a home run from an opponent. Perhaps he truly has a future in the outfield."
A male voice commented, his excitement palpable.
"Yes, what a way to finish the game. Japan steamroll Cuba in only 5 innings, a completely different result than what we were all expecting." A female voice added.
"This was very surprising considering their last game was so close. What do you think the defining factor was this time Miya?"
"Well firstly, Kei looks like a completely different pitcher in this game. He only gave up a single home run in the 3rd inning to Jorge Lopez. Secondly, the Japanese batters finally got used to the unorthodox Submarine pitcher Antonio."
Ai barely even listened to the commentators, her attention on Ken who had just been bombarded by his teammates. His face was filled with smiles, as if he'd just secured the gold for Japan.
Her face turned a little red, almost as if she was embarrassed for staring too long at him. She focused on his lips, remembering their last encounter before she moved to Tokyo.
The embarrassment seemed to be too much as she turned away from the screen.
Ai let out a sigh a moment later and checked the time. It wasn't long past 5am, but she already knew the result of the match. She couldn't watch the highlights either since it usually took a few hours before getting uploaded on the site.
"Maybe I should work on my project." She muttered with slight reluctance.
Since Joshibi High was an art and design school, it meant that they explored many different aspects of the industry. While Ai was mainly interested in fashion, she needed to branch out into other fields while enrolled.
Ai moved her laptop and brought out an A3 notebook, flipping to the most recent page. After looking at her sketches, she couldn't help but feel hopeless.
"The angle is all wrong…"
The sketch in question was of Koshien stadium, yet not as any regular spectator would see it. It was drawn from the perspective of someone sitting in the dugout, looking out onto the field.
This scene reminded her of one of her happiest moments in life. Watching Yokohama compete and win the nationals earlier in the year, all the while chatting to Ken and the other managers.
Taking an eraser, she got rid of some of the outlines and tried to fix them up. Then without taking notice of time, she began to redraw a lot of it.
At first it was difficult, but eventually she began to become immersed in the feeling. It was as if she was replaying the scene in her head. Ai could even hear the chatter of the team and the roar of the crowd, cheering on their squads.