(Part 10)

"Brother Feng, Catch!" Ines called throwing the ball high as Feng looked up praising, "Whoa~! That's really high but…" he stood below the ball and catch! Caught it between his gloves, "That's taken."

"Haha, now my turn." Ines took his catching gloves as Feng gave him a mid-heighted catch. 

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Instantly the main gates went. Ines rushed towards the gates, "Brother is back! Brother is back!"

Feng following behind opened them as Gabriel walked in. Without a single word, Feng turned around tossing his ball and going into the gardens once again.

"Brother, how are you?" Ines asked as Gabriel handed him new ball.

"Wow! Is it mine?" Ines asked.

Gabriel maintaining his usual silence, ruffled his hairs.

"Right, brother why don't we play with brother Feng? He has been working hard for a few days but since my balling is not that good, he rarely gets to practice batting. Why don't we help him, please?" Ines asked politely.

Grasping a look at Feng he turned to Ines who added, "Please…"

Gabriel exhaled assuring, "Alright, let me get changed first." he ruffled his hairs once again, going inside.

After a while, Gabriel leaned on the sliding doors opening to the gardens. His arms crossed and tresses fluttering with the wind. He stared at Feng and Ines playing.

"Here you go." Hana called, handing him a cup of tea.

Gabriel wordlessly took it turning towards the gardens.

Hana settled down before the sliding door adjacent to the garden, her feet caressing the grass, she smiled. "Gabriel, my child… is something bothering you?" she inquired.

"Nothing." Gabriel responded straightforwardly.

"Are you upset with me then?" she added.

Gabriel clutched his tea cup tight, "Not Really."

"Or, did Feng get into trouble because of you?" she tried to guess.

"Tch! It wasn't my fault. He appeared out of nowhere…!" Gabriel snapped suddenly turning quiet. "Forget it…" he kept the cup aside going back to his room.

"Brother!" Ines suddenly called.

Stopping amid his tracks Gabriel turned around.

"Come on, we are waiting!" Ines waved.

Rather than walking to his room, he stepped outside. 

Hana noticing him for a while revealed a light smile. "I am glad…" she whispered relieved.

"Ready?" Gabriel inquired spinning the ball in his hands.

Feng silently tapped his bat on the ground ignoring him.

"Listen up, I am doing this just because Ines asked me to. Don't get full of yourself." Gabriel uttered smugly.

Feng rolled his eyes thinking. "That's not my problem. It's not as if I am dying if he isn't bowling to me."

Delivering the first ball, Gabriel aimed a top spinner for his wicket. Feng reading the ball stopped it with a dot return. Picking the ball up, he once again delivered another ball. Giving short hits and dot returns for an over and two Gabriel delivered yet another top spinner.

However, this time Feng's position slightly different, he stepped forward and smashed the ball in front, high and huge as it went to the corner at the garage's entrance. A few inches away from going over the roof. Feng exhaled, feeling a lot confident than before.

Gabriel stared stunned as Ines remarked, "So huge!! That would definitely be a six!" 

"Now… let me take all my anger out on you, Gabriel Harut." Feng exclaimed delighted.

Gabriel annoyed yet excited tossed another ball out of his pocket grinning, "Your anger? Mine is a hundred time furious than yours, brat! Dark Blizzard form 1!" Gabriel spun the ball, throwing it towards Feng.

The ball gliding fast went past him in a blink of an eye at the very back.

"Huh?" Feng dumbfounded, looked behind as Ines ran behind the ball to grab it. "An invisible spin?" he thought surprised. "That felt more like a Googly. An off spin Googly." he guessed.

"You recognized it?" Gabriel asked.

Feng turned around, "Just an assumption only."

Gabriel smirked, "Fool…"

"Huh?! Fool? Who the hell are you calling a fool you irrational delinquent!" Feng snapped back as Gabriel glared.

Ines bringing the ball back called, "Huff, huff, huff. Here you go…?"

Nonetheless, the two sending daggers at each other were ready to wrestle anytime now. Ines exhaled at a loss of words. 

'And just like this… we always played together. Each evening, Gabriel would come home early, readily participating in every activity. Even the ones that bordered on being comically absurd, such as witnessing Grandpa's appalling golf skills. Despite this, he joined us and shared in our family dinners. Gradually, his return home became less marred by injuries, and his smiles became timelier. While I pretended that it didn't concern me, I found relief in how his improved behavior affected others positively. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but ponder over what prompted this change in him. Was it my words that had an impact that day, or was he not as troublesome as I had believed?

Our relationship has always resembled that of stepbrothers at odds, an amusing aspect of my life. To me, it was the final piece in completing my family. However, while I thought I had begun to grasp Gabriel's nature, my own challenges were only just starting, even if my understanding of him remained limited. And then, just like time passes nonchalantly, we too moved on towards the Inter- Academy Nationals…'

________

Heber, Poseidon, Adam, Cassiel, and Azazel who were hiding behind the dressing room's door observed the tension between the two.

"I had a feeling they were avoiding each other but; I didn't thought I would be right." Cassiel remarked.

"Just when did this happen?" Adam asked confused.

"Who knows, Gabriel didn't utter a word yesterday. Could it be because they had an argument?" Heber speculated.

"But Gabriel rarely speaks," Azazel added, also puzzled by the situation, "Don't tell me they had a silent fight?" he assumed crassly.

Poseidon narrowed his gaze anxious, "I think it might be because of Feng's prior behavior because of Nile. Nile is Gabriel's friend, while Feng isn't on good terms with him. I wonder if that caused a rift?" he presumed.

"Sigh~ whatever it is, this is definitely not the right time to be fighting." Heber shook his head.

"Come on, let's head out. There's no point in deducing any further or else we'll be late for the toss." Cassiel said. 

"Time for the toss brats." Nidou informed, settling down in the coach's stand.

Senri glancing at his team members turned to Feng who came out of the dressing room.

"Come on, let's go Vice-captain." Senri snapped his fingers before him taking his attention.

Feng nodded smiling lightly, "Hm."

The reporters and coaches inside the ground waited as Senri and Feng walked towards the tossing area. Locating Peshawar match's Captain and Vice-captain already present, Senri uttered, "Looks like we made them wait. Thank goodness not late till we receive a match penalty."

"Is it because of me…?" Feng questioned anxiously.

"Nah, it's not because of you. I, made sure we'd be a little lazy today." Senri winked playfully.

Feng blinked his eyes confused, "Just what is he thinking…?" His gaze abruptly crossing Nile who stood beside Zhangli, he halted for a moment. "He is here…" he thought.

Senri glanced aside. "Don't stop, Feng. When you've vowed to march all the way in; march all the way in and out again." he advised.

Feng clenching his fists, that were wet with sweat, stepped ahead heavily. 

Upon reaching the tossing area, Senri greeted, "YO~! Didn't waited for long or did you, Zhangli?"

Zhangli twitched his brow annoyed, "A little bit more, and you would've received a kind penalty from the event organizers and Umpires for delaying the match."

"Hehe… my bad, my bad." Senri apologized, scratching the back of his hairs amused.

Instantly glancing at Nile who stood behind him smirking at Feng he grinned, "Oh, we meet again."

Facing Senri, Nile stared at him shrewdly.

Zhangli and Feng however, both surprised uttered, "You've already met?"

Senri shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it wasn't a fancy meeting I suppose, but we did exchange greetings, what do you say?"

Nile chimed in, "Likewise, this senior here recognized me, so we shared a brief conversation."

"I see…" Zhangli responded pleased.

Feng glancing at Senri, furrowed his gaze. "When… did that happen? He was always with us, wasn't he…?" he thought puzzled.

"And not only him, Senior Zhangli…" Nile added, "I seem to be acquainted to Feng Mir Ozer as well." His tone sharp, causing Feng to evade his gaze uneasily.

"Huh? Is that so?" Zhangli asked surprised once more.

"We faced each other in Inter-academy Nationals. I wonder if Feng recalls." Nile furrowed his gaze, his voice scheming.

Feng's expression turning bittersweet over Nile's false, sugar coated, guiltless words he responded in a light disappointed whisper, "Yeah… I do remember you quite well."

Nile grinned, "Fantastic." "Let's have a great match today. We are both looking forward to the finals after all." he added artfully.

Senri glanced at the two solemn.

"Ah, so it seems that both the team leaders are here for the toss, so without wasting any more time we shall proceed." one of the event organizers pointed.

The two team leaders from Peshawar and Karachi; facing each other with a feet gap.

The umpire standing amid them, tossed the coin to Zhangli. "The opposite team gets to decide first." he announced.

"Oh? They've altered the toss structure. They're conducting it similar to how it's done in the World Cups." Senri realized.

Zhangli approving, tossed the coin in mid-air. "Heads or tails?" the umpire inquired.

"Heads, it is." Senri closed his eyes, grinning confident.

Feng observing the coin; which fell on the ground, rolling and immediately dropping on a side, he crouched low to grasp a look at the results beside the organizer and the umpire.

Nile smirking however whispered, "And Heads it is…"