My Beloved Balls

"My little darlings, thanks for waiting. Nana Shiraishi is here."
After her daily club activities, Nana Shiraishi would stay in the sports equipment room to clean the balls used to play various sports.
"Hehe, I've finished cleaning now. You've all been very good." Nana Shiraishi swoons as she rubs a volleyball she has just cleaned against her cheek, as if she is p
laying with a pet. She couldn't bear to see these balls piled up in a corner, like small animals that eventually disappear around the corner after amusing those who
walk past them. This prompted her to proactively clean this pile of round balls.
The combination of Nana Shiraishi's initial sympathy, sense of accomplishment after cleaning the balls, and the "friendship" she had with the balls when interacting
with them on the court caused some unnecessary emotions to sprout in her heart.
To Nana Shiraishi, the ball in her hand is not a lifeless object, but a lively entity full of life on the court. She memorizes the characteristics of each ball, giv
es them different names, and pets them like real pets while praising them for doing well on the court.
Nana Shiraishi knows that her behavior looks strange to others, but she is in the sports equipment room after school hours, so no one should disturb her while she e
ntertains herself at this time. That's why it was too late to do anything by the time she noticed that Hana Ninomiya had quietly appeared behind her.
"...It's okay. I can understand." Hana Ninomiya said after gaining a preliminary understanding of what she just saw.
It's because she understood that Hana Ninomiya knew just how embarrassed Nana Shiraishi was right now. Upon recalling her usual cheerful look, Hana Ninomiya felt li
ke she had stumbled upon a secret that no one else should know about and really regretted walking over to greet her.
Hana Ninomiya resists the urge to run away immediately and tries to make a proper smile while she thinks of a way to break the silence. Nana Shiraishi is one of the
few enthusiastic people who would greet someone as transparent as her, so she didn't want to leave her alone and embarrassed.
"I-I see. It's great that you understand, Hana..."
"I do this all the time, so there's nothing strange about it." Seeing that Nana had proactively broken the silence, Hana Ninomiya heaves a sigh of relief and is abo
ut to leave when a volleyball suddenly fills her vision.
"Phew... I was worried that you would think I'm a weirdo, Hana, but I didn't know that you also like balls. Now I have a companion!"
"You've completely misunderstood me..." Hana Ninomiya tries to explain herself but halts when she sees the excitement shining in Nana's eyes. Nana Shiraishi asks he
r to play with a volleyball called Softie for a while before sitting on the ground to wipe the other round balls.
After Hana Ninomiya caresses the volleyball for a while, she picks up a rag and starts to help Nana clean the other balls...
"Little balls, small and round, rolling and jumping on the ground. Look at these little cuties I've found, hehe."
"D-Do we have to sing this song...?" Hana Ninomiya says as she looks uneasily at the entrance of the sports equipment room and prays that no one is walking by at th
is time...