Despairful Memories

Chapter 1

The sound of students talking amidst themselves, gossiping and laughing as they discussed the latest drama reached the ears of the pink-haired mechanic, who was grabbing his backpack from his locker, ready to retreat to his dorm on the second floor of Hope's Peak Academy. The ultimate mechanic was 18, with not too much activity in the way of social life. He was a student in Class 77-B. As such, he usually only saw his fellow classmates, but sometimes he saw the students of freshman class 78. He himself was a sophmore, having been held back a year. The mechanic had been...distracted...last year. He had let himself obsess over his hobby of building and dismantling. He had been working on a car, using parts from the local junkyard. He could live in the junkyard honestly. he really could. To him, nothing was more perfect. Unfortunately, his obsession cost him his grades. As such, he was forced to repeat sophomore year, joining class 77-B. This time, he was making sure to keep his grades in check. After all, he didn't wanna end up like Yasuhiro Hagakure. Hiro had been in his freshman class for 3 years, according to everyone else. He was 19. The mechanic had known Hiro in his freshman year, as one of his classmates. Unfortunately, Hiro's attention had always seemed to be elsewhere...That, or his brain didn't like schoolwork. The pink-haired male was glad this only his first year being held back. He didn't wanna be like Hiro. As he shut his locker to walk away, the sight of a male with spiked back red hair, pale blue eyess, and the start of a goatee suddenly filled his vision. The startled mechanic let out a loud shout, eyes bulging.

"AAAHHHHHH! What the hell, man?!" The mechanic could feel his heart racing. He hated how he scared so easily. The red-head just laughed.

"Sorry, Kazuichi...I would say I wasn't trying to scare you, but..."

"But you totally were, weren't you, Leon?" Kazuichi crossed his arms as he seemed to relax. Leon just gave a sheepish grin as he reached an arm behind his head, rubbing his neck.

"Ok, yeah, I so was...Sorry, you just scare too easily! Anyway, scaring you isn't my only reason for stopping by..." The way his brows lowered at the far corners, the way the corner of his grin twitched upwards, and Kazuichi already knew something was up. Usually when Leon gave him that nervous look, it meant he had broke-

"Oh no...no way! You can't be serious! I just fixed that thing last week!"

"I know, I know...! Sorry, what can I say? Ultimate baseball star, remember?"

"Are you sure you're not the ultimate jinx? You're the only one who makes it possible to hit a baseball straight into an automatic pitcher..." Kazuichi gripped his cap and pulled it down by his eyes as he groaned. He knew Leon didn't even like practicing. He barely liked baseball. But Coach made him practice regardless. Whenever Leon used the academy's automatic pitcher, he somehow managed to hit the ball so that it went straight back into the machine, breaking it. He was surprised the pitcher hadn't exploded yet. Everytime the pitcher broke, someone from the team would come find Kazuichi so he could fix it. Not that he minded. He just wished Leon would aim elsewhere. Sometimes he could swear that Leon did it on purpose...

"Ok, fine, I'll fix it. Geez, man...Be more careful, won't you?!" Leon just slapped him on the back with a grin.

"Thanks, Kazu! Sure, no problem! Tell you what, I'll buy you a cola ok? Sound fair?" The sound of a free cola immediately perked up the mechanic. Yes, Leon was a troublemaker, yes Leon annoyed him a lot, but Leon knew him well. The red-head had befriended the mechanic the first time he had come to fix the pitcher. Everytime Kazuichi would sit on the ground, woking on the machine, Leon would start up a conversation with him, to help kill the time. it was through these conversations that Kazuichi learned that Leon wanted to pursue music. Specificly, he wanted to be the ultimate musician, a title which belonged to his current classmate, Ibuki Mioda. Too bad she wasn't very good with heavy metal...He made a habit to stay away when she was performing, so he wouldn't bust his ear drums. Not that Leon was much better. Last month, Leon invited kazuichi to his dorm on the first floor, so he could hear him play the guitar. Needless to say, that was the frst, and last time, that Kazuichi agreed to hear him play guitar. Kazuichi was at first confused why the ultimate baseball star wanted to be a musician. But the answer to that quickly became obvious.

"Duh! Chicks LOVE musicians, Kazu! Everyone knows that musicians, especially rockers, bring in all the girls!"

That was when he learned Leon Kuwata was a bit of a womanizer. He often saw him with a girl on his arm, but it was often a different girl each time. Although lately he had seen the red-head Sayaka Maizono, the ultimate pop sensation, a lot recently. Leon said he liked pure-hearted girls. A statement Kazuichi agreed with. That and blondes, like Sonia Nevermind, the ultimate princess. Just thinking about her made him fee like he would melt. Leon let out a snicker when he saw the look on Kazuichi's face. the mechanic had his eyes wide, with a blush on his cheeks as he grinned.

"Oh man I know that face...You're thinking about Sonia, aren't you? Come on, we got a pitcher to fix!" he grabbed the mechanic by the arm, pulling him with him outside to the batting cage.