Time: during episode 10
Characters: Otonashi, Hinata, Yui
It had been another long day. The sun had set behind the trees and the clouds overhead started to turn pink at the edges. Otonashi grit his teeth as he threw another pitch, ignoring the ache in his shoulder and arm. The batter, with her pink hair spilling out of her helmet, swung with a defiant shout but missed completely. He looked up to see a streetlight flickering on. He sighed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It's gotten dark enough, we can't see the ball," he observed, "We'll continue tomorrow!"
Yui let out a whine of despair just as she had yesterday, but she didn't argue. She trudged off the field with a dejected air, dropping her bat on the way. Otonashi watched her go, rolling his shoulder to ease some of the cramping pain that had started to build up from the past couple days. His neck was admittedly still sore from that German Suplex and its numerous failed attempts, and he wondered briefly if a permanently damaged neck would stay that way until he re-died and came back to life. He bent to pick up the stray balls scattered around the field, noticing with some disappointment that only a few of them made it to the outfield.
And she wants to hit a homerun? How long is this going to take?
He dumped an armful of baseballs back into the bin and sighed again with exhaustion.
"What are you two up to?" came a call.
He turned at the voice to see Hinata standing at home plate with the bat in hand. "Hey," he greeted, testing the bat out with a swing.
Otonashi smiled and avoided the question. "So you wanna play?" he asked, raising a ball, "Some real baseball?" He was tired, yes, but after going easy on Yui and keeping up with her ridiculous wishes, he felt up to a challenge. Hinata was a star baseball player; if there was anyone in the SSS who could take a hit, both literally and figuratively, it was him.
The bat whooshed through the air as Hinata took light practice swings. He looked professional while doing it, unlike the miniature pink-haired devil that had stood in his place moments before. "A full swing, huh? I haven't done that in ages," he said, stretching out his arm. "That might be kind of fun." He took a stance.
"Let's have at it, bigshot," Otonashi said with a smile, launching a pitch faster than he would have dared with Yui. But Hinata was no amateur. With a grunt and a fierce swing, he hit the pitch right on, sending the ball flying into the outfield with a clean, metallic ring that echoed in the air. He threw another fastball and watched as it flew back over his head and into the grass behind him.
"It's a change, isn't it?" Hinata asked, bracing for the next pitch. "Getting hits that go so far? I bet Yui didn't get much past the infield." He hit another one to Otonashi's right. It hit the fence and bounced back into the field. "What's she making you do anyway?"
"It was my idea, partially," Otonashi admitted, throwing another pitch. "She wants to hit a homerun."
Hinata loosened his hold on the bat and laughed. "A homerun? That tiny thing? Oh, man, that is rich." He cracked his neck before stepping back into the batter's box. "She was no good during the ball tournament, and I doubt she improved much."
"Come on, give her a break," Otonashi said with a smile. "She's trying her hardest."
"Which brings me back to my first question," Hinata grunted as he hit a ground ball to third. "What are you two up to? Or to rephrase, what are you up to?"
Otonashi felt his face melt into a grimace. He didn't want to lie to his friend, but he wasn't too keen on revealing his plans yet. Everyone was bound to suspect something if he managed to make Yui disappear; he didn't want to deal with trouble so early on in his mission.
"She told me about her past," he shrugged, tossing a ball from one hand to the other. "She was paralyzed and couldn't move most of her life. Can you imagine that, Hinata? A girl with that much energy like Yui stuck in a body that can't move?"
"So you're telling me this is some pity play?" Hinata asked, resting the tip of the bat on the ground. "That you're just sticking around because you feel bad for her?"
"N-no…well when you say it like that," Otonashi said with a humorless laugh. "I just want her to enjoy what she couldn't when she was a live, that's all. What…why do you care? You're always just treating her like a nuisance anyway!"
Hinata smiled softly and raised the bat to his shoulder. "I guess you're right." He hit a pop fly to centerfield and frowned. "Paralyzed, huh? That sure explains the constant enthusiasm. She's making up for all those days she spent motionless, isn't she?"
"Yeah. Just like Iwasawa and her singing. Everyone here just wants to do the things they wanted to do before they died, you know?" Otonashi stopped talking and cursed his slip-up. Why the hell did he say that? He had more or less stated his intentions loud and clear.
But Hinata laughed easily and took a practice swing. "Man, Otonashi, you sound like Angel. Well, more like a fun-sided Angel. She tries to force us to make up the school portions of our stolen youth whereas you help us make up the school activity portions." He shot a sparkly grin at his friend. "You two should form a team or something."
Otonashi forced a wild laugh that sounded fake even to his own ears. He threw a drunken pitch that rocketed towards Hinata's head.
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing!" he complained, barely ducking in time.
"S-sorry man! I guess I'm kind of tired…"
Hinata melted out of his anger and scratched his head. "I think we should call it a day, then huh?" He joined Otonashi and helped pick up the baseballs. "Are you seriously going to keep this up until that little shrimp hits a homerun?"
"I suppose so, yeah. I mean, I should finish what I started, right?" Otonashi shrugged.
"Heh. You really are the dedicated type, Otonashi. If I were you I would've skipped out on that bratty, pink-haired pipsqueak ages ago."
They started making their way back to the gym storage, Otonashi rolling the bin of baseballs and Hinata carrying the bat against his shoulder. The walk was mostly silent, save for the wheels crunching along the ground and Hinata's idle humming. The sky was completely dark now, the streetlights serving as their only guide to the school building. Otonashi glanced at Hinata as he walked, watching his carefree smile and easygoing posture.
"Hey, Hinata. Would you…would you really give up on Yui? If you were in my position, would you really have skipped out on her, even if it meant that she'd have to give up her dreams…again?"
"Wha-…man, are we still talking about this?" he replied incredulously.
"Just answer the question," Otonashi said impatiently.
Hinata visibly struggled to answer. "I-I don't know! She's just so freakin' annoying I don't think I could stand her as long as you did. I'd probably stop trying after she has one of her fits!" He swung wildly with the bat as if he were battering an imaginary Yui to the ground. But he stopped walking and lowered the bat to his side, his eyes downcast.
Otonashi stopped too. "You okay?" he asked.
"I guess that's not entirely true though." Hinata said, smiling somewhat bitterly. "I hate to be the one to say this, but I think if Yui and I met somewhere else…before we died, I think we…we would've been good friends. Don't get me wrong, she's irritating as hell, but there's something fun about her, you know? I think we could've really connected if we met in a different environment."
"Even if she was paralyzed?"
"Yeah. Even so. Or actually, even more so, since she can't hit me that way," he joked. "But that's what they teach us, right? To see people beyond their physical limits? It'd be pretty shallow of me to give up on her because she's a handicap. And…I guess it's shallow for me to give up on her here, too."
Otonashi clapped a hand to Hinata's shoulder. "I think you just said something pretty deep there," he laughed.
"Huh, I guess I did." He chuckled and gripped Otonashi's arm. "Thanks, buddy."
Otonashi backed away with mock shivers. "You comin' on to me?"
"Hell no!" Hinata shouted, pushing him away. "And don't you even think about telling any of this to Yui, got it?"
"All right, all right. Calm yourself."
The two shared a good laugh and started their journey back to the campus once again.