A/N: Pardon me for the quality of this chapter but I'm just feeling so uninspired about this one. Mainly because this is setup and groundwork for the events that will transpire in future chapters and also the relationship between Mayu and Raichi has yet to be fleshed out. Thanks for reading this far and bearing with me though! I promise it'll get better in future chapters. (I'll also be editing this chapter in the future!)

Also, I know Raichi is supposed to be shy around his peers but I always assumed that with the pretense of baseball, he is more outgoing hence how he can easily get along with Mayu early on.


Two

Under normal circumstances, Mayu would have taken time with eating her prepared bento, even throwing a compliment at herself verbally for a job well done. But after getting berated by her physical education instructor and the possibility of not getting high marks, the black haired girl quickly devoured her food, throwing an apologetic look at her friends.

"Sorry, going to go practice my batting," she had hastily excused herself before rushing out of the classroom, not allowing her friends a chance to give her a hand.

As fond as she was of her friends, a part of her refused to let her friends see the pathetically

But as she gave her bat another swing—either the twentieth or fiftieth second swing, Mayu lost count—she wondered if she should have just sucked up her pride and ask for help after all.

"Uwah it's you!" She twirled, her eyes widening at the sight of the brown hair and cross scar she had seen the day before. "Are you practicing batting again?"

"Uh…" she looked around to check for the slim probability that he was talking to someone else and not her. "...y-yes?"

The boy jumped up wrapping his hands over hers and she instinctively tried pulling away by the skinship. Wh-what is he doing?!

But if her nervousness was visible, the boy paid no heed, his eyes simply fixated by her form and the bat in her hands. He adjusted her grip on the bat, positioning her arms in another angle and slowly guiding her arms forward with his hands around her forearm.

"Alright, like this!" He moved forward, forcing her to lurch as well. "Keep your head still, keep your eyes on the ball, and then swing! Like this, gwah! "

Not quite understanding what the boy was saying, she did as he was told. After swinging a couple times, the boy seemed satisfied and released his hold on the girl, the warmth of his skin touching hers still lingering and her cheeks reddened.

That felt nice…

Shaking her head, Mayu noticed the boy staring her inquisitively and she apologized, resuming her batting with the boy making comments here and there.

The bell rang and she hurriedly returned the bat, noticing that the boy had already disappeared when she shoved the bat back where she had borrowed it from.

To her surprise, the effects of the brief practice and tips she had received from the boy were immediate.

Thwack! Though not a particularly strong hit, Mayu watched happily as her bat made contact with a ball for the second time that day. The gym teacher had also noticed this and nodded in satisfaction.

"If you keep this up, Yamamoto-san, you'll be able to ace this class."

Grinning, the girl raised her arm, positioned to hit another ball that her classmate was about to throw. "Hai!"

As soon she could, Mayu ran out to the field she was practicing in a couple hours ago. She wanted to much earlier but given that it was her turn to do the afternoon chores for the classroom, she impatiently rushed the cleaning, much to her partner's disdain. She didn't care. She just really wanted to meet the tanned boy again and thank him.

And maybe even catch his name.

When the green and brown expanse of a baseball field came to her view, Mayu slowed her pace, a thought dawning on her. It was kind of strange actually, considering that she didn't even know the boy's name despite interacting with him twice, both encounters helping her out tremendously. Well, no big deal because…

... that's why I'm here now... her thoughts trailed as she blinked in surprise by the sight of the field being filled with boys jogging around, shouting some chants about working hard and making it to finals or something.

It was pretty impressive. Mayu never really cared about sports and school, merely seeing the latter as another stage in life to get through. But that didn't mean she couldn't help but feel awed by the boys training hard, sweat seeping their uniforms yet they still practiced their swing or ran an extra lap.

Why do they train so hard when they haven't won in ages? Mayu thought. Yakushi High was an average school with an even more average, borderline poor, sports legacy. She didn't recall the school having any prestige with sports whatsoever. It was partially why she had applied, hoping to coast by with her diligence to earn high marks with a relatively manageable coursework.

Who knew the one thing she hoped to avoid was the biggest obstacle she currently faced?

"Ahem, do you have business with anyone?" at the sound of a voice near her, Mayu jumped, her head turning to see a tanned man standing right next to her. He was flashing her a familiar smile, which Mayu frowned slightly at. She never recalled meeting the man before yet he reminded her of someone…

But he seemed rather old, slight wrinkles visible around his otherwise chiseled face. Mayu noticed that the man also sported a white uniform with black stripes, exactly like the uniform the boy she was looking for wore.

Ah, Mayu realized. He must be the coach.

"Is this the school's baseball team?" She inquired instead, her question immediately eliciting a wide grin on the man's face.

"Yes!" He grinned, his voice mixed with pride and excitement. "This is Yakushi High's baseball team. Right now we're training for upcoming matches. You see those players right there? They're practicing bunts right now…"

Though Mayu was an absolute beginner with baseball, even she could sense that there was something magnificent happening in the field. Sure, all that was happening before her were boys doing drills for a couple minutes and then switching gears but she found it somehow beautiful to hear their roars that pushed them through the exercise and the claps on backs they gave each other for encouragement.

"...and some of them will probably make lots of money in the future too!"

"Uh huh…" Mayu hadn't listened to the man entirely to pinpoint how exactly a conversation inquiring what the team did evolved into that of the team's monetary prospect but from the way the man's grin twisted to that of greed, she got the feeling that the man was the worst for some reason. She opened her mouth to make a retort at this when a voice interrupted her.

"Mayuu-san!" At the sound of her slightly mispronounced name, she turned in surprise to see the boy she was originally there for jogging towards them. She felt the man beside her bristle in surprise. "Mayuu-san! What are you doing here?"

"Uh…" she side glanced at the man beside her, noting that he was subtly switching his gaze between her and the boy. She had a feeling if she told him now, the man would make a sniping comment. No way was she going to say anything now. Perhaps if she was able to speak to the boy alone.

"You're part of the team?" Mayu asked again. "I didn't see you practice at all."

"That's because I have Raichi do some preliminary batting before he joins the rest," the man interrupted, Mayu's brows raising at the man's use of the boy's first name. Oh? He must be his father or something…

"Useless otousan …" she jumped at the boy's grumbling. "Why don't you feed me already?! I'm hungry!"

"You can eat after practice," the man simply said lamely. "Better get ready. You'll be rejoining everyone when they start their next interval."

The boy grumbled some more, which Mayu couldn't hear but suddenly lifted his face, his eyes shining towards her. "Oh yeah, Mayuu-san, your batting today during PE was amazing! Not as amazing as mine of course but still pretty cool!"

"Oh yeah thanks—" Mayu paused, confusion spreading on her face. "Wait. How do you know how well I did? Have you been stalking me?"

Her voice must've cracked at that as the field eerily became quiet, even the man beside her whose lips formed some kind of smirk was silent. Finally, the boy spoke up.

"Mayuu-san...I'm in your class."

She let his words sink in until laughter exploded around her and to her horror, she realized that not only was the man beside her laughing, the entire team who were jogging had stopped and approached them, howling and slapping the boy on his back.

"HAHAHA, Raichi how quiet you could be that your own classmate doesn't remember you?"

"Why are you that different on the field versus outside the field, you baka."

"Baka Raichi!"

Face reddening, Mayu spluttered some apology and gave them a quick bow before quickly excusing herself and running away from the field. She could still hear the team's laughter mixed with the younger Todoroki's yellings and complaints.

Her lips formed a smile despite herself.