A Gift from His Childhood

As the children in the park laughed and built little sandcastles in the sandbox, a small child, Satoshi Hiwatari, stared at them. He knew he shouldn't, but he desperately wanted to be like the little red-haired kid. Playing with his friend, who also happened to be a girl, and having a good time.

Like normal kids should be doing, Satoshi thought to himself sadly.

"How irritable," Satoshi father said with a scoff. "Come along, Satoshi. We shall continue our walk.

Always so stern... Satoshi thought miserably. He would have continued moping if it hadn't been for a certain little girl yelling, "Watch out!". Just as he turned, he saw a large ball headed his way. It retrospect, the ball wasn't that large at all. It was actually a baseball, but to him, it was huge, and it was coming his way. Moving swiftly, as he was trained, Satoshi dodged the ball, catching it in one hand. He almost whimpered at the pain, but caught sight of his father from the corner of his eye. His father didn't like it when he showed weakness...

"Wow, nice catch!" the little girl said once she had run over to him. "How did you learn to do that?"

Despite the fact that the two kids were strangers, Satoshi found himself wanting to spend time with her. It wasn't just the fact that she was pretty, but it was also because she was so happy. Just seeing the sparkle in her eyes made him want to smile. As a response, however, he just shrugged and handed the girl the baseball. She took it in her glove, which was kind of large around her hand, and thanked him.

"Hey, do you want to play with me?" she asked, hopefully. "My mommy and daddy left me and my sister here."

"By yourself?" Satoshi asked, surprised.

"No, silly!" the girl replied, giggling. "We have our butler! He's just old is all."

Yes, I want to play with you, Satoshi thought, desperately wanting to say it. I want to play with you and have fun with you and befriend you like any other normal kid my age would want to.

"I'm actually walking with my father," Satoshi replied, trying to mask his sadness. He could see his dad tapping his foot impatiently. Apparently, he didn't do a good job of masking his emotions. The girl, with her pretty, sparkly brown eyes frowned. She spotted his dad, much to Satoshi's dislike, and looked at her glove. Deciding quickly, she held the glove out to him. He stared at his, confused.

"Here," she said, a shade of pink crossing her cheeks. "You can have this."

Satoshi gulped, feeling his cheeks heat up as well. "N-no... That's very kind of you, but I can't take away what is yours."

"It's not mine if I'm giving it to you," the girl retorted. Before he could say anything else, she took the glove off of her small hand and shoved it into his chest. Satoshi had to choice but to take it. "No give backs!" With that, she ran back to the sandbox, the two children he had seen before most likely her friends.

"What an annoying little girl," Satoshi heard his father mumble. "When we get home, throw that glove away. You'll have no time to play with such things."

"Hey, Hiwatari-kun!" Risa Harada said, excited for some odd reason. "I didn't know you played baseball!" The two High School students had decided to come over to Satoshi's house in order to study for one of their finals.

Satoshi looked up from his notes to see the glove she was pointing at. He felt a soft smile spread over his lips, and the slightest bit of heat rise to his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "I don't. I used to throw it around my yard when I was little, but I never played the sport. It's just a gift that was given to me randomly when I was a child."

Risa was confused. "Then why do you still have it?"

He was glad that she was looking at the glove and baseball because that way, she couldn't see the look he was giving her. Of course she wouldn't remember. "Because... it has a lot of sentimental value."

"Hey, maybe we can throw it around this summer when we get bored," Risa suggested, hopeful. It reminded him of the first time she wanted to play together, so long ago.

Satoshi shrugged, retreating behind his books so she wouldn't see his smile. "Yes... Maybe..."