The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: How I Met Your Mother (And How I Met Your Father)

Bonding Arc

Chapter Four: Leon's Apology! Take Me to the Baseball Game!

Present Day

"So what happened next, Daddy? Did you and Sayaka make up?"

"Well, I did see her in class the next day, but things were still a little awkward between us. It wasn't until dinner on Friday that I found out why…"

XXX

May 9, 2014

"…It's been two days and Sayaka still hasn't shown up for breakfast, lunch, or dinner…I hope everything's okay…"

Kyoko sipped her coffee, a concerned frown on her face at seeing Makoto's worry. Before she could think of what to say, they found themselves distracted by a boisterous call.

"Yo! Makoto! Kirigiri-chan!"

They saw the Ultimate Baseball Star Leon Kuwata walking up to their table, waving with one hand and an easy grin on his face.

As he approached them, Kyoko stopped drinking her coffee, gulping down what liquid was already in her mouth before asking "Can we help you, Kuwata-kun?"

Before Leon could answer, Makoto asked "Hey, Leon…have you seen Sayaka at all?" They are dating now, so if anyone would know, Leon would!

Waving off his concern, Leon assured him "Oh yeah; she's just spending a couple of days with the other members of her idol group. That's…actually what I came to talk to you about." Leon suddenly became serious, surprising the other two Ultimates as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, appearing pensive as he began to explain.

"Sayaka…told me about what happened earlier this week. She hasn't been here lately because she wanted to give you some space, Makoto. She said she wanted to give you the time and distance to heal without the pain of seeing her outside of class to distract you."

Gaping in shock, Makoto suddenly adopted a guilty expression, waving his hands in front of him as he exclaimed "Oh no! I didn't want her to feel like she had to avoid me! We're all still friends, and I don't hold what happened against her! I'm fine, really."

"Yeah…I had a feeling that would be your response. I even told the chick as much, but she was adamant. Truth is…I kinda feel bad about it too. I didn't mean to steal Sayaka from you, Makoto. So I…kinda want to make it up to you…so, here."

Leon held out two paper tickets, gesturing for Makoto to accept them. Curious, Makoto gingerly took them, inspecting them until he read aloud the description on the front.

"Admission for noon event at Hanshin Koshien Stadium."

Nodding in confirmation, Leon explained "After you got me back into baseball, my old team called and said they were doing an exhibition match this coming Sunday. They asked me if I wouldn't mind pitching, and after I accepted, they gave me two free tickets to invite a couple of friends. So, I'd like you to have them, as a token of my apology for inadvertently causing this mess."

"Y…you don't have to apologize, really, Leon. I appreciate the tickets, but you don't have to feel guilty…"

"Please, dude, just take them. It'll really clear my conscience, so just come, okay?"

Seeing that further arguing was pointless, Makoto reluctantly nodded, looking over in Kyoko's direction as he asked "Hey, Kyoko; you ever been to a baseball game?"

Shaking her head, Kyoko answered "Sports games were never something my grandfather indulged me in, as they never had any relevance to Detective work."

Nodding in understanding, Makoto asked "Well then, wanna be my plus-one and come with us on Sunday? Baseball can be really fun to watch when you go in person."

"…there's no reason to decline, and I suppose a change of pace is necessary sometimes…" Kyoko smiled and accepted "Alright, why not? Besides, I'm looking forward to, having fun again."

Grinning, Leon exclaimed "Great! Well, I'm gonna go check in with Sayaka. See you both on Sunday!"

With that, Leon waved goodbye and left the Dining Hall, leaving the two Ultimates with their new tickets.

XXX

May 11, 2014

"Do people normally buy so much food and impractical merchandise when attending one of these games?"

She watched as Makoto carried half a dozen hot dogs in his arms, a bright red foam finger with "LL #1" printed on the front in bright white font attached to his right hand, and several bobbleheads of various players, including one in the likeness of Leon, sticking out of various pockets of his backpack. Kyoko on the other hand had a simple cup of cola in one hand and a single corn dog in the other.

Chuckling sheepishly, Makoto replied "Well, everyone's a little different. I just got so many hot dogs because I love them so much, but my Mom hardly ever buys them because she says they're unhealthy."

"Perhaps you should listen to her" Kyoko deadpanned, making Makoto chuckle.

"Yeah, I know…but everyone deserves to treat themselves once in a while, and I can't think of a better excuse to pig out than a free baseball game! And as for the merchandise, well I thought the foam finger and bobblehead would look good in my room as decorations."

"And the spares?"

"Well there's one for you, and the others I'd send home to my parents and little sister as souvenirs."

"You…bought one for me, too?" Nobody's ever gotten me a gift…ever…

Makoto looked at her incredulously as he answered "Of course I did; you agreed to come with me, so it would be rude of me to not get you something while we're here."

Makoto smiled at her as though he had just said the sky was blue, or two plus two equaled four. Kyoko meanwhile was still mentally frozen in shock, still processing this new way that Makoto continued to surprise her. Eventually they found their seats; sitting down next to each other between two other families in the packed stadium, Makoto placed the hot dogs in his lap before reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a bobblehead, handing it to her.

Blinking once more in shock, Kyoko gratefully accepted the gift, replying "…Thank you. This really means a lot to me."

Smiling at Kyoko's acceptance, Makoto stared ahead at the stadium, wiping the sweat from his brow as the heat started to pass over the two Ultimates.

Even Kyoko was visibly affected by the temperature; taking a sip of her cola sooner than she had expected, she guessed "I take it the weather is why you told me to dress lightly?"

Makoto was dressed in a short-sleeve brown T-shirt and blue shorts that stopped at just above his knees, while Kyoko, after some brief clothes shopping after realizing that the only clothes she packed were her Detective outfits, settled on a pink blouse and a purple skirt that was identical to the one she sported as a Detective, but made of a thinner material. Instead of her high-heel purple boots, she wore lavender sneakers with some short, white socks. Instead of his trademark sneakers, Makoto wore black and red Velcro sandals.

"Yeah, it's getting hotter, and baseball stadiums don't exactly have robust air conditioning. So dressing light for these kinds of things is greatly encouraged."

Their conversation was interrupted by the announcer, whose whistle rang across the stadium through the loudspeaker.

"Welcome one and all, to this special exhibition batch between the Tokyo Little League and the Daiei Senators! Throwing the first pitch is a former member of the Little Leagues who has graciously decided to come out of retirement, Hope's Peak Academy's very own Ultimate Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata!"

Dressed in a red jersey and white pants and shoes, Makoto and Kyoko saw Leon on the monitors, taking his place on the field along with the other players. They watched as the umpire gave his go-ahead, the lead batter winding up his bat. Leon's eyes burned with a fiery determination as he wound up his pitch, a fastball launching from his right hand at a breakneck pace. Before Kyoko could even realize what was going on, they heard the umpire yell to the other players.

"Strike Three! OUT!"

XXX

"Hey! Leon!"

After the game had ended, Makoto's cell phone beeped with a text from Leon asking him and Kyoko to meet him outside the stadium. After some minor searching, they saw Leon waving them over. As they approached him, they saw him writing on a baseball before giving it to a teenager with spiky, wavy white hair. Turning around, the mystery individual was revealed to have one green-colored eye, while the other was apparently closed due to having gotten a black eye.

"Sorry again!" Leon called out as the teenager walked away without another word. Seeing Makoto and Kyoko, Leon called out "Hey, guys! Glad you got my text!"

Approaching him, Makoto asked "So, what's the story behind the guy you gave that baseball to?"

"Oh, him? He's actually one of our upperclassmen. Name's Nagito Komaeda; apparently he's the 77th Class's Ultimate Lucky Student. One of the foul balls from today's game hit him right in the eye, so I autographed it as an apology."

…And I thought I was unlucky… Makoto deadpanned as he started to wonder which one of them had the worse luck.

"So why did you ask us to meet you here, Kuwata-kun?"

Smiling as a group of teenagers dressed in similar jerseys walked up behind Leon, he revealed "I wanna introduce you guys to my team. Boys, these are my friends from Hope's Peak, Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirigiri."

Everyone bowing slightly in greeting, Makoto replied "It's nice to meet you all."

Kyoko nodded, only for their greeting to be interrupted as a loud, boisterous voice yelled out from just inside the stadium "Hey! You guys started without me? Sorry I'm late; I had to take a shit!"

Makoto and Kyoko's eyes widened as a black-haired man the size of Mondo walked up wearing a blue and white track suit, rubbing his neck and wearing an embarrassed smile.

"Oh hey, come here, Coach!" As the muscular man approached them, Leon introduced "Guys, this is my former baseball coach who manages my team in his spare time: Nekomaru Nidai. He's actually another one of our upperclassmen; the Ultimate Team Manager."

Bowing, Makoto greeted "It's nice to meet you, Nidai-senpai. I'm Makoto Naegi, Class 78's Ultimate Lucky Student, and this is Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective."

Kyoko bowed slightly in greeting, while Leon suggested "Hey, the guys and I were just talking about getting a group photo? You guys wanna join in?"

Looking at Kyoko, Makoto asked "What do you think, Kyoko? I don't have any objections, but if you don't want to…"

Kyoko didn't particularly look forward to having her picture taken, but she also couldn't miss the excited joy in Makoto's eyes that reminded her of a little kid.

Unwilling to quash that joy, she shrugged and conceded "…As long as it's just one, I suppose I don't mind."

"Sweet! Alright everyone, gather round!"

Nekomaru started setting up a camera as Leon ordered "Alright Makoto, you and Kyoko get in front. Be sure to stand arms' length apart."

As they obeyed, Leon then moved between them, wrapping his arms around their waists and grinning a wide, toothy grin. Kyoko sighed, but otherwise didn't object, if only to get this over with.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" Seeing everyone nod, Nekomaru announced "Three, Two, One, CHEESE!"

XXX

Standing back in the hallway of the dormitories, Makoto and Kyoko looked at their group photos, autographed by Leon as additional souvenirs for his friends.

"So, how did you like it? Did you have a fun time?"

"…It was definitely a new experience. I can't say that I'd go to sports games regularly…but I suppose seeing one every once in a while isn't too bad."

Smiling, Makoto replied "I'm glad to hear that…it was really nice of Leon to introduce us to give us these tickets and introduce us to his friends."

"…Yes, I suppose it was. I can't say that I'd be hanging out with him a lot; we simply don't have that much in common. But he seems approachable enough, and for all his flirting he knows to keep his hands in respectable places, so I wouldn't have any reason to decline spending time with him every now and again."

"That's great, Kyoko. You're doing really well bonding with everyone so far."

…I am, aren't I? Though…I doubt any of this would have happened if it wasn't for you…

Before she could think to vocalize her thoughts, Makoto's stomach growled, making Kyoko roll her eyes in exasperation.

"How can you still be hungry after six hot dogs?"

Chuckling sheepishly, Makoto defended "Hey, it's been a while since the baseball game. And besides, it's right around dinner time."

Sighing once more, Kyoko turned around and offered "Come on; let's drop our souvenirs off in our rooms and head to the Dining Hall. Then you can fill your belly with something healthy."

Gulping at her tone, Makoto obeyed "Yes, ma'am" before following Kyoko to drop off their souvenirs.

XXX

Present Day

"Wow, was that your first date?"

Chuckling, Kyoko informed her "No, Kiki, that wasn't our first date. We weren't interested in each other romantically yet, and remember your father was still reeling from getting rejected by Sayaka."

"Oh, pooey!" Her pout changing to a look of excitement, she remarked "But still, that sounds like fun, Daddy! Can I go see a baseball game someday too? Please, please, please?"

Chuckling, Makoto ruffled Kiki's hair as he said "Sure, pumpkin. We can make a take-your-daughter-to-work-day next week and we can ask the boys and girls baseball teams to have an exhibition match, just like the one your mother and I saw."

"YAY!"

Giggling at her daughter's excitement, Kyoko continued "Tonight though, it's time for bed."

Kiki snuggled into her pillow as her parents tucked her in, snoring as they crept out of the bedroom to go snuggle in their own bed.