Chapter 2
Hideki walked into his math class just before the course was to begin. He looked around the large auditorium, and didn't see many available seats. He sighed, and was about to walk towards the very front row when a young man waved to him from one of the middle rows.
Hideki looked over his shoulder, and then back at the young man, who had dark red hair and was around Hideki's own height. He smiled at him warmly, and said, "There's a seat over here, if you're interested."
Hideki nodded and walked over to the row and apologized as he walked through a few sets of legs to the seat indicated.
He took out his laptop and smiled at the young man next to him, "Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."
"Yeah, no problem," the other guy said, holding out his hand. "I'm Otonashi, Yuzuru Otonashi."
"Hideki Hinata," Hideki replied taking the other guy's hand in his own and they shook. Otonashi smiled at Hideki. "Well it's really nice to meet you. I've heard about you–actually, I'm pretty sure that everyone at the university has heard of you before."
Hideki sighed slightly at Otonashi's words. One of the reasons why he chose the university he did was because of the larger class sizes. He'd hope to achieve some anonymity as much as possible with his academic pursuits. But, he found even just introducing himself was becoming annoying.
Maybe he would have to change his name.
"Ah, don't look like that. It is good to meet you though. Nice to see that at least one of the baseball players here seems somewhat down-to-earth."
Hideki smiled slightly at Yuzuru's words.
"You know, though, you look kind of familiar to me," Yuzuru said suddenly, looking at Hideki intently. "I feel like I should know you–"
The lights turned low and the professor began his lecture. Hideki pondered over Yuzuru's words and didn't say anything else at all as he took notes during the class.
The class had just ended, and Hideki was packing up his things.
"Do you have another class soon?" Yuzuru Otonashi asked Hideki.
"I have Biology," Hideki informed Yuzuru.
"Oh yeah? With Kurosaki? I have that class too," Otonashi exclaimed. "Come on, we'll go together."
"Sure–" Hideki said to Otonashi, finding himself pushed along with the happy guy.
"We should have lunch too sometime," Otonashi told him. "I like you, you seem like a cool guy."
Hideki felt a slight blush. "I'm flattered, really, but I don't really swing that way."
Otonashi stopped and looked him straight in the eyes. "Are you implying that I'm gay?"
"There's nothing wrong with it," Hideki said quickly, worried that he had offended the guy.
Otonashi smiled slightly, and said, "I'm not gay. I'm actually engaged–to be married–to a female woman, you know."
"Congratulations," Hideki said, glad that the awkwardness between them had dissipated. That smile that Otonashi had given him though–something different.
It was a knowing smile–a smirk almost–like he had expected that answer or question.
"We should still have lunch today–you can meet Kanade, my fiance. I think she'd like you. We just eat in the cafeteria a lot," Otonashi said softly.
"Sure," Hideki said softly, "Why not? I have to eat after all."
In Biology, Hideki got a surprise though. It was a small class, especially compared to the math lecture, and immediately after the class was a lab. There were several people already in the classroom, and Hideki spied pink hair, knee-length black leather boots, a tight mini skirt, and a tank top. It was the girl that had attacked him yesterday–Yui. He swallowed slightly as he walked behind Otonashi and into the classroom.
She was sitting at one of the lab desks, with nobody else sitting by her. She was drumming two pencils against the tabletop and was humming a song. Someone turned to stare at her in annoyance. She ignored them.
Otonashi, however, made a beeline for her.
"Hey, Yui, how's it going? I didn't realize you were taking Bio this semester?"
"What's up Yuzuru? Did you have a good break? Did you and Kanade go anywhere fun?"
"We just went down to Okinawa for a quick weekend. Do you mind if we sit here?"
Yui looked behind Otonashi when she heard him say "we", and saw Hideki for the first time that morning. He felt uncharacteristically nervous while looking at her. Not sure of how to react, his hands were in his pockets and he nodded at her awkwardly.
Her lips curved into a smile.
"Sure," she said cheerfully. "Good to see you again, Hinata-kun. How are your eyes? Fully recovered, I hope?"
"No thanks to you," he mumbled as he sat on the other side of Otonashi. Otonashi looked between the two of them.
"Wait–you mean–you two know each other?"
"We met yesterday," Yui said brightly.
"Briefly," Hinata grunted slightly.
"It was rather memorable," Yui snickered slightly.
"Definitely a bad memory," Hinata replied.
He quieted down when the professor, a woman named Kurosaki came into the room wearing a lab coat. She quickly handed out the course syllabus and then took attendance. When she said Hideki Hinata's name, the whole class, which was already quiet, seemed to fall even more silent.
The professor looked up from her roll at Hinata's quiet, "Present".
"We're glad to have you at Tokyo University, Hinata." Then she continued to take attendance.
He felt a slight blush on his cheeks once again. When would people stop pointing him out?
Otonashi whispered to him, "It's not that bad you know."
Yui looked at Hinata in interest. He was definitely good-looking, and she liked the fact that he was a bit on the quiet side. He wanted to be your everyday student, it looked like. Not the star baseball player of the university team.
Her father had even said that he should have been playing professionally in America now, if not for a personal reason that kept him in Japan. After meeting his little brother, Iszuru, Yui wondered if he was the reason why Hinata stayed in the country.
She blushed slightly when she noticed Hinata's gaze move towards her. He'd caught her staring at him! She felt her own cheeks blush and turned back towards the work in front of her.
Passing this course would be difficult if he was going to be distracting her.
The class passed by quickly and was followed immediately after by the lab in the attached classroom.
Otonashi was claimed as a lab partner by another girl with the last name Nakamura. It left Yui and Hideki together as lab partners. They both sat at the lab station and were listening to the professor give the safety protocols and lab procedures. They wouldn't be doing any experiments until the next week, so this was a pretty boring lesson, at least it was to Yui. She was humming slightly to herself, sitting on the stool as she doodled in her notebook.
Hideki Hinata looked as though he would fall asleep from boredom. His chin was propped in his hand and he sighed, thrumming his fingers lightly against the lab table.
Yui looked at him from out of the corner of her eye.
It was definitely him–the same man from her dreams. His haircut was slightly different, not so long in the back, but this was the same guy that she'd dreamt about for as long as she could remember.
But, how?
How was she able to dream about him when she never met him before?
He was a real person, and not just some figment of her unconscious mind like she had always assumed. Her palms felt clammy at the thought.
What would a guy like him want to do with a girl like her?
She sighed, and she heard him ask, "Are you alright?"
She looked at him and his bright blue eyes were gazing at her in some concern.
She smiled slightly and said, "I'm fine. Just bored."
"That's something we can agree on," he murmured back to her before turning his attention back to the professor.
The class crawled until the end finally came, and she dismissed them. Yui practically jumped up, reaching her hands to the sky.
Hideki noticed a little cat tail peeking out from her miniskirt. And that was definitely the only thing he'd been checking out, of course.
"I like your tail," he heard himself saying.
Yui looked up at him, and snorted slightly to herself, laughing and said, "Well, I'm pretty sure in my past life I was a cat. That's why I wear it, nya."
He was still staring at her, his mouth open in surprise, wondering if he had heard her wrong.
He asked, "What?"
"I was a cat in a past life."
Apparently, he hadn't heard her wrong. He stared at her, and then, in a desperate attempt to understand her strange proclamation, said, "How would you even know that?"
"I just do. It's an innate part of who I am, nya." She said, pretending to scratch the air with cat claws.
He tried to hold it in, but he couldn't stop the laughter that escaped him.
This girl was bat-shit crazy.
"Are you laughing at me?" She demanded seriously, her pout making her look even cuter than before. God, Hideki thought to himself, I never realized crazy could be so attractive.
"No," Hideki's face straightened immediately.
Then, realizing that he liked that little angry pout on her face, continued to speak, "Yes, actually I was. Do you think you were a cat in a past life? Really?"
"You were probably a barnacle or water flea or something like that," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "And you were probably more charming in that life than this one as well."
He watched as her cat tail swished from side to side as she left the room behind and he laughed once again.
Otonashi walked up to him with another girl in tow. "Hey, Hinata-kun, This is Yuri Nakamura. Yuri, this is Hideki Hinata."
"Nice to meet you," Hinata said, smiling broadly at Yuri, still thinking about Yui. Yuri had darker hair that was almost maroon. She was short too, but a few inches taller than Yui and she wore a wide headband in her hair.
"You too," Yuri said, looking over at him kindly. There was another softness in her eyes when she looked at him. It looked as if she was peering into his soul. He felt an overwhelming urge to protect her from harm, almost the same way he felt about his little brother.
"Kanade will be waiting for us," Otonashi said. "Come on, let's go."
Hinata followed Otonashi and Nakamura out of the lab, as his thoughts drifted off, wondering where the crazy cat girl had gone.
He followed them to one of the school's many cafeterias and they got something to eat.
"Kanade!" Otonashi said with a bright smile on his face. He approached a small woman, with silvery white hair that was cut to just below her shoulders. She smiled at him warmly and then said something softly to Yuri, who was only shrugging her shoulders.
Hinata stood with his tray of food, and Otonashi reached over for him, "This is my friend, Hideki Hinata. Hideki, this is Kanade Tachibana."
"Good to meet you," Hinata bowed slightly. "It's an honor, really."
Otonashi was grinning broadly at Kanade.
"Come on and let's sit. You can meet everyone."
"Everyone" was basically about a dozen people that Hinata swore he'd met before at one time or another. He felt a bit overwhelmed and confused about what was going on.
He'd never had a feeling of deja vu like this before.
He was glad that he had no more classes during the day. He had training instead–training in the weight room and on the diamond. He loved playing baseball–when he played, he forgot about everything else. And hopefully, that would apply to this afternoon as well.
He had not expected to feel so off of his feet as he did now, sitting in this cafeteria, eating with several strangers that felt like family.
"Hey, Hinata."
Hideki looked up and it was Ishida, one of the other players on the team. He had a very pretty young woman with him, his large arm slung around her shoulders. He was walking towards the exit with the girl as he stopped at Hideki's table. He was a large guy, with big muscles and pretty much one of the best players on the team as their best pitcher.
"How's it going man?
"Pretty good, Ishida-senpai." He replied with a grin. "Thanks for checking in on me."
"Of course, man. I have to make sure all the newbies are transitioning fine. You settling in?"
Hinata nodded and waited patiently for the older player to speak.
"I know you don't live in the dorms or the house, but if you want to hang out sometime, just come on by, alright? You're always welcome."
"Yeah, sure," Hinata said softly. His eyes slid to the girl on Ishida's arm looking at Hinata like a shark looking at its prey.
He tried to avoid eye contact with her when Ishida introduced her as "Kimi"
"I'll see you in the weight room in a few. Eat some more food, Hinata. We need you to bulk up."
Then, without another word, Ishida left him behind.
Hideki looked up and realized that everyone else at the table was staring at him.
"Can't believe that you're that good at baseball. Everyone the last month has been going on about your skill. Are you really that good?" The one with an arm around Yuri Nakamura asked sardonically. Yuri rolled her eyes at his incredulity.
Hideki recalled that his name was Noda. He was taller than Hideki by a couple of inches, and he looked like a moron.
Yuri smacked in the back of the head and said, "Stop being a moron. Of course, he's that good."
"I'm pretty good, but I'm only one member of the team," Hideki said, shrugging his shoulders.
Then he turned to Otonashi. "I've got to get going. I'll see you in class Thursday."
"Yeah, see ya man," Otonashi said, watching as he stood up and walked with his tray. He exited the cafeteria, adjusting his bag over his shoulder.
Immediately Kanade and Yuri looked at Otonashi, questioning glances on their faces.
"He seems different," Kanade said softly at Yuzuru's side.
"It's him, right? He has the same name, but I wondered…" Yuri said, she had a faint smile on her face. "We're all coming together, aren't we?"
"I don't know. Yuzuru, what do you think?" Kanade said softly.
"He seems a lot more subdued. I don't know. The Hinata-kun I knew was always cheerful and happy-go-lucky, down for pretty much anything. Maybe we should ask Yui?"
Otonashi nodded to himself, answering his own question. Then he said, "Yuri and I saw them together in Bio. They already seem to be at each other's throats…"
Yuri nodded and said, "If I didn't know better, I would think that he's acting more like the Hideki Hinata we knew around her than anyone else. But, he might not be the exact same. We're all different, you know, from then."
Otonashi considered Yuri's words, and then said, "I think we should go cheer him on at one of his games sometime. I know it's just the summer league, but I want to watch him play."
It was Thursday and their first game in the summer league was here. It was mostly just a chance to keep in shape and form from the spring league. The coach informed Hideki that he decided to start him at second base, and he would be batting second.
Ishida, who was sitting, like a lot of the more experienced players, tapped his shoulder firmly in congratulations.
During warm-ups, Hideki spied his little brother arriving at the baseball diamond with his bag slung over his shoulder, wearing his school uniform. He waved at Hideki. With him was his friend Kaoru, and Professor Nayande. He watched his little brother settle into his seat in the stands, knowing that the professor would watch out for him.
He gave them a small wave and smile, and then finally allowed himself to focus on the game. When Hideki Hinata played baseball, he had tunnel vision. It was just something that he did, ever since he was a kid. His only focus was on the game, on the play, on the run, on the ball.
He didn't even notice all the crowds beginning to fill the stands.
There was a loud rumble of voices as Kanade Tachibana and Yuzuru Otonashi managed to find their way to the baseball stadium. Almost all the seats for the home game were already taken.
Otonashi knew that it was because of Hinata.
Poor guy, Yuzuru thought to himself.
He seemed as if he didn't like all that extra attention, and yet, he was going to get it, one way or another, it seemed.
Almost anyone who followed baseball in Japan had heard of Hokkaido's Wonderkid, Hideki Hinata. He was openly recruited and scouted by various colleges, and even some professional leagues, all before he turned 17. It had caused some rumblings to hear that he had declined the chance to play at any four-year university his first year. Instead, he opted to stay up in his hometown and play at the Community College.
Rumor was that there was no competition for him there–he only played to stay in shape, for some reason. And then, the news that he had committed to play at Tokyo University, over the other universities in Tokyo and the United States hit. Nobody was sure why he'd settled on Tokyo University, compared to Waseda or one of the other more competitive teams in the league.
Yuzuru spied some hot pink hair in the stands and realized that Yui was there to watch the game as well. He smiled to himself. He sure hoped that Hinata and Yui managed to hit it off.
Yuzuru shared a look with Kanade, and they began to walk over towards Yui.
"Hey Yui, I didn't realize you liked baseball," Yuzuru said softly.
"I'm here to keep an eye on my little brother," Yui said tiredly.
She was wearing her work uniform, a bright yellow dress with a lacy apron over her hips and legs. The collar was rounded on the top, and she had a name tag with her name on it. She looked exhausted.
Yui only went to school two days out of the week, and they were packed days with her full-time schedule. The rest of the week, she worked part-time at a little American cafe down the street from her house. It served American cafe-style food–shakes, hamburgers, and fries.
She didn't have to work, but they all knew that she was saving up money to move out of her parent's house.
"Where's your brother?" Yuzuru asked quietly.
"With Iszuki-chan. He has prime seats, of course." Yui said, pulling out one of her textbooks and her notebook. She was reading some of her notes from one of her classes. "They're towards the front."
"Whose Iszuki-chan?" Kanade asked quietly, looking towards the front row where Yui had pointed. There were a bunch of adults sitting, and then two little boys in school uniforms. They saw a younger boy around 8 with short, red hair. He had a mischievous look on his face, and he shared the same eyes as Yui.
The other boy had royal blue hair, just like Hinata's.
Yuzuru looked in surprise at that blue hair–did Hideki Hinata have a kid or something?
"You look surprised! I thought you two were best friends already or something. That's Iszuki Hinata. He's Hinata-kun's little brother," Yui said softly. "Apparently Kaoru and Iszuki are best friends forever now." She rolled her eyes, but then smiled at her brother fondly.
Yuzuru settled next to Yui, and Kanade on his other side. Kanade was wearing a baseball hat for the university.
"I didn't realize you liked baseball, Kanade." Yui said to her, smiling slightly. "I like your hat, by the way."
"Oh, thanks. I love baseball. It's so fun to watch," she said quietly.
"Is it? I always thought baseball was kinda boring," Yui informed them.
Yuzuru noticed that her eyes seemed to drift to the baseball player who was on-deck, practicing his swings. His lips twitched into a smile when he realized it was Hinata-kun.
Yui didn't look that bored watching him, that was for sure.
The first batter got a walk and went to first base.
Hideki Hinata was announced as the next batter, and he went up to bat.
Yuzuru watched Hideki, who seemed to make small adjustments with each pitch, until finally, he hit a double down the middle.
Hideki was now on second base, and the first batter was on third.
Yui wasn't doing much studying but was focused pretty hard on the player at second base. Otonashi decided to be a punk and say something about it.
"You sure you're here to watch your brother, and not someone else, Yui?"
She glared at Otonashi, and said, to his surprise, "I can admire talent, can't I?"
Yuzuru just smiled at her. "Doesn't seem that boring to you…"
"I mean, he looks pretty good in that uniform too, so…"
"Uh…"
Kanade giggled softly to herself at Yui's admission.
Otonashi decided right then and there that he would need to stay out of what was going on between Yui, and Hideki. They had managed to fall in love the last time they met. If they were meant to be, like he was with Kanade, then they would manage it again.
He remembered witnessing Hinata admit that he had fallen in love with Yui, and that he would marry her.
He hoped that they would be able to have that come true in this life since they weren't able to do it in the last one.
The game went by slowly, as baseball games did quite often, but by the end of the game, Hideki Hinata had scored three runs, had five hits, and three excellent defensive moves.
The second base position was basically his.
At the end of the game, the coaches just told them to go get cleaned up and head home. Hideki, though, wanted some time to cool off from the competition of the game. After they were dismissed from the dugout by Coach Matsura, the head coach, Hideki walked towards Iszuru, who was sitting with Kaoru and Yui.
He was surprised to see Otonashi, and Kanade with them as well. He didn't realize that they liked baseball. Kanade even looked like a regular fan with her University Baseball cap on.
"Hey,' he said softly.
"Hey yourself, Hinata-kun," Yuzuru said, shaking hands with him. "Great game, by the way."
"Yeah, great game, Hinata-kun," Kanade said softly.
"Thanks, guys. I appreciate you coming to support the team."
"Yeah, and you didn't mention you have an awesome little brother, Hinata-kun. He's pretty cool."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. He's much cooler than me," Hinata said, bending over the fence and ruffling his little brother's hair. "How'd I do Zuki-chan?"
"Pretty good," he said with a grin at his older brother's affection for him.
"I need some help. Do you want to help me practice?" Hideki asked Iszuki with a grin.
Iszuki cheered as he immediately stood up, knowing that his brother would pitch to him so he could practice his hitting.
Hideki turned towards Kaoru.
"What about you, Kaoru-chan? Want to come and help me practice?"
Kaoru's brown eyes widened in excitement.
"Me too? Is that alright, nee-san? Please."
Hideki looked at Yui expectantly.
Yui sighed dramatically and folded her arms over her chest. "I suppose," she told him with annoyance.
Hideki smiled at her, and her knees almost gave out.
He had a fantastic smile.
Kaoru gave a yelp of delight as Hideki helped him climb over the small fence to join Iszuki on the baseball diamond.
Kaoru and Iszuki ran off, and Hideki ran off after them, yelling, "Hey! No field invaders allowed!" The boys giggled and ran even faster.
"I wanna play," Yuzuru whined slightly as he watched Hinata run after Kaoru and Iszuki onto the diamond.
Yui watched with a smile on her face.
"We need to go," Kanade reminded Yuzuru softly, "We don't have time to play today."
"You're right." Otonashi sighed in disappointment. Then he immediately perked up, "Hey, Yui, are you playing Sunday night?"
"I'm planning on it," she said with a grin. "Iwasawa is supposed to be back in town for the weekend too. I'll see you there?"
"Yeah, see you later. Take care."
Yui sat and watched as Hideki crouched down next to Kaoru and helped position his arm to throw it better. Then she watched as he took the next twenty minutes, helping each of the boys with throwing the ball to each other until they got the hang of it. Then, she watched him walk over to each boy and help them with adjusting their grip on the baseball bat. After that, Hideki played pitcher while the boys took turns swinging the bat.
There weren't many people left in the stands. Yui stood up and reached her arms up slightly to stretch them. She was tired, and her feet ached from being on them all day while waiting on diners. Of course, her feet also probably hurt because the boots she wore had three-inch heels, naturally. She figured it was worth the pain not to be so short.
She watched as Hideki took off his baseball cap, and rubbed his forearm over his sweaty hair. He was smiling and laughing at something either Iszuki or Kaoru had said. She felt a heavy beating in her chest.
Her heart–her soul.
That's what it was. It felt like something deep within her was reaching out for him, longing for him.
He was her soulmate, wasn't he?
But what was she supposed to do with that?
Go up to him, and say, "Hey, we've only known each other for a few days, but I've been having dreams about you my entire life and we're supposed to get married and have lots of babies together?"
She snorted to herself at the thought. He already thought that she was crazy. No doubt that he would find any reasonable excuse possible for Iszuki to not hang with Kaoru in order to stay away from her. Kaoru had a difficult time making friends sometimes. So many children in schools were brats, but Iszuki was sweet and kind, and the two got along fabulously. She didn't want to take that away from her little brother.
She bit her lip as she watched him gather up the boys, and showed them where they were to put the bats and balls they'd been practicing with (and the extra mitts as well). Then, they walked back to where Yui was watching them.
She winced slightly as she stood up once again. Her feet were killing her.
"Are you alright?" Hideki asked softly in some concern.
"I'm fine," she said, waving away his question. "Kaoru, are you ready to go?"
"Can Iszuki come home with us?"
"He has his own home, Kaoru," Yui said softly.
"Please, onee-chan?"
"But," she looked at Hideki. "Do you need to do something before you have to go home? Like cleaning up? I can take the boys back to my house. Can you meet us there?" She heard herself offering to him.
"That's not a problem? I do need to shower," He asked quietly, earnestly looking at her. There was something different in his eyes.
"No problem, of course. My mom has been saying that she's been hoping that Iszuki-chan will come over and play with Kaoru again."
"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I'll be quick. Is that alright Iszuki? I can meet you at the Nayande's house, alright?"
Iszuki nodded at his brother's words and the two boys were walking ahead. Hideki turned and watched Yui limp slightly over to the bag she had. He watched as she gathered her things, and talked to the boys with a quick word before they headed off to the Nayande home.