Warning for this chapter-There's a bit more swearing and sexual innuendo/conversations in this one. Also, physical violence and mentions of hazing.
Chapter 4
Hideki walked into the biology class with Otonashi on Tuesday. It was the start of their second week and in the lab this week they would actually be completing some experiments. Hinata walked towards Yui as soon as he saw her, as Otonashi was talking with someone else. He seemed to know everyone, and Otonashi was well-liked by everyone he met as well.
He was just one of those people-one of those people who seemed to always gather friends around themselves without even trying.
"Good morning," Hideki said, sitting next to Yui at the table.
She looked up at him and said, "Good morning. You look alert. Is this your first class of the day?"
"It's my second class. I had math before this."
"Blargh," she replied. She put her head down on her arms and yawned.
He smiled at her reaction, although she looked exhausted. He looked her over as she sat with her head lying on her arms.
She was wearing leggings today to go with her miniskirt. And no boots–instead she wore sandals. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore a v-neck, green t-shirt that showed off her cleavage. He felt a little blush when he realized he'd been staring.
He hoped that she hadn't noticed that he had been checking her out.
He looked away and turned to his school bag. He began to pull out his laptop.
Yui laughed at him slightly. "It's okay, Hideki. It's always hard to resist staring at perfection."
He shook his head and smiled.
He turned to look at her, and said, "Not leaving much to the imagination though, are you?"
"You're just jealous, moron."
"Why would I be jealous that you have cleavage? That makes no sense," Hideki said in an exasperated voice. Sometimes she didn't make any sense at all.
"Although, I don't mind the view. I'm surprised," he said, peeking another look at her shirt, and her bosom directly. "At first I didn't realize you had something there."
Otonashi had just walked up to them and was looking at them both strangely. "Something where?"
Yui's face was flushed, and her hands were in fists. She breathed out deeply.
"You are such a perverted, jerk..."
"Hey, Yui?" Hideki interrupted her tirade.
"What?" She snapped at Hinata
"Where are your boots?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Why are you jealous of those as well? I never figured you would wear knee-length, high-heeled boots. Maybe you should star in that Rocky Mountain Horror Show Production that the Drama Club is planning in October."
He rolled his eyes at her and said, "No, I'm just noticing that in your absolute perfection, you're definitely a lot shorter than I thought." He proceeded to take his hand and made a downward motion. He put his hand on the top of Yui's head and patted it, giving her a shit-eating grin as he did so.
"So small," he conversationally to Otonashi.
In a flash, she had his hand and arm twisted against his back and he laughed out loud.
Otonashi couldn't quite stop himself from laughing at the two of them.
Once again, this felt like deja vu.
"I was wondering when you were going to pull out one of your wrestling moves," Hideki said calmly. "Impressive."
"Don't hurt him, Yui. He's one of the team's best players!" Yuzuru said quickly. "He needs that to play." Yui rolled her eyes.
"I'm not doing it to his throwing arm, you idiot!"
To Otonashi's surprise, Hideki winked at him. Yuzuru blinked somewhat in surprise.
And then he grinned.
Hideki was getting a rise out of Yui on purpose!
The teacher walked into the classroom and said, "Settle down," and immediately Hideki and Yui were both sitting in their chairs as if nothing had happened.
Otonashi blinked at the pair of them. They were so strange. Hinata was really polite to everyone around him, and yet, with Yui…he seemed to like making her angry.
He wondered why. He never liked making Kanade angry if he could avoid it. She scared him. But there must have been something that Hinata-kun liked…He looked over and Yui had an angry pout on her face, and her cheeks were flushed slightly.
Yuzuru watched as Hinata-kun glanced over at Yui. His friend's eyes raked over Yui while she wasn't looking, intent on taking her notes. Hinata-kun had a fond look on his face.
They were both quiet as the teacher started her lecture. Otonashi sat between them again. He figured it was a good thing, since from what he'd seen, they could be at each other's throats pretty quickly and easily.
Otonashi shook his head and sighed. He took notes between Yui and Hideki as the class seemed to go on forever. The teacher's voice droned on and on. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the class ended and they were dismissed.
They packed up their things and went next door to the lab. Hideki sat by Yui once again, assuming that they were lab partners.
"Again?" She asked, and then to Hideki's surprise, laughed somewhat evilly. "Definitely couldn't resist, could you?" She flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder flirtatiously.
"No," Hideki said, "I could if I wanted to. But, you see, I want to look smarter than other people in this class, so I figured if you were my lab partner, I could definitely shine."
Yui looked at him and then to his surprise, she punched him in the arm lightly.
Then she grinned at him. "Jokes on you. I plan on beating you in every lab this term."
"Yeah, you can try," he said to her softly, "I'm a pretty competitive person though."
She snorted at his words, and he found her even cuter than before. He really liked that Yui wasn't intimidated by him–that she treated him like an almost normal person. He smiled at her and started to say something else when a young woman approached their lab table.
She smiled at both Yui and Hideki brightly, but her eyes focused on Hideki.
Yui immediately turned to her lab book, opening it up to the day's lesson, and tried to block out the girl who obviously was trying to hit on Hideki.
The girl that spoke to him was beautiful with dark hair that was cut to just below her shoulders. She wore a spaghetti top shirt that was a dark green color and a short skirt.
If Yui was showing cleavage, then this girl was practically a stripper. And she had a lot more going on in that department than Yui did. She was leaning over the lab table, practically pushing her breasts into Hideki's face.
He leaned back slightly at the intrusion of his personal space but still managed to give her a small smile.
She said, "You're Hinata, right? I'm Rin. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well," Hideki replied, smiling at her kindly. She was strikingly pretty, but he was also intimidated a bit by her forward manner.
"How are you settling in?"
"Pretty good," he replied conversationally.
She smiled at him, and then boldly reached out to his forearm, which was lying on the tabletop. She touched him, softly tracing her fingers along his skin.
"That's good, maybe you and I could–"
"Actually, I'm sorry Rin-kun," Hideki said suddenly, gently pulling his arm out from under her hand. "I have to speak to my lab partner about something I just forgot about. Forgive me. I'll see you around though."
Rin's eyes raked over to Yui, who was writing something down. She looked at Hideki who had a calm, but bored look on his face. She smiled slightly.
"Sure, we can talk some other time, Hinata-kun. Take care," she said, as she sauntered back to her seat, with her hips swaying.
Hideki let out a deep breath that he realized he hadn't been holding in and pulled his eyes from Rin-kun's backside.
"She's an Annie," Yui whispered to him. He leaned his ear towards her as the teacher was coming in to start the class.
"How can you tell?" He whispered to her in return.
She was so close to him that he could smell the scent of her hair. He found himself breathing in deeply–vanilla and strawberries. She smelled amazing. He wondered what it would feel like to touch her hair, to run it through his fingers.
What the hell was happening to him?
"Why else would she be interested in you?" Yui quipped right back at him.
"Well, in that case, maybe I should get her number," he said, pretending to stand up.
She pulled his arm down forcefully and said, "Shut up and sit down. You're not going anywhere near her."
"Oh, possessive of me already, are you?" Hinata said, winking at her. He was becoming more flirtatious with her, and she rolled her eyes at him.
"I can tell you're not like that, you moron. You weren't even staring at her boobs when they were practically in your face."
"Maybe I'm not a breast guy," Hinata replied. "Have you ever thought of that?"
She shook her head at him but didn't answer his question. Obviously, if he wasn't a breast guy, that was good for her, since she was seriously lacking in that department, especially compared to Miss Playboy Baseball Annie.
There was a moment's silence and after a half second, she asked something that had been weighing on her mind, "What do you think the gay dudes that are groupies are called? Baseball Andys…Maybe baseball Dandys?"
Hideki, who had just taken a drink of water from his water bottle, almost choked on his laugh. He coughed several times to try and clear his throat while Yui patted his back somewhat roughly. For someone so small, she was a lot stronger than she looked.
He was sure that she was going to leave a bruise.
When he managed to not choke to death, he shot a look over at Yui, who grinned at him.
"What? I'm just curious."
The biology lab was a lot more interesting than the lecture had been. Both Yui and Hideki had managed to do their own DNA tests easily enough, and then they sat through the rest of the lab, playing tic-tac-toe with each other until dismissal.
The class was finally dismissed, and they began packing up.
Hideki was going to ask her if she was planning on eating lunch when Otonashi and Yuri showed up at their lab table.
"Hey, are you guys okay? It looked like you were choking there for a while at the beginning of class, Hinata-kun." Yuri asked, looking him over in some concern. She had bright eyes and her magenta hair was carefully put together with her headband.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, shooting a glare at Yui who grinned at him cheekily.
"Cool, we're going to get some lunch in the cafeteria. Do you want to come with us?" Yuzuru asked. Someone stopped to say something to Otonashi, who put his hand on the guy's shoulder and said that he would see him in their next class.
"Yeah, sure," Hideki said, looking over at Yui.
Hideki turned to Yui, who was about to leave, "Are you going to eat lunch with us?"
"I usually go home, actually. It's close enough," Yui said with a smile.
"You should have lunch with us," Yuri said, walking around Hideki quickly. She looped her arm through Yui's.
"Well…maybe just this once," Yui replied. She was always looking to hang out with friends, but she didn't have unlimited funds to do that. A lot of people at the university were a lot more well-off than her family. Her dad made a decent salary, but with her mom's medical expenses, there wasn't a lot of extra that her family had. They had enough for their needs, though.
But, she didn't have a lot of extra money, which was why she worked at Uncle Sam's Cafe. She needed to save up money to move out on her own, but still live close enough to help her mom. And the area of town she was eyeing was even more expensive than she realized.
She could hear Hinata and Otonashi talking behind her about their classes or something. Whatever it was, they were getting along fabulously.
Yuri was chatting about her earlier class, which had been world history. Yui stopped at the cafeteria with Yuri. She slowed down as they stood in line. She began to look through her messenger bag in order to find her wallet so that she could pay for her lunch.
But then, Hinata was immediately in front of her, and she heard him say, "Two meals, please." He handed his meal card to the cashier, who eyed him and then Yui. The cashier, most likely bored out of his mind, swiped the card twice without another glance and then handed it back to Hinata. He put away his card into his wallet and put it into the back pocket of his jeans. She caught herself watching his movement and staring at his backside.
When did she turn into such a pervert? She put her own wallet away slowly and walked slightly behind him as he went to get food.
"You didn't have to do that, you know. I had the money to pay for myself."
He looked at her as he was inspecting the fruit. "I know that. I thought you were working hard to save money to move out of your parent's place?"
"I am–but…"
"Well, then don't worry about it," he said softly. "I basically have unlimited meals because they want me to eat a lot more to try and bulk up."
She grabbed a tray with him. "Why do they want you to bulk up? You seem plenty bulky to me."
He looked over his shoulder and grinned at her cheekily. "You think so, huh?"
He looked so full of himself that she wanted to smack him.
She immediately scowled at him. "For a moron baseball player, that is," she corrected fiercely, putting some fruit and then salad angrily on her tray. Then she helped herself to some sushi rolls, while Hideki followed her. He added some rolls to his own tray as well.
He explained to her, "If I get stronger, I might do better with my batting."
"But aren't you pretty good at that already, aren't you?"
"It wouldn't hurt to gain some more muscle," Hideki replied to her. "I mean, second basemen are usually smaller, but if they want me to play somewhere else, I could be a more versatile player if I can put on some weight. Plus, if I want to play in America, the fields are bigger, so I might need to be stronger so I can hit better."
She shook her head. He didn't need to put on that much more weight, at least in her opinion. She didn't say anything else as she got more food, and then she followed Yuri to the table. The girls appeared to eat a lot less than the guys since it was only Kanade waiting for them at the moment.
"Hey, Yui," Kanade said, a small smile on her face, as she was eating the spiciest meal in the cafeteria, Mapo tofu.
"Hey Kanade, what's up? How are your classes so far this term?"
"They're fine," Kanade said. "A little boring, but I feel like it will get better." She took a bite of her spicy tofu, and then asked, "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing really well," Yui said with a bright smile on her face. She checked her phone and quickly sent a text to her mom, letting her know that she was eating at school for lunch instead of at home.
"I liked your performance the other day," Kanade said softly to her.
"Oh, thanks. I really appreciate all the support." She said quietly. She looked up, and that same girl that had been trying to chat up Hinata earlier was sitting at a table perpendicular to them. She was talking to one of the men at the table, a baseball player as well. He had his arm around her shoulders, and Yui noticed the girl had her hand on his upper thigh.
Ugh. Yui turned her gaze away from the girl, feeling a slightly sick churning in her stomach. She was right–the girl was one of the groupies, and she'd been after Hinata-kun. She suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore–she felt jealous and a bit possessive.
As if she was the only one allowed to look at Hideki Hinata like that, the only one that could—
Yuri leaned forward and whispered, "Is that the girl who was trying to flirt with Hinata-kun earlier?"
Yui nodded. "Yeah, but he shut her down pretty quickly though."
Yuri smiled at her. "Of course he did. After all, you were sitting next to him, weren't you?"
Yui looked up at Yuri, who was smiling at her mischievously. Yui was confused.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Yui demanded suddenly.
What did everyone think of her budding friendship with Hinata?
Did they think that she was only doing it because she wanted to be a baseball groupie?
She heard him sit next to her, putting his tray on the table. He sat down next to her, swinging his legs over the bench, and immediately saw that something was wrong.
"Yui," he asked in concern, "Are you alright?"
"I didn't mean it like that, Yui," Yuri said softly, interrupting Hideki. "You know that, don't you?"
Yui nodded, focusing on the salad on her plate.
"Yeah, I know," she murmured to Yuri.
"Really…" Yuri stopped and stared right at Hinata, realizing that this wasn't a conversation for him to be involved in. He looked at Yuri inquisitively.
"Go sit by Fujimaki, Hinata-kun. I want to talk to Yui alone."
Hinata blinked at her slightly in surprise but immediately stood up, and gave her a sarcastic military salute, before shrugging his shoulders and moving his food over next to Fujimaki and Ooyama.
Yuri then stood up, walked quickly around the table, and took the seat next to Yui.
"I didn't mean it like that." Kanade was on Yui's other side suddenly as well. She patted Yui on the knee quietly.
"I meant, well…why do you think he would want that girl's attention when you are sitting right next to him in the Lab? Honestly Yui, do you not realize how pretty you are?"
Yui felt herself blush slightly.
"And it's obvious that he likes you," Kanade whispered quietly. "The two of you get along well, and you're friends. People might jump to conclusions, but we won't."
Yui nodded her head and something within her screamed out to tell these two young women, two of her friends, about her dreams.
"Can I ask you something?" Yui said suddenly, looking between Kanade and Yuri.
Yuri and Kanade both nodded. "Yeah, anything," Yuri said.
Yui looked up and gazed right at Hinata, who was staring at her. He looked as though he was worried about her. She smiled at him. He smiled back at her and then turned his attention to Ooyama, who was talking to him about something.
Then she said to Kanade and Yui, "Well, maybe not right now."
Yuri followed her line of sight and saw Hideki next to Ooyama, and sighed. "Boys spoil everything."
"No they don't," Kanade said with a soft whisper as she looked at Yuzuru, who was pointing his chopsticks at Hinata, and laughing about something with the other guys.
"You're lovesick," Yuri replied, annoyed at her. "I still don't get why you and Yuzuru aren't married yet."
"His parents want him to be established in his career first. I'll wait for him as long as I need to for him," Kanade admitted, sighing softly as she looked over at him.
Yui smiled slightly at Kanade, who'd always been with Yuzuru since she'd known them for the last year.
"I will never look at Noda like that," Yuri said, her arms crossed over her chest. Noda as if he heard his name, looked up from his huge tray of food and winked at Yuri. Yuri flipped him off and he grinned back at her, making kissy lips at her.
Yuri rolled her eyes.
"He wouldn't like you if you did," Yui said with a small giggle watching their exchange. They had only gotten together a couple of months previous, and it was highly entertaining. He worshiped the ground she walked on and had no problem with Yuri's high-handedness.
She felt a confidence in Kanade and Yuri–she trusted them and she knew that she could confide in them one of her deepest secrets–her dream.
"Can we meet up sometime, maybe just us girls?"
"Definitely," Yuri said. "Do you have any plans this weekend?"
Yui shook her head no. Both Yuri and Kanade agreed to meet up with Yui on Sunday night during Yui's lunch hour at Uncle Sam's Cafe. Yui smiled at them and then turned to eat her food.
Yui looked back towards Hinata and he was talking to Otonashi about something. They were having a pretty heated conversation. She overheard snippets about Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers and she realized the morons were talking about baseball–professional baseball.
She rolled her eyes.
Hideki's tray was full of food, and he was steadily eating his way through his meal. She was going to get up and sit next to him but decided that it would be too awkward. Instead, as Fujimaki and Ooyama left, someone else walked up to their table and sat next to him boldly.
It was one of the baseball players, the shortstop named Okita. Okita was tall-well over six feet. He was incredibly strong and was known as one of the best players on the baseball team.
"Hey, Hinata. Who are these people?" He asked, plopping down next to Hinata-kun. Hinata blinked in surprise at Okita's question. He was somewhat startled by the sudden appearance of his fellow teammate. But, he pulled himself together and proceeded to introduce them all.
Yui was sitting across two people down from Otonashi when she heard Okita ask, "Yeah, and who's the cute girl down there?"
Hinata-kun looked up at her and then at Okita. His usually open face was closed off and serious, definitely warier than Yui had seen before.
"Okita-senpai, this is Nayande-kun. Nayande-kun, this is Okita-sempai."
Yui smiled at Okita and said, "Nice to meet you."
He smiled back at her. "You're the new lead singer for Gldemo, right?"
"Right," she said, wondering why the shortstop was talking to her. He was a senior this year, and rumor was that he was invited to MLB tryouts this upcoming winter.
There was no way he was actually interested in making small talk with her.
"I saw your performance on Sunday. You killed it. Do you have any plans for this weekend?"
"We're not planning a performance," she said. She glanced at Hinata, who was intently focusing on his food, and still had that look on his face as if he was bored with the conversation.
However, he seemed pretty tense from the way he sat.
Okita smiled slightly. "No, I mean, do you have any personal plans this weekend? There's going to be a party at the Baseball House Saturday night. You should come." He winked at her. The players of the sports teams usually lived in one of two places–either the dorms for the first year or two and then a large house that was rented out for the players to live. For some teams, there was more than one house. The Baseball House actually referred to a Duplex where several of the players lived.
Okita elbowed Hideki in the ribs, "Make sure to bring her to the party, alright?
Hideki sighed and looked up. He glanced between the two of them. "I won't be able to make it, unfortunately. Sorry."
Yui was blushing slightly but was thankful that she already had an excuse.
"I have to work that night." She told him softly. "Thank you for the invitation though."
"No problem, you should definitely come by sometime. We have a lot of fun." Then Okita stood up and clapped Hinata on the shoulders.
"See you in the weight room, Hinata. Good-bye Nayande-kun." He winked at her and then walked off.
Yui watched him walk away and then looked back at Hideki.
He was still eating slowly, and she could tell that he was avoiding eye contact with her. She wanted to smack him. Since Okita acknowledged her, he hadn't even looked at her.
She sighed as she continued to eat. It didn't matter. She wasn't interested in those types of parties, she wouldn't have gone anyways. But still, she could feel flattered that Okita, who was tall, and rather a fine specimen, at least physically, had singled her out.
She was a bit surprised when Matushita suddenly blurted out, "You shouldn't go to any of those parties, especially without Hinata, Yui."
"I wasn't planning on it," Yui replied in exasperation, "I'm not a moron."
Hinata remained quiet, and she sighed. Gradually, the others left the table one by one. Just as Otonashi and Kanade left, Yui stood up and carried her tray over to Hinata.
She sat down next to him at the table. She bumped her knee against his, and said, "You're quiet."
He looked up at her and then murmured, "I'm just thinking."
"That's usually never a good thing," she said softly. He cracked a small smile at her joke, but then the serious look on his face returned.
"What is it?" Yui asked directly.
"It's just...Okita has said hardly anything to me since I moved here. He hasn't been the most welcoming of upperclassmen."
He looked straight at her, and said, "He only came over here because of you, and I'm not sure if I like that."
She felt her heart pounding in her chest.
"Oh. Feeling jealous?"
"What? No…it's just...I've heard rumors," he said softly. "He doesn't have the best reputation."
"Oh, I've heard them too," Yui said a wry grin on her face. "He's definitely a womanizer, who likes when girls are on their knees around him." Yui rolled her eyes. "The girls that give him attention are stupid, and I'm not stupid," she finished. She looked at Hideki, whose face had turned a bright shade of crimson.
She grinned even wider. Oh, she had embarrassed him with her forthright manner.
"Aww…you're blushing. Was it something I said?" Yui asked, cackling at his reaction. That was not the reaction of someone who regularly let girls into his bed, she decided. She liked him for that even more and decided that she needed to protect his innocence.
"Poor Hideki," she said, her voice in a babyish whisper, "In Hokkaido, the stork brings babies to the families…"
"Shut up," he said with a laugh at her words.
"And, the wives lie back and," she changed her voice suddenly, and in a perfect English accent said, "Think of England."
He laughed at that.
Then shook his head. "You just–surprise me with how open you are sometimes."
"You're a virgin aren't you?"
"No comment," he said to her, glaring slightly. That was all the answer she needed. She smiled at him and decided to bother him some more.
"Speaking of lying back and thinking of England, you know who doesn't do that?"
"I don't want to know–"
"Yuri. I walked in on her and Noda a few weeks ago, she was definitely not lying back and taking it, if you catch my drift…"
"Okay, okay," Hideki said with another laugh, "I get it, I get it. I'm a naive northerner."
He smiled and then against his better judgment, asked, "How'd you manage to walk in on them? I'm assuming they were somewhere private…"
"That's where you would be wrong," she informed him, taking a sip of her water. "Be careful at this university—there's a lot of spots that are known for being hook-up spots."
Hideki made a face, and Yui laughed once again.
"I'm not completely innocent, Hideki. You don't need to worry about Okita, okay? He's a misogynistic ass that only wants girls so he can use them. I know that."
"Still, if you do decide to go some time, can you let me know? I'll go with you, and make sure you're safe."
Her heart almost melted into a puddle at his words and she felt her face grow warm.
She wondered if this was what it was supposed to feel like, falling in love.
Hinata glanced at his watch. "I have to go. I need to do some lifting, and then we have regular practice. Do you think Kaoru would want to go to the movies with Iszuki this weekend? I promised Iszuki that I'd take him."
"He probably would. There's a new Pokemon movie he wants to see."
"Ah, yeah, that's the one that Iszuki wants to see too."
"I can't take him, I have to work," Yui explained to him softly.
Hinata smiled broadly and said, "That's okay. I was actually going to offer to take Kaoru too, if your parents are okay with that. I really don't mind. I'll send your father a text."
"No, it's okay. I'll ask for you," Yui said suddenly. "It's weird that you talk about my parents like they're your friends."
He laughed. "They're so nice, Yui. You-you're so lucky to still have them," Hinata said quietly.
He took another look at his watch, and then he sighed. "I really do have to go. I'll see you later, Yui."
He stood up, and Yui watched him as he walked to return the tray and exit the cafeteria. She had an excellent view of his figure from behind, and she flushed slightly, thinking to herself that he looked just as good in jeans and a t-shirt as he did in his baseball uniform. She sighed and vaguely wondered if he wore a cup like a lot of the other baseball players. Usually, she didn't think about those sorts of things, but she found herself increasingly worried about Hideki's junk not getting injured during a game.
She felt herself blush heavily at her train of thought and wondered when she had become such a pervert.
Hinata was minding his own business in the weight room, working on his pullups when Okita-sempai sidled right up to him. He stood there, watching Hideki with his arms crossed over his chest.
Hideki initially thought that he was waiting for him to finish.
Then, the shortstop spoke.
"Your Nayande-kun is absolutely gorgeous, man," Okita admitted to him. "Rin said that she was cute. I didn't believe her until I saw her myself up close."
Hideki lowered himself slowly to the floor and looked at Okita in expectation. He wondered where this was going.
The upperclassman looked at him in return.
There was a tense silence that Hideki broke.
"Who's Rin, again?" Hideki asked quietly, taking a sip from his water bottle.
"One of the other girls in your bio class said she introduced herself to you today," Okita said, with his eyebrows raised. "She's gorgeous, with a rockin bod, especially that rack."
"Right," Hideki said slowly, remembering the girl that had spoken to him earlier. Okita was correct, Rin was very pretty and had an attractive body. He looked at Okita in expectation, wondering what the upperclassman was going to say next.
"I'm a bit surprised you weren't taken with her. We send her to the newbies, kind of as a welcome. She's pretty good at making a guy feel good. But, you completely ignored her. After meeting Nayande-kun, I can understand why."
He looked at Okita, and crossed his own arms over his chest. He wasn't sure how he felt about other players on the team sending him a groupie to have fun with.
He stared at Okita once again, and Okita had a smirk on his face.
Were they testing him?
Why bring Yui into it?
He was wondering if there was going to be some hazing–he'd had a little bit of it when he was in high school. It was frowned upon now in the university leagues, but in a lot of these team sports, there was usually an initiation of sorts.
"What do you want?" Hideki asked finally with a sigh, deciding that being direct was the best course of action.
He looked at Okita. He realized that there were a few of the guys on the team gathering to watch them. He glanced towards them warily before looking back at Okita.
"I want to know," Okita stepped forward suddenly. "Why you don't live in the Baseball House? Or in the dorms like everyone else? Do you think you're special because of how good you are?" Okita's handsome face twisted as he spat in Hideki's direction.
So it was that.
Most of the time, the shortstops on the baseball teams were the best players. Hideki wasn't fond of playing shortstop. He always enjoyed the defensive side of the game, and a lot of the time, he was one of the best defensive players on the team.
Okita was intimidated by him. He was no longer the best player on the team and had some competition, from someone younger and slighter.
Someone that he thought he could bully.
Hideki completely ignored Okita and returned to the pull-up bar. He thought over Okita's words. He could see why the others might be resentful. He continued his pull-ups, and Okita continued to watch him, like a shark watching his prey.
"What's up?" Ishida asked, walking up to Okita as if he sensed trouble brewing. As they were both seniors, they'd played with each other since their freshman year in the university and were pretty close friends.
Hideki continued his pull-ups, attempting to ignore the exchange between Okita and Ishida. Sometimes, avoidance was the best thing to do.
"Just talking to Hinata about his sweet, pretty friend. I'd really like to nail her. She seems like a fun, feisty little thing." He smirked at Hideki. "I'm also wondering why he gets special treatment, over the rest of us."
Hideki slowed down on his pull-ups, angry at the way that Okita had spoken of Yui like she was some common groupie.
Ishida sighed at Okita's words.
Hideki dropped off the pull-up bar and wiped his face on his towel before turning to look at Okita. He forced himself to remain calm.
"Keep her out of it," Hideki said, his voice becoming angry. "Whatever problem we might have, it's between us. Are we going to have a problem?" He asked, his voice gravelly and low.
Apparently, his intuition was right—there was going to be some resentment. They would need to resolve that before the regular season began.
Ishida interrupted, putting his hand up towards Hideki placatingly, "No, Hinata. There's not going to be a problem. We're all teammates. As long as we're all playing well, then I don't think there will be an issue. Right, Okita?" Ishida looked meaningfully at the other senior, who was staring at Hinata angrily.
"Why do you get the special treatment? Huh? You're no better than the rest of us." He shoved Hideki in the chest. He had at least three inches on Hideki, who stepped back when Okita pushed him.
"Back off, man," Hideki snapped at him, finally losing his temper.
"Oh. Good to see you finally fight back, since you seem like a little pussy most of the time. You haven't been truly put to the test yet, have you?"
Put to the test
He felt his stomach drop. Usually, that was the alternate name for hazing or initiations.
Hideki glared at them. "You gonna initiate me into the group?" He asked, his arms held out wide. He stepped up to Okita and glared right in his face.
"Is that what you want to do? To prove you're better than me? Listen, Okita, I am better than you–I thought you were smart enough to know that. And I don't have to go around, acting like an arrogant jackass to prove it. I prove it out on the diamond, every damn game."
A silence descended on the group as Okita flushed in anger at Hideki's rebuttal. He smiled again and held his arms open wide.
"Did you hear that, guys? Hinata said we could have some fun with him!" Okita laughed and a couple of other players laughed as well. Most of them looked highly uncomfortable, but stepped back, like they wouldn't intervene.
Hideki noticed that Ishida stared at Haru, another player on the team, one of their outfielders, and Haru quietly left the weight room.
"Okita-come on, leave him alone," Ishida said, still trying to intervene. "We need you to win, just as much as we need him."
"No, we don't need him. We never needed him." And with that, Okita pulled his arm back and punched Hideki right in the ribs. Hideki felt the breath leave his body real quick.
Hazing–they were going to haze him.
What else would they do to him–would they just beat him? Or would it be worse than a beating?
In high school, there had been one practice where the upperclassmen had the freshman run and run and run–with no water or breaks, for almost two hours. Several of the freshmen had passed out, or were puking their guts out, and would keep going.
Hinata hated the idea of hazing. But, he also knew that some people viewed it as a rite of passage to play on their teams.
There was another punch to his ribs, this one from his left side, and then, to his surprise, someone sucker-punched his left shoulder.
He felt a bruise almost immediately forming there. He heard Ishida yell at them to stop, and yell at someone else to get one of the coaches. Somehow, a couple of the guys had managed to wrestle him to the ground as he struggled to fight back against them.
"Shit! Leave his shoulder alone, man! We need him healthy." He heard someone yell, as he felt someone's heavy knee holding his shoulder down.
Someone was on top of him, punching him in the face.
And then, something within him snapped.
He had a memory, so vivid, he swore it was real. He was wearing a school uniform with no tie. He wore a red t-shirt under his white shirt and a tan blazer over the shirt.
He felt a blazing pain in his left shoulder as something ripped through him–a bullet.
He snapped.
Nobody would ever take him down like this.
To the hell with this baseball team if this was how they would treat their teammates.
All of a sudden Hideki snapped back his head and rammed his forehead into Okita, who was the heavy weight on top of him, punching him.
Hideki used his right fist and slammed his fist into Okita's face, and then kneed him in the stomach.
Okita gasped for breath. He spit out some blood as Hideki breathed hard, staring down at the shortstop. He had blood pouring down from a gash in the middle of his forehead. The headbutt had gotten the shortstop good. Unfortunately, Hideki could hardly see straight as well. He may have given himself a concussion against Okita's thick skull.
"You'll pay for that Hinata–you fucking–" Okita yelled at him, attempting to get the blood out of his eyes.
Hideki braced himself in a defensive stance.
"What the hell is this?" A roaring yell rippled through the crowd. Several of the players that were watching jumped in surprise as the head coach and several other coaches came forward.
Coach Matsura stepped forward. He was a middle-aged Japanese man, probably in his late 40s or early 50s. His hair was black, mixed with a bit of gray. He was also quite tall and large himself. He wore a baseball cap over his head and he immediately commanded their presence.
A lot of the players looked at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with either the coach or Hinata.
Hideki felt a bit dizzy, as he stood up straight, breathing heavily. The coach looked over at Hinata, then Okita. He was staring at the two of them. Then he noticed Hinata's right hand clutching his left shoulder.
His eyes narrowed in on his shoulder.
"Ishida? Why is my second baseman holding on to his shoulder like it's injured? And why is my shortstop bleeding from his head?"
Ishida sighed and said, "Okita attacked Hinata, sir. He said he wanted to bring down his arrogance and teach him a lesson."
Matsura's eyes widened. "You planning on hazing him, Okita? Do you realize what the university will do to you if they were to find out about that?"
Okita refused to look at the coach. "He provoked me, sir."
Hinata shook his head angrily.
Ishida said, "I would say that Okita provoked Hinata more, sir."
"Hinata? Arrogant?" He looked at Okita. "Look at me, Okita." Okita looked up at the coach with the blood streaming down his forehead. "Do you really think that kid there is arrogant? He could be playing wherever he wants to right now, did you know that? He's had Nippon League and Major League scouts after him for over two years now."
He then turned to look at them all, a mixture of disappointment and anger written on his face. He shook his head.
"Y'all are a bunch of fucktards, you know that?"
Hideki's head hurt.
He realized that besides his ribs and his shoulder, someone had managed to get him in the head and face. He could already feel the tenderness in his cheekbone. He stood there, still realizing that he needed to sit down. Instead, he felt someone move his arm over his shoulder. It was Haru–he'd always been a nice guy. He would help support Hideki until the coach dismissed them.
Coach Matsura looked at all the players and then zoned in on Hideki. "I apologize, Hinata. I know you wanted to keep things private, but I think these morons need to know a little more about your situation." Hideki nodded at the coach in understanding.
Matsura continued to speak, looking at the men surrounding him.
"Do you all realize that Hinata has an agreement with us and the university? He can't live on campus with you idiots. He has the sole guardianship of his seven-year-old brother."
A silence descended over the crowd. Matsura let that information sink in more.
"Ah yes. So while the rest of you fools spend your free time screwing around with girls and getting drunk, he's raising his little brother."
He took a look at Haru, and then Ishida. "Get Hinata to the team doctor. Okita, too. I'll speak with you later about this. The rest of you besides Ishida and Haru, get on the field. We're conditioning. And if anything tries anything like this again will make sure you're suspended for at least a month."
There was a loud groan from the remaining team members.
"Not. Another. Word." Matsura said, following Ishida, Okita, Haru, and Hideki before the rest of the coaching staff took over.