Ken raised his eyebrow after hearing the whispering of his classmates. He reached into the depth of his memories trying to remember who the person was. It had been almost 10 years since this day in his previous life.
But before he could remember, Mr. Tanaka cleared his throat, seemingly done with his speech that fell on deaf ears.
"Ahem. Before we start todays classes, we have a new transfer student. His parents have moved to Yokohama from Fukushima." With that, he opened the door and a student walked in.
He was average height, yet his wide shoulders made his body seem a little disproportionate. The moment he stepped in, the boys let out curses under their breath and even the girls in the class let out sighs of disappointment.
It was clear that this person was not the kind of transfer student they had been hoping for.
The only person in the room who was actually excited about this new addition to the class was Ken, whose eyes were currently wide open in shock.
'Damn! How could I forget that Daichi only came to Seiko this year.' He cursed inwardly.
His thoughts suddenly turned to just a few moments before when he had called out Daichi's name with a sense of familiarity, only to feel his face redden in embarrassment.
'Argh damn it, he probably thinks I'm some kind of weirdo now.'
"Introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Tanaka said simply, moving back towards his desk and leaving Daichi to stand in front of the whole class.
"U-Umm. My name is Daichi Suzuki, I am new here… Please take care of me." He stammered before bowing to the whole class.
"Ah. Not much of a talker I guess." Mr. Tanaka spoke out, seeming a little exasperated.
"For now, take a seat next to Ken by the window. Ken please share your textbooks with him for today." He continued, gesturing to the open chair beside Ken.
Ken's face brightened up. He suddenly felt full of happiness as Daichi made his way between the desks and sat in the chair next to him.
"Hey, my name is Ken Takagi, nice to meet you." Ken intoned, giving a brilliant smile and holding his hand out.
Daichi stared at the hand for a moment before taking it hesitantly, it seemed that he was a little timid. His grip was soft, betraying his large shoulders which should have held a lot of power.
"Daichi Suzuki." He muttered in return before pulling his chair in.
The day continued with classes and Ken quickly remembered how tedious middle school was. He also realized that since leaving school, he had forgotten majority, if not all of his prior knowledge.
For some reason he had thought that it would be a breeze as he had learned all the material beforehand. However, reality was a big slap in the face.
He inwardly reminded himself that he would need to study in the future. Perhaps he would regain his lost knowledge, or at least he hoped.
Ken also tried to converse with Daichi throughout the day, however it was difficult to get more than a few words from him. Yet Ken was a patient man, or at least he tried to be. He knew that Daichi was a proper friend and was worth putting in the extra effort.
So by the time lunch rolled around, he made sure to stay in the classroom and have lunch with his old friend.
Thanks to his doting mother, Ken had a full spread of rice, fish, vegetables and even fried egg in his bento box. He shook his head, letting out a little chuckle. While he may not have appreciated it back then, he sure did now.
Daichi on the other hand, only had leftover rice.
"Hey man, did you want to share some of my lunch?" Ken asked, offering his bento box.
"No no!" Daichi quickly responded, shaking his head vigorously.
"It's cool man, I won't be able to eat all of this anyway. It's better that you have some otherwise it will just be a waste." He insisted, almost pushing it into Daichi's face.
"Ah… Well if you insist." Daichi felt compelled to accept the offer, after all, Ken seemed like a genuine person. He would feel bad if he insulted him for something as small as this.
So the two ate lunch together, mostly in silence. Daichi did his best to keep his expression calm, however his taste buds were singing from the delicious lunch that he was eating.
'Oh my goodness, does he eat this good every day? I'm so jealous.' Daichi thought inwardly, trying his best to eat as slow as possible in order to not look greedy.
Now that Ken had had a chance to think, he could finally remember some of his middle school days. He had indeed met Daichi during middle school in his previous life, however they had not become close until high school.
Not only that, Daichi did not play baseball at all until the end of their first year of high school. Ken lost control of the fish that was in his chopsticks as his mind finally made the connection.
SNAP
Suddenly, Daichi leaned over and snapped up the fish which was on its way to the floor in one fluid motion. His reflexes and speed were out of this world for someone his size.
He then placed the food in his mouth and continued to eat, a hint of red appearing on his cheeks.
Ken was still dumbfounded. He had just realized that Daichi had only played baseball for 3 years before he was called up to become a professional.
Suddenly, he had an idea. His face morphed into a dazzling smile as he turned his attention onto the diamond in the rough in front of him. If he could get this man into baseball earlier, what kind of beast would he turn into?
Daichi who was currently on the receiving end of Ken's smile, suddenly felt his stomach growl uneasily. He wasn't sure what the smile meant, however his pudgy body seemed to understand that it was in danger.
'Yes, if I can get Daichi into baseball earlier, we will become the best battery in the nation.' Ken thought inwardly, unable to hide his smile.
However, out of nowhere he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He almost jumped in fright from the unexpected pain. After giving it a once over and confirming that it was okay, he quickly curbed his enthusiasm.
'That's right. If I want to keep playing baseball, I probably should stop being a pitcher.'
Ken suddenly felt his stomach sink at the thought. However, the thought of losing baseball altogether was an even worse scenario, after all he had already been through such a thing.
"Daichi. How would you like to join our baseball club?" Ken asked after a while.
"Huh?"