Tadakatsu Hatagami looks out the window from the house that belonged to the Takiguchi’s, it was a place that was all too familiar for him. Kaneshiro and Reika Takiguchi were in a way, a second pair of parents for Tadakatsu, their son Yuichiro being a brother to him. Tadakatsu had met Yuichiro all the way back in Primary school, right on a baseball field, a place that felt like Heaven for Tadakatsu. Closing his eyes, Tadakatsu recalls the memory.
Back then, the two often played together on the same team, however, on that day when they met a good decade ago or so, they played against each other. Tadakatsu’s team, which he, assuming the lead role of the team for being the best batter, named the team the Tigers. The opposing team with Yuichiro was called the Dragons, little Yuichiro having no say in naming the team at all, but rather tagging along and just trying to fit in. Tadakatsu had played a good game like he always, all but one of the hits going way back in the outfield and he scoring each time, the other hit being a grounder that launched with enough speed for the second basemen to miss.
While Tadakatsu shined and awed the rest of the playground baseball watchers with his batting ability, he amused them with his fielding skills, for back then, he struggled immensely in even watching a fly ball. The Dragons offense was often playing offense longer due to the mishaps and costly mistakes when he was on defense. Combining his two abilities, the score remained close, 5 to 4 Dragons by the last inning, two outs and the bases loaded. It was the perfect opportunity for Tadakatsu to win the game. Nothing felt better to him than making a powerful game-winning swing to conclude a close game for a glorious victory in the sport Tadakatsu loved with such devoted passion. He had never struck out, not one single time. He was flawless and was extremely proud of his reputation for never striking out, it had made Tadakatsu the cool kid and leader of the pact throughout the diamond shaped field and beyond the bleachers surrounding it. It made him popular, that felt so cool to him. With a confident, excited, and brash grin, he laughs at the shortest boy on the Dragons team, who had only been on the mound for a few minutes, his bad pitching being the reason for all three bases being loaded.
“Pitch the ball, pip-squeak! It’s time for me to win this game! Come on, throw it already!” Tadakatsu couldn’t have been anymore confident, after all, the kid against him couldn’t even pitch well! Plus, the guy was so puny! There was no way in hell he would lose the game against him. He knew the drill and had been in the situation more than once, swing the bat, run the bases, take in the “Wow Katsu! That was a great hit! You’re so good!” like comments and go home to tell his parents about it all at the dinner table. Tadakatsu licked his lips, smirking. This was going to be a piece of cake!
Tadakatsu carefully watches as the ball is released from the little guy’s hands, he motions his bat towards the ball and shouts, “Home run!” Tadakatsu’s eyes close as he hears a loud POW from the impact of the ball ricocheting off of the bat. “Home R-uhh…drats!” The ball went wide left, a foul ball.
Tadakatsu relaxes his grip on the bat and stares right into the small pitcher’s gentle eyes. “Lucky! You don’t know how lucky you got there, shorty! NO idea! Come on, pitch it, pitch it!” Laughter comes from the Tiger dugout bench, they all knew Tadakatsu would make the game-winning hit, he was Tadakatsu Hatagami after all! He never struck out!
The ball comes towards him once more, again he swings, this time keeping his eyes open. POW! Tadakatsu’s eyes watch the ball in excitement and he even jumps in the air! He tosses the bat to the side of the mound and begins to run towards first base, arms raised, fists clenched in victory. At least, that was before he heard with a loud shout, “Foul ball!” Tadakatsu hears a few people laugh and he angrily grabs his bat, marching once more the home plate, ready for his game-winning swing. Okay, enough fooling around, this game is mine, Tadakatsu thinks to himself. Chewing a pair of Motoboshi’s Extra Flavored bubble gum, he pops it into a quick bubble and grins once more.
Tadakatsu swung, eyes closed. Tadakatsu hears a loud WOOOSH but no POW! His heart sinks and he opens his eyes, to see the pitcher’s face expand in shock. He struck out…Tadakatsu Hatagami really struck out! Tadakatsu’s shoulders immediately slump down and he drops the bat, an overwhelming feeling of unbelievability going through him. How could he, Tadakatsu Hatagami, strike out?! Against such a puny wimp none of the less! Tadakatsu notices his teammates staring at him, they seemed as shocked as he felt, although that look was temporary, as it turned to a angry and disappointed glare that basically told him, “Nice, Tadakatsu. Way to go…loser.” Tadakatsu turns away from them and spits on the ground, unable to say a thing. He really struck out.
After that game, when everyone separated, Tadakatsu found the small boy who had struck him out, the only boy to have struck him out since the first year Tadakatsu played.
“Hey, hey!”
The short boy looks at him, shyly. “Huh?”
“You’re the first person to strike me out since I started playing my first year and I’m like in my third year now…what’s your name?”
The boy seems to calm down. “I’m Yuichiro. Yuichiro Takiguchi. I really just got lucky I think, I’m no good at sports, especially baseball.”
Tadakatsu shakes his head. “No, no way, man. Don’t say that, man…you struck me out, you’ve woken me up, I’m not a perfect batter and I really felt like I was. You’ve opened my eyes, Yuichiro. I’ve never seen you around before, are you new?”
Yuichiro nods. “Yeah, mom told me to get some exercise and make some friends so I tried coming out here. It was my first time really playing against anyone but my dad. Daddy played baseball when he was younger so he was also telling me to play baseball, he usually pitches with me but I’ve never pitched to him though.”
Tadakatsu’s jaw drops. “So, basically…that was your first time pitching?”
Yuichiro nods. “Other than the few other batters before you, yeah. I was pretty scared but nobody else wanted to pitch and Hanbei was tired of pitching, so they made me pitch.”
Tadakatsu nods. “Th-that’s awesome…hahaha…really, that is, man.”
Yuichiro laughs. “I don’t know, haha.”
Tadakatsu pats Yuichiro’s shoulder. “Hey, you need friends? Tadakatsu here has you covered, how about you come over to my place for dinner? I’ll tell my parents all about the game and what you did!”
Yuichiro responds with excitement; “Okay! I’ll have to ask mom though!”
Luckily for the two, Mrs. Reika Takiguchi had said yes. It started from that day and to the very moment Tadakatsu recalled it right at the Takiguchi residence. They had been friends ever since, the sport Tadakatsu loved so much contributing to how he met his best friend, just one more reason he obsessively loved the game of baseball. It brought an eternal bond of brotherhood both on and off the field.
