Peanuts and Cracker Jack

"And Hinata is at bat!" the man over the loud speaker announced. Hinata stepped out of the dugout and searched the faces in the crowd. His parents weren't there, too busy working he supposed. No matter what the excuse was it didn't matter. Even if his father had the entire month off there was no way he would drag his corporate ass down to the baseball field. Mom, she did whatever she wanted. It was safe to assume that she was shopping.

"Hinata steps up to home plate!"

There was a distinct cheering from a young girl in the crowd. Her yells seemed to echo through his mind as she watched the game with a keen sense of enjoyment. He peeked over his shoulder before stepping up. She had a youthful, bright face, like something he'd seen before. Her hair was a bright pink, pinned back into two curled pigtails. He couldn't put his finger on it, but she was familiar. She clapped, raising her hands in the air to cheer him on. Hinata couldn't help but smile to himself.

He stood, legs a shoulder length apart and elbows out. He was ready to hit a homerun, to make his parents wish they'd been there. He wanted to hit that ball and make his coach proud. He wanted a victory lap, to show off for the pink-haired girl. When the ball whizzed towards him he swung with all of his might.

"Strike one!"

Hinata cursed at himself under his breath. He readjusted himself and took a deep breath. The ball came hard and fast, this time he didn't react fast enough.

"Strike two!"

At this point he was chewing on his lip anxiously and furtively peeking over his shoulder at the girl on the bleachers. She had a box of popcorn beside her that she seemed unaware of, as she was consumed in the game. Her eyes had grown into the size of saucers as she watched enthralled with the excitement of the game.

"You've got this!" she yelled. The kind words from the stranger seemed to calm his nerves as he again rocked his balance back and forth between his two feet and prepared for the shot. As the ball spun towards him he took a hard swing at it, making satisfying contact with the crack of the bat hitting the ball. It was no homerun but it was headed in the right direction. He sprinted to first then second and almost made the move for third, but his teammate remained in the way.

The cheering from the crowd had increased as the little pink-haired girl whooped for him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her. She was a stranger to him, yet she was so encouraging. He wished he knew her. She looked as though she were a girl who could hold her own and always manage to amaze.

He made it to home in another good hit from their team. The only thing he could remember when running past the familiar girl was to smile. So, Hinata put on his most dazzling smile and sprinted to home where he received a nice, long cheer from the crowd. He wasn't expecting it, but on his walk back to the dugout she spoke to him. Her voice was smooth yet excitable, like a small animal or young child.

"You did fantastic!" she applauded. Hinata didn't know what to say. He tripped over words and fumbled with his uniform uselessly before speaking. She waited patiently for him to find his tongue in his mouth and to formulate a sentence.

"Thank you, you're too kind," he replied, nodding to her and sitting on his spot on the bench. She watched the rest of the game with a sort of glazed over happiness in her eyes. Hinata every once and a while would steal a glance in her direction. She never was looking at him, always watching the game, but even so he was glad he could look at her enticing eyes without her noticing.

The game whirred by in a moment as he found himself spending more and more time watching her and less actually playing the game. His team would win by a landslide despite the fact that he was near-useless, but to him that was worth it. After the teams congratulated each other Hinata lugged his baseball bag out of the dugout and onto the pavement where the bleachers sat. He rushed to meet the mysterious girl so he could get a word in before she left.

"Hey," he said, only realizing how lame of a conversation starter it was after the fact. She looked up, surprised. After she knocked over her cracker jacks she managed a weak smile. She giggled as she reached to pick up the box. "It's okay, I've got it."

Hinata, like the gentleman he was, leaned down to pick up the box. He knew one of them would be cited for littering if it was cleaned up. As he was reaching for it below the bleachers he noticed something he hadn't seen from the field. This enticing girl had braces from her ankles to her knees. Chances were she couldn't walk without them.

"Hello," she giggled. "You played really well today. I'm Yui by the way," she squeaked, reaching out a hand to shake. Hinata was still busy taking in what he'd seen. His mind reeled. What did those braces mean? Did she have trouble walking? He wanted so badly to escape the stupor his mind had sent him in, but it took nearly a full minute to snap out of it.

"I'm Hinata," he introduced, finally taking her outstretched hand. She graciously shook it and nodded.

"I know."

"What?" he said puzzled. He was unaware of how she'd know such things. "How do you know my name?"

"For starters, it's on the roster," she replied, pointing to a paper. Hinata laughed at his own stupidity. "Oh, and it's written on the back of your uniform," she giggled, knowing all too well that he was flustered by her charisma.

"Exactly! How am I supposed to read the back of it?" he retorted, making fun of his own idiocy in order to earn a tinkling laugh from her. She fell for the bait and let out a cute, short giggle.

"You know Hinata, I think I like you," she stated, "It feels like I know you."

"How would you like to get to know me better?" Hinata suggested, helping her from the bleachers. She took his hand and shakily maneuvered her barely useful legs down the metal bleachers. He was painfully aware of what he'd done. He asked out a beautiful girl. He asked out a clever girl. He asked out a paralytic girl, but he didn't care.

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