Chapter Text
The sounds of something cutting through the air echoed throughout the underpass, the heavy whoosh and occasional grunts the only sound to be heard besides the few cars that drove by here and there.
"Ah," staggering slightly, Raichi stumbled as he tried to straighten himself out, the heaviness of the wooden bat still much too foreign to him at the moment.
"Oi, be careful!" His dad shouted at him from where he lay, subconsciously sitting up when he saw his son stumble, though the action went unnoticed by the boy as he had his back turned to him. "Don't push yourself too hard now! We don't have the money to pay for a hospital bill!"
Raichi grit his teeth, glaring at the wooden tool in his hands defiantly for a few moments before tightening his grip and hoisting it back up, with a fair bit of effort, to continue swinging it.
The boy had been given the bat only a week prior, a few days after his seventh birthday and a few weeks after his mother left them, told by his dad that, if he got good enough at swinging such a heavy thing, he'd be rewarded for it.
He didn’t know what reward he was looking for—his dad said it’d make him tons of money in the future, that, if he got good enough at it, he’d never have to worry about being hungry ever again.
Even at such a young age, he knew his life wasn’t the best. He had a father who was at home more times than not, not going out and working like his mother had, and that they lived in a shoddy house with minimal to no heating or air conditioning, making both the heat and the cold a living nightmare whenever the temperatures rose or dropped too much. They barely had enough food on the table and he went to bed in his thin, worn down futon hungry more often than not.
It was hard, and Raichi didn’t particularly like it, especially with how his own mother left them after having had enough of his father’s antics, but he could never say his dad didn’t love and care for him.
Sure, they had money problems because of his old man’s horrible habits, something about “gambling” that he’d heard his parents argue about from time to time, but he was always there for him. Was always there to cheer him up whenever he got bullied by other kids when he stuttered, however awkwardly his attempts at comfort were; was there to help him with his homework despite being a horrible teacher, though he tried his best; was there to hand him a baseball bat and give him something to do other than sit at home and waste the days away.
Raichi, for as stupid as he could be, understood on a deeper level that his situation wasn’t exactly “normal”, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate anything about it when he had his dad there with him, someone who stuck with him and didn’t abandon him even when he so easily could.
Swinging the bat, hearing the heavy whoosh of it as it displaced the air around him, he was determined to become better, to swing this bat so precisely, so perfectly, his dad would be proud of his idiot son.
So he swung, and he swung, and he swung, and he did that day in and day out, every day under the underpass, as the sun set over the horizon and the sounds of cars drove by, all he would focus on would be the smooth wood in his hands and the sound of the air moving by his swing alone.
Hours, days, months passed like that, and he would add running and basic exercises into the mix to keep his physique up, his dad with him every step of the way as he barked out orders from his usual spot where he lay, watching as his son grew more and more with each day that passed, a pleased smile on his lips as he picked his ear.
Raichi worked tirelessly, single-minded in his goal, but, as he swung, soon he grew hungry. Hungry. Hungry… but it wasn’t his stomach grumbling.
At first, he was confused—how could he feel hungry if his stomach wasn’t making those weird noises that meant he was?
But, as time passed, as his hunger grew more and more and more, as his mind conjured up the image of a pitcher standing across from him, tall and imposing and powerful, everything clicked, and he was hungry.
The first time it happened, his eyes widened and he watched as the pitcher lifted their foot up impossibly high, their body twisting as they stepped forward and he flinched back at the image of a ball flying towards his face, but, when he blinked, it was all gone, and he was left there alone, still standing under that same underpass he always had after all these months, the same heavy wooden bat clenched tightly in his hands as he stared ahead in a mixture of disbelief and awe, a strange feel bubbling in his gut.
“Oi, Raichi, what’s wrong?” He did called out to him, frowning slightly as he saw his son stop swinging, eyeing him for a moment in the case he hurt or overexerted himself, as he knew his dumb boy tended to do as he had no sense of the word ‘pacing’. “Ya hurt yourself or something?”
Raichi ignored his father—or, rather, he simply didn’t hear him, his blood rushing in his ears as his heart pounded loudly against his chest, eyes impossibly wide as he continued to stare at the empty space in front of the pillar in front of him, the image from before burned into the forefront of his mind, and a wide grin slowly split across his face, a sudden bubbling of laughter building in his chest as he slowly began to cackle, quietly at first until it turned into full blown screeching, loud and wholly out of place as his own dad startled at the sudden noise.
“Hit…” He whispered, fingers clenching the wooden bat in his hands harshly, his bones creaking under the pressure as he got back into his batting stance, the hunger of before making a resurgence with a vengeance. “Hit… I want to hit… I want to hit…”
Despite his continual batting practice, Raichi’s knowledge of baseball was pitiful, only knowing a very small amount that was limited to batting and the fact that pitchers existed and that was about it.
He’s only seen one or two actual baseball games, those very few being from his dad dragging him to them so he could take a good look at the batters and pitchers, and Raichi did his best to soak up whatever he could from them, even if he only focused on very minimal parts of the entire thing.
So perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising that his hunger began the day he went to his first actual game, where he first saw what he was aiming for: the pitcher atop the mound, covered in dirt and sweat, eyes brimming with determination as they swung their arm down, the ball flying towards the batter with such ferocity it left a cold chill go down Raichi’s spine.
And his hunger only grew as his subconscious replayed that scene over and over again, making his body want, wanting more and more and more, until it finally manifested in a strange sort of hallucination-like image in his waking consciousness, startling him but only making his hunger grow more.
Lowering his knees, the pitcher reappeared, standing just as tall as before, gaze boring into the young boy with a look so fierce it sent shivers down his spine, a manic grin pulling at his lips as he cackled, adjusting his stance as he watched, eyes trained on the imaginary pitcher like a hawk, watching without blinking as they raised their leg, twisting their upper body as they slammed their foot down towards him, ball flying towards him as impossible speeds, but, this time, Raichi was ready.
With a loud cackle, he swung, and he could hear the melodic sound of a clang as the imaginary ball hit his bat, the boy watching in wonder as the ball soared through the hot summer air, into the orange sky as it followed the setting sun before disappearing completely over the horizon, and Raichi was still hungry.
More… more… more… he thought, beaming widely as he got back into his batting stance, laughing hysterically as the pitcher wound up once more, giving him no room to breathe as they swung once more, and Raichi hit, and he hit, and he hit, and he hit, the hunger refusing to dissipate, instead only growing as it gnawed on his insides like a feral beast, unsatiated as it demanded for more, for him to hit more and more and more, and Raichi was hungry.
I wanna hit… I wanna hit ‘em… I wanna hit ‘em all…! He chanted in his mind, excitement and eagerness and a strong, undeniable want mixing together in a euphoric rush as he swung faster and faster and faster. I want to hit! I want to knock them all out of the park! Ka… Kahahahaha!
His dad watched him as he cackled, loud and unabashed, stunned by his son’s sudden display of what seemed to be insanity but, as he noted the look on the boy’s face, a drive to swing, to hit, open and unapologetically hungry, and he couldn’t quite help the smile that threatened to show on his own face as he watched his stupid boy swing his bat wildly without losing the form he’d been beating into him since the beginning; no, he only seemed to get more and more refined, as if he’d suddenly been enlightened, and Raizou knew his boy would go far in the baseball world.
He knew his methods were unorthodox, that he wasn’t quite the best parent around, that he should probably not have encouraged his son to get to this point, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care when he finally saw a light in his son’s eyes that, while his son might not have noticed, was missing ever since his mother left.
Raichi’s mother leaving had been hard on both of them, but Raizou knew it’d been harder on his son than him, himself, as he at least felt the rift forming between the two a fair bit before anything actually happened, and he could openly admit he was mostly in the wrong there.
So, to help his son, he gave him his bat and told him to swing, hoping to get him to focus on something, anything, other than the harsh doses of reality he’d been unceremoniously handed at such a young age, and, for a while, Raichi simply swung the wooden tool, with no rhyme or reason, like a machine simply doing what it’d been programmed to do.
Raizou, at first, felt like he’d accomplished nothing—that, while, yes, his son had something else to do, he was just simply doing it, not focusing on it nor even enjoying it as he was only doing it because Raizou had put him up to it. As his father, he could only watch as his son swung without a goal, without anything to work towards, and, so, he took his boy to a few baseball games.
Now, he didn’t take him to many, mind you, as they simply didn’t have enough money for that, but he hoped that, even then, seeing how an actual match played out might help his boy overcome his slump and encourage him to take his batting practice a bit more seriously, and it seemed to work.
He’d notice how the boy seemed slightly intrigued by it all at first only to hone in on the pitcher once they took the mound, eyes watching with an unnerving concentration as he watched the pitcher wind up, body moving in a single fluid motion before the ball in their hand left their fingers, flying towards the batter and into the catcher’s mitt, and, seeing the starry-eyed look his son had upon seeing that, Raizou knew he’d gotten somewhere after that.
After the game had ended, where Raizou simply ignore the, fairly mediocre, game in favor of watching his son’s reactions to said game instead, and smirked when his son left the stadium with a hop in his step, exclaiming excitedly about how cool and awesome that had been, how the pitcher had been, and Raizou did the only thing he knew how to do: he added fuel to the first fire he’d seen in his son in much too long.
“Well, Raichi,” he drawled slowly, gaining his son’s attention as they walked back home, a cheeky grin forming as he spoke his next words with a purpose, “did you think that game was cool?”
Raichi beamed, beamed, at him, nodding rapidly. “Yeah! Especially that pitcher! He was… The ball went like bam, and it was all like whoosh—” He rambled, moving his arms around erratically as he tried to show exactly what he meant, and Raizou interrupted him before he could continue.
“Well, if you think that was cool, would you believe me if I said there were even cooler pitchers out there?” Raizou told him, chuckling when his idiot boy gave him a disbelieving look.
“What? Really?”
“Really.” The man nodded. “So, if you get better at batting, you can see them.”
“Better at batting…” the boy echoed in a quiet whisper, gaze flittering downwards as he thought over those words.
And the following weeks, Raichi seemed lost in his own little world, absentmindedly going through the day only to eagerly begin swinging his bat in the afternoon, and Raizou saw when the lid the was screwed atop his son’s ambition finally exploded, leaving him eager and all too willing to continue his practice and hit.
Raichi cackled, his muscles on fire and his hunger ablaze as he continued to swing, wanting more and more and more, finally able to place where that hunger was coming from.
It wasn’t from his stomach—it was from his soul.
His soul was hungry, and it was demanding, and all Raichi could do was continue to swing his bat, hoping to abate it even just a little but knew it was all for naught as it only caused him to grow hungrier.
Ah… I wanna hit… I wanna hit, I wanna hit, I wanna hit!
“Hey, what are you guys doing?”
Both father and son were startled out of their thoughts when they heard a voice call out to them from above.
Looking up, they saw another child standing in the grass on the side of the road, staring down at them with golden brown eyes, a curious glint in them as he tilted his head to the side, watching the two of them without a hint of hesitance or wariness in the world.
Raichi’s eyes met the other boy’s, and the world seemed to slow down, and that was the first time he met someone who would wind up changing his world, even if he didn’t quite know it just yet.
“Oi… what’s a kid like you doing out here all on your own?” Raizou asked, glancing around warily as he didn’t see any other adult and, despite his gruff appearance, he was a bit concerned about a child being out all on his own without anyone supervising him.
The kid in question bristled, glaring down at the man as he pouted, “I’m not a kid!”
Raizou rolled his eyes, sitting up as he stretched lightly. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, kid. You didn’t answer my question.”
His words earned a huff from the boy, who rolled his eyes dramatically, but answered, “it’s fine, I live nearby!”
Raizou eyed him for a moment, trying to determine if he was lying or not before deciding he probably wasn’t, instead saying. “Alright, kid, if you say so.”
“I’m not a kid! I have a name!” He growled, and Raizou couldn’t help the grin that formed at the boy’s spitfire attitude, watching from the corner of his eye as his boy shuffled behind him awkwardly, still too shy to initiate any sort of conversation himself.
“Yeah? And what’s that?”
The boy puffed out his chest proudly as he pointed his thumb at himself, “Eijun! I’m Sawamura Eijun!”
-
It turned out that that Sawamura kid was, in fact, not lying when he said he lived nearby. He actually lived right next door to the Todoroki family, which came as quite the shock to the father and son duo, as they’d never met him before now.
All was explained when Raizou awkwardly stood outside their front door when Sawamura dragged him to his house when he found out they were neighbors and the boy’s mother explained that they’d just moved there after his grandfather passed last month and they needed a change of scenery, which he could completely understand.
Because they both had children the same age, Sawamura and Raichi spent a fair amount of time together, though it was mostly just Sawamura barging into their place like he owned it and animatedly talking to Raichi, who was still much too shy to reply more than half of the time, though that didn’t seem to deter Sawamura in the slightest, the boy chatting more than enough for the both of them.
Sawamura also accompanied them for Raichi’s batting practice, content with spending the first couple of days simply just watching before eventually asking the question he did when he first met them: “So, what are you guys even doing?”
Raizou spared at glance at the boy sitting on the ground next to him, his golden eyes watching his friend swing the wooden bat with vigor, a high-pitched cackle accompanying him with every swing. “Raichi’s doing his batting practice.”
The boy frowned slightly. “Batting practice?” He repeated, tilting his head in confusion as he glanced at him.
“Yeah. Getting my boy ready for actual baseball games when the time comes.” Raizou shrugged nonchalantly.
“Baseball?” Sawamura muttered, his frown deepening as he thought. “I’ve heard of that. Is it fun?”
“Fun?” The man scoffed, jutting his thumb at his idiotic son, who was still laughing just as loudly as he was thirty minute ago. “Does he look like he’s having fun?”
The boy followed his finger and stared at Raichi for a few moments before nodding. “Yeah.”
“Well, I suppose it’s all subjective, but, yeah, I’d say it’s fun.” Raizou told him, going back to watch his son practice.
“Hm…”
A silence blanketed over them as they continued to watch Raichi practice, the only sounds coming from the boy’s laughter or swings for a few minutes.
Eventually, however, Sawamura spoke up once more, still sounding confused as he asked, “well, what’s so fun about it? Baseball, I mean.”
Raizou grunted, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to properly explain it—the feeling, the sensation baseball could have on someone, and so he did the next best thing: “well, do you want to see it?”
“Huh?”
“A game. Do you want to see a baseball game?” Raizou asked him, keeping his eyes trained on his son, even though he felt the heated stare the other boy was giving him as he considered his question.
“... Yeah. I want to see a game.”
Raizou looked over at him, a grin pulling at his lips as he said, “alright. I’ll bring ya to the next game we go to—I think one’s happening on Tuesday. Make sure you tell your parents before just tagging along, you hear?”
Sawamura beamed, nodding excitedly at him. “Yeah!”
The days passed quickly as it was Tuesday before they knew it, Raizou and Raichi waiting outside Sawamura’s door as the boy quickly put on his shoes and followed the duo to the train station, getting on board and the trio made their way to the stadium.
Sawamura looked around in unconcealed awe at anything and everything, shouting loudly to the father and son duo whenever something caught his eye, which was pretty much everything, until they finally made their way to their seats, sitting down and getting comfortable as they waited for the game to start.
Raizou glanced at the boys, highly amused by his own son’s eagerness to finally see a real pitcher after weeks of not seeing one while Sawamura seemed impressed by the number of people there to watch something they weren’t even participating in, something he made sure to comment on that had Raizou bursting out in a hearty, surprised, laughter, tears welling in his eyes as Sawamura shot him a confused look.
Man… this kid’s in for a surprise, he thought to himself, shaking his head as his laughter died down and the players on the field finally got into their positions, the game officially beginning to start.
Both boys turned their focus to the game, Raichi fidgeting in his seat as he waited with bated breath for the first pitch, Sawamura much less enthused but still genuinely curious about something his friend and his friend’s father seemed interested in.
The golden-eyed boy watched as the pitcher raised their leg, eyes widening in shock as they slammed their foot forward, upper body twisting as their arm shot forward, fall flying from their fingertips and straight towards the batter without a single ounce of hesitation, a strange sort of determination and desire leaving the young boy breathless as he watched the ball slam into the catcher’s mitt.
Unbeknownst to him, he leaned forward, eyes wide as he watched the game play out with a bit more fervor, a strange feeling welling up in his gut as he watched the pitcher pitch, eyes training solely on them as the game played out, hardly registering anything else as he watched them as they swung their arm, watched as the ball moved wildly in ways he couldn’t even begin to explain, and a wide grin slowly formed on his face.
Raizou watched the boys from the corner of his eye, smirking as he felt a smug sort of pride well up inside of him at seeing Sawamura quickly get invested in the game, following his gaze to the pitcher and huffed out a laugh quietly when he saw what, or, rather, who the boy was staring at. Of course both these boys would focus on the pitcher out of everyone.
However, he distinctively felt as though they were focusing on the pitcher for different reasons.
Whereas Raichi was watching the pitcher with an intensity to devour, to slam the pitches thrown straight out of the park and into the stands, to hit and hit and hit, Sawamura’s gaze was… different.
It was still just as intense, and also a look of fierce hunger, but it wasn’t a hunger to hit—no, it was a hunger to overtake, to steal what he was watching and do the same, but only better; to throw the ball atop that dirt mound and enjoy the feeling of striking a batter out, the euphoric feeling of watching the batter crumble under their skill a high only the truly best of the best got to experience.
And Sawamura… Sawamura was getting hungry, and Raizou saw the exact moment the boy was completely overtaken by that hunger, so sudden and intense and demanding that even the boy, himself, seemed mildly shocked for a moment before a feral grin split across his lips as he watched the pitcher strike out another batter, making it a six for six as they switched sides once more, and Raizou knew he’d found another monster.
“Kahahaha… Hit… I wanna hit ‘em!” Raichi laughed, leaning forward as he watched the game play with sparkling eyes. “I wanna knock ‘em out of the park!”
Sawamura’s eyes flashed, glancing at Raichi as he considered the other boy for a moment before turning his attention back to the game, and Raizou kept an eye on him, watching him for the rest of the game as the boy was oddly silent all the way until it ended, not even bothering to comment on Raichi’s high-pitched laughter and insistent commentary about wanting to hit, instead simply following the duo as they felt silently, keeping his head bowed, shielding them from seeing his expression.
As they made their way back to their usual gathering spot, Raichi grabbing his bat eagerly as he got ready to train, Raizou heard Sawamura speak for the first time since they came back, quieter than he usually was as he said, “Todoroki-san…”
Raizou glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow in question. “What is it?”
A few seconds of silence, and then the boy slowly looked up at him, and Raizou couldn’t help the shiver run down his spine as his eyes met the boy’s, Sawamura’s gaze one of molten gold as they stared directly into his soul.
“The person who threw the ball… what are they called?” The boy asked, all too serious, and Raizou couldn’t help the feral smile forming on his face as he saw the hunger in the young boy’s eyes.
“Pitcher. They’re called pitchers.” Raizou told him, and a sort of giddiness welled up inside of him as the boy’s gaze sharpened when he heard the man’s words.
“Pitcher…” Sawamura muttered to himself quietly, as if tasting the word on his tongue, staring down at his hands for a few moments before looking back up at Raizou. “Todoroki-san… I want to be a pitcher.”
Another shiver ran down his spine at the boy’s adamant proclamation, anticipation prickling at his skin as he smirked at the boy in front of him. “Oh?”
With a newfound fervor, the boy stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest. “Todoroki-san, please teach me how to pitch!”
At that, Raizou couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him, the brown-haired boy in front of him unflinching as he stared into the man’s eyes with a fiery determination, unyielding in his desire, and Raizou knew he’d just found someone who would match Raichi’s hunger with an intense hunger of his own.
“Alright. I’ll teach ya.” Raizou agreed easily, smirking as the boy beamed. “Just so you know, I’m not gonna go easy on you, kid.”
Sawamura nodded eagerly, grinning back up at him. “Yes, sir! Also, I’m not a kid!”
“Hahaha, yeah, yeah. Also, call me Raizou, none of the ‘Todoroki’ crap.”
Golden eyes blinked at him in surprise, but it didn’t last long as the boy was smiling not even a second later. “Yes, Raizou-san!”
Raizou nodded, pleased. “Well, we’ll have to get you a ball, and perhaps a glove, later. Are you right-handed or left-handed?”
“Left!”
“A lefty, huh… Don’t know how much I can help, with you bein’ a southpaw and all that, but I guess I’ll do whatever I can. Tch, you brats just have to be difficult.”
“What do you mean?”
Raizou ignored the kid’s indignant squawking, instead turning to Raichi as he watched the boy swing, unperturbed by their noise, and he grinned, shouting out to him, “oi, Raichi! Lend Eijun that bat for a while!”
Raichi turned towards them, and Raizou ignored the other’s shocked whisper of, “Eijun?”, instead focusing on his son as the boy jogged up to them, glancing between the two of them in confusion.
“Eijun here wants to get into baseball,” Raizou began, smirking when his son brightened, turning to Eijun in surprise as the other smiled at his friend sheepishly. “So, for that, we’ll need to get his batting up to speed.”
“Really? Really, Sawamura?” Raichi asked him excitedly, to which the other nodded.
“Yeah! And, call me Eijun—we’re friends, you know?” Eijun pouted, and Raichi blushed faintly, blinking at him in surprise.
“Friends…?”
“Yeah? I thought we were friends.” Eijun said, frowning slightly, a look of hurt crossing his features as he continued, a bit more hesitantly, “unless you don’t want to be…?”
Raichi quickly shook his head. “N-No! I-I want to be… f-friends…”
Eijun beamed at him. “Yeah! So, call me Eijun! Can I call you Racchi?”
“R-Racchi?”
“... is that a no?”
“N-No, it’s fine!”
“Wahahaha! Racchi it is! Let me see that bat!” Eijun laughed loudly, eagerly taking the bat given to him, only to fumble when it turned out to be much, much heavier than he expected. “W-Woah, this thing is, like, super heavy! You swing with this every day?”
Raichi nodded shyly. “Y-Yeah. You get used to it after a while…”
“Mumumu… I won’t lose!”
Raizou watched from the sideline, smiling to himself as the two boys talked, Raichi showing Eijun the proper way to hold himself as the other boy did his best to listen, focusing the best he could, and Raizou felt a smirk tilt the corner of his lips up at their rambunctious laughter echoing throughout the riverside.
Birds of a feather, huh. He thought to himself in amusement, unable to contain the glee at the thought of how absolutely monstrous these two boys would be once they reached high school. I don’t know where he came from, but thank whatever god is out there that I found him first. He’ll be a real monster when he gets older. He thought as his eyes slid over to watch Eijun swing the bat, awkward and shaky, but no less determined as Raichi did his best to guide him.
His smirk widened as he continued to watch them, moving to lay down in his usual position, though he was by no means tired, instead feeling more energized than ever, unable to keep his eyes off his boys as they practiced.
You better watch out, Tokyo, he chuckled to himself, closing his eyes as he listened to the boys’ conversation, making sure Raichi was teaching the other boy properly in case he needed to step in if need be. You have no idea what kind of monsters you’ve got hidden in plain sight.