Catching Feels - KiriBaku Baseball AU (ongoing)

Chapter 11

Monday

School went by rather slowly today, as usual. I talked to Kirishima a few times during class today like I normally would. Nothing out of the ordinary for a couple friends. Classes were boring, mostly just lectures where we weren't allowed to talk anyway. I only paid attention because I knew I'd have to reteach it to Kirishina later– and maybe a few of my teammates if Aizawa asked me to tutor them. I was usually the team's go-to tutor whenever they needed help. Iida would help out sometimes, but he had a stick so far up his ass most of the team preferred me. Deku was a popular second choice but he had a hard time with the dumbasses– Kaminari and Sero to be specific. Those two took advantage of him to get out of doing work because he was too nice and would allow them to get sidetracked and give them too many breaks. So for the most part, tutoring was my job, and if it weren't for the fact that they needed to keep their grades up to stay on the team, I would have charged them. But of course, since I'm a nice person, I helped them out for free.

Besides Kaminari– he pays the dumbass fee, because there's no way I could handle teaching that without at least a little bit of compensation

Anyway, I hung out with the team during lunch, most of them were talking about the upcoming games and what we'd be doing in practice later.

The team was excited for qualifying because this year was double elimination and only the top school in the region will advance to the championships meaning in total about eight teams would advance to the championships. Our school is rather high ranking in the country but in a rather average region. However there are a lot of schools as well so although our chances of winning are fairly high, we'd most likely end up playing a lot more games in order to qualify compared to other regions. Regardless, the team is confident and with good reason considering we have one of the best records in the season so far.

After school I met the team in the locker rooms. They greeted me enthusiastically, asking if I was ready for practice and whatnot. I respond half heartedly, not putting too much effort into my lies. "Yup, ready to go." I mumble in response to Kaminari and Sero leaning on my shoulders, asking me too many questions for my liking.

"Wow Bakubro, you're calmer than usual– normally you'd be beating me and Sero with a towel by now!" Kaminari laughed. I roll my eyes as I shove them both off of me.

"Yeah, you wanna keep pushing it?" I respond, a mostly empty threat but it's enough to get them off of me. As the team began to finish changing they slowly filtered out of the locker rooms, grabbing their bags and making their way outside to the field. I took my time, delaying going to practice as much as possible. For a while I just stood there and stared at my bag. I flinched when I felt something cold on my cheek.

"Sunscreen." Kirishima mumbles as he shows me the sunscreen on his fingers before rubbing some on my cheeks and nose. I almost smile at the thought that he brought sunscreen, just so I wouldn't get all burnt up– knowing how I usually forget it. "You alright? Been standing here a while." he asked softly, continuing to rub the sunscreen into my skin with fingers that feel soft and gentle against my skin. I only now notice that the whole team is already gone.

"Yeah, 'm fine." I respond, not wanting to open anything up right before practice.

"You sure? You've just seemed kinda off today.. I'm just a bit worried– you know you can talk to me, right?" he asks as he finishes up and nudges me slightly in the shoulder. I grab my bag and throw it over my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Kiri. Let's go to practice." I say with slightly more confidence as I give him a quick half smile in an attempt to convince him of that statement. He hesitates a moment, then nods with a slight smile, but his eyes still show his concern. I pay it no mind, however, as I nudge him forward a bit. We walk out to the field together and he makes most of the conversation as I just listen. I enjoy listening to the sound of his voice, and whatever random nonsense was spewing out of it.

As we walk up to the field Sero notices us. "Glad you could join us." he teases on account of us being the last to arrive as we enter the dugout.

"Our bad!" Kirishima responded happily but dismissively. "Is coach here yet?" he asks, looking around briefly.

"No, but we got the field set up."

"Let's start stretching then so coach doesn't make us run for slacking." I cut in. I grab my hat from my bag and throw it on before grabbing my glove as well and heading out. "Out to stretch everybody–" I call on my way out of the dugout. Kirishima is the first to listen, followed by Sero, then Kaminari, then everyone else. Might as well get this thing started.

Word count: 896