See You Again *Shohei Ohtani*

Crossed Paths

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here? I would've planned a day to hang out with you!" I shied away from his question. "I don't know." I looked down at my feet. "You're lying to me." He pointed out laughing. "I lost your number years ago because, I didn't think it was going to be the same." he laughed. "You've got a point. Mike, my teammate, left his phone open at a bar one night and a fan got a hold of my number. So, I had to change it." I sighed in relief, not feeling like a crappy friend. "I have to go, but listen, meet me after the game near the clubhouse locker rooms."

"They're not going to allow me back there!" I stated as my anxiety started to rise. "I will send my security guard for you guys. I promise." He put his hand on the net and I put mine on his. "Best friends don't lie, Best friends we ride, promises we keep, best friends don't make a peep." My face grew red as we recited our childhood promise pledge. "Play good for me!" He winked and ran back to the dug out.

The game started, and my friends were making fun of me the whole night. It was the bottom of the 9th, Shohei was at bat, and he found me in the crowd and smiled to himself. There were 2 men on base and this hit was important. This was the hit that determined whether they win or lose. I hid my face as the camera pointed at me. I heard the announcer called me his girlfriend and sunk deep down in my seat. "Hannah, they said you're his girlfriend." Liz said shocked. "But we aren't.... We aren't dating. For crying out loud, I just saw him for the first time in 15 years." I noticed women staring at me and whispering. Shohei was in his stance and swung at the ball. The ball flew far into left field.

I hopped up out of my seat and started jumping up and down. The crowd roared as Shohei hit a walk off home run. Chants began of him becoming MVP. He celebrated with his team, and he looked at me and winked again. A smile crept on my face. After the game was over, my friends and I were looking for his bodyguard. When we found him, he led us outside the clubhouse doors. Shohei had just gotten done with a press conference. He walked towards us, and he looked at my friends. "I'm sorry guys, but I'm going to steal my best friend for the night." They nodded. Shohei and I walked to his car. He opened the door for me and I got in.

We went to a park, and we walked around admiring the scenery. He picked up a flat, smooth rock, and he skipped it across the water. I laughed as I remembered we used to do this after school. I picked up a rock, and it skipped further than his. "You've always been better at skipping rocks." He said, smiling. "But you're better at throwing a baseball than I am." I said as I skipped another rock. "That is true, but I'm certain if you practiced, you would be better than me at that too." I shook my head. "No, you're too elite at your craft." He skipped another rock, and it went further than the last time. "Remember when we used to walk home from school and got ice cream every day?" He nodded. "Remember that one time we skipped school just to skip rocks and hang out, and my parents grounded the shit out of me?" I laughed. "I feel that your parents never liked me."

"They liked you, they just thought you were a bit of a bad influence." A smile crept on his face. "Tell me how has life been treating you?" He questioned as he skipped another rock. "It's been okay. I just broke up with my boyfriend. We were together for about 2 years. He left me because, I didn't want to lose my virginity to him. He verbally abused me every day and I finally mustered up the courage to leave him for the 5th time. I came to LA to visit a friend to get my mind off it." Shohei grew furious about the situation. "Hannah I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that, and he didn't deserve your time nor kindness. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you."

"It's okay, you couldn't be there and I understand Ohtani. Please — don't blame yourself. You're here now and that's all that matters, right?" He nodded and hugged me. "Promise me that you'll never stay with someone like that ever again." I nodded my head as tears rolled down my face. He wiped them away, and I looked into his eyes. "Please don't cry over that loser." I nodded my head, wiping my tears. My stomach then started to growl. "Are you hungry?" He asked. My face turned red as I shyly nodded my head. "Would you like food?" I smiled. "Yes please." He extended his hand out, and I grabbed it as he helped me up.

"I know a restaurant that you would absolutely love. There is a Korean BBQ place around the corner, it's wonderful." He dragged me by my hand there. We waited to be seated. They tried seating him before the people who were here before us and he declined. "I'm sorry, but I'm human, I got here after them. I will wait, but I am grateful for your kind offer." He said, bowing his head. My heart melted, he was just as humble as I remembered. Some random guy walked in, and he sat really close next to me. I felt Shohei's hand snake around my waist and pull me closer to him. Was that a hint of jealousy? His quick stern look at the man answered my question.

We got placed at a table. I was so happy because, I, of course, was so hungry. We ordered our food, and now we just had to wait. "I'm going to die." He laughed. "I see you're still overly dramatic." I choked on my sip of water. "You take that back, I am not over dramatic." I said laughing. "I love that you didn't take offense for that. Countless other women don't have a sense of humor anymore. Like dating has been okay, nothing worth my time." He said, tapping his fingers on the table. "How so? You have so many women at your disposal." I took a bite of his appetizer. "I don't treat women like they're objects like the rest of these men who make money. If I don't feel or see anything with you, I'm not going to waste my time or hers."

Our food arrived on the table and I took my first bite and started doing a happy dance. "Good right?" I nodded, taking more bites. We finished our meal before he took me back to Liz's house. He walked me to the door step and hugged me. "We should hang out again tomorrow, I'm going to be off for the day before we fly out to Boston, if you'd like to join?" I smiled. As long as I am back before Izzy and I have to leave back for Japan. He rolled his eyes. "Do you have to go?" I nodded. "Sadly I do..."

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said, looking into my eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed my forehead. I walked into the house, Liz and Izzy were waiting for me with a glass of wine. I took a swig of it and spilled the beans. "We're hanging out tomorrow." They started jumping around and screaming. "He's still the same Shohei I remember growing up with."

I finished my glass of wine and went upstairs to get ready for bed.