trigger happy team (danganronpa baseball AU)

-3-

Leon woke up with a groan. He repeatedly slammed his hand on his nightstand, feeling for his phone. He held the device up to his face and checked the time.

7:43 AM

Tuesday

Today was the day of their first team practice. The half-awake boy's eyes lit up. A baseball team with people he could call his friends? Even just thinking about it made Leon optimistic. 

The practice was scheduled for after school, at 4:00. Leon just had to check in to reserve a field and pick up some equipment from the gym. He sure as hell didn't have enough equipment of his own to hand out. 

He sat up, stretching his sore arms over his head. A crash came from downstairs. It was probably his father, hungover, in the kitchen. Leon couldn't approach him right now. If he was lucky, his father would come to him, begging for forgiveness. 

The old man always had a drinking problem. He drank a lot even when he and his wife got together. But they got distant, and Leon's mother doesn't show up very much anymore. Nobody really talked about it in Leon's house.

Leon stepped out of bed and picked some socks off the floor. They reeked off sweat and body odor, but he couldn't give a damn. "Fuck it. Sweatpants." he muttered to himself, plowing through his closet for some sweats. 

He found some gray Nike sweats and yanked them up to his waist. They were- quite loose. But looking like a thirst trap was the least of his worries. He was quite anxious about the whole responsibility of a baseball team, but nonetheless excited.

He also found a long sleeve Metallica shirt balled up under his bed, and threw that on, tucking it in on one side. He didn't really care how he looked today.

After all, he needed to pack a change of clothes for practice. He stuffed his freshman year uniform into his backpack. And, for good measure, a bag of sunflower seeds (barbecue.)

Finally, after spraying down his sneakers with half a bottle of Febreze, his made his way downstairs. 

His father was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of water and grumbling about headaches. He looked up when he heard Leon enter the room. Leon could spot the tension in his jaw and the worry in his eyes. "Hey, bud," he said in a raspy voice. 

"I'm sorry about what I said the other day. It's just- ya know me - I was a little aggravated. I told the guys from the rec league that ya can't play if-"

"It's fine dad. I've got my own team in school, it's just my class, and I really don't have time for another rec league." Leon crossed his arms. "I've got to teach these losers a thing or two. I'm not going easy on them. Today's the first practice, so I'm heading out now."

His father chuckled. "A team? With those wack jobs? They call themselves Ultimates. Pathetic."

"I'm an ultimate too, so watch it." Leon shot back. "Bye."

The older man didn't reply.

----------

The day went by quickly, with Leon reminding everyone of the practice every five minutes. He was seriously too stoked for this.

"Jeez, Leon, we get it! You've only told us about a thousand times." Aoi complained.

"I do agree," Kirigiri added. "You seem quite passionate about this."

"I am not passionate! I just can't wait to see the looks on your sorry faces when you're running laps, dick wad!" argued Leon.

Aoi wheezed. "DICK WAD-"