In recent years, although Seido High School had always been recognized as a baseball powerhouse, its greatest strength was consistently its batting lineup, which ranked among the best in the nation.
But compared to their explosive offense, the weakness in their pitching staff had long been seen as the team's fatal flaw.
For this reason, every spring, people paid extremely close attention to whether Seido would acquire strong new pitchers. Any sign of improvement in Seido's pitching immediately drew the interest of Tokyo's major baseball teams.
During the match, the crowd had immediately noticed Seido's terrifying new first-year—
Kanzaki Ryou, the rookie who threw over 150 km/h with frightening stability.
In the past, even with a weak pitching staff, Seido could trouble any opponent. But now—
this weakness was on the verge of disappearing.
With Kanzaki Ryou, Seido would be strong enough to challenge any team this coming summer.
Some people even declared him the strongest rookie, already surpassing Inashiro's Narumiya Mei.
"What do they mean by 'surpassing me'!?"
At Inashiro, Narumiya Mei—who was still in a foul mood over losing—slammed his chopsticks down and glared at his phone, baring his little fangs.
"Mei."
A hand tapped his shoulder. It was Kamiya Carlos Toshiki, his classmate and fellow first-year.
"That Kanzaki guy… is he really that crazy strong?" Carlos asked.
Before Narumiya could answer, red-haired Shirakawa Katsuyuki grumbled:
"We couldn't see well from the stands. If it's just fastballs, the seniors wouldn't struggle to hit him. No matter how good the control is."
Narumiya Mei's jaw clenched.
"His performance wasn't just his doing! Kazuya's pitch-calling played a huge part!" he snarled.
Hearing Miyuki Kazuya's name again, Carlos and Shirakawa exchanged helpless looks.
Narumiya Mei was far too fixated on Miyuki.
"Hmph! I'm done eating! I'm going to practice!" Mei jumped up and stomped off.
Carlos and Shirakawa sighed, then followed him.
They weren't even second-string yet, but at the very least, they could accompany him.
Back at Seido
After returning to the dorm, Kanzaki Ryou fell asleep instantly and didn't wake up until Miyuki shook him awake.
"Eight o'clock!
Get up—training time!"
Miyuki yanked the blanket off him.
Ryou blinked groggily. "...Is it morning?"
"It's evening!" Miyuki barked. "The seniors already went for self-training. You're the only one still sleeping!"
Thirty minutes later—
Kanzaki Ryou was in the Seido gym, half-asleep while doing lower-body strength work.
"Kanzaki! Don't slack off!" Miyuki shouted.
Ryou yawned.
"Mother hen…" he muttered quietly.
After two hours, Miyuki left to discuss catching theory with Chris, while Ryou dragged his aching legs to Coach Kataoka's office.
Knock knock.
"Enter."
Kanzaki Ryou stepped inside. Coach Kataoka was surrounded by stacks of homework notebooks, grading and writing comments.
"Coach, I'd like to request leave," Ryou said.
"Leave? Another medical check-up? Tomorrow is already a rest day."
Ryou shook his head.
"No. I'm planning to return to Kyoto on May 2nd."
"You're going home?" Coach looked up. "Is something wrong? Do you need help?"
"No, no. Nothing serious," Ryou replied with a smile. He hadn't expected Coach Kataoka to be this concerned.
Coach Kataoka hummed, pulled out a leave slip, filled in Ryou's name, and handed it over.
"Here. Write in the date later and give it back before you leave."
"Y-yes! Thank you, Coach."
"Go rest. No more extra practice tonight."
"Yes, Coach. Please take care of yourself too."
That last line made Coach Kataoka pause.
He was still young and sturdy, but…
Maybe it was time to consider marriage?
Ryou left, blissfully unaware that he had accidentally triggered Coach Kataoka's existential crisis.
He tucked the leave slip away cheerfully and returned to the dorm.
The next morning
Ryou, Miyuki, and Kuramochi woke early and ran ten kilometers, then followed up with batting practice.
"Kanzaki, want to go to the arcade after school?" Kuramochi asked between swings.
"Arcade?" Ryou tilted his head. They had a rare day off—they were allowed to go out.
"I want to go too!" Miyuki swung his bat and shouted.
Kuramochi ignored him and stared pointedly at Ryou.
Miyuki grabbed Kuramochi's shoulder.
"Oi! Are you looking down on me!? Planning something shady with Ryou behind my back!?"
Kuramochi slapped his hand away. "You? Your gaming skills are trash."
Miyuki fell silent.
He could not argue with that.
"So, Kanzaki? You coming?" Kuramochi asked again.
Ryou nodded.
"Sure. I need to buy some things anyway."
He was planning to go back to Kyoto soon to watch Kanzaki Kumiko's marching band performance, so he'd probably meet her classmates and friends.
He should bring a small gift.
For example…
His own autographed photo?
Ryou paused.
"...Is that too narcissistic?"
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I'm sorry late update T_T
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