"Today's opponent is that Kurotsuchikan!" The onlookers saw the baseball boys getting off the bus.
"Yes, but today Seido is facing Second String."
"Well, this is normal, after all, this year's First String defeated many strong schools and won the championship of Kanto Tournament."
On the Pitcher's Mound in the field, a young man was arranging the ground under his feet. When he looked up, his bright eyes were full of hope for the competition. Kōshū promised him that if he could get the winning vote in this competition, he would buy him the second volume of a set of girls' comics that everyone has been circulating recently. I don't know who lost it, which made the girls in the class very unhappy.
Looking left and right, senior Chris was standing properly in Dugout. He stared at him with piercing eyes, but the other party moved his eyes to other places, "Why don't you make a promise? I really want to partner with you!" '
Looking at the sidelines, there was no sign of Kōshū, 'What's going on, he didn't come to see it either. '
"Hey, Sawamura! Stop looking around!" Ono Senior has arrived at Pitcher's Mound, and Sawamura didn't notice it.
"Hi! Ono Senior, I will follow your teachings!"
"... What on earth are you thinking about? Listen up, this time your opponent is no better than last time. Last time you lost so many hits and not so many runs, all because of the people on the field. Have you been practicing your accuracy recently?"
"Hi!"
At this time Lang Zhi came up from behind and said in a dark voice, "Last time you got 14 hits!"
Eijun was shocked, "Brother-in-law, when did you come here!"
"Don't worry about it so much. You must pay attention to my gloves this time and try to throw to Low Position. Don't let them hit long hits. Leave the rest to the defense."
"Okay! I will let them keep fighting. Everyone who is guarding behind, please give me a lot of help!"
"The sound is too loud!"*2
Lang Zhi rubbed his ears and returned to the space between second and third base. He had just noticed that Kōshū was not here, even though this game was so important..
"Sneeze——" Kōshū, who was missed by two people, sneezed, "Who is thinking about me?"
"Ah ha, maybe it's that guy Sawamura. Yesterday he told me that you wanted to buy him girls' comics."
"Huh?"*2
It's not surprising that Kōshū was surprised. Sawamura's mother didn't recognize his original words, but the reaction of senior Isashiki on the other side was rather strange.
"Isashiki senior——"
"Ahem, so, which comic is it?" Senior Isashiki walked closer and his voice became lower.
"Is it the latest movie "A Girl's Wish"?"
"Huh? It's obviously "A Girl's Prayer"." Isashiki saw a flash of light in Kōshū's eyes, and immediately realized that this guy did it on purpose, "How dare you lie to the seniors here! Let me help you during the strength training later."
"No, no, please spare me, senior. At worst, after I buy it, I'll show it to you first."
"Do you think I will spare you if you say this?"
To sum up, it's not that Kōshū doesn't want to come, it's just that he can't escape. He can only survive under the hands of his seniors, hoping that Isashiki won't be so black.
So when someone came to report and said, "Chris appeared in Second String's game!"
As soon as he heard the news, Kōshū was looking forward to it. Although he was indeed very curious, he rushed out immediately. After running two steps, he heard another gasping beside him.
"Eh? Senior Miyuki, why are you so fast?"
"You're not yet."
Kōshū had never seen the level of senior Chris in his heyday. He had heard a lot about Chris from others, but after coming to Seido, there was only one character left in front of him. The gloomy man seemed to be just an empty shell that held the legend named Chris, but soon, when he opened the mouth of this empty shell, Kōshū felt a glimpse of the former First Iron Catcher from his understanding of baseball.
"Huh-huh-" when the two arrived.
"Out!"
"As soon as that catcher came on, the whole atmosphere changed."
"It only took three balls to resolve the situation with no outs and the bases loaded. It's amazing."
Just from the few words spoken by bystanders, one can understand that Chris has just solved a very complex problem easily.
"Hahaha, it's his style." Miyuki said excitedly while panting.
"Why are you still laughing? If senior Chris fully recovers, can you keep your position as the catcher?" Although Kōshū knew that people who left the game for a year would basically not be able to return to First String, but he just wanted to tease the opposite catcher.
"That's just what I want!"
"?!" Kōshū looked at those eyes full of fighting spirit and was surprised to find that this catcher who was always doing nothing was telling the truth, 'Wow, can catchers be so passionate?. '
He returned his attention to Lang Zhi, who was already preparing to run back to Dugout. The child hadn't realized that a new audience had arrived, and was touching gloves with Eijun happily, as if there was no awkwardness between them.
"Eh? Senior Miyuki Don't you want to read it?" The person standing in front suddenly left.
"I'm going to Bullpen." Miyuki wanted to take a good look at the cooperation between the two.
Just as Kōshū was about to move to keep up, he was caught by senior Isashiki who came from behind. "Do you want to do less, you were running so fast just now."
"No, I am very interested in the strength of senior Chris."
"Haha," Senior Kominato smiled, "Even with a one-year window, his skills have not been lost. He is indeed Chris. As a catcher, he and Miyuki have different styles. Of course, Miyuki is far from catching up with him."
Tanba was standing on the side. Hearing Kominato's words, his eyes flashed. He would never get tired of hearing the sound of a baseball jumping into Chris's gloves. For a moment, it seemed that his self from two years ago was about to revive in his body. He looked at the field with a smile, and saw that familiar figure standing on Batter's Box again.
"Bump -" Chris punched out, while Kōshū cheered on the side. He was seriously injured, had a year without work, and had solid theoretical knowledge. All these made up Chris in his eyes, but Even so, it is impossible to imagine the Chris in its full glory, just like if a person who has never seen an elephant is told that an elephant has two cattail leaf ears, four pillar-like legs and weighs several tons, he still cannot imagine an elephant.
The seniors around them are obviously different, their smiles are always on their faces, and the person on the field is their partner.
"Maybe you can come back First String."
"Maybe."
This optimistic atmosphere continued to the first mistake of the game. Kurotsuchikan was obviously using tactics that consumed physical strength and kept using short sticks.
"Are you targeting the pitcher over there? That guy Sawamura has an unstable mentality." Kōshū frowned.
"Tanba, what do you think?" Captain Yuuki asked Tanba, who had the most similar experience.
"No, it's for shooting. Chris passed too many balls——"
As soon as senior Tanba made his guess, the first-base runner started. This kind of catching second base is the basic skill of a catcher. Chris had previously contributed three goals and three outs. Everyone originally thought that the first-base runner would definitely be hit at second base.
But——
Chris missed the pass. Lang Zhi jumped hard before catching the ball. He was too late to touch the ball and broke into a cold sweat. If this leaked from his side to the outfield, it would probably affect his ability to reach First String.
At this time, everyone finally understood that Kurotsuchikan's move was to sharpen the catcher. Chris, who had been away from the team for a year, had even higher theoretical knowledge than a year ago, but after all, his skills were poor and his ability to react and judge in the face of crisis was greatly weakened.
"It's too late to pass the ball to third base!" I don't know who yelled from the sidelines, but Chris had already passed the ball. In this way, it suddenly changed from two outs and three bases to one out and one and three bases. If anyone is the most surprised, it is probably Chris himself, "Why is there such a judgment?".. The most important thing in a game is always the number of outs, but just now I only had eyes for the runner.. Still being emotional, I didn't catch that runner's stolen second base. '
However, he immediately began to adjust and boost the team's atmosphere.
"One out! The infield pays attention to the flying ball, and the pitcher concentrates on dealing with the hitter!"