After dinner, without celebrating for much longer, Kōshū and Lang Zhi had to head back to school.
"Everyone's already moved on. If not for today's celebration, I would've thought Koshien had ended ages ago." Lang Zhi sounded somewhat wistful. These past few days, all he had been thinking about was making the First String.
"Yeah, people really have stopped talking about it much these past few days." Although traces of Koshien still remained everywhere—for instance, the banners at the school gate reading, "Congratulations to Seido for returning to Koshien after X years," and "Congratulations to Seido for once again winning Koshien runner-up"—everyone in the Baseball Club already had new goals to tackle.
Kicking at pebbles, Lang Zhi glanced sideways at his older brother. "What about you? How are you feeling?"
Kōshū pursed his lips and shook his head. "They still won't let me pitch, so I don't know what I'll be like in an actual game."
"I see..." Lang Zhi clearly had something bottled up inside, but he did not say a word until they returned to the dormitory.
Kōshū stood outside Room 4 without going in, lowering his head as though waiting for something.
"Why aren't you going inside?" Lang Zhi got the creeps from being stared at.
"Are you going to tell me yourself, or do I have to drag it out of you?" Kōshū opened the door. Lang Zhi had indeed grown more mature over the years, but in front of Kōshū, he was still just a little brother.
Taking a step back, Lang Zhi assumed a defensive stance. "What do you mean?"
Then he saw the chair sitting properly in front of the desk through the open door, and the sensation of being put in a chokehold while sitting on it surged back. "I still need