"Is it okay?" Miyuki only asked this after returning to Dugout.
"Of course." Kōshū knew that the opponent would often report the pitcher's situation to the supervisor. After answering this sentence, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
The catcher just nodded, worrying about other things.
It's Seido's turn to attack soon, but looking at the numbers on the scoreboard, 'the game didn't end early. '
Probably due to the sense of stability after the ace came on the court, Seido scored 2 runs in the eighth inning.
The game comes to an end.
In the Kawasaki Academy's Dugout, after experiencing the most silent moment after Seido's ace came on the scene, it has now bottomed out.
"Koshien's near-win pitcher's pitching is pretty good after seeing it."
"I don't know how many professional baseball scouts are contacting him. It's great that he can enter professional baseball."
"Watch more games. Next time I see you, I will probably only watch them in the auditorium."
The atmosphere was relaxed, except for Kawasaki's four sticks, which were focused on the other side.
'Even if they are all students, their performance that can be noticed by professionals is outstanding. ' At this time, he couldn't help but identify himself as an ordinary person. From this perspective, he truly understood the meaning of professional baseball.
and——
'It's better to continue your major after graduation. ' What was originally a boring job seemed much more friendly than before. 'But not long after I entered the third grade, I started to have ambitions to have a career. As expected, I still need to slowly increase my understanding of the world. '
"Bump--" The sounds in the stadium continued to reach Dugout from both sides.
After a straight ball, followed by a Changeup, the batter who swung the bat completely failed to grasp the rhythm and swung it directly.
"Batter's out!"
Kōshū and the defender behind him raised a finger to indicate that it was not Kawasaki's center bat, but every ball was filled with all the strength of his body.
The scrutinizing gaze squatting behind Home Plate was the target he wanted to attack.
'Outside Low Corner! '
'The inner angle is high! '
'The inner angle is low! '
Miyuki used the slight movement of his glove to measure the accuracy of Kōshū's pitching, 'Are you nervous? It's really rare. '
"Three out! Game over!"
During the handshake session, Kōshū saw that the opponent did not feel sad about losing, but instead had many inexplicable smiling eyes, "What a strange team." '
"Can I ask him for a line?"
"But he doesn't seem to be in a good mood..."
There was a discussion behind me. Kōshū wondered if he was discussing himself, 'Does my mood look bad? '
He touched the corners of his mouth and found that they were drooping.
The pitchers were all very hot, and the heat from the human body invaded Kōshū's skin. He took a half step back, surprised that he was so sensitive to other people's heat today.
"Let's go." Outside the venue, the Daoshi team who heard the voice of Air Raid Siren had already warmed up and prepared to enter the venue.
Hayakawa approached the ace as if to please, "Narumiya, Seido wins."
Narumiya Mei's face, which had regained its composure, instantly wrinkled again. "So what if I win! In the end, I still didn't see what I wanted to see!"
"When we win this game, we can go back to school and watch the tape."
"Haha, you traitor." Narumiya still resented Hayakawa for betraying him. Of course, he didn't dare to say this loudly. He only dared to speak it close to the catcher's ear.
"Then Narumiya how can you forgive me..."
"That's good. Every time you miss a catch, you go back and do 100 push-ups; every time you hit On Base, you run 10 laps. How about that?"
".. Is this corporal punishment?" Hayakawa's head felt like it was getting big.
"Yes -" Narumiya Mei was only halfway through his words when his attention was drawn to the front.
A dozen steps away from Daoshi was Seido, who was coming out after the game.
The two aces looked at each other from a distance. The two people who were noisy when they met were now very quiet. Rather than having a leisurely bickering, they had already entered alert mode in advance.
Nodding to each other, the two teams passed by.
'Isn't it easy to win, isn't it a big score? 'Hayakawa What's strange is that Seido's ace face lacks the usual sparkle, 'That guy only pitched one inning, is it because of this? '
"Narumiya", he looked away from Seido who was walking away. When he turned his head, he saw Narumiya Mei staring back, "What's wrong?"
"No." Narumiya Mei's tone was no longer relaxed, and his voice was pressed in his throat.
Xia Tian, this scene reminded him of Xia Tian. The Xia Tian of his predecessors was ended by him and the Seido people.
He recalled countless times how he felt at the start and why he lost that point. But as he thought about it, the feeling of gradual despair during the long game made it difficult for him to breathe.
'Just one point? ' But that point was really lost from him.
'You can't lose a baseball game if you don't give up runs. ' After that game, this sentence followed him like a nightmare for a long time. Not just the Liangzi of his predecessors, but also his own.
Ever since I met that person in junior high school, Narumiya Mei has been an ace. Correspondingly, Kōshū is a beginner. This bad initial impression has always affected his understanding of Kōshū.
Therefore, after a game, the psychological status of the winners and losers, who were clearly divided into black and white, was reversed. Narumiya Mei had to endure the feeling of being overtaken by the latecomers, and this made him suffer without anyone telling him.
'Is this how other seniors feel when they look at me? ' Those who he considered to be 'failures' or 'lack of talent' are now on the same level as them, they are just seniors who were defeated by those who came after them.
This defeat was an attack from the world, causing conflicts and doubts in his understanding of himself and others.
After a week of isolation, it was Hayakawa who guided him out.
"Seido's game is about to begin. If they can make it to the end, doesn't it mean that we are actually very strong?"
The person in bed was motionless.
"There is an evaluation of you in the newspaper, Narumiya, let me read it..."
"No!" The person in the bed suddenly opened the quilt, "Don't read it. In short, it just means I lost!"
Hayakawa was stunned and continued, "You are said to be one of the strongest left-handers..."
"Nani?" Narumiya Mei took away the newspaper and read it by the light of his mobile phone.
"Hahaha." After a long time, Narumiya Mei read the newspaper carefully, and laughed out loud, "Hahahaha!"
"Narumiya, what are you laughing at?" Hayakawa even doubted his ace's mental state.
"I was laughing at myself, thinking that everyone else was idle." He jumped out of bed, "Let's go, isn't it Seido's game today! Invite Carlos and the others to watch together."
"Laugh... yourself?" Hayakawa lagged behind. He flipped through it again and again, and only mentioned Narumiya Mei in the small window he just saw.
"Inami High School, Narumiya Mei, ball speed is around 148, and has many kinds of Changeup... Ah, the grid is too small, and it doesn't even say that we West Tokyo Preliminaries lost."