"Play!" At the umpire's command, Hongo impatiently threw his first pitch.
Kōshū immediately focused, watching as the ball drew closer and slowly filled his vision.
"Whoosh—" The sound nearly rushed into his face.
"Watch out!"
Someone shouted from the stands. At the same time, Kōshū instinctively stepped back, and the wind from the rapidly spinning ball brushed across his face. This guy!
"Smack—" Renji leaped up and caught the ball. The catcher frowned as well. That wasn't the high inside pitch I called for.
"Ball!" The umpire deliberately glanced at Kyoma University's pitcher. Before the at-bat, the fiery exchange of looks between the two ace pitchers had been obvious to him.
Pitch properly. Don't throw a tantrum! Renji fired a hard throw with a shallow arc back to the pitcher.
He's mad? Only then did Hongo shake off the hot-blooded impulse from before and look across the field with lingering fear. Luckily, it had not actually hit the batter.
Freud had a theory of the id, ego, and superego. He described the "id" as an elephant-like beast that charged recklessly forward, made up only of subconsciousness and desire, while the "ego" was the animal trainer riding atop the elephant and restraining it.
During adolescence, the ego often did not have such strong control over instinctive desires, which was why so many legends of youthful hot-bloodedness were left behind during those years.
Thus, only after the heat in his blood had faded somewhat could Hongo rationally realize that Kōshū had no deep grudge against him. The person who provoked him day after day was Nitta Manager.
He pulled down his cap, stopped looking across the field, and scraped at the dirt beneath his feet twice.
Kōshū stretched his arms as well, forcing the dangerous feeling of nearly being hit out of