Of course, the two pitchers who had not gone to watch the game also ran into each other on the field.
"If you want to play catch, I can." Sawamura had been happily entertaining himself when he looked up and spotted the Fireball Man.
"Ah, Fireball Man!" he blurted out. "Oh no, Kōshū told me not to call you that." Well, even the person who had coined the nickname had been exposed. "My name is Furuya Satoru. No matter what, you should remember your teammate's name."
"You want to play catch?" Sawamura was doubtful. In his mind, this guy was still an enemy.
In the empty field, only the two of them played catch. The April wind swept through without obstruction, lifting their moods a little.
"What's with that Kōshū guy? He's a first-year too, but he gets to go into the Bullpen and have Miyuki catch for him." Furuya said he had seen it with his own eyes.
"How would I know?"
"You're so close to him. Didn't you join together?" Furuya was a loner, but the first-year group of four he often saw consisted of the Kōshū brothers, the pink-haired kid, and Sawamura.
"I'm from Nagano Prefecture, and Kōshū is from Tokyo. Besides, I heard he moved in back in March, so he's close with all the seniors."
"So Kōshū and Senior Miyuki got familiar with each other a month earlier, which is why he can catch for him?"
"In other words—"
"In other words—" Eijun suddenly understood. Their minds were in perfect sync.
Their shared true opponent was the quiet and unassuming Kōshū?!!!
"Damn it, I misjudged that guy!" Sawamura was filled with righteous indignation. The reason he had abandoned his friends back home to come play baseball at Seido was because of that brief pitcher-catcher experience