Practice Game

Practice Game

Kōshū did not join the afternoon training. Coach Yoshioka took him through a series of detailed tests.

"Kōshū, the results of this morning's Bone Density test are out. It's 0.2—very low, overall. I've already sent the detailed report to your parents, and I'm sure they'll understand it. Based on the condition of your growth plates, we estimate that when they close, you'll be around 1.9 meters tall."

After finishing the lower-body strength test, Kōshū gritted his teeth and squeezed out his grip-strength score. Panting, he watched Coach Yoshioka record the numbers. "Just as expected. Your previous sprint training has worked your lower body and core muscles very well. Your upper-body strength is relatively weaker."

Coach Yoshioka set down the folder. "Come on. While you're not too tired yet, let's test your bench press."

The strength training room was the size of two classrooms. At the moment, only Coach Yoshioka, Kōshū, and Shibasaki were there. Shibasaki was focused on muscle recovery exercises, and only Kōshū's deep breaths echoed through the empty room.

Upper-body strength tests included grip strength, bench press, seated row strength, push-ups, pull-ups, and more. Flexibility tests included the seated forward bend, static stretching, and so on. After the series of exercises, Coach Yoshioka came forward again to measure his muscle dimensions after full strength training.

"Next, we'll measure how quickly your heartbeat recovers. Simply put, we'll see how many seconds it takes for your heart rate to return to its normal range after reaching its peak."

This test was simply box jumps. Once Kōshū climbed down, gasping for breath, Coach Yoshioka pulled him over for another round of measurements.

After all the tests were finished, Coach Yoshioka began sorting through the results. The sounds of live practice had started outside as well. Kōshū stood in the doorway, looking at the tense boys his age outside. "Coach Yoshioka, do we have to do these tests every week?"

"Once a month. Mainly to see whether that month's training has achieved its intended results."

"Then what numbers do I need to reach for each category to count as completing this month's goal?" Kōshū thought of the monthly weight targets Coach Ninomiya had written for him.

"No, Kōshū. For pitching coaches, our work goals only concern outcome metrics. For you right now, the outcome we need to track each month is your pitching speed. Every other strength metric is a process metric. If your strength reaches the target but your pitching speed doesn't, then we need to see whether there are other problems."

"Then what's my pitching speed target for this month?"

"There's only one week left this month, so your only target is to gain 1 kilogram by the end of it. Our goal for your pitching speed is to raise it to around 130 within four months. Over those four months, your weight goal is to gain 7 kilograms."

"Haa..." Kōshū leaned against the doorframe, feeling that the next four months would probably be extremely busy. The new semester would begin soon. He would need to adjust to schoolwork while also adapting to the team's practices. Still, being this busy was pretty good.

After training ended that day, they gathered as usual to announce several important notices.

One was that the draw for next month's Kanto Tournament was coming up. Another was that, in preparation for the tournament, Kinoshita Little League would play a practice game against Edogawa Little League on the weekend of the last week of August.

Though Kōshū understood that this Kanto Tournament had absolutely nothing to do with him, he still could not resist asking Hayakawa about it.

"In the Summer Tournament, our team represented West Tokyo and got eliminated in the third round. The next-level teams were reorganized fairly early too. Marugame Little League from East Tokyo won the national championship last time."

"I haven't seen many seniors coming over."

"Of course not. There are already plenty of people at the club."

"So this Kanto Tournament is only a competition for the Kanto region?"

"Yes. Youth baseball has relatively fewer competitions, usually only within the league or branch. We're part of the Kanto League of Little Senior League youth baseball, and within the Kanto League, we belong to the West Tokyo branch. The Edogawa Little League the coach just mentioned belongs to the East Tokyo branch."

Hayakawa bumped Kōshū with his shoulder. "Don't slack off. Before the tournament, the First String and Second String will have lots of practice games. Maybe you'll get to play too."

Kōshū shook his head. With his current skills, he would only be serving up easy pitches for others to hit. He said nothing.

The following week was incredibly fulfilling. Every day, after eating, he would collapse into bed with his whole body aching. Lang Zhi was even more exhausted than he was. He even dragged himself through showers, couldn't eat much, slept until eleven at night, then got up for an extra meal.

Sometimes Kōshū would be awakened by the short boy, who would leave a bowl of chicken soup on the table and say it was an extra meal from his mother. Kōshū would drowsily acknowledge it, then close his eyes and wake up the next morning. A layer of oil would have floated to the top of the forgotten chicken soup.

Sometimes Kōshū would wake up in a daze, look at the clock, and find that it was already midnight. Yet voices drifted up from downstairs, as though they came from another world or across a river, always giving him an unreal feeling.

If the new semester had not been about to begin and he had not needed to prepare some things, Kōshū would not have turned on his computer. Then he would not have seen the email sent by one of his former classmates. His old phone number had been canceled, and he had not used QQ in a long time. Only this email account remained as a way to receive messages, and he checked it occasionally.

The email was very long. It was from an older girl who had trained in track and field with him. The entire email talked about the futures of that year's graduating Track and Field Team members and people Kōshū knew. The former boss and captain had both entered City First High School as specialty students. Someone had gone to Sixth High School. The people from Kōshū's class were now in their third year of middle school, though several had repeated a year because of fighting. Something major had happened in a class next to Kōshū's: two students had been expelled for dating early after being caught kissing in the school's back garden at noon by the dean of students. One teacher had finally gotten married and cried his eyes out at the wedding in front of his students. But overall, everyone had their own stories from that year.

At the end, the older girl asked why he had gotten out of the pyramid scheme but never returned, where exactly he had gone, and so on. She said she had only learned about it from someone drunk, then called to report it. Until she graduated, she had been careful not to let anyone know she was the one who had called the police.

Kōshū checked the sending date. It had been sent at the end of June. Thinking about it, that was probably just after the high school entrance exams. It took him a while to process the City First High School and Sixth High School she had mentioned before the channel in his mind finally switched back. Oh, City First High School was the best high school, and Sixth High School was the second best. He had once wanted to get into City First High School as a specialty student too. Why did it all feel so unfamiliar now?

Kōshū thought about it but did not ask Shen Qing whether any of it was true. Thinking of that older girl's name, he slowly recalled her face—the older girl whose skin had been tanned wheat-colored by the sun. Why had she not said where she herself had gone, instead asking only about the people around Kōshū? He vaguely sensed something. Still, he replied to the email, saying that he had already come to Japan with his mother and probably would not return to school there. He also thanked her.

After closing the computer, he figured he probably would not reply to any more of her emails. He would just pretend he had never received them. After all, separated by an ocean, emails could get lost in it.

On the following afternoon, Kinoshita Club, in the midst of its final Training Camp, finally welcomed the weekend game against Edogawa Little League. Wearing a uniform embroidered with his own name, Kōshū looked toward the unfamiliar boys crowded along the third-base side.

Hayakawa stood beside him, explaining several of the opposing team's stronger players.

Standing nearby, Kōshū felt increasingly eager. "Since neither of us is playing, do you want to catch for me?"

"Huh? But you've already thrown enough pitches today."

"But I still want to practice a few more High Rotation Speed Straight Balls."

"No pitching. Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm a little hungry. I'm going to buy something from the convenience store by the entrance."

"I'll come with you..." Kōshū was left speechless when he heard that.

"Hayakawa, please warm up Senior Nozawa." Hayakawa Aki had only just turned to answer when Kōshū slipped away beside him.

After sneaking off, Kōshū wandered around near the entrance. Since the First String was playing today, everyone else was watching from the edge of the field, making the area fairly crowded. Holding a ball, Kōshū slipped past the people by the entrance and left the club. At the corner of the street right beside the club was a small park on slightly higher ground. Through the trees and the fence, he could still see the field, so he would not miss the gathering even if one was called.

Using the fence, he began practicing his pitching. His pitching form had just been corrected, and his release had been changed as well. Originally, the angle between Kōshū's arms at release had been around ninety degrees. After correction, it was now around one hundred and thirty degrees, making his arm flatter at release. Combined with his slower lower-body motion, which fully utilized the force of his body's rotation, his pitching speed had reached around 123.

This release also gave him room to manipulate the ball. After training, straight balls with different rotation speeds were no longer distinguishable from his pitching motion, but he still needed more practice. At the club, Hayakawa Aki watched over his daily limit of eighty pitches. At home, Lang Zhi watched him. Only while both of them were busy could he secretly practice a little extra.

First, an ordinary straight ball. Kōshū made a mark where it hit the fence.

Then came a high-speed straight ball. From the same release point, his aim still felt fixed on the original spot, but with a final flick of his fingers, he sent the ball half a ball above the mark.

To cement the feeling, he threw another five or six ordinary straight balls, fixing that sense of aim in place. Then he threw five or six high-speed straight balls. Good. They all landed in roughly the same spot with consistency.

Next is the low-speed straight ball, Kōshū was calculating in his head when a voice came from beyond the trees not far away.

"Can you control where those two different straight balls land?"

Startled by the interruption, Kōshū initially thought someone from the team had caught him. But upon closer inspection, it was a bespectacled boy in casual clothes. With a grin, he repeated the question.

Kōshū did not answer. He continued focusing on the low-speed straight ball. The pitch flew out and landed one ball below the ordinary straight ball. Good. It dropped beautifully at the very end.

"A Changeup?" The bespectacled boy received no answer, but instead of feeling awkward, he walked closer to watch.

"No, it's still a straight ball." As Kōshū threw another pitch, the other boy answered his own question.

Kōshū had only come out because his hand itched to throw and he wanted to reinforce the pitching he had practiced that morning. Now that he had encountered this inexplicable person, he no longer wanted to stay. He picked up the ball and prepared to leave, but the bespectacled boy stopped him.

"My name is Miyuki Kazuya. I'm a catcher. Could you let me catch your pitches?" he asked with a grin.

"Which team are you from?" Kōshū asked warily.

"Ah, just some no-name team. The team's full of pitchers who won't listen to advice, so there's nothing we can do even if we keep losing." Miyuki Kazuya put on a wry smile. "I'm a fan of Kinoshita Little League. As a spectator, I've always wanted to personally catch your pitches."

"Oh, is that so? But I've already thrown enough pitches, and I only slipped out to pitch in secret. If I stay out too long, the coaches will definitely notice. Sorry." Kōshū looked at the boy around his age, remaining wary but polite.

"Then can we exchange email addresses?"

Kōshū reflexively touched his pocket and replied, "Sorry, I left my phone in the training room. I should get going."

Only under Coach Ninomiya's stare did Kōshū realize that everyone from the Second String was sitting neatly on the grass near first base, watching the game. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he squeezed into the group.

The game was already in the second inning, with Kinoshita Little League on defense. Senior Nozawa was on the mound, and he was in excellent form. Before Kōshū had even settled himself, a strikeout rang out from the field. The next batter was the seventh hitter. Kōshū's gaze followed the on-deck area to the opposing Dugout, where he saw someone standing outside it. Noticing Kōshū looking over, the person grinned and waved at him.

Kōshū hurriedly lowered his head. Oh no, that bespectacled guy in casual clothes was actually from the other team. Why had he not been wearing a uniform? At the same time, Kōshū wondered whether he had leaked any information just now... right?

Miyuki finally made his appearance! Flowers, flowers~