Friends of the Baseball World

Friends in the Baseball World

After the lead-off hitter saw the cutter, the second and third batters of Daishōri grew cautious, but ultimately both were retired on inside and outside fastballs.

'Hasegawa's fastball has good bite today. Maybe what I said before the game got through to him—no early-inning struggles this time.' After smoothly retiring three batters in the top half, Miyuki returned to the dugout with a light mood.

"Your pitches have great power today." Miyuki didn't hold back his praise for Hasegawa, though the other boy didn't appreciate it.

The coach kept half an eye on what was happening in the dugout, saying nothing. He knew Miyuki and Hasegawa didn't get along, but Miyuki could use Hasegawa's resentment and stubbornness against him to call a better game. As long as it led to smoother wins, the coach didn't care about their personal relationship—he only occasionally stressed at meetings that everything should be settled on the field.

The backup catcher, Nakamura, handed Hasegawa water after he deliberately ignored Miyuki's compliment. "You're in good form this first inning, but aren't you pushing a little too hard?"

"It's fine. Thanks to you warming me up, I got into the zone fast."

Nakamura looked at the fighting spirit blazing in Hasegawa's eyes and silently grumbled: 'You're not competing against the other team—you're competing against Miyuki.'

"Make good use of your fastball today. We should be able to win easily." Other teammates came over to encourage Hasegawa, and he accepted it all cheerfully.

Sitting off to the side, Miyuki watched the harmonious scene with confusion. Then he thought of Kōshū from Kinoshita Little League and genuinely wondered why his sincere expressions of admiration were always taken as provocation.

Bottom of the first, the players leaned on the railing cheering for their batter. After the lead-off man got on base, Miyuki started preparing. The teammates chattered among themselves: "Did he hit a fastball?" "Probably a fastball."

After watching two pitches, Miyuki cut in. "The opposing pitcher isn't confident in his fastball. The catcher isn't calling it anymore."

"Then which pitch should we aim for?" The noisy group quieted down a bit. The captain asked from a few spots away.

"If it were me, I'd aim for the pitch after a 2-1 count. Whatever it is, putting it in play or fouling it off will mess with the pitcher's mindset."

Having witnessed Miyuki argue with an upperclassman last year, the teammates around him chose to shut up when they couldn't keep up with his train of thought, to avoid becoming his target.

As they spoke, the second batter hit a sacrifice fly. The cleanup hitter—their captain—went to the on-deck circle. Without the captain to respond, Miyuki stopped talking, and the teammates around him resumed low conversations.

The third batter was led around by the changeup, hit a grounder to the infield, and was thrown out at first by the shortstop.

Two outs, runner on second. It was Edogawa Little League's cleanup hitter. First pitch: high fastball, taken for a ball. Second pitch: another high fastball down the middle, ball. Third pitch: way outside, ball. Three balls without a swing. Then a low slider. The cleanup hitter could have taken the walk, but he swung—the ball shot through the gap between second and third.

When Miyuki stepped up as the fifth batter, it was two outs, runner on second, and Edogawa had already scored one run. Miyuki settled in and felt the catcher sizing him up.

'Ha, look all you want. Your pitcher's fastball has no bite today, and he can't hit the corners. He just threw three straight fastballs for balls to the cleanup hitter. So now the only pitch he dares to throw in the zone is his go-to slider, right?'

First pitch: inside high fastball. Maybe his control was coming back—it just nicked the edge of the strike zone. Miyuki fouled it off.

'Whoa, close one. Good thing it went foul.' Miyuki glanced down at home plate. 'Looks like the pitcher's fastball is slowly coming back.'

Next pitch, I'll guess slider.

"Thwack—"

'Ha, called it.'

Edogawa Little League scored another run.

"He guessed it again?" Hayakawa Aki muttered.

After Kōshū asked why, Hayakawa explained, "Miyuki-kun is really good at reading pitchers and catchers. That's why he doesn't train as hard at batting as others, but his results are always decent."

"Eh? You know that glasses kid?"

"Yeah, I do." Hayakawa noticed Kōshū's strange expression. "What's wrong? Did something happen between you and Miyuki-kun? Last practice match, he asked me for your email address."

"...So it was you?"

Hayakawa was baffled by that, but he could guess the reason. "Didn't I tell you I moved to West Tokyo? Before that, I lived in East Tokyo. Miyuki and I were neighbors, and we played baseball together. He was already a catcher back then."

Kōshū clicked his tongue in amazement. "Hayakawa-kun, are you friends with him?"

"Hard to say. I can never figure out what Miyuki-kun is thinking. But once I invited him over, and he didn't refuse."

"An invitation not being refused... Is that how Japanese friendship works? If I invited you to my place, would you come?" Kōshū looked at the seemingly simple catcher in front of him and threw him a fastball.

"Eh, wait—you mean Kōshū-kun and Mr. Sasaki's house?"

Kōshū had only asked on a whim, driven by a recent urge to 'make friends in the baseball world.' Seeing Hayakawa flustered, and recalling how earnestly pure the guy usually was, Kōshū's mischievous side kicked in.

"Yeah. Say yes quick. I'll teach you—this is how Chinese people make friends." Total lie. Even Chinese people don't casually invite just anyone home unless they're close friends.

But Hayakawa, though awkward, was convinced. He nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then. Tonight. Do you eat onions? My dad said he'd make hamburger steak today. I'll text him to prep more ingredients." Kōshū was already composing an email as he spoke.

"Eh, eating straight at Kōshū-kun's place? But I haven't told my family yet."

"That's easy. My dad already replied." Kōshū held up his phone. The latest email from Mr. Sasaki read: OK.

Seeing no way out, Hayakawa texted his family. As he typed, a thought crossed his mind: 'I feel like Kōshū-kun and Miyuki-kun could become really good friends. Or is that just my imagination?'

In the remaining innings, Edogawa Little League's pitcher Hasegawa stayed fired up, striking out batters in a row. The opposing pitcher, lacking offensive support, barely managed outs with his recovering fastball and decent slider. The score stayed 2-0 until the end.

"Edogawa Little League wins." Hayakawa flipped open his phone, muttering as he typed, "I'll send Miyuki a message to congratulate him."

Kōshū slapped a hand over the screen. "Hayakawa-kun, you should stop messaging Miyuki. He'll easily pry info out of you. We're rivals, you know."

"Ah, but Miyuki-kun knew I was coming today. Wouldn't it be rude not to send a congratulations?"

"What? That guy invited a whole crowd like a peacock fanning its tail? Did you tell him I was coming?"

Hayakawa's gut told him that if he said yes, Kōshū would nag him about something else. So he averted his eyes toward the field and lied, "No. I just replied that I'd come."

Luckily, Kōshū was in a hurry to leave and didn't notice.

That evening's dinner was exceptionally grand. As the first friend Kōshū had ever invited home, Hayakawa received a warm welcome from Mr. Sasaki and Shen Qing. Even Lang Zhi felt a little sour, speaking to Kōshū with a jealous edge: "Must be nice, making your first friend since coming to Japan. Look how happy Mom and Dad are."

Kōshū rolled his eyes, then realized this was a perfect opening to tease Lang Zhi. He looped an arm around Lang Zhi's neck and said amiably, "What's wrong, Lang Zhi? Don't say that. Actually, my first friend in Japan was you."

Lang Zhi stared at Kōshū in disbelief, then lifted his own arm. It was the first time Kōshū had ever seen someone get goosebumps from a single sentence he'd said.

"Hahaha," Kōshū grabbed his drink and dashed cheerfully back to his room, as if someone were chasing him. Lang Zhi stayed where he was, unwilling to get dragged into such childish games.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, looking for someone he could invite over. No—to surpass Kōshū, what he really needed was to find someone who would invite him to their house.

'Damn Takano. Ever since he showed up, I've had to keep challenging myself.' Lang Zhi scrolled through his contacts again, found no one like that, and dumped all that 'resentment' onto Kōshū.

From upstairs came the thud of a door closing. In the kitchen, his parents were still cleaning up. After a moment's thought, he decided to help them first and mess with Kōshū later.

When Kōshū closed the door, Hayakawa Aki was still discreetly looking around the room. Seeing Kōshū come in, he quickly sat up straight.

Kōshū recalled how he'd interacted with friends back in his home country and pretended not to notice Hayakawa's discomfort. Still, he felt a twinge of regret. Maybe Hayakawa's recent thoughtful gestures were just for the team's sake, and Kōshū had invited him over on a sudden whim—'I want to find a friend in the baseball world.'

But since Hayakawa was already here, Kōshū went ahead and talked about his middle school days, including things he didn't understand after coming to Japan. As the conversation went on, Hayakawa gradually found his footing and started talking about his own middle school years.

"Speaking of which, doesn't Coach Ninomiya ever go home? He stays so late every day. I heard he has a son."

Then Hayakawa unleashed a gossip ability that stunned Kōshū. He not only knew all about Coach Ninomiya but also the Assistant Coach's personality and circumstances. Kōshū was good at keeping the conversation going, and the two of them spent most of the evening chatting about everyday life.

When Hayakawa Aki was ready to go home, Mr. Sasaki insisted on driving him. Lang Zhi squeezed into the car too. On the way, they passed Mou Sen, and Lang Zhi wanted to try the new menu item, so everyone got out for a late-night snack before calling it a night.

After that day, Hayakawa Aki felt like Kōshū had become his friend. When he told Kōshū this, he got teased: "You still need to confirm that? Are you a girl waiting for a confession? If you get along well, you're naturally friends. Is it that Japan's idea of friendship is too twisted, or that you just don't trust yourself enough?"