The First Victory

First Victory

Kinoshita Little League's first match was held inside the club. After the afternoon assembly, Kōshū, who had just come out of the indoor training field, sensed that the team's atmosphere wasn't like usual.

"Didn't they say the game starts at 5 PM?"

Just as he was about to look at Hayakawa, he heard a soft voice beside him say, "Quiet." It was Hayakawa's voice—he could already predict Kōshū's movements before they happened.

Several strangers filed in one after another, with Coach Ninomiya leading the way. 'Those are umpire uniforms.'

They walked to the front of the team, and Coach Ninomiya introduced them.

"These are the umpires for today's match."

All the boys bowed together in greeting.

"First String, head to the indoor training field to warm up. Second String, stay on the third base side. The umpires will inspect the field—please assist them. After that, wait on the slope outside for the opposing team to enter. Understood?"

"Hai—"

Kinoshita Club's outdoor field had artificial turf in the outfield and red dirt in the infield. The day before, all the team members had cleared the stones and repainted the white lines. The umpire walked the field once, then returned to the scorer's room to discuss with the official scorer.

Since the field had no audience seats, the twenty-odd boys could only sit on the grassy slope by the edge of the field, waiting for the game to start and serving as ball boys.

With the umpire and coach gone, Kōshū started getting restless again. Hayakawa Aki sat next to him. "Don't think about sneaking off again. The coach already has his eye on you."

Kōshū shrugged.

As they were talking, unfamiliar figures appeared at the entrance—the Dōhoku Little League Team. They only stood at the entrance for a moment before their coach led them to the first base side. Kinoshita Little League won the coin toss and chose to be the home team.

"As long as we hold them in the top of the sixth, we can skip an extra game." Someone's careless words drifted to Kōshū's ears.

"Is Dōhoku Little League that weak?" Hayakawa had now evolved from a babysitter into Doraemon, though he didn't seem dissatisfied with the role.

"Hard to call them a strong team. Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen to be the away team after winning the coin toss."

Kōshū hugged his knees, sitting on the grass. The weather was nice today, like a brief return to spring. Sunlight mixed with a cool breeze, and he was about to fall asleep wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.

Unfortunately, Hayakawa Aki was beside him, living up to his name. "The coach is looking this way." One sentence sent Kōshū straight into autumn, the chill driving away his drowsiness. He looked toward the third base side—where was the coach?

Kōshū was about to wrap an arm around his neck to teach him a lesson when he saw the coach actually leading the First String over to third base. Kōshū's hand naturally patted Hayakawa Aki's shoulder. "Wind blew some dust on you. I'll brush it off."

He got a teasing smile from Hayakawa Aki in return.

Kōshū pulled himself together, not daring to let the coach catch him being indifferent to the game again.

"Game start—"

Dōhoku Little League was a weak team. Their batters couldn't handle Nozawa's pitches. They seemed to be following an aggressive swing strategy, swinging wildly without restraint and missing time and again. After three innings like this, everyone on Kinoshita Little League had an easygoing feeling of 'why use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken.' The spectators on the third base side started whispering among themselves.

As the frontline of the team's defense, Nozawa racked up several K's in a row, then let his nerves slacken and carelessly threw a ball.

Captain Ito sensed the team's lack of spirit and called a timeout, summoning the outfielders to the pitcher's mound.

"What's wrong with you guys? Is this our home field or theirs?"

The Second String members on the third base side heard the captain's shout from the mound. Even from that distance, they could feel the anger in it. Most of them looked at Coach Ninomiya. The old man stood with his arms crossed on the sidelines, his expression unreadable.

"Left field! Why did you stand still for a moment when you saw that ball fly over before running to it? You almost missed the catch." The left fielder lowered his head.

"Not just left field. All of you—from your throws, I could see the laziness."

The group gathered on the mound, the air heating up by several degrees.

"And you, Nozawa Kai!"

Called by his full name by his childhood friend, Nozawa didn't feel offended—just nervous.

"I don't want to catch a lifeless ball like that. You know what to do next, right?"

"Hai—" Nozawa unconsciously straightened his posture, avoiding the other's gaze.

The timeout ended. For some reason, the field fell a few degrees quieter. The whole game finally tilted in Kinoshita Little League's favor. The defenders became more focused, and even the batting started to connect. This slowly building atmosphere of a strong team finally made Dōhoku Little League on the first base side feel the mounting pressure.

The final result was just as everyone had thought at the start. Kinoshita Little League held the top of the sixth inning and won 8-1.

Coach Ninomiya's gaze swept over the boys still carrying dirt and sand on their bodies. He didn't say anything—just gave the order: everyone who played today would run 15 laps, and everyone who didn't play would run 20 laps.

'Huh, why do we have to run more than them? We were just watching.' Kōshū only dared to grumble about this in his head. In truth, he understood that today, from the players on the field to the spectators, everyone had underestimated the opponent too much. Even though Kinoshita Little League had won, it felt like the bright sunlight had followed Dōhoku, who only scored one point, as they left.

"We actually got one point."

"I know, right. Unexpected."

"But their equipment is really complete."

What remained at Kinoshita Club was only a dark cloud. Black mist brewed on the coaching staff's faces, finally weighing down on everyone's hearts. As people passed the coaches, they would run a little faster, hoping not to be called over.

When everyone gathered, panting and staggering, Coach Ninomiya's face was cold. He first apologized: "This game is mostly my fault. I knew beforehand that Dōhoku Little League was relatively weak. I shouldn't have put all our main players in the first game. Nozawa-kun, don't you think so?"

Nozawa quickly answered seriously: "No matter the situation, we want to play!"

"Does everyone else feel the same way?" Coach Ninomiya swept his gaze around. The main players who had played today all nodded, then lowered their heads.

"Then the game I saw today doesn't match what you're saying at all. Look at the people behind you. Sasaki-kun, do you want to play defense?"

Lang Zhi was startled, and the words slipped out before he could think: "Yes..." After being stared at by a few others, he stopped himself.

"See? There are people who want to play in the games you don't take seriously. If I ever see anyone with their head not in the game again, you're coming straight off the field!"

Everyone fell silent like cicadas in winter, and as soon as the order to dismiss was given, they immediately returned to the prep room to pack their things.

Lang Zhi sidled up to Kōshū, his expression a bit stiff, but a First String veteran pulled him away. "Hey, kid, why's your face so stiff?"

"Looks like the coach knows you speak without thinking too."

"Haha, yeah."

"Not at all, I just haven't run into this situation before..." Lang Zhi's excuses were drowned out by a chorus of jeers, and he shut his mouth.

Hayakawa Aki glanced at the seniors over there, cheerfully 'bullying' Lang Zhi, then looked at Kōshū, who showed little expression. "This must be your first time seeing the coach angry, right?"

Kōshū's blank face at that moment was truly just calm, but he recalled some past events as he half-distractedly helped pack Lang Zhi's things. "Oh, yeah, it is the first time, but he's not as scary as my English teacher back in China."

"You know, once in English class, she chewed us out for half the period and broke several pointer sticks. When the bell rang, she just stood at the podium with a dark face, not mentioning dismissal at all. We were all tired from keeping our heads down, and then some curious kid from another class peeked through the crack in our door. She caught him, flung a broken stick straight at him, and it caused a ruckus outside."

"That terrifying? Was it corporal punishment?"

"Not really, she didn't hit anyone, just had a fierce presence, scared the hell out of us."

"So what was it all about?"

Kōshū stumbled a bit. Right, why had the teacher been so furious? "I vaguely remember, some people in our class got involved in a fight. But it probably didn't break out—they hadn't even gone yet when the teacher kept everyone in the room to scold them."

"Haha, feels like you guys deserved the yelling."

"Shut up!"

After packing up and dragging Lang Zhi out from under the seniors' clutches, the two had mostly cooled down from their sweat. They slowly biked home.

They usually parked their bikes in the small shed next to the garage.

Rounding the fence gate, their idle debate continued: "You can't cut a cat's whiskers, because that's how they pick up signals."

"Liar. Back in the countryside, I saw cats that curled their whiskers from roasting by the fire, which means their whiskers are pretty dull."

"That's just a special case..."

Kōshū, listening to Lang Zhi's loud voice behind him, cut in: "They're back early today."

Interrupted, Lang Zhi also noticed the parents' cars already in the garage. "Really, we can eat dinner early today."

Pushing open the door, Mr. Sasaki and Shen Qing sat facing each other at the dining table. The curtains were half-drawn, but the lights were off.

"Why aren't the lights on?" Kōshū, entering first, flipped the switch and caught the fluster of the two adults at the table. But once the lights were on, they calmed down, as if they had something to say.

Only Lang Zhi, oblivious, rushed to the fridge and cracked open a can of soda. "Ahh—that hits the spot."

Mr. Sasaki spoke first: "Shen Qing, why don't you go to your room first?"

"No, let's discuss it together." Shen Qing gestured for Kōshū to sit down.

By then, Lang Zhi sensed something was off. He backed up and stood behind the kitchen island, refusing to come closer. "What's up, Mom? What do you want to say?"

The two adults exchanged a look, and Shen Qing said to Lang Zhi: "Lang Zhi, Mom is pregnant."

Kōshū showed no reaction. Lang Zhi froze for a moment, holding the soda can to his mouth, half-covering his face: "Ah—congratulations?"

Mr. Sasaki then looked at Kōshū, who replied: "That's good, but you'll need to be careful since it's an advanced maternal age."

Shen Qing let out a sigh of relief. Mr. Sasaki reached across the table to hold her hand. While everyone's attention was off the island, Lang Zhi silently bolted back to his room.

"It's fine, I'll go check on him in a bit. No problem." Kōshū responded immediately, steadying the two adults. "How about we eat out today? Consider it a celebration."

The two adults still had some doubts. Kōshū snapped his fingers: "Don't worry, I'll drag him down."

As he headed upstairs, he called back: "You two get ready. Mom, you're the star today. Think about what you want to eat. We're fine with anything."

Mr. Sasaki listened as Kōshū slammed open the door upstairs and let out a breath. "Kōshū really is like an adult. He surprises me a lot sometimes."

Shen Qing murmured, "Yeah, he'll definitely be a good big brother."