The Real Ace

"Huh?" Why can't Miyuki Kazuya ever speak properly? He closed his phone, but he couldn't shake off the content of the message.

"Come out and meet someone with me. He's a real ace pitcher."

Who could it be? Kōshū was both annoyed and curious, and he grabbed Hayakawa Aki. "Hayakawa, does Miyuki Kazuya know any particularly amazing pitchers?"

"Eh? If we're talking about particularly amazing pitchers, Narumiya Mei from Ōkawa Little League is one, but I don't know if they know each other."

"Ōkawa Little League? Is that the Ōkawa that's playing Marugame Little League today? The winner of their match will be our next opponent," Lang Zhi added.

Just as Kōshū's little group was chattering away, Coach Ninomiya came out, followed by a group of grinning First String players.

"Gather 'round!"

A group of boys' eyes lit up, the joy of victory still lingering. Coach Ninomiya didn't stop their brief excitement, and calmly announced their next opponent: "News just came in, the result of the match at the other venue is out. Our next opponent is Ōkawa Little League."

"Eh?" Everyone was surprised, but their expressions quickly darkened.

"Their ace pitcher is that Narumiya Mei, a pitcher who emerged after the Ōkawa team reorganized this spring. If we want to advance to the finals, we must overcome him, so leave today's victory in today. There are still many issues to discuss tomorrow. The First String will not have extra training today. Go home and rest well. The Second String will return to the Kinoshita Club for practical training."

"Yes!" Lang Zhi excitedly shouted in Kōshū's ear. Watching the First String teammates fight on the field today made his hands itch.

Kōshū fiddled with his phone, feeling uneasy. After a long while, he replied to Miyuki's message.

"Is it Narumiya Mei?"

"Whether it is or not, won't you find out if you come out and see?"

"Why do I feel like you're an uncle trying to trick a little girl into coming out? It has a disgusting sense of ulterior motives."

"...What kind of analogy is that?"

"So, is it Narumiya Mei?" Kōshū stared at the phone screen. Miyuki Kazuya took a long time to reply.

"Forget it, if you're not coming, then forget it." This guy is playing hard to get with me.

"Time and place," Kōshū replied briefly.

"Eh? What's wrong? Is Kō-kun actually coming out?"

"Stop talking nonsense, time and place."

"7 PM tomorrow, Yoshiguchi Baseball Stadium."

Baseball stadium? What on earth is Miyuki Kazuya up to?

The next afternoon, the coach indeed let everyone go home an hour early.

"Hayakawa, do you chat with that Miyuki Kazuya guy every day? Why does he know so much about our team's situation?" Kōshū said lazily, leaning on Hayakawa Aki's back.

"But I haven't been chatting with Miyuki-kun recently."

"Then who is it?" Kōshū wondered. At this moment, Nozawa-senpai bypassed the people blocking the way and was about to walk outside.

"Nozawa-senpai," Kōshū stopped Nozawa. "Can I see your phone?"

"Ah, why? Does Kō-kun want to know me that much?" Nozawa wasn't angered, and instead wore a playful smile.

"I want to check if there's anyone who shouldn't be in Nozawa-senpai's friends list."

Nozawa saw everyone gathering around and said with a proud look, "It's okay, I'm very popular."

Kōshū unceremoniously took the phone and, without much fiddling, found Miyuki Kazuya's chat box. "Senior Nozawa, this Miyuki Kazuya is a big jerk! Ah, why are you still talking to him about pitching?"

"Relax, relax, their team has already been eliminated anyway."

The truth came so late. What's even more terrifying is that Miyuki's influence has penetrated so deeply into the Kinoshita Club that even the ace pitcher has been subverted. And then, he, the next ace pitcher, actually took the initiative to meet with Miyuki.

Damn it, what's going on?

Kōshū, in a deep sense of guilt, changed trains several times and finally found the baseball stadium on the edge of East Tokyo.

Because it was in the suburbs, this baseball stadium was quite large. Two people were standing at the entrance, one was Miyuki wearing glasses, and the other was a blonde.

Another mixed-blood? Kōshū had already changed out of his team uniform and went forward to greet them.

Miyuki grinned and grabbed Kōshū's shoulder, "Have you grown taller again?" Then he turned to the mixed-blood, "Mei, this is the interesting pitcher I told you about—Kōshū. He's your next opponent."

Narumiya Mei was about to complain about Kōshū's height, but was shocked by the information in Miyuki Kazuya's words, "Are you okay? You brought two opponents who are about to play against each other together?"

"It's okay, it's okay, this guy is still a benchwarmer." Miyuki comforted Narumiya Mei in a very relaxed tone. Kōshū, who hadn't spoken all along, was already exploding inside. This Miyuki Kazuya, if he doesn't know how to talk, why does he still talk so much? The key is that every time he hits the nail on the head.

"Sorry, I'm a benchwarmer, the losing team's catcher."

"Oh? Could it be that Kō-kun is angry?" Miyuki chuckled.

Kōshū ignored Miyuki. He was very clear about his purpose for coming today. He took a step forward, and Narumiya Mei felt the pressure, frowned, and heard the boy on the opposite side say, "Senior Narumiya Mei, I've heard many people say that you are the strongest pitcher in Tokyo of this generation. Can I see your pitching?"

"Heh, of course, but correspondingly, I don't want to see your pitching." Narumiya Mei raised his head, full of arrogance.

"Haha, of course, I'm still a benchwarmer." Kōshū was not angry at all, which made Narumiya Mei a little annoyed, "Today, I'll let you see how powerful this ace is. Open your eyes, kid."

Narumiya Mei then directed at Miyuki, "Kazuya, you catch for me. I want to let this kid know the immensity of heaven and earth."

"Yes, yes." The three of them finally arrived at the indoor training ground while talking.

"Kō-kun, do you want to watch from the side?"

"I want to watch from behind the catcher."

"Okay, hee hee, it's more convenient this way. You have to watch carefully."

"...Senior Miyuki, what bad things are you thinking about?"

"No, no, I just think your next game should be very exciting. Don't worry, I will definitely go to watch it."

"...Is this really okay?" If Kōshū could see Narumiya Mei's pitching tells and other information, he would definitely tell Coach Ninomiya as soon as possible.

"What's wrong with it? Mei doesn't care. Besides, you should watch two pitches first."

After a brief conversation, Narumiya Mei finished warming up.

"I'm going to pitch." The blonde pitcher standing on the mound, when he got serious, his aura was simply 1.8 meters. He shook off the excess rosin on his hand, easily turned the ball, and threw it directly.

"Bang!" In the empty practice field, there were only the three of them. The loud noise was like a gunshot hitting Kōshū's heart.

"How about it? Mei can throw over 140 kilometers."

"Bang!" Another loud noise. Miyuki caught it easily, and even his easy laughter became unfathomable in Kōshū's heart.

'Narumiya Mei is pitching well, and Miyuki Kazuya is catching beautifully.' With just a few kilometers of speed difference, the straight ball is completely different. The ball comes faster, requiring concentration to catch it.

Plus, this is a 140 km pitch thrown by a person, unlike the balls from a pitching machine. A person's straight ball will have movement due to their own condition each time it's thrown, almost like a beast awakening, stretching its sharp claws towards Home Plate.

"Wow—Narumiya-senpai is amazing." Kōshū applauded from behind.

The blond-haired boy across from him, lightly sweating, had thrown the ball and vented his dissatisfaction. Now was the time for self-satisfaction: "Boy, you have a good eye. By the way, what's your name again?"

"Kōshū..."

"Kō-kun, does your team have a pitcher who can throw 140?" He clearly already knew the answer, but still asked Kōshū with his nose in the air.

"No, we don't..."

"Haha, that's why I'm the strongest pitcher in Tokyo of this generation." He was so busy boasting to Kōshū that he stopped pitching: "I became the ace as soon as I graduated from third grade. It's cruel, but your team is destined to fall before me this time."

"..." Kōshū wasn't a First String member, so he didn't really feel anything about this provocation. He didn't have a sense of team spirit yet, so he remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Fortunately, Narumiya Mei didn't care about Kōshū's reaction at all.

"Then next up, player-kun in the stands." What kind of address is that? You just asked my name, how can you call me so randomly? Kōshū understood that he had no ability to protest. After coming to the world of baseball, he felt more and more that without strength, he had no right to speak.

"Looks like you don't quite believe me. Then I'll give you a special broadcast, Kazuya, Forkball." Narumiya Mei's expression was very relaxed, but his body was already moving. He threw a pitch, the speed about ten kilometers slower than his Straight Ball. As it approached Home Plate, the ball suddenly dropped in Kōshū's surprised gaze. The ball barely grazed the lower edge of the strike zone, but when it landed in Miyuki's mitt, it was already close to the ground.

"How was it, how was my Forkball?!" Kōshū took two deep breaths to slow his heart rate. If he were a batter, facing such a ball, not swinging would be a strike, and swinging would easily result in a ground ball. Combined with that high-speed Straight Ball, there was only one conclusion: middle school batters simply couldn't hit it well.

"Is that a Forkball?" Kōshū ignored the frustrated Narumiya Mei and pondered that he could learn this pitch when his ball speed increased.

"Eh? Kō-kun, you don't recognize a Forkball?" Miyuki was a little surprised to hear Kōshū's mutterings.

"Ah, right, you know, I came from China. I didn't watch much baseball growing up. Because the team coach considers a lot, I just focus on physical training every day and haven't particularly studied other pitches."

Seeing the two of them chatting and getting off track, Narumiya Mei, feeling left out of the conversation, immediately ran over, "Kazuya, what are you chatting about with this kid? We're still pitching!"

"Hi—I'm tired of your balls. Let Kō-kun pitch instead."

"Ha? Miyuki Kazuya, you bastard, you called me over here just to throw thirty-some balls!" Narumiya Mei pouted. Kōshū felt a strange sense of sympathy for this pitiful ace. That's why you shouldn't be so foolish as to be friends with this guy, Miyuki.

Work is so tiring, I wonder how everyone adjusts when they're tired?

My way of adjusting is to buy a lottery ticket in my mind, pretend I've won, and then plan all the things I want to buy and imagine the life I'll live with money.

Of course, I'm just thinking about it and enjoying the fantasy. In the real world, I wouldn't buy a lottery ticket because I'm particularly unlucky.

The most classic example is when the center organized a 100% winning activity with many prizes, including several ovens, induction cookers, floor lamps, etc. In this 100% winning activity, I got the guaranteed prize—a thermos.

More recently, it was the company's anniversary celebration. In the morning, there were various small game booths in the company. I played three different games and didn't win any prizes, so I asked a colleague to share some with me if he won (because he was winning every time and couldn't carry all the prizes). From the moment I asked him and started following him, he lost every time in four games. Later, he was afraid of me, so I quickly left. As soon as I left, his next game—he started winning every time again... (He definitely didn't do it on purpose, because the game really tested luck).

Thinking of this, I think I should just work honestly.