You're Going to Seido??

Until the game ended, Seido had defeated the opposing public school by a wide margin. To outsiders, the brothers had been walking with their arms around each other's shoulders the whole time, looking like they got along very well.

But in reality, Kōshū's devilish words echoed in Lang Zhi's ears at the end. "Lang Zhi~ I think going to Seido would be pretty good too. If we go to Seido, Dad will definitely get all fired up."

Lang Zhi thought of how Dad had turned into an excited fan throughout the entire game.

"And he'll definitely want to see the two brothers playing in the same game, but—"

That was right. When Dad had encouraged Kōshū to play baseball, everything he said had implied that he wanted the brothers to take the field together.

"I'd be fine either way, but look at those especially big high schoolers down there. I'm just worried that even if we both go to Seido, we still won't be able to play together, because there's a First String and a Second String."

Lang Zhi was a little annoyed. He understood what Kōshū had left unsaid.

In the end, Kōshū patted Lang Zhi on the shoulder and said excitedly, "I've decided. Even though the road ahead is uncertain, for this year... no, for the more than three years of middle school and high school, I'll make fulfilling Dad's wish my goal!"

Anyway, I didn't really know much about other high schools, nor did I have the energy to look into them. I might as well go along with Mr. Sasaki's wishes.

"Huh?" Lang Zhi vaguely sensed danger. Why had Kōshū started calling him "Dad" too? There was definitely something wrong with this!!

"Then starting tomorrow, you'll go on morning runs with me! Don't worry, your big brother definitely won't leave you behind and enter the First String alone."

Kōshū led Lang Zhi along as they watched Seido's players bow to the cheering section, after which everyone began leaving the stadium.

Mr. Sasaki didn't notice anything unusual about the two children. As they walked out, he discussed what they should order today.

"The hamburger steak last time was delicious. Should we order it again this time—"

"But didn't we see a newly opened Chinese restaurant next door today? Should we give it a try?"

Shen Qing turned to look at the children walking side by side behind them. "What about you two? Do you want to try the new Chinese restaurant, or go to the family restaurant we usually visit?"

The moment Lang Zhi saw Shen Qing's expression, he lowered his head and ran over as if asking for help, forcefully squeezing himself between the two adults.

"Either is fine..." Only after getting between the adults did he feel much more at ease.

"Then let's try it." Kōshū followed behind them without stepping forward to walk beside the three of them.

Thus, the four of them headed to the new restaurant. Shen Qing chatted and laughed with them, but the alarm bells in her heart started ringing again. What's going on with these two kids? Did they really have some kind of conflict at the stadium?

At the dinner table, everyone except Mr. Sasaki seemed preoccupied.

"By the way, about what we discussed today... although it's a little early, if they're going to Seido, we should start preparing in advance, right?" The carefree Mr. Sasaki looked at Shen Qing, his "preparation partner," as he spoke.

Shen Qing shook her head inwardly before saying, "We should ask what the children want first. They don't necessarily have to play baseball in high school, and even if they do play baseball, they don't necessarily have to go to Seido." She had keenly noticed that Lang Zhi was the one with the most on his mind this time. Perhaps he was unhappy that Dad always tried to package him together with Kōshū.

"Why wouldn't they play baseball?" Although Mr. Sasaki was a good person most of the time, there was an unavoidable trace of chauvinism in him. He refuted her without thinking, then turned to the two children. "Takano, Lang Zhi, you'll still play baseball in high school, right?"

Both children nodded. Shen Qing felt rather helpless, while Mr. Sasaki put on an exaggerated pleading expression again. "But you're right. They don't necessarily have to go to Seido, but for Dad's sake, please consider Seido first when you're deciding, okay?"

"Okay, okay—" Shen Qing stopped her husband from getting carried away with his act. "It's not like they can just get into Seido whenever they want. You should ask your classmates how they can apply through the sports special recruitment route."

If they can't get in through sports special recruitment, then they'll have to rely on entrance exams. Kōshū should be fine, but Lang Zhi's grades may need some serious tutoring.

Lang Zhi understood what Shen Qing meant as well. His grades were average, and he was average at baseball too. Dad had said it all as though it were perfectly natural. He couldn't refute him, so he could only let the adults find a way to squeeze him in as well. He lowered his head even further and silently stuffed food into his mouth.

Kōshū hadn't paid much attention to Lang Zhi's thoughts before, but he gradually began to notice them now. Perhaps some of the family's usual words had put a great deal of pressure on Lang Zhi. If they never talked it out and just let him bear it silently, he might explode again like he had today.

So he directly said to the two adults who were still discussing things, "Whether we play baseball or not, we still have a year. It would be best if we could both get in through sports special recruitment. If not, we'll deal with the future when it comes."

After that, the topic finally shifted elsewhere. Even on this Sunday afternoon without baseball practice, baseball-related elements still filled the air.

From that day on, Lang Zhi ate more at every meal. Whenever Kōshū passed his room, he could see him pacing back and forth to digest his food. In the mornings, he also began running with Kōshū. Only once he started did he realize that Kōshū's so-called running included a one-kilometer uphill climb, stair jumps, and nonstop sprints.

With his long period of Baseball Club training, he could naturally keep up. But Kōshū was extremely fast and gave him little time to rest. While keeping pace, Lang Zhi also had to make sure he didn't fall behind. By the time they got home, he was utterly exhausted.

"Hey, do you run like this every day?" After recovering, Lang Zhi found it hard to believe. The "jogging" Kōshū talked about every day was this? Didn't this already exceed the training volume Coach Ninomiya had set?

"What, are you going to report me to Coach Ninomiya?" Kōshū asked as he dried his hair.

Sure enough, there couldn't have been talent alone behind how he had gone from a beginner to matching the team's training pace in just a few months. "Was this how you trained for sprinting in China before?"

"More or less. I'm used to it already."

But in the end, Lang Zhi didn't report him to Coach Ninomiya. He also trained like this every morning, though it left him sleepy during morning classes at first.

It was now nearing the end of October. The weather was gradually cooling, and the admissions results for the major high schools were about to come out. For the Baseball Club members, this was also the time when their future paths would finally be decided.

That day, Miyuki, who had not bothered Kōshū in a long time, suddenly invited him out again. He wanted to visit a sporting goods store with Kōshū.

"If it's a sporting goods store, our club already runs one ourselves. There's no need to go so far out of our way."

"Come on, don't you want to browse a bigger sporting goods store?"

"Couldn't you find anyone else to invite?" Kōshū asked speechlessly.

"Stop talking nonsense. I invited Hayakawa-kun too, so come with us." Why was Hayakawa Aki still unable to cut ties with this guy?

However, since the Kanto Tournament had ended, daily practice now finished at six again instead of seven. Kōshū did have time to go.

So after practice that day, Hayakawa Aki called Kōshū over and prepared to leave together.

"Lang Zhi, take this home for me." Kōshū handed his bulging backpack to Lang Zhi. Since the weather had turned colder, their practice uniforms and undershirts had all been switched to long-sleeved versions. Together with his water bottle, lunchbox, change of clothes, practice shoes that needed washing, and so on, the entire backpack was huge.

"Where are you going now?" Lang Zhi looked at Hayakawa Aki beside him and suddenly felt bitter. Why was it that after spending every day together, this person could still make friends, while he could only go home alone?

"A sporting goods store. Supposedly the biggest one?"

"It's a twenty-minute bike ride. Sasaki-kun should come too," Hayakawa Aki said thoughtfully. Miyuki probably wouldn't mind anyway.

Sure enough, after they met up, Miyuki learned that another person would be joining them and came over with a friendly "Little brother."

"Miyuki, you got here early." Kōshū stepped forward and naturally cut Miyuki off from the other side.

"Huh? Kō-kun, why does it feel like you've grown taller every time I see you?"

"You don't need to feel like it. I probably grew another centimeter. We're due to measure again the week after next."

After storing away their absurdly large backpacks, the group finally began browsing unencumbered.

Miyuki Kazuya... so they know someone like him too. He should be a senior, right? Although Lang Zhi had come along, he remained quiet as he walked to the side. Kōshū didn't say much either. Only Hayakawa Aki and Miyuki chatted.

"Didn't you say a few days ago that Narumiya Mei invited you out?" Hayakawa suddenly remembered and asked.

"Haha, yeah. But when I got there, there were four or five people waiting for me."

"What, did they ambush you and beat you up?" Kōshū suddenly cut in.

"There were people you know too, Kō-kun." Miyuki ignored him and began listing names instead. "Yamaoka and Yabe from Takahira Little League, Shirakawa from Marugame Little League, and Carlos from Jonan Little League. Your team has played against them, right?"

Kōshū remembered that person's batting and baserunning and nodded, though he wasn't familiar with the others. At most, he had heard their teams' names.

Hayakawa was the one who caught on. "Tsk—Narumiya gathered a whole group of incredible guys together."

"So—" Lang Zhi looked at Miyuki.

"He called me over because they were short a catcher. He wanted me to go to Inashiro too."

"Inashiro? No wonder. It's a famous baseball school too."

"Then you agreed, right?" Kōshū thought about Inashiro's district. It seemed to be in West Tokyo as well. They might end up facing Seido.

"Haha, no. I decided where I was going a long time ago."

"Where?"

"Huh, Kō-kun, this is rare. You care so much about me today." When Kōshū shot him a glare sharp enough to kill, he quickly answered, "Seido. I'm going to Seido."

"Huh?" Even Lang Zhi froze this time. Kōshū stepped forward, took advantage of his height, and grabbed Miyuki Kazuya, asking in great distress, "Why? Why are you going to Seido?"

"I'm going to Seido... what's wrong with that? Kō-kun, I can't breathe."

I recommend a novel to everyone: "The Exorcist's Self-Cultivation."

I spent all afternoon reading it yesterday. It was pretty good.

It's been a long time since I last read supernatural fiction. As expected, supernatural stories are still my true calling.