Visiting Qingdao?

Hayakawa quickly stepped forward to stop him, not understanding how Seido had become a trigger word for Kōshū: "Kōshū, don't be like this, what's wrong with Seido?"

Kōshū put down Miyuki, feeling he needed to think hard about why the world was so small: "Speaking of which, aren't you from East Tokyo? Why did you run over to our side?"

Miyuki Kazuya smoothed out his collar, as if discovering something fun, staring at Kōshū, who was walking faster and faster in front of him, constantly asking, "What's wrong, what's wrong?"

Then he thought of something, saying with a mischievous smile, "Kōshū, you're not planning to go to Seido later, are you?"

Kōshū didn't turn his head, walking straight to the baseball equipment area to find what he wanted to buy today.

But not answering is sometimes an answer, so Miyuki Kazuya gave up trying to get a definite answer from Kōshū, turning to attack the 'Younger Brother-kun' who looked easy to slip up: "Younger Brother-kun, is your brother confirmed to go to Seido in a year? Have you met Xiao Li?"

"Who is Xiao Li?"

Miyuki saw Lang Zhi's confused look, obviously he hadn't started contacting her yet, so it was just confirmed that he was going to Seido, according to his brother's physical fitness and pitching level, it might really be amazing in a year, should he give Xiao Li a heads up first?

"She's a Seido scout, how about it, do you want me to help you contact her and let your brothers go to Seido together?" Miyuki Kazuya originally just wanted to tease this younger brother, but when he saw the younger brother look up, there was really something else in his eyes.

Ah, this Younger Brother-kun is so simple, just saying this casually, so both of them want to go to Seido, thinking about Kōshū becoming my junior, it feels so good, then I can use my senior status to make him listen to me obediently.

Miyuki Kazuya, not knowing what he was thinking, 'hee hee' laughed out loud.

Kōshū felt a sudden chill down his back, and then saw Miyuki's happy face, feeling even more suffocated in his heart, so why did things turn out like this, but now it's confirmed, Narumiya Mei is at Inajitsu, Miyuki is at Seido, he's a little reluctant to go to the schools where these two annoying guys are.

But what happened later took a bit of a sharp turn.

Wednesday afternoon, the Autumn Tournament final, Seido against Ichidai Third, lost to the opponent by one point.

That night, Mr. Sasaki was rarely pulled out for a drink by his previous friends, and when he arrived, he found it was a gathering, and for some reason, many people from the former Baseball Club had gathered.

"Isn't this Sasaki? He's exactly the same as in high school, it seems like we haven't gathered much since graduation." This was Mr. Sasaki's senior in the Baseball Club, who often asked Mr. Sasaki to get his washed clothes, now thinking about it, he also made good use of his senior status, forcing Sasaki to help at the time.

"Yes, senior."

"I heard you're a doctor now and have opened your own clinic." Another peer leaned over and asked.

"Yes, it's actually a very small clinic, run together with my wife and a friend."

"Ah, is that the girl from the next class?"

"Hey—" After a few drinks that he couldn't refuse, Mr. Sasaki also thought of the past because of this sentence.

"Isn't that great!" Everyone had obviously been chatting for a while before he arrived, so the newly arrived Sasaki became the focus of the questions.

"However, I'm divorced, and I run it with my remarried wife." Mr. Sasaki paused and said, causing the peers who had just thought it was 'youthful love turning into mature fruit' to sigh.

"Do you have children?"

"I have a son, but the situation is a bit complicated now, after I remarried, my current wife brought a son, so I am now the father of two children."

"Ah—isn't that great, two children." This person, after divorcing his wife, the child followed his wife, and now there is no news, he heard Sasaki's words, his whole face seemed to be sour, using drinking as an excuse, he looked up and closed his eyes.

"So—" It was that senior who had made Sasaki get his clothes for more than a year, using the strength of the alcohol, he patted Sasaki's shoulder hard: "You guy, quitting the Baseball Club was the right thing to do."

"Yes, studying hard, going to medical school, and now life is smooth." Everyone echoed, but some people's mouths were drooping, and they said it somewhat insincerely.

Seeing that the direction of the discussion was wrong, Sasaki quickly introduced other topics: "It's been a long time, why did you suddenly think of gathering today."

"Ah, it's Seido's game today, it's just a coincidence, we didn't make an appointment, everyone met in the audience area, so we said we'd have a drink together."

"Humph—" That senior took a swig of wine and slammed his glass on the table. "In the end, we still lost. I even took a leave of absence from the Section Chief today."

"Well—only a 1-point difference." Another person had loosened his tie and was sucking on edamame for a snack.

"Back then, we made it to the top 8 in Koshien, right, Sasaki?" A mouthful of alcohol fumes sprayed onto Sasaki's face. It was the same senior again. He clearly had a junior from the First String on his right, but he insisted on asking Sasaki, having just been talking about Sasaki quitting the Baseball Club.

"I guess so."

The senior wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by everyone's exclamations: "Speaking of which, I thought that was the starting point for a happy life, but it turned out to be the only peak so far."

"Yeah—I still have Koshien dirt at home."

"Me too, but I lost it when I moved."

"It's okay, come to my place, I'll give you some." That person said jokingly. The person he was talking to was also a former member of the First String. For a moment, their bickering drowned out the others, as if it had turned into a First String fan club, making the other people a little unhappy. They weren't qualified to get Koshien dirt.

So someone interrupted: "Speaking of which, Sasaki-kun has two boys at home, and I heard they're both in the First String of the Little League Team."

"Hey—don't do that." Sasaki tried to stop them, but how could people who had been drinking be stopped? "They're both in their second year of middle school this year, and they've already decided to go to Seido."

Seeing that the topic he had finally managed to shift away from himself had returned, Mr. Sasaki was already feeling a little restless. Plus, the person who couldn't be stopped was the friend who had dragged him out for drinks today. He hadn't mentioned that there would be people from the Baseball Club, leaving him sitting here, being envied for his happy family on one hand, and secretly mocked for quitting the Baseball Club on the other.

"Ah, I have a patient tomorrow morning, and I need to go back to the clinic tonight to prepare, so I'll take my leave first."

"Eh? You've only said a few words."

No one could stop Sasaki, and he just left.

"Hoo—" Coming out of the Izakaya, the cold night air filled his lungs, and Sasaki's throbbing temples eased slightly.

Thinking about how he would definitely be discussed by a group of people after he left, he had a headache. He really shouldn't have come tonight.

Seeing the late-night traffic, Sasaki was about to raise his hand to hail a taxi when he heard a voice from behind.

"Sasaki—wait a moment."

"Shida-kun?" It was the person sitting to the right of that senior. He and Sasaki were contemporaries, and they had practiced batting together in the Second String, and had been inseparable friends for a while. However, Shida quickly achieved results, and then got used to being with the First String partners. In addition, Sasaki was a day student, and there was no chance to increase their friendship by visiting the dormitory at night, so their relationship faded.

"Sasaki-kun, I'm a teacher at Seido now." Out of the blue, Shida said this, probably wanting to stop him quickly when he saw Sasaki hurrying away.

Sure enough, Sasaki was stunned and put down his hand that was raised to hail a taxi. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly saying this? Aren't you going back in to drink?"

Shida curled his lips and shook the hand holding the cigarette. "Do you smoke?"

The two turned into the alley next door, and the noise from outside instantly became much quieter, but the two men standing around a trash can with an ashtray were silent for a moment.

"Haha, why is no one talking?" Shida said with a smile.

"You're one to talk." Sasaki also smiled, and the atmosphere improved a lot. "There were too many people just now, I didn't ask you, are you married?"

"No—"

"Aren't you afraid of 'dying alone'?" Sasaki said with a cigarette in his mouth.

Kodokushi, or "dying alone," is a fixed term in Japan, referring to a person who, when they get old, has no relatives or friends, no wife or children, and dies alone in their apartment, only to be discovered after a long time.

"Ah, it's all the same, actually. Anyway, what I wanted to say is, your children are coming to Seido, right?"

Sasaki nodded, then chuckled: "No, I should say, now I unilaterally hope they go to Seido. The so-called peak of life has never existed in my life, and I don't want them to become like me."

"I see, so we're the same. Always feeling like we're different, but in the end, we just start the second half of our lives so plainly. It's really bewildering to think about."

"Haha, didn't you go to Koshien? You realized your dream once."

"Ah, that kind of thing... I came out to say that I can help you ask about the special enrollment student thing."

"If that's the case, I'd be very grateful."

"Which Little League Team are your kids in?"

"They're both in Kinoshita Little League."

"Oh—that's great then."

Another moment of silence.

"Time... it passes too quickly." The wind, after entering the alley from outside, seemed to become even colder, buffeting the two middle-aged souls.

"Speaking of which, Seido will be open for visits soon. You can take them to see it in person."

"That would be great."

"What subject do you teach?"

"Hahaha, you'd never guess," Shida suddenly laughed. "It's mathematics."

"Eh—" Sasaki let out a long exclamation. "You're kidding me."

Under the starlight of the night, they chatted for a long time, and exchanged LINE contacts before leaving.

After Mr. Sasaki returned home, he was almost completely sober. While washing up, he told his wife about what he had seen today.

"Then let's do it the day after tomorrow afternoon. It just so happens that Mr. Kudo has something to do that afternoon, so let's just close the clinic for a day." Shen Qing picked up her phone. "I'll ask those two kids. If they don't want to go, we'll just have a couple's day."

Upstairs, Kōshū received the message. He twisted open Lang Zhi's door and saw the child inside listening to a Virtual Idol's song.

"Lang Zhi, we're going to visit Seido the day after tomorrow afternoon." After informing Lang Zhi, he replied in the message, "Okay, we'll both go."

"Hey—why so suddenly? What's going on?" Seeing Kōshū open his door again, the complaining voice stopped abruptly.

"Didn't Seido lose to Ichidai Third today? They'll probably rest tomorrow and resume training the day after tomorrow. Let's go take a look then."

"Okay—"

Perfect the background and increase the rationality of going to Seido?