Learning the Changeup 1

That night, West Tokyo City had already fallen asleep. The sound of passenger planes flying overhead, which was usually lost in the background noise during the day, was particularly noticeable at night. The sound grew louder as it approached, reaching its peak with a roar overhead, and then gradually faded into the distance, like the pain of a cramp at night. You endure until the pain reaches its peak, and then it slowly subsides, allowing you to get out of bed.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch," Kōshū muttered, pushing aside the books on his chest. The orange desk lamp, which he had forgotten to turn off, illuminated the current time: "It's already past 12."

He quietly went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and looked at the thermos next to it. The Sasaki family had two sets of habits, one Chinese and one Japanese. For example, there were chopsticks with pointed ends and chopsticks with flat ends. Sometimes, when Kōshū was too hungry, he would realize halfway through the meal that he had mixed up the chopsticks. Another example was that there was ice water in the refrigerator, but there was also a thermos next to it for drinking hot water.

Kōshū thought about his cramped calf, which was frozen, and out of a desire for good luck, poured himself a glass of warm water.

Then, as he tilted his head back to drink, he saw the light coming from the adults' room.

'Are they still not asleep?' Kōshū went over.

"...The number of Sports Student slots is limited," said Mr. Sasaki. "I got into Seido by taking the exam back then. I remember the Deviation Value was over 50, which is perfectly fine."

"You're really taking it easy," Shen Qing said, annoyed, as she took out the admissions brochure. "You talk a big game, but in the end, you still leave me to worry about it."

Mr. Sasaki didn't dare to reply. There were too many examples of this with him, and he didn't have the confidence to argue.

"The highest this year is 65, and the average Deviation Value is about 60."

"Well... Kōshū should have no problem with the exam, except for Japanese History, which needs some tutoring, but Lang Zhi is a bit risky." Mr. Sasaki also looked at the latest admissions brochure.

"Oh, you even got this yesterday, that's amazing," Mr. Sasaki complimented.

Shen Qing ignored him and continued, "I asked her if she had ever come to Kinoshita Little League to observe, and she said she admired Coach Ninomiya's coaching philosophy, so she comes to Kinoshita Little League many times every year. But Coach Ninomiya only lets them observe from the coach's room to avoid scouts influencing the players, and later he calls the players into the coach's room for a three-way meeting with the scouts."

"That's really thoughtful. Some of the polite words that adults say, the kids will take seriously," Mr. Sasaki sighed, and then asked the question he was most concerned about: "Has she observed Kōshū and Lang Zhi, and can she give them the Sports Student slots?"

"She seems to have more of an impression of Kōshū, and mentions Lang Zhi less, so I guess Lang Zhi is more at risk."

"It's Lang Zhi again? Sigh—" Mr. Sasaki sighed deeply, "So Lang Zhi had better get in through the exam, but we discussed earlier that his grades have always been like this. Could it be that we have to start tutoring him now?"

"Studying and playing baseball at the same time might be too much," Shen Qing said worriedly.

"So, why are his grades so average? Is it because I haven't cared enough about him since he was little?"

"Why are you starting to say that again," Shen Qing patted her somewhat dejected husband, "Why don't we have Kōshū tutor Lang Zhi? Anyway, they study and take the same tests."

"Sigh, I suddenly feel like maybe we shouldn't make things difficult for the kids. In the end, I've just been obsessed with it. The kids don't necessarily have to go to the same school..."

Kōshū didn't listen to the rest of the conversation. The problem was already very clear: how could he get into Seido as a Specially Recruited Student? Specially Recruited Students could be exempt from tuition and fees, which sounded great. And how could Lang Zhi get into Seido? This guy had already awkwardly expressed the sentiment of 'wherever you go, I'll go.' It would be very uncomfortable to leave him at another school in the end.

"Sigh—" It's just tutoring, Kōshū thought easily.

He took out his phone. He only knew one person who had entered Seido through the Specially Recruited Student program. Although it was already past 12, he didn't feel any guilt about sending a message.

"Miyuki-senpai, how did you get into Seido through the Specially Recruited Student program?"

After 30 seconds, there was no reply. Kōshū boredly tapped the back of his phone, and then didn't wait any longer, directly making a phone call.

A sleepy voice answered the phone: "Kōshū, what's wrong?"

"Miyuki-senpai, sorry to bother you. Please check the message, I'll hang up first." Miyuki, who had the phone hung up on him, was still groggy. He clicked on the latest text message and laughed out loud, completely waking up.

He sat up and replied: "What's wrong, Kōshū? Are you so eager to get into Seido that you can't sleep?"

"...Hurry up." Hanging up on him was indeed prescient. If he heard those words in person, he would definitely blow up.

"Rei-chan, who is also Seido's Scout, has come to watch our games many times. When you start playing as the Ace Pitcher, she will definitely come to watch too."

"Oh, so do you know what kind of pitchers were invited as Specially Recruited Students before?"

"Around 145 kph ball speed, with sharp Straight Balls, and Forkballs and Sliders that are hard to adapt to." Miyuki seemed to reply to Kōshū without much thought.

"...Aren't you talking about Narumiya Mei?!" Was he also invited to Seido?

"If you can reach Narumiya's level by the end of your third year, you will definitely be invited by Seido, or rather, you will definitely be invited by many schools."

"Miyuki-senpai, I suspect you're talking nonsense. If I could guarantee that I could reach that level, I wouldn't be asking you. So, what's the minimum to attract the attention of Seido Scouts?"

Miyuki still didn't answer directly, only replying at the end: "If you want to come to Seido, whether you're Specially Recruited or take the general exam, you'll definitely meet Narumiya Mei later. Are you afraid? Or are you not aiming for a First String pitcher or Ace Pitcher? Then I advise you not to come and go to a Public School to play happy baseball."

Then this Miyuki Kazuya never replied to messages again. Kōshū was shocked that the always nonchalant catcher would get angry one day? At the same time, he reflected on his own remarks and some of his rash actions tonight.

People are just so strange. A person who can express dissatisfaction at the right time is more respected. Of course, later Kōshū found out that Miyuki had fallen asleep while waiting for a text message that night, so he didn't reply later, and that sense of respect instantly thinned out a lot.

"Use Narumiya Mei as a template?" He compared the gap between himself now, the highest speed of 134 kph, the average speed of 130 kph, only one Straight Ball, and he hasn't learned any Changeups yet. The only thing that can be called great is his pitching accuracy, and it's hard to say whether he can keep it after his ball speed increases significantly.

In less than a year, he must at least be not much different from this year's Narumiya Mei... Maybe, it would be better to communicate this goal with Coach Ninomiya.

The next day, Kōshū came to the coach's office, which was often visited by players.

"You want to learn Changeups?" Coach Ninomiya is a man of his word on the field, but in private, he is very willing to give players room to speak. "Tell me what you think?"

"I want to enter Seido High School through the Sports Student program, so in addition to ball speed, I want to hone one or two Changeups as soon as possible so that they can be used in games."

"Hmm." Coach Ninomiya nodded, "So which Changeup do you want to learn? Do you have any ideas?"

"A Cutter or a Slider. I only have vertical changes now, and I want to increase the possibility in the horizontal direction."

"So, Kōshū, do you know why we didn't let you learn Changeups before?" Coach Ninomiya asked back.

Kōshū didn't feel any pressure, he thought about it: "Fixed Stance, including now I use a Fixed Stance to pitch, just to allow me, a beginner, to quickly develop physical habits through repetition."

"Then why did you choose these two pitches? Because you saw others throw them?" Coach Ninomiya doesn't seem to be planning to let Kōshū go today. Kōshū has a hunch that if he doesn't say one, two, and three, the coach will probably still be worried about him. After all, in their eyes, he is just a second-year student.

"For the Cutter, I've seen Shibasaki's grip, which is almost the same as a Straight Ball. The arm swing and release point are also very similar, which will not affect my Straight Ball. For the Slider, the release method is also similar to the Straight Ball, but the change is greater, which can increase the power of my pitch, so I plan to learn from one of these two pitches."

After listening, Coach Ninomiya didn't have any expression, just nodded and said that he would discuss this matter with Coach Fujii. When Kōshū was about to go out, he called Kōshū again and said that the monthly Intra-Team Physical Test would be conducted again next week.

Kōshū understood what Coach Ninomiya meant, probably that if the results of the physical test have reached Kōshū's goal for this year, then it is entirely possible to start learning early.

'Speaking of which, I said I wanted to go to Seido, but Coach Ninomiya didn't react at all.' Sure enough, to get the qualification of a Specially Recruited Student, you still have to rely on strength.

"How is it?" Just as he went downstairs, Kōshū was stopped by Lang Zhi and asked.

"It's definitely possible, my ball speed has already reached the goal." Kōshū avoided Lang Zhi's expectant eyes.

"What about me? Did you help me ask about the Specially Recruited Student thing? If I want to reach the level of a Specially Recruited Student, how should I make a training plan?"

As soon as Kōshū closed the door of the coach's office, he remembered that he had forgotten to ask Lang Zhi, so he said with a straight face: "This kind of thing can only be asked by yourself..."

"Liar, you clearly promised."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Don't pretend to be stupid over there!"

The two joked around, said goodbye to Grandma Gu Yue, who counted the number of people at the door every day, and went back arguing all the way.

Anyone who doesn't know better might think the protagonist has already finished learning when they see this title...

But I only mentioned it in passing...

Today I learned a writing method called the "three-act structure," which is "establish a goal - set obstacles - overcome difficulties to achieve the goal." I don't think I've ever followed this structure before...

I really need to plan the plot carefully from now on. When I was writing novels on Jinjiang, I rarely thought about these things. I could write tens of thousands of words without even needing an outline. Now my life depends entirely on the outline