Training 8

"I'll go back and ask the captain and the others. Let's call it here for today."

Seeing that it was getting late, Su Qing prepared to part ways with Tada.

Just as Su Qing was about to leave, he saw the hesitant look on Tada's face.

"What is it? Is there something else?"

Tada thought for a long time before finally gathering the courage to make his request.

"Can I catch Su Jun's pitches one more time?"

These past few days, Su Qing had practiced batting with him by pitching while Tada hit. Su Qing would tell him where he was going to throw the ball, then Tada would swing. Otherwise, Tada really might not have been able to hit Su Qing's pitches. Su Qing's breaking balls were simply too sharp, especially his sinker. Its velocity was no weaker than his fastball's, yet it broke far more.

Every time Tada watched Su Qing's sinker, he was so stunned that he forgot to swing.

And Tadano Itsuki was a catcher, after all. Watching so many pitches every day but only being allowed to hit, never catch, naturally left him itching like he had been scratched by a cat's claws.

When Su Qing had first told him he could throw so many kinds of breaking balls, Tada had not believed him. He had only chosen to catch the fastball. Looking at it now, he had been such an idiot! He had actually missed the chance to catch Su Qing's breaking balls.

Moreover, the First String and Second String Team held their pitching practices at different times. Even if they did not, the First String had two catchers. A little Second String catcher like him would never get a turn catching Su Qing.

During Su Qing's extra evening practice, he only practiced batting and never pitching. Whenever he did pitch, it was only for Tada to hit. After all this time, Tada had never found an opportunity. Today, he had finally worked up the courage to ask to catch Su Qing's pitches after they finished batting practice together. Who would have thought Su Qing was going to leave early? How could that be acceptable?!

"Huh? Right now? Well, you didn't bring any protective gear. If one of my pitches hits you, that won't be a small matter."

Su Qing was genuinely tired today and wanted to go back early to rest. But he felt it would hurt Tada's feelings to refuse him outright, so he found an excuse. They could make plans for tomorrow; there was plenty of time.

Who would have thought that Tada had long been fully prepared for today? He immediately pulled out his protective gear from the Indoor Practice Room's equipment locker and quickly put it on.

Seeing this, Su Qing had no reason left to refuse. The other guy was already being this proactive—how could he still say no?

So Su Qing walked straight to the pitching rubber in the Indoor Practice Room, while Tada, fully geared up, crouched behind home plate in the pitching lane.

"Ready?"

Tada nodded vigorously.

"Then the first pitch will be right down the middle."

Tada placed his glove right over the heart of the plate. Although he did not show it on the surface, he was incredibly excited. After nearly a month, he was finally going to catch Su Jun's pitches again?

A faint smile appeared on Su Qing's face as well. Even though he was throwing it right down the middle, there was no way he would let Tada catch his pitch that easily!

The sharp-eyed Tada immediately noticed that Su Qing's pitching motion was vastly different from before. This strange pitching style drew all of Tada's attention to Su Qing's lower body. By the time Su Qing released the ball, Tada had not even noticed his release point.

But because Su Qing had called the location, Tada still caught the pitch fairly easily. Feeling the tingling sensation of the ball hitting his glove, Tada felt unbelievably happy! He was able to catch the pitches of such an outstanding pitcher.

If Su Qing had not been his peer, Tada's idol would probably have changed from Narumiya Mei to Su Qing long ago.

"The second pitch will be Position 11."

Position 11 referred to the eleventh point in the Nine-Panel Grid, counted from top to bottom and left to right. In truth, Su Qing could throw to a sixteen-panel grid, but this was high school. The Nine-Panel Grid was enough; there was no need to divide it so finely.

This time, Tada warned himself to focus on Su Qing's release point rather than his lower body, but his attention was still involuntarily drawn away by Su Qing's little movements.

Tada could not really be blamed for that. Most batters were used to watching the pitcher's feet first. Once the pitcher's foot landed, the ball should have been released. But Su Qing's new pitching motion made Tada feel as though Su Qing's foot had not even touched down before the ball was already out.

In truth, this was the complete version of Su Qing. In his previous life, as the batters he faced as a professional grew stronger and stronger, pitchers naturally did everything they could to disrupt their judgment. Their pitching motions became increasingly bizarre. Some pitchers liked to pause during their stride, some liked to hook their foot at the very end, and some did not take a normal stride at all.

All of it was meant to disrupt a batter's sense of timing. The reason Su Qing had never used this motion was because he felt it was too much bullying children. They already could not grasp the timing, and he would only make it even more confusing. Even beating up weak opponents should not have been this ruthless. But ever since he confirmed that Chen Xin had also come over, he had picked up his pitching motion from his previous life again. Hmph, in this life, he would definitely keep Chen Xin under his thumb!

After throwing a fastball to find his rhythm, Su Qing immediately threw a breaking ball for the second pitch. Of course, it was not his best sinker, but a curveball.

The baseball traced a beautiful arc through the air before finally entering Tada's glove.

"Nice ball!"

Tada stood up and threw the baseball he had just caught back to Su Qing.

Su Qing, standing on the pitching rubber, thought for a moment. With his control, constantly calling the location was far too boring. It would be better to make things a little more exciting.

"Third pitch, slider."

Huh?!

He was not calling the location anymore?!

Before Tada could ask, Su Qing had already thrown the ball.

Tada had no choice but to stare fixedly at the baseball. During the first half of its flight, the ball's path looked almost identical to a fastball, but Tada knew that was all a lie.

Just as the baseball was about to reach the strike zone, it broke sharply, sliding down toward the lower-right corner. Tada moved his glove with it, but he did not catch the ball until it was nearly on the ground.

That pitch had crossed half the strike zone. If Tada had timed it properly, he actually could have caught it at the edge, but he had failed to do so. A strike had become a ball. He was too unskilled.

Just as Tada was about to apologize, Su Qing spoke first.

"Hurry up and throw me the ball."

Tada could only throw the ball back to Su Qing. Just as he was about to apologize, Su Qing spoke again.

"Fourth pitch, changeup."

Hearing that, Tada could only hurriedly crouch down.

Of course Su Qing understood what Tada wanted to do, but it was no big deal. There had not even been a passed ball, so what was there to apologize for? Back when Yamagami had first caught his breaking balls, Yamagami himself had called the locations, yet he had still allowed several passed balls. Tada had caught them steadily on his first try, which was already very impressive. At the very least, Su Qing was quite satisfied.

The catcher at home was finally coming into his own. Su Qing wondered whether Coach Kunimoto would bring Tada up early. After all, in the original story, Tada had already become Inashiro's main catcher that autumn.