No. 28 Gets Lost

Afterward, Narumiya Mei used some terrible acting and lied that he needed to use the bathroom before leaving the Rest Area.

Su Qing immediately said he needed to go too, but Shirakawa pressed him back into his seat. Su Qing's eyes widened. Was someone actually stopping him from going to the bathroom?!

Seeing how Shirakawa and Carlos were guarding against him like hawks, Su Qing knew it was unrealistic to follow Narumiya Mei. So what exactly had Narumiya Mei gone off to do?

Looking around the Rest Area, Su Qing realized that Harada had disappeared at some point as well.

!!!!

He remembered!

Mei's first meeting with Little Angel had also involved Miyuki. No way, he wanted to go watch the fun too!

But what did that have to do with Shirakawa and Carlos? Mei and Harada had obviously gone to scout Seido. That was perfectly normal behavior, so why were Shirakawa and the others hiding it from him?

Su Qing felt as if cats were clawing at his heart, but he kept his expression calm. If he wanted to leave, he had to wait until Shirakawa and the others let down their guard.

Now!

Su Qing burst from his seat at the speed he used when running the bases and made to sprint out of the lounge.

Carlos and Shirakawa were no pushovers either. They were all baseball players—whose reflexes could possibly be bad? Instinctively, they reached out to grab Su Qing, and Inashiro's lounge immediately became the scene of a fielder trying to tag out a runner.

Su Qing dodged nimbly, but two fists could not beat four hands. Once Carlos caught hold of him, Shirakawa's hand reached in as well, firmly restraining Su Qing.

Seido's Rest Area was open and had no barriers, so everyone on the field turned their eyes toward Inashiro's Rest Area, watching the three of them tangled together.

The attention they drew was no less than that iconic scene between Miyauchi and Kawakami earlier.

"What are you doing?!"

The moment they saw Coach Kunimoto's icy gaze, both Shirakawa and Carlos obediently let go. Su Qing stopped struggling as well.

Unlike Shirakawa and Carlos, Su Qing showed no unease at all. He was not embarrassed in the slightest.

"Coach, I need to use the bathroom."

Su Qing did not mention Shirakawa and Carlos trying to stop him. Leave some room when dealing with people, and they could still meet again in the future. He was giving the two of them some room to explain themselves.

After receiving his coach's approving look, Su Qing quickly ran off, as though he really did need to use the bathroom.

Seido's Rest Area...

"Is that Inashiro's first-year pitcher?"

After hearing Coach Kataoka's question, Chris, who was sitting at a table recording data, answered calmly:

"Yes. That's Su Qing. Like Chen Xin, he's a foreigner who joined Inashiro this summer. He's a Fastball pitcher like Furuya. No, his velocity is even a little higher than Furuya's. According to the information we collected, he once threw a pitch as fast as 158 km/h. His control is also extremely refined, and he can easily place pitches at every edge and corner of the Strike Zone. According to batters who have faced him, his fastball changes as it enters the Strike Zone, just like Eijun's. But judging from his control, that movement is something he can control..."

The more Chris spoke, the more bitter he felt. If Seido wanted to advance to Koshien, Inashiro would be the greatest obstacle in their path. Having the highly polished Tokyo Prince, Narumiya Mei, was already troublesome enough. Now they had another pitcher just as polished. Why had such good fortune not fallen upon Seido?

Although they already had Chen Xin, Furuya, and Sawamura, each with a promising future, who would not want even more?

"As for breaking balls, the only one we found was a slider he threw during the Kanto Tournament. Its trajectory was beautiful. I once showed the video to Yuki-kun, and he said that if he faced that slider, he would not be able to hit it well the first time either. He would need to see a few more pitches."

But if that pitch was the pitcher's finishing weapon, who would give you the chance to see a few more? A batter only had so many plate appearances in a game. And high school baseball did not allow failure.

Coach Kataoka's expression grew increasingly grave. Seeing this, Chris stopped talking and continued carefully recording information from the game.

This game truly could not provide them with any more information on Inashiro, but it could provide information on Kawakami. Kawakami was Seido's absolute mainstay, after all. His performance would affect Seido's results this summer, so they could not afford to be careless.

After a while, an unknown member of Seido's Baseball Club suddenly hurried over. After bowing to Coach Kataoka, he ran to Chris's side and began whispering to him.

After listening, Chris set down his pen and told the club member to leave first. He would go over immediately.

Seeing Chris rise, Coach Kataoka asked what was wrong. Chris answered vaguely, only saying that Miyuki had run into a small matter that needed his attention. Coach Kataoka did not press him any further.

If Chris did not want to say, then it meant it was merely a matter between players. As long as there was no major impact, he would not interfere. His question had only been a routine expression of concern.

Let us turn back time to when Narumiya Mei had just left the Rest Area.

Narumiya Mei had left the Rest Area entirely because Carlos said he had seen that new Seido player. Carlos then told Harada and Narumiya Mei about it.

Harada immediately left the field, but it would have been awkward for him to go alone. So they planned to send in Narumiya Mei, whose words were especially irritating, to provoke the newcomer a little and scout Seido's information at the same time. But Narumiya Mei had been fooling around with Su Qing at the time, which led to the scene in the lounge just now.

After meeting up with Harada, Narumiya Mei headed in the direction Harada had mentioned and eventually found Chen Xin in Seido's cafeteria.

The smell of food from the cafeteria made Narumiya Mei hungry at once, but having long been spoiled by Su Qing, he lost his appetite the moment he saw the dishes in Seido's cafeteria.

But the cafeteria was filled with Seido people, and the two of them were wearing Inashiro uniforms. Going to trouble a first-year in a place like that was terrifying just to think about. Still, for Su Qing's sake, they forced themselves to sit across from Chen Xin.

Narumiya Mei had intended to seize the initiative, but Chen Xin shut him down instead. Faced with Chen Xin's endless stream of provocative talk, Narumiya Mei and Harada suffered a crushing defeat! Especially after Miyuki joined in, the situation went from one-sided to a complete rout.

At that point, Su Qing, who was nearly lost, finally found his way to the cafeteria.

He had practically run all over Seido! He was panting heavily. This was not scientific! He clearly remembered Mei and the others meeting Little Angel at the field. He had searched Seido's B field and failed to find them, then searched all around the field as well. He had even checked out the embankment where Seido's players loved practicing their swings.

After searching for ages without finding them, Su Qing finally gave up. If he could not find them, then so be it. He decided to check out Seido's cafeteria instead. These were all famous Diamond no Ace locations! Check in, check in.