34 Burning Up

Su Qing couldn't help but want to laugh at Narumiya Mei, who was bowing like a soulless machine. However, fearing that Narumiya Mei, though his head was lowered, was still scanning his surroundings, Su Qing forcefully suppressed his laughter, though the joy in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

"Hmph, go back and run 20 laps for me, then sweep the ballfields!"

Narumiya Mei knew this would be the result, but he still asked, unwilling to give up:

"Just the main ballfield?"

"Sweep both ballfields for me!"

Narumiya Mei instantly looked as if his parents had died.

Harada managed to restrain him and bowed again.

"Yes!"

Back at the rest area, Narumiya Mei began to complain.

"I still have to pitch today, and I probably have to sweep the ballfields tonight, and run 20 laps. What if I get injured?"

To avoid being heard by Coach Kunimoto, Narumiya Mei spoke in a super low voice, but the Seido rest area was so small that Coach Kunimoto heard him immediately.

"You don't have to pitch today."

"I'm fine! I can do it!" Narumiya Mei, feeling even more aggrieved, vented his anger on Su Qing.

"You actually betrayed us! You shameless bastard!"

Su Qing proudly raised his head, thinking, Better you than me. Besides, he had reported to Coach Kunimoto before leaving and had received Coach Kunimoto's permission to go out, unlike Narumiya Mei, who ran off without a word.

Harada stopped the bickering between the two.

"It's almost time to go on the field. Come with me to warm up."

Su Qing pushed away Narumiya Mei, who was unwilling and still wanted to argue with him. Pre-game warm-ups were very important; pitching without warming up could easily lead to injury.

Unlike the previous game, a crowd of spectators had gathered around the field. The previous game had been attended by almost no one except the die-hard fans of Seido and Inajitsu, as everyone knew that neither side would field their main players, making it essentially pointless to watch.

But this game was different! Inajitsu would field its full lineup! The Seido players naturally wouldn't miss this game. At this moment, Miyuki had already arrived at the ballfield with Sawamura.

Sawamura was quickly grabbed by Furuya, while Miyuki chuckled and stood next to Furuya...

Furuya's heart was known to all! Sawamura wanted to squeeze past Furuya to get to Miyuki's side, but he just couldn't get through. However, Chen Xin and Chris soon arrived as well.

Seeing Chris-senpai, Sawamura immediately calmed down.

"Watch this game carefully. Inajitsu's Ace is also a left-handed pitcher like you, and a very well-developed pitcher. Watching his pitching will be beneficial for you."

"Yes!"

Su Qing also saw Chen Xin at a glance. Chen Xin took out a glove and a baseball from the equipment bag that Shirakawa had helped bring, and said to Shirakawa:

"Let's warm up too, shall we?"

Infielders also needed to practice throwing, especially the Third Base position. If you didn't throw with force, there was a good chance the ball wouldn't reach past the batter.

Shirakawa nodded and went to practice passing and catching with Su Qing. Hirai Tsubasa sadly went to find other players; he used to practice passing and catching with Shirakawa, after all, they were the second baseman-shortstop duo.

Narumiya Mei, who was practicing pitching on the sidelines, attracted almost all the attention, after all, he was Inajitsu's Ace.

The other Inajitsu players and Shu Bei players practicing catching and swinging on the sidelines were hardly noticeable.

Before the "Tokyo Prince" had even stepped onto his "throne," he had already attracted everyone's attention, along with cheers and shouts of support.

"Narumiya, go! Strike them all out!"

This was just one example; there were many more enthusiastic Inajitsu fans, including some Seido female students. Their own team certainly had good players, but Narumiya Mei was just stronger! Everyone admired the strong!

Narumiya Mei let out a hearty laugh in the bullpen area.

"What are you laughing at! Warm up properly, you bastard! You still have to go back and sweep the ballfield tonight!"

The mention of sweeping the ballfield immediately dampened Narumiya Mei's spirits, and his pitches weakened until he heard a unique shout:

"Su Qing from the first year, do your best too! We're looking forward to seeing you on the pitcher's mound!"

Unfortunately, Su Qing was too far away to know if he heard it, but Narumiya Mei definitely heard it.

The pitcher's mound is mine! I won't let that guy have it!

Harada looked at the pitch that had gone who knows where, not even wanting to try to catch it, and just watched the ball hit the wire mesh next to him.

"What are you doing! Baka! The coach is watching!"

Upon hearing this, Narumiya Mei quickly looked towards the rest area and indeed saw Coach Kunimoto watching him, and he instantly wilted. He went to retrieve the ball he had thrown away and obediently continued to warm up.

Su Qing also saw this scene and immediately laughed, almost getting hit in the face by a ball thrown by Shirakawa. Fortunately, Su Qing reacted quickly enough to block the ball with his glove.

"That's enough, let's go back too."

"Okay."

At this time, most of the players had returned to the rest area, and without a doubt, the game was about to begin.

It must be said that this round-robin tournament was quite formal. Before the game started, both teams charged at each other once, and the game officially began after they bowed to each other.

Shu Bei was on the offense first, Inajitsu on defense. Narumiya Mei went directly to the pitcher's mound, while Su Qing ran to third base.

Sawamura, who was on the sidelines, immediately started shouting:

"Didn't you say he was a new Inajitsu pitcher like me? How come he's standing next to third base now?"

Miyuki thought for a moment before saying:

"Coach Kunimoto probably doesn't want to give up his bat. I remember he also started as a third baseman in the Kanto Tournament, and his batting strength seemed pretty good."

Miyuki's words were of course not directed at Sawamura, but were asking Chris, who was standing next to him.

"Ah, he played eight innings in the Kanto Tournament, with a total of 4 at-bats, 2 home runs, and the other two at-bats were also extra-base hits. His batting ability is comparable to Chen Xin. If I were Coach Kunimoto, I wouldn't keep such a strong hitter on the bench."

Chen Xin stood aside without speaking. Su Qing had certainly bragged to him about how great his bat was back then, but they hadn't met, and he hadn't seen much of it, so he didn't quite believe it.

However, Su Qing didn't get the First Pick because of his pitching, so his batting ability was still somewhat credible, at least enough to hit kids.

After hearing this, Sawamura stood aside without speaking. What was there to say? He was a batting failure, and he had the self-awareness to know that. Furuya Satoru, on the other hand, got fired up. He had certainly heard of Su Qing's name. When reporters interviewed him, they had mentioned Su Qing's name and deliberately compared the two of them.

He could no longer compete with Su Qing in terms of his most proud ball speed, and he didn't want to lose in terms of batting!

Miyuki, who was standing next to him, also noticed that Furuya's condition was not right, and a hint of a smile crossed his lips. That's right, get fired up, young man, so that you can go further this summer!