Chapter 98: The Competitors
Witnessing the batter come up to the batter's box. Sanada tensed up a bit since he was pitching in Koshien he didn't want to mess up this chance for the team. They all had worked hard in training to come all this way to Koshien. Of course, this all wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Rei and his training camp. The team went through major changes after the training camp getting ready for their first Koshien.
Sanada stood on the mound shaking off his anxiety. Immediately thereafter, he received a signal from his catcher, Kazuma, and wound up his glove to pitch. He held immense trust in Kazuma maybe not before but after Rei shaped him up, his intuition as a catcher had skyrocketed.
Sanada nodded to Kazuma and threw a cutter to the inside. This may not seem like a lot but if the catcher's intuition was correct this pitch was thrown to the right person.
Kazuma's intuition was proven correct when the umpire yelled, "Out!". Yakushi's fans exploded in cheers and even the Yakushi Dugout yelled out supportively for their pitcher.
Meanwhile in the audience reporters were having an interesting conversation between them. "This match is about to end, who do you think Is going to win?".
"Yakushi!"
"Yoshinaga!"
"That #10 is going to strike the batter out and win the match for Yakushi", said a reporter concluding.
"That could be or Yoshinaga makes a comeback if the batter scores", replied the other reporter.
"It could go any way. Let's just wait and see", said a random person interrupting their conversation.
Back in the Koshien Field. The fielders were spread apart evenly on the wide field. Raizou had instructed them to go back a bit since the batter was a heavy hitter with a wide swing.
Sanada then winded up his glove for the second pitch and this time threw a fastball to the outside as instructed by Kazuma. The ball went straight to the catcher hitting his mitt. The batter swung too wide and missed the timing of the pitch.
"Out!", said the umpire making the hearts of the Yakushi fans grow tenser.
Thankfully, Sanada was in the zone ignoring how important the current pitch was for the match. He winded up his glove for the last pitch and threw the pitch at Kazuma's signal. He threw his special pitch, Shuuto to the inside.
The batter was left stunned when he saw the pitch coming at him at a weird angle and broke close to the plate. The batter had the timing right and made contact with the bat, but he was jammed, and the ball rolled on the ground straight to the pitcher.
The batter remained standing in the batter's box still processing what had just happened while Sanada quickly rushed to scoop the ball and throw it to the first base. The batter looked at him and Sanada flashed a wide grin.
"Batter Out! Game Over! Yoshinaga was close but Yakushi High School has taken the Quarterfinals!", yelled the announcer.
The crowd went wild cheering for Yakushi. Each player's family was cheering for their kid proudly. The echoes reverberated throughout the whole stadium.
On the Field, the players jumped on each other in celebration. "Keha--kehahahaha!", laughed Raichi in disbelief. Everyone surrounded Rei and threw him in the air for celebration. Rei just let it be since he was getting used to the throwing by now. Every time they won a match, they would come to throw him in the air, he gets the enthusiasm but he was tired by now. Besides, he was just glad these rats won the match without any of his help. Just thinking about the other things, he has to prepare for the next match stressed him, but he decided to enjoy the moment.
On the other hand, Raizou was enjoying the moment to its fullest. He had snuck some alcohol in the dugout and taken a shot of that secretly. Rei knowing fully about this shook his head since he caught his irresponsible coach in the act, but he shrugged because it was Raizou they were talking about.
Anyhow, Rei was glad the team was united and could trust each other. Looking at the team now, Rei knew they had the potential to win Koshien. Though it was easier said than done since he was disappointed in the team for this match. The team barely won by 1 run he couldn't believe it. They had practiced and practiced but yet they could barely hold their own on the field. Which is why he decided to not bench himself in the next 2 matches since they were way too important to risk.
Yakushi High Vs. Yoshinaga High.
Yakushi Wins! 10-9.
Miles Away In A House, A kid with black hair and dark brown eyes sat Infront of a TV in his living room with the curtains blocking the sunlight. The images of the TV reflected on the kid in the darkness.
"Yakushi High? Not too far from here. Maybe I'll check out their tryouts this year. Should be a good team since they made it to Koshien Afterall plus that player's in their team", the kid muttered.
As a Baseball player, he had kept tabs on the upcoming news lately and found that Rei Fujikawa was the hottest new Baseball player this past 2 years. He had been on fire and seeing how Yakushi changed after he transferred there made him more eager to join the team. He thought for sure there were going to be a lot of players applying to Yakushi at the same time as him.
Tomobe was left to his intrusive thoughts as he continued watching the match in the darkness.
In Another House, Miles Away. In a brightly lit living room, a boy who had a small stature and light brown hair and eyes sat Infront of the TV doing his homework. "As expected Yakushi is turning into a horrifying team", he commented analyzing the match.
"Wasn't another player in the team that you were talking about", asked his mother appearing in the living room.
The boy turned around and replied, "Ah, Rei-San I guess he's benched. Maybe they're thinking of giving the other players more experience. After all, they'll need him the most if they want to win the Nationals".
In the Hotel of the Koshien Stadium, a team of players sat Infront of the TV watching the Quarterfinals and analyzing their next opponent, Yakushi High School.
"The Team is rising rapidly in Koshien, especially Rei Fujikawa".
"It's him with Sanada Shunpei as the relieve pitcher they have a good chance at winning this".
"Enough! All of you be prepared in your top conditions and we will run health checkups on all of you before the match tomorrow. Is that understood?", exclaimed the coach, Kotaro Sasaki.
The players nodded, all lost in their thoughts. As a competitive team who often goes to Koshien, they have experience and skills working for them that Yakushi, the rough team doesn't. Honestly, Kotaro thought of them as a joke, why should a Koshien-level team be lacking players? He just didn't like their playstyle. He grabbed his timer and met his players on the field for Night Practice.
At the same time, Yakushi in their Hotel room was going through…life-changing events as well. All Rei was trying to do was prepare them for tomorrow, but he didn't know why it turned out like this.
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Chapter 99: Interview
A few hours before. The match had just ended, and the players were heading to their locker rooms to cool down. Yakushi's Team entered their locker room in a joyful mood. They all chattered among each other as they changed from their uniforms to casual clothing. Some players even went to take a shower.
Amidst the chaotic locker room, Rei was ready to head out to the hotel room since he had to prepare for the strategies their team is going to be using against their opponent. He couldn't shut down teams with his pitching only he had to improve the team on the other aspects as well and Koshien was the best place to do it. He had a few things in mind, but he had to discuss them with the team first.
Wearing his gym bag on his left shoulder Rei walked out of the locker room ahead of anyone else. He knew his teammates were going to enjoy and relax in the shower and he even saw some of them go out to discover the Koshien Stadium. Although he did want to go around the stadium, he didn't have the time for it the Semi-Finals were tomorrow!
As soon as Rei arrived outside the locker room he was immediately crushed by a wave of people. …After a few seconds, he was finally able to take a breather, but the wave of people surrounded him with their mics in their hands. Rei forcefully broke into a smile straining his muscles. He cursed his luck since now half of his time was going to be wasted here.
"Rei, how does it feel to come to Koshien with Yakushi for the first time?", asked a reporter holding his notepad in his hands ready to jot down any information.
"Great! Teamwork is great in the team currently and I'm helping them improve their skills as well. Even the coach and the members are supportive of this matter", Rei replied calmly.
"That is great to hear and we all can't wait to see the semi-finals tomorrow", the reporter replied jotting the answer down on his notepad.
Rei nodded and another reporter with a bald head spoke out with his notepad ready. "Why did you not pitch today? Your fans were going crazy", the reporter exclaimed.
"I was benched by my coach since he said to let the other members experience Koshien too. He also mentioned since I would have to pitch on the following days, I could take a break today", said Rei nonchalantly explaining how he followed his coach's instructions by heart.
The reporters impressed at the player's discipline noted it down on their notepads. the reporters continued to ask questions about Rei's past decisions and their opponents in the Semi-Finals. At this point, Rei was getting bored, and he was going to dip any second, but a sudden question asked by a female reporter intrigued him.
"What advice do you have for your juniors incoming to high school this year? Though players will be coming to line up for the tryouts in Yakushi", the female reporter said.
Rei slightly chuckled at the female reporter's statement. "This is a good question", he said winking at the female reporter. The wink had made the female reporter smile brightly as she felt he was flirting with her. She was probably not going to forget this flirting the whole day.
"Let's see I would recommend you guys don't blindly choose a school. Research the team you want to go to and see if it fits your style of playing. Also, another important point is that you want to get a lot of experience on the field and not just sit on the bench in your first year. This will help you develop your skills fast and you will be at the head of the game", said Rei giving proper advice to his underclassmen. He felt great sharing his wisdom, but it was up to the kids to choose for themselves, but he did know there were going to be some changes to the Yakushi future first years because of how far they had made it in Koshien.
"Thank you for the advice", replied the female reporter with a slight blush evident on her cheeks.
Before Rei could have more reporters ask him more questions he said, "I'll be leaving now since we have to prepare for the semi-finals tomorrow". As he was leaving, he suddenly remembers something and turns back to speak into a mic, "You guys better cheer for me". He said beaming a smile and running off to the hotel room.
What Rei didn't know was how the shining smile on National TV had caught the young girl's heart around Japan. Overnight he gained a fan following and an official fan club with 2 members in it.
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After a few minutes later Rei arrived in his Hotel Room which was #396. He placed the key card in front of a scanner and a beep sound was heard clacking open the door. He entered the room and his mouth cracked open widely as he glanced around the room. There was a king bed and gold and white accented decorations around the room.
"This room looks more expensive than my house", Rei commented as he placed his belongings on his bed. He took out his sports gear and placed them in his closet. During this trip, they had assigned 2 people per room in the hotel for free. Though fortunately Rei wasn't paired up with anyone since Yakushi had an uneven number of players in their team. But this wasn't a bad thing since this gave him the time to think of the many strategies they could use against Hakuryuu High School.
For that, he decided to call a meeting for the whole team at the auditorium. 'I should relax for now', thought Rei as he drifted into his nap. He had set an alarm for 2 hours since the meeting they decided was going to be held at night when everyone would be available.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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Creation is hard, cheer me up!
I tagged this book, come and support me with a thumbs up!
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