Bab 51: 51. Ray Of Light

Completing his daily jog on the next day, Rei went inside the bathroom to take a bath. Taking a bath he hoped he would cross this obstacle he was facing for so long. He hoped that today when he plays this would end.

Snapping out of his thought he heard the door knocking. Getting out of the bath, covering himself he opened the door. Sora was standing out with a towel in his hands waiting. Seeing Rei open he asked, "Are you done, Rei?"

Rei nodded and wore his clothes quickly and went out. He made his way towards the hall to see some television till breakfast was ready. He sat on the couch and turned the television on. He started to skip through various channels to find something which would catch his attention.

He finally found something interesting to see and stopped switching channels. The program was about an experienced player who caught the yips while playing and how he overcame it. The player was sharing his experience.

[Being the Ace of my team getting the yips was a major blow to the team. Suddenly losing the inability to throw the ball was something a player like me could not face. I had many breakdowns in that phase of life. I tried over and over again with pure persistence to get over it, but there was no result. I visited many doctors and took many sessions for it but at the end of the day it was the same result.] told the player.

[Then how were you able to pull through this?] asked the interviewer.

The player smiled at the camera and answered [It was a hard process. The secret was to believe in myself]

Confused by his answer, the interviewer asked again [ Believe in yourself?]

The player nodded and continued [Yes the main thing is to believe in yourself. If you don't believe that you can get through that phase no matter how many sessions you take there won't be any effect. Only if you have confidence in yourself you would improve in overcoming the problem.]

The interview continued but Rei did not pay attention to it anymore. He was thinking about what the player in the interview said. Even though both the people's condition was different the problem was the same, both could not play baseball. He started to wonder if he ever believed in himself. From the death of Tensei, Rei never tried to believe in himself that he would cross this hurdle.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Meiko called for him, "Rei come on breakfast is ready."

Rei nodded and turned the television off and went towards the dining hall. Even when Rei was thinking he continued to think as the player's words constantly rang in his years. Everyone on the table wondered what Rei was thinking so deeply about but did not ask and left him to think for himself.

After eating Rei went back to his room again. He slept on the bed and thought about it, 'Believe in myself ha. I never thought of it as that way before.'.

He turned and saw the time on the clock. There was still over an hour so he sat on his table to do some leftover homework. Even though Rei was doing his homework his attention was not on it. After an hour his door opened and Sora stood there.

"Izumi came, he is waiting for you in the hall." and closed the door again.

Closing his books Rei changed his clothes to something lighter and took his glove. He went towards the hall and saw Izumi talking with Meiko and Sora. Seeing Rei coming in Izumi smiled and stood up.

"Ready to go."

Rei nodded and didn't give a reply back. Both of them made their way out and went towards the nearby park. Meiko and Sora sat inside the hall and thought only one thing and that is Rei should get over this problem.

Going towards the park both of them talked about some random matters. Izumi was praying in his heart for this to work and Rei to become normal and play baseball again.

Reaching the busy park both of them went towards the corner to have some space. Standing a bit far from each other Izumi shouted, "Are you ready Rei? Take a deep breath."

Rei nodded and took a deep breath and exhaled to calm his nerves. He waved his hand indicating he was ready. Izumi nodded and threw the ball at Ret. Catching the ball Rei fondled it a bit to get the grip right.

Finding a comfortable one he winded his hand to throw it back. He suddenly dropped the ball as his head felt dizzy. His eyes became hazy and he saw Izumi running towards him. Clutching his chest he tried to calm down.

He looked forward and saw Tensei standing in front of him smiling. He tried to talk but no words came out. He saw Tensei's lips moving but could not hear him. He felt hopeless again and started to lose confidence.

He then heard Izumi, "Get yourself together Rei. Sensei would not like to see you like this."

Hearing him Rei shook his head and took a deep breath. He looked in front and saw Tensei again.

Tensei's lips moved again and he could hear, "You can do it Rei. I will always be watching over you."

Hearing this Rei started to slowly cry. He staggered towards Tensei and fell into his arms. He hugged him tight and couldn't help cry louder. Tensei wrapped his arms around and patted Rei saying, "It's ok Rei.'

Regaining his strength he stood back and saw Tensei smiling and disappearing into particles like always. He looked around and saw Izumi looking at him with a worried face.

Izumi asked him, "Are you ok, Rei."

Rei smiled and nodded showing he was ok. Seeing him ok Izumi exhaled and smiled back.

Izumi asked him, "What did you see Rei."

Rei looked towards the place Tensei stood and replied, "I saw Otou-san Izumi. He was encouraging me and told me everything will be alright." while smiling.