บท 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.