Chương 41: 41. 2 Years ( Part-II )

*ONE YEAR LATER*

Joining the middle school division didn't make any changes to Rei's daily routine. He went to school daily with the siblings. Now as they are in the same division, it made it easier for them to go and come. Rei continued to be the top grade in the class when it comes to studies, Keiko remained well and Mizuki continued to scrape by with the help of her Rei and Keiko.

He joined the cooking club in the school. It had only two girls as its members making it easier for Rei to join and communicate. Both of them were in their last years. Both of them were very nice to him and took care of him when he had any problems. Rei felt very close to both of them. Even when Rei faced some problems in the school they were the first to help Rei solve them.

Rei enjoyed cooking with them and learned many new things about cooking. His time there helped him to forget about his problem with baseball. He felt very blessed to meet and become friends with them.

Rei's friendship with Mizuki and Meiko grew as he entered middle school. He didn't try to make new friends as he felt they were enough. All three enjoyed their time together.

Rei continued to improve his physical fitness as he jogged longer distances. His body grew taller and slowly developed some muscles from all the exercise and training. He stopped going towards the club to see the siblings play baseball as he felt it was unnecessary.

He added weights to both his legs and arms making it harder for him to jog in turn making him more fit. He also started doing various exercises to build some rock-solid abs to his body.

Rei continued with his therapy sessions in the year. Even after 2 years of therapy Rei was nowhere near playing baseball completely. He tried multiple times to play baseball together with Dr.Jim but it only resulted in a futile exercise. It still gives Rei the same feeling of panic and insecurity he faced all these times. He had lost his complete hope in recovering to his previous state by the end of the year.

This past year Rei grew taller than before and now stands 160cm and his physique became more refined making girls glance at him for a second time. He received several confessions after coming to middle school but never paid attention to them. He always felt love is not something that is determined easily. he felt there should be some sort of connection between the two to become lovers.

Meiko was in her final year making it her last turn to get the club a trophy. Her pitching increased to unimaginable. Her accuracy and speed were one of the best in women and she was scouted for the U-16 national team to represent them in the 'Youth World Cup' which she declined because of the tournament. Due to her the team made it to the nationals but lost in the semifinals.

Sora also made some huge improvements in his batting and fielding. Being the cleanup hitter for the team he always performed his duties better than the team. He hit 10 home runs making him the highest and multiple RBI in the tournament.

With Meiko and Sora's help the club was able to reach the nationals but it fell short as the other players were not up to the level. Losing the tournament so close took a hit on both of them. Seeing them depressed over the matter, Shirogana took all of them on a trip in the winter vacation to Okinawa.

The siblings were able to cool off on the trip making it enjoyable to everyone. Rei enjoyed the trip the most as it was his first time to go on a trip like this. Completing the trip ignited a new passion for Meiko and Sora.

Completing her Middle school Meiko got a large number of scholarships to high school due to her good pitching. Meiko spent a lot of time deciding where to go and decided on an All girls elite school called 'Horikoshi High School'.

The school was very famous for its baseball curriculum as it won multiple tournaments the past year. The decision was tough for Meiko and the family as it's far away from home meaning she has to live in dorms. After many discussions and arguments in the family it was decided she will live with her aunt, Narumi's cousin sister.

Sora on the other hand was not worried about the team as the pitcher position was not filled after Meiko left. The team had a special reserved player to fill in for Meiko's absence. He started to practice harder to win the nationals in the next season. Sora also increased physically this year with some noticeable changes. He grew in height and his body looks bulkier than before.

The whole year went by very slowly without any problems for Rei. Rei felt satisfied this year. The Last day of school rolled by quicker than anyone could expect. Rei could spend the summer with both his friends as they went out of town. Keiko went to her grandparent's place whereas Mizuki was a rip with her family.

Rei never would have guessed even without the two of his best friends this summer would be the most memorable one for him.