Unlike the nervous Kawakami, Yuki had overheard the earlier conversation between Kanzaki Ryou and Isashiki Jun.
Since Kanzaki thought so highly of Kawakami, Yuki naturally had to come help—giving it his full power.
Feeling Yuki's overwhelming aura, Kawakami felt as if he were being crushed.
Why?
He had only come to ask Kanzaki about pitching—how had it turned into a gauntlet against all the seniors?
He glanced at Kanzaki, who was smiling cheerfully at him.
Was he doing this on purpose?
Kawakami didn't think Kanzaki was that bored… but his small brain couldn't figure this out.
Regardless, he was already standing on the mound—so he had to pitch.
He took several deep breaths and finally managed to calm himself.
Yuki's stance showed no openings at all—so Kawakami simply had to throw.
He lifted his leg, raised his arm, and unleashed a Slider toward the outside corner.
Yuki, fully focused, swung the moment the ball left Kawakami's hand.
With an aura like a god or demon, his bat struck the ball with a heavy thud.
It flew.
Even though the ball was stopped by the soft wall, Kawakami knew from the trajectory alone—this would've been a home run flying straight into the stands.
"Yeah, a home run. Kawakami, you lost the game," Kanzaki Ryou said as he walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
Kawakami smiled bitterly.
"Kanzaki-san, I get it. You're trying to show me the gap between me and the seniors… telling me not to be too ambitious, right?"
Uh…
Kanzaki froze for three full seconds.
Wow, this guy really jumped to his own conclusion.
"…Something like that. Anyway, from now on, every two days you'll have a similar scenario training session," Kanzaki said.
"Technically, you should start refining your Slider and your sinker. For that, ask Chris—or talk with Miyuki more."
Kawakami perked up at the technical part, then asked, "Scenario training?"
"Yes. Scenario training." Kanzaki folded his arms.
"Your main problem is your mentality. Starting next session, we're adding noise-interference training and failure-scenario desensitization training."
Kawakami blinked repeatedly.
What?
At this moment, Yuki, Kominato Ryosuke, and Isashiki Jun gathered around.
"Kanzaki, what the heck are these bizarre training methods?" Isashiki asked.
Kanzaki smiled.
"For Kawakami's future training, we'll play 3D surround-sound booing from the audience. During that, we'll record his heart rate and control rate. If his heart rate stays under 110 bpm and his control rate stays above 80%, it counts as success."
"As for failure-desensitization training, we'll force him into guaranteed-loss situations—bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, 0 outs. All pitches must be thrown seriously. If he does this enough, he'll get used to pressure."
All three seniors stared at Kanzaki.
Then—
👍 "Devil." —Isashiki
👍 "Ruthless." —Kominato
👍 "Satan." —Yuki
Kawakami trembled violently at the thought of giving a speech in front of everyone.
"Kanzaki-san… t-this is bullying!"
"Eh? Kawakami, don't you want the mound? Don't you want to reach Koshien? Don't you want to lift the championship trophy with everyone?" Kanzaki looked genuinely confused.
Then he sighed dramatically.
"Oh, I see. So you're satisfied just watching from the stands. My apologies. I didn't realize. I really thought you were a pitcher with dreams."
Kawamaki choked.
Kanzaki turned away and began his batting practice.
Every swing made Kawakami feel like his heart was being shredded.
Kanzaki-san is doing all this for my sake… yet I doubted him. I'm horrible!
Overcome, Kawakami ran behind Kanzaki and bowed deeply.
"Arigatou, Kanzaki-san!!"
Kanzaki paused mid-swing, looked back, and smiled quietly.
Training someone… and still getting thanked for it.
Not bad.
In the days that followed, Kanzaki Ryou's schedule stayed mostly the same—morning practice, after-school training, and evening self-practice.
The only difference was that after discussing with Miyuki and Chris, he finally found a breakthrough for his Slider.
Changing the traditional Slider grip to a cutter-based one was too difficult.
But after several days of experimentation, Kanzaki's improved Slider had the speed of a fastball and an exaggerated breaking movement.
In Miyuki's words—
"A Slider that's faster than a high-speed slider, and breaks more than a Slider. Abnormal."
Even the meticulous Chris acknowledged it, naming it:
—The Cutter Slider.
Time passed quickly.
May 1st arrived. After evening practice, Kanzaki packed his things. Tomorrow, he was returning to Kyoto. His sister Kumiko's excited voice on the phone made his heart itch with anticipation.
The next morning, Kanzaki woke up at 6 a.m. and headed downstairs.
"Kazuya?! Why are you here?"
At the school gate, Miyuki Kazuya stood with a backpack and sun hat, grinning.
"Ya-ha-ha~ Ryou, I took leave too! No way I'm letting you have all the fun!"
Kanzaki blinked.
"How'd you even know I was leaving? Did Chris tell you?"
"Don't worry about it." Miyuki flashed his white teeth proudly. "I want a proper break too."
In truth, Chris accidentally mentioned it while explaining training plans. Miyuki kept pressing him until he spilled the details.
"Whatever—let's go! We need to buy tickets quickly!" Kanzaki said, running toward the gate.
"Why are you running?! Wait up!!" Miyuki shouted behind him.
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