Bang!
With a crisp sound, everyone looked at the baseball that had been blasted away.
Masuko blasted away the winning shot from his roommate, Sawamura, a first-year student.
Sawamura, standing on the pitchers mound, was not discouraged at all; instead, she smiled.
"Huh?" Isashiki and Kuramochi were both surprised to notice this scene.
"Haha~" Miyuki was the happiest: "There are so many interesting pitchers in the first year this year."
"Yeah, just now there was another freshman who could also throw at 150 km/h."
Upon hearing this, Isashiki exclaimed in surprise, "Is that the kid from the cafeteria last night?"
"What's your name, Furuya Satoru?"
"Yes, the coach was almost hit by the ball; the ball was incredibly fast."
After speaking, the substitute player from First String looked at Ushijima and said, " Ushijima, your opponent has arrived."
"Hey, I wish he could replace me on Pitchers Mound."
"No way!" Isashiki immediately objected as soon as Ushijima finished speaking: "You can't give up the pitchers mound."
"You're from our dorm, you have to bring honor to our dorm, we can't let you down."
Ushijima Wakatoshi has very high potential right now.
If he can master ball control, his fighting power will be formidable.
"Yoshaa!!!!" Sawamura, standing on the pitchers mound, started yelling again.
" That bastard Ushijima was right after all. It takes real skill to climb up to First String by stepping on the upperclassmen."
"What?!" Sawamura, that brainless idiot, angered all the Second Team members with just one sentence.
"Haha~" Miyuki laughed heartily; this was getting interesting.
However, Sawamura's pitching technique, coupled with the fact that his ball is a slider, makes him a problem.
The baseball will change when it reaches the Home plate.
For a moment, it will make the attacker very uncomfortable and unable to unleash the full power they should.
"One soft and one hard, that's it," Ushijima Wakatoshi said.
Just then, Furuya Satoru arrived.
With his strong shoulders and wrists, Furuya Satoru can consistently throw balls at speeds of over 150.
Sawamura, with his flexible shoulders and wrists, doesn't have a fast ball speed, currently only around 130, but he has a very strong tail force.
So, these two are Seido. The two players in the Pitcher group, one soft and one hard, are also Seido's two pitchers.
" Ushijima, I heard your ball speed can reach 150?" Furuya Satoru, the naturally clueless one, came over to ask.
"Hmm, what's wrong?" Ushijima Wakatoshi knew he wasn't there to provoke her; that was just Furuya's naive and innocent nature.
"I'm also over 150, wanna have a competition?"
After Furuya Satoru said that, Ushijima Wakatoshi nodded: "Tomorrow then."
"I just threw 180 balls. If I keep throwing, the coach will have to cripple me."
"What? You threw 180 balls?" Coach Kataoka, who was acting as a referee on the field, happened to hear this.
"Well, this is troublesome." Ushijima Wakatoshi was even more helpless after the coach heard this.
"Run 30 laps around the court," Coach Kataoka said bluntly.
Ushijima Wakatoshi shrugged and then went for a run.
The rest of First String weren't worried about Ushijima Wakatoshi being punished by running laps.
It's fair to say that none of the players in the baseball team are worried, since they all know what's going on.
Ushijima Wakatoshi runs 20 kilometers every morning, so is there any concern about his stamina?
Ushijima Wakatoshi, who went to run laps, quickly finished the 30 laps.
The baseball field is fan-shaped, and the boundary line for First Base is a little over 99 meters but less than 100 meters.
Similarly, the boundary line of the third base is also less than 100 meters.
In fact, a baseball field is actually a bit larger than a soccer field.
So, a lap around the stadium is about 400 meters.
30 laps is equivalent to 12 kilometers.
After training for so long, he was still punished by having to run laps.
Including the 20 kilometers this morning, Ushijima Wakatoshi has run a total of 32 kilometers today.
Fortunately, he had Diamond's stamina, so his recovery ability was also very good.
"Phew~"
After completing the 12-kilometer run, Ushijima Wakatoshi finally stopped to rest.
By the time training ended, Ushijima Wakatoshi was drenched in sweat.
But he still felt fine.
Tired, yes.
Exhausted, not yet.
His stamina was more than enough.
"It's getting late," he said, stretching his shoulders. "Let's head back to the dorm. Shower, then dinner."
The moment he mentioned food, his stomach growled.
Training always made him ridiculously hungry.
One by one, the players packed up and returned to the dorms together.
However…
There was one thing Ushijima still hadn't fully gotten used to.
The bathhouse.
Seido's bath was basically a large public bath.
Open.
No partitions.
Everyone just… walked in and showered together like it was completely normal.
The first time he experienced it, he was stunned.
So this is how it is…? No privacy at all?
It was usually the shorter or more self-conscious guys who felt awkward.
Even Ushijima, who normally had plenty of confidence, couldn't help feeling uncomfortable at first.
Still…
After a week, you either got used to it—
Or you stayed dirty.
There was no third option.
At least the facilities were nice.
Hot water, big tubs, lots of space.
After intense training, soaking in the bath honestly felt amazing.
He leaned back, letting the heat relax his muscles.
"…This feels way too good," he muttered.
Then a random thought crossed his mind.
High school life… baseball… bathhouse…
Man, this really feels like one of those sports dramas.
He chuckled to himself.
Maybe I should focus less on training all the time…
Wouldn't it be nice to actually enjoy school life too? Maybe even talk to a few girls normally like everyone else…
He closed his eyes, relaxing in the hot water.
Just then—
The door slid open.
Kominato Haruichi walked in and sat across from him.
"Ushijima," Haruichi said with a small smile, "congratulations. You completely shut them out yesterday. That was amazing."
Ushijima opened one eye and grinned.
"Thanks."
Praise from a teammate felt different.
Warmer.
More genuine.
"Oh, right," Ushijima added casually, "I talked with your brother today."
"…About me?"
"Yeah. About switching positions."
He explained everything—Second base conflict, defensive options, possible changes.
Haruichi listened quietly.
Then lowered his head, thinking.
He already knew the truth.
If he wanted to stand on the same field as his brother…
There was only one way.
Change.
Because both of them were second basemen.
If neither moved, they could never start together.
"I think you could try left field," Ushijima said. "Or maybe third base."
"It depends on what you want."
"If you switch to third, Masuko might move to the outfield."
"Or you could take the outfield spot yourself."
"Either way, there's room."
He looked straight at Haruichi.
"But first, you have to make First String."
"Still… with your batting ability? Coach will notice. That's only a matter of time."
Haruichi's fingers tightened slightly in the water.
His eyes slowly grew determined.
"…Yeah."
If he wanted to reach his dream…
If he wanted to go to Koshien with his brother…
Then he couldn't stay the same.
He had to work harder.
Had to change.
Had to fight for his spot.
The warm bathwater suddenly didn't feel as relaxing anymore.
His heart was burning instead.