88. Pitchers

Noticing there was still some time before the lunch break starts, Rei made his way towards the staff room. He slowly opened the door and went inside. The teachers did not stop him from taking the keys to the cooking club room, as they knew Rei.

After taking the keys, Rei made his way towards the club room. He wanted to test the members' improvement after an entire month. Rei slowly opened the door and made his way inside.

He noticed a vast change in the room's appearance from the last time he was here. The room was very clean and seemed like the girls started taking excellent care of it. He went and opened the fridge and saw they loaded it with materials useful to cook.

He nodded with complete satisfaction and sat on a chair waiting for them to come. He hoped their cooking would be good as he remembered that they said they were completely bad at it.

Rei continued to look out the window and then heard noises from outside.

"Why is the door open? I thought we closed it before going inside yesterday." and the door opened.

Rei turned around and noticed the same three girls he met a month back completely changed with a very new and peaceful vibe. All three of them did not look delinquent like a month ago.

"Oh Toujou-senpai, It's a surprise to see you here." The first to talk was the blond girl, Ban Miki. Unlike last time, Miki dressed properly and her hair was also set properly.

"Yes, I had time, so I came by to check on you three."

"It's good to see you here, Senpai." said the brown-haired Momoko.

Rei nodded and said, "Good, now all three of you cook something for me. I want to see if you really improved this past month."

All three of them looked at each other and nodded with determination. They went towards the shelves to take their ingredients. The first to choose her ingredients was Yuki, the short black-haired girl.

Rei observed the ingredients she chose and figured she went for a meat dish. He understood she was cooking the simple Salt and pepper steak. He knew this dish was very simple and easy. He thought it was an excellent choice for a beginner and looked forward to it.

He noticed the others were also almost done with choosing their ingredients and noticed Momoko went for dessert, while Miki went for a sweet. He looked forward to all three of them to complete their dishes and taste them.

He turned towards Miki and noticed her slowly cutting the meat down into some sizeable chunks. She slowly seasoned it with salt and pepper. He noticed her doing some simple mistakes while she started grilling the meat but did not interrupt.

He then looked over towards Momoko, who was mixing cut apple pieces with spices. He understood she was doing another simple recipe called Apple Pandowdy. He saw her apples in different sizes instead of the same and thought to tell her after she was done.

Last she saw Miki, who was cooking a sweet. She was making Green tea cookies, which Rei always enjoyed eating. He saw her making them and observed her for some time. He saw her carefully mixing all the ingredients and caught some mistakes.

He found out all three of them have the same problem, and that was the number of spices they used in their dishes. He knew this problem could be overcome with time as they cooked more.

He continued to observe them, and the first one to serve was Yuki. He looked down and saw some small burned parts on the steak. He noticed it had a pleasant aroma to it and waited for the other 2 to complete. Yuki sat beside him, waiting for the others to complete their dishes.

Next was Momoko followed by Miki, who plated their dishes and sat down looking at Rei with an eager look. Rei first sliced a piece of cake and picked it trying to enjoy it completely. He found the spices not in the appropriate ratio as he expected and some part of the steaks a bit too burnt.

He kept the spoon down and then went for the next dish by the side made by Momoko. He took a small piece out of it and ate it, finding some common beginner mistakes, and finally ate Miki's cookie.

He slowly took a bite out of the cookie and quite enjoyed it. The cookie was very good, and Miki's cooking amazed Rei for a complete beginner. He slowly took another cookie and ate it before pushing the bowl to the side. Miki smiled as she saw Rei taking another cookie from the bowl and felt satisfied with her dish.

"You three are very good for beginners. Even though there were some small mistakes you made, they can be overcome as you cook more."

All three of them nodded, feeling satisfied with Rei's remark. Rei checked his watch and noticed the break was almost done. He stood up and said, "Ok, I will go for now. The three of you should practice more when you have time and I will come to check your progress when I have the time." and went towards the door.

"Toujou-senpai, Can you give your phone number to us?" asked Miki as he was going out.

Rei stopped hearing her and said, "Okay."

He exchanged his contact info with them and came out of the room. All three of them were happy as they gained his contact info.

'They changed for the better. Now I hope they remain this way in the future too.' thought Rei as he walked back to his class.

He went to his seat and took out his lunchbox. He quickly devoured it as there was almost no time left before the teacher came inside. He listened to the classes, taking down some notes when he could and the school ended.

Rei picked up his bag and went towards the club. He noticed there were some people inside the lockers already changing and went to his locker. He quickly changed his dress and came out.

After the exercises, Iwata gave out directions to everyone. For Rei, it was his usual training with Suzaku in the bullpen. As the players separated Rei went up to the coach and said, "Coach I need to ask you something?"

"Tell me Rei."

"I think it would be better if I catch for the other pitchers too sometimes. I would like to get to know their pitching better before the tournament."

Iwata nodded and called out 3 of the players. As they came to them Iwata introduced them to Rei, "This is Yoshimitsu Takashi, he is a second-year like you. He is the relief pitcher for the current team. This is Zinan Suzuki, a first-year catcher. He is quite new to the position so try to assist him and finally, you already know Emiya Shindou from the match."

Rei nodded as he remembered their names.

"From today you 3 will also work in the bullpen more often. Suzuki, I need you to learn more basics from Rei here. Your basics are still lacking in many aspects. Now all three of you go to the bullpen." and walked away.

Rei along with Suzuki made their way to the lockers to get into their gear. Suzuki observed Rei as they changed into their gear and asked, "Toujou-senpai, is it true you learned from Kamizato Shirogana."

"Oh yes, I did in the summer. He taught me the basics, and I had to practice on my own."

"Please correct if I make some mistakes, Senpai," said Suzuki as he bowed a bit.

"Oh, don't bow in front of me. I am not an expert, I only know a few things, that's all. I will try my best to help you."

Suzuki nodded and both of them made their way towards the bullpen. When they reached Rei saw Suzaku talking with Shindou and Takashi. Iwata stood by the side along with Konda.

"Now that everyone is here, let's decide the pattern you will pitch to these two," said Iwata as he saw Rei coming with Suzuki.

This caught all their attention, and they remained silent.

"Now, I need Rei to have much experience with the other pitchers and not only Suzaku as there might be situations where the need for a substitute might pop up. We should also train Suzuki here too. So now let's start with Suzuki catching for Shindou meanwhile and Rei catching for both Takashi and Suzaku."

"As Suzuki still can not catch the full force behind Suzaku's pitches I can't have him catch for Suzaku. But as we continue, I might ask Takashi to pitch for Suzuki if he gets better. Now Suzuki and Shindou can start practicing, I still need to talk with these three."

All of them nodded at Iwata's plan and Suzuki took Shindou to practice leaving Rei, Suzaku, and Takashi with Iwata.