6

( inside principal office )

Suzuki- so you are Ken sensei then . I'm really envious of you ..

ken - ( what is this old man principal trying to say anyway ) sir , I didn't get your meaning ..

Suzuki- well it's just I'm old now so am envious of young guys like you .. ( smile )

ken - ( this principal is really has easygoing personality . but I know that he is a great worker because he has managed this school for 20 years now . this school has at least 10 times the student count of my school in past life , so I can only guess how hard his job must have been . now he is 65 years old and can still have this composure , I respect this guy .) so what orders do you have for me sir ?

Suzuki- hmm... tell me today's date Ken kun ..

ken - its June 1 sir .

suzuki - that's correct . it's been 2 months since the school term started already. I heard that your reputation with students is very good Ken kun . you are doing a very good job

ken - thanks for your praise sir .

Suzuki- hmm.. I heard that you want to be the advisor of our baseball club . is that true ?

ken - yes sir ..

suzuki - hmm.. you see , I can be considered fan of baseball sport . so i want our school team to perform well . i can give you the job because i can see that your character is commendable . but first tell me how many tournaments are held for high school baseball teams in japan .

ken - yes sir . there are only 2 national tournaments every year . summer and spring tournament. there are 2 phases in each tournament. regional tournament and national tournament.

suzuki - correct. hmm.. I have heard from headmaster that you have great passion for baseball so I can leave the baseball club to you. I can do that but you will have to make our baseball team strong . can you do that ?

ken - I can do that sir. but the ones who play on the field will be the players so I cannot guarantee that we will score any good position in the tournaments every time .

suzuki - hmm.. so can you make sure that our team can win official games ? even if it's the first round only .

ken - that can be promised sir .

Suzuki - then ken sensei , I'm expecting great things from you . I appoint you the advisor and coach of our baseball club . just tell me what equipment, facilities you need and they will be provided . i liked your attitude Ken kun when you told me clearly that you cannot promise me good position every time . it means that we can score good position sometimes , so I have chosen to believe in your confidence . now dont disappoint me .

ken - yes sir . I will only do my best ( this principal is really rational . he chose to believe in me now so I will make sure that he doesn't regrets his decision )

( at school baseball practice ground )

( well the equipment is good and maintained well . I can see that these baseball club members are diligent and hard working from this , well at least some of them are . the practice will start at 3 pm so I have an hour before the players arrive on this practice ground .

even though baseball is most popular sport here , it doesn't mean that many high school students play it . the number of high schools is few so the ones that still play baseball in high school are few too . this means that if a club has more than 100 players then their bench members for tournament will be the best of them . so in the end , the level of baseball is higher too .

according to the information I have gathered, the 12 members of my team are just average compared to the strong schools. the summer tournament will start on August 1 so I only have 2 months to train them . so considering the short time period left , I will have to train them with a method that is different from normal . well , I will just watch their play first and then think about the best training plan I can think of . )