<12> Dual Aces

Chapter 12: Dual Aces

The sky was tinged with gold.

Rinichi had just finished his training for the day, and his gaze fell on the Second String's dugout.

A tall figure was leaving with his gear slung over his shoulder. The Second String players all removed their caps and said things like "Thanks for your hard work."

He seemed to be a very respected upperclassman.

Rinichi couldn't recall anyone like that in the Second String before.

"That senpai who just left—was he a second or third year?" Rinichi asked.

Takashima Rei followed his line of sight and replied, "That's Takigawa Chris Yuu, a third-year student and a very skilled catcher."

A very skilled catcher?

Rinichi didn't quite have a clear sense of what that meant. Mainly because he'd never encountered an unreliable catcher—so he never gave it much thought.

Okumura Koushuu… Miyuki Kazuya…

Compared like that, Miyuki seemed clearly stronger.

With that comparison, Rinichi instantly understood what "strong" really meant.

"Then if he's so good, why isn't he the main catcher in the First String?"

Takashima pushed up his glasses. "He got injured in a previous game—an injury to his subscapularis muscle. He hasn't been able to play since."

Rinichi was stunned and fell silent for a while. "So if Chris-senpai hadn't gotten hurt, Miyuki wouldn't have had a shot at being the main catcher, huh?"

He deliberately dropped the "senpai" when referring to Miyuki.

"That's right," Takashima replied, surprised at how bluntly Rinichi put it.

"Getting benched due to injury hit him hard mentally, but it seems like he's finally recovering emotionally over the past few days."

Suddenly, an image flashed through Rinichi's mind. He murmured softly, "To be able to overcome something like that on your own… that's amazing."

It sounded like he was talking to himself.

Truly, being able to bounce back is more important than anything. Even if he couldn't play baseball now, once he recovered, he could continue in college.

Takashima turned to look at Rinichi, eyes full of subtle meaning.

"What's with you? Saying something like that all of a sudden."

Rinichi shook his head. "Just a passing thought."

...

As soon as he returned to the dorm, Rinichi was called by Kuramochi to play video games.

"Come on, relax a little. Tomorrow's the Kanto Tournament—you're not really planning to train again tonight, are you?" Kuramochi asked.

"No, not really," Rinichi replied.

He figured he didn't look like the type to work too hard anyway.

His phone vibrated on the table.

Rinichi walked over, picked it up, and opened the newly arrived message.

Kuramochi peeked curiously from behind. The message was from someone saved as "Mei," and it was mostly filled with exclamation marks—enough to fill the whole screen.

Rinichi immediately blocked the sender.

"Who was that?" Kuramochi asked.

"Just a person," Rinichi replied, closing his phone and brushing past him.

What kind of answer was that?

Kuramochi was about to press him, but Rinichi cut him off, "Didn't you say you wanted to play games?"

With that, he sat down.

Kuramochi let it go and didn't pursue it further.

Then he spent the whole time mocking Rinichi's terrible gaming skills.

Rinichi: "…"

...

The first round opponent was Yokohama Kouhoku Academy from Kanagawa.

As planned by Coach Kataoka, Rinichi would pitch the first two innings.

Standing on the mound, he tossed a small bag of rosin powder in his left hand a few times, then dropped it to the ground once he felt ready.

He blew off the excess powder from his hand.

"Huh? A first-year? Is Seidou throwing in the towel?"

Clearly, the crowd didn't have high expectations for Rinichi.

The first batter even mocked Miyuki before stepping in.

But he couldn't touch Rinichi's first fastball.

"Strike!"

The opening pitch left the stands gasping.

The batter gritted his teeth.

The second batter swung and missed too.

"Strike!"

Same for the third.

"Strike three! Batter out!"

Three batters, three strikeouts—no one escaped Rinichi's pitching in the first two innings.

Back in the dugout, even the upperclassmen praised him.

Kuramochi let out his signature weird laugh: "Did you see their faces? Totally dumbfounded—hahaha!"

Furuya watched Rinichi closely.

It seemed like the seniors really liked him.

He couldn't help but think, I want to get on the mound and pitch already.

Tanba had started the game strong and didn't allow any runs through the first three innings.

But in the fourth, he started to struggle. Yokohama Kouhoku scored two runs.

He managed to keep them scoreless in the fifth and sixth, but in the seventh inning, they got four runs off a grand slam.

Tanba had pitched five innings, and with a high pitch count, he was clearly exhausted by now.

When he returned to the dugout, he was drenched in sweat and didn't look great.

"Next inning, Furuya's up," Coach Kataoka announced.

Rinichi wasn't surprised at all.

"Top of the eighth inning, Seidou High School announces a player change," came the broadcast announcement.

The spectators immediately buzzed with excitement.

"They're putting in Kamishiro, right?"

"He's just a first-year, but man, that velocity is something else—so satisfying to watch!"

But they were disappointed: "Pitcher change—from Tanba to Furuya."

"Furuya? Who?"

"He's also a first-year."

At that, the Yokohama Kouhoku players were indignant.

"What do they take us for? Another first-year?!"

"The last one was already insane—there's no way this one's as good!"

"Let's show this rookie what real high school baseball is like!"

With that fighting spirit, they stepped up to the plate, fully intending to crush Furuya's pitches.

But once they faced him, they were stunned all over again.

"He's amazing!"

"Seidou actually has two insane pitchers—and both are first-years!"

"And both throw fastballs like rockets!"

Even though Furuya's control was still rough, the Yokohama Kouhoku players swung at everything—even his wild pitches turned into strikes.

Furuya didn't allow a single run while he was on the mound.

Still, Seidou lost.

By just one run.

But Coach Kataoka didn't seem to mind.

His main goal in this Kanto tournament was to observe the two first-year pitchers and assess Tanba's condition.

"Ah, Seidou lost. If they had just let the two first-years pitch the whole game, they might've won, huh?"

"The pitcher wearing the ace number for Seidou isn't cutting it—too many easy pitches to hit."

"Well, I guess Seidou just wanted to test out the first-years. Rather than pushing hard in the Kanto tournament and exposing them too much, it's smarter to exit early and focus on training them for the summer Koshien."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

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