BXBX NOVEL Chapter 90: Who?
"Hehe, thanks, Toru!" – The tall boy with brown hair smiled in response. He was Kohei Sasaki, the left-handed ace of Hokuto who crushed Shun and his teammates last year. He was also selected for the Japanese U-15 national team and was named the best pitcher in last year\'s Kanto tournament.
"Hmph! Why the hell are you celebrating, Toru? We\'re up against a bunch of nobodies, and yet you couldn\'t hit a single home run today." – A boy with white hair grumbled when he saw Toru\'s excitement.
"Eh, relax, man, it\'s just a friendly game..." – Toru\'s excitement vanished when he heard the white-haired boy complaining. He spoke softly, but he immediately regretted it.
"Huh? What did you just say? I arranged these friendly games for you all to practice batting! Tell me, Toru, do you think I need to practice batting? Huh? If it\'s not for you to train, then why am I here?" – The white-haired boy went nuts, starting to rant like a lunatic.
That was Yoshinori Sugawara, the catcher and captain of Hokuto. Along with Kohei, he was also selected for the Japanese U-15 national team.
"Alright, alright, he didn\'t mean it, Suga, take it easy." – Kohei had to step in. He was the only one on the team who could control the white-haired maniac. Even their coach didn\'t know how to deal with Sugawara.
"Hmph!" – Sugawara huffed as he returned to the dugout, irritated.
"You just had to open your mouth, huh, you idiot." – Another boy appeared and spoke to Toru. He was also short and had a delinquent\'s face.
"Shut up, Isamu!" – Toru huffed as he, too, returned to the dugout, annoyed by the scolding. He couldn\'t help but think that a normal captain would never yell at someone just because they didn\'t hit a home run in a game, but he quickly remembered that if there was one thing that white-haired maniac wasn\'t, it was normal.
The four third-year players from Hokuto sat in the dugout, watching their freshmen bat.
"We\'re playing against Shoto Junior High again tomorrow, right?" – Isamu Endo, the shortstop, said.
"Who?" – Kohei and Sugawara asked at the same time.
"We played against them in last year\'s Tokyo tournament..." – Isamu replied. He wasn\'t surprised they didn\'t remember since that game was extremely easy for them.
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PAH
"Nice pitch, Shun-senpai!" – The young Daigo shouted while throwing the ball back to Shun.
"Hehe, you\'re doing well too, Daigo. Let\'s keep going!" – Shun smiled and said. Without wasting any time, he continued his pitching practice while thinking: \'You better come at us with everything you\'ve got, Hokuto!\'
PAH
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Coach Yamada gathered all the players after practice.
"As you know, tomorrow we will have our first friendly game in preparation for the Tokyo tournament. Some of you already know our opponent, the team that won last year\'s Kanto tournament and also the team that eliminated us from the Tokyo tournament, Hokuto Junior High." – Coach Yamada spoke calmly as he observed his players\' reactions.
Most of the freshmen had nervous expressions, and some even quietly complained about how unfair it was to face the current champions in their first game.
However, Coach Yamada noticed some glances that stood out among the players. He sensed the determination, the strong will to fight from those who had experienced last year\'s bitter defeat. For these boys, this friendly match meant a lot. It was time for them to prove that all the training they had done in the past months hadn\'t been in vain.
"Alright, the starting lineup is as follows: Pitcher, Shun; Catcher, Daigo; First base, Takeya; Second base, Ren; Shortstop, Kenta; Third base, Tomo; Right fielder, Sora; Center fielder, Ryosuke; Left fielder, Hisashi. Tomorrow, after school ends, we will head to the Hokuto Junior High field, so be here on time!"
"Yes, Coach!" – All the players responded loudly.
Even though they had a game the next day, Shun couldn\'t skip the extra practice for obvious reasons, but he was surprised when his friends also decided to stay and complete the training. It seemed that, little by little, these guys were also becoming training monsters.
With all this anxiety, they probably wouldn\'t be able to sleep at night if they didn\'t exhaust themselves in Shun\'s infernal extra practice.
Shun, Kenta, Ren, Daigo, Sora, and Jiro stayed late, training. After finishing the list of exercises, they all sat on the field exhausted, not saying a word. Of all present, only Daigo hadn\'t participated in last year\'s game against Hokuto, but they all shared frustrations and regrets about that day.
"Tomorrow..." – Shun stood up as he started to speak. However, after just one word, he hesitated a bit before continuing:
"Let\'s crush them tomorrow!" – Shun said confidently as he looked at his friends.
"Haha, of course!" – Ren said excitedly.
"I\'m going to send that Kohei flying!" – Kenta also got excited and promised determinedly.
At that moment, they all made up their minds. Tomorrow, they would show Hokuto the fruits of their hard training. That left-handed pitcher and that white-haired catcher better come at them with everything they had right from the start. It was time to show those geniuses chosen to represent the U-15 national team what the Shoto Junior High School baseball team was capable of.
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Shun woke up in the morning and felt his heart pounding with anxiety. He couldn\'t help but thank the system, if it weren\'t for the deep sleep mode, he probably would have spent the whole night awake, imagining the game.
He then quickly got ready and went out for a run. In moments of anxiety, the best option was to continue with the routine he was used to.
Shun arrived at school after having breakfast, but he couldn\'t pay attention in any of the classes. His two friends, Ren and Kenta, also seemed nervous. After all, this game meant a lot to them. The three headed to the field after class and soon got on the bus bound for Hokuto Junior High School.