Familiar faces made Sawamura reminisce about many past memories.
Especially the days he spent fighting alongside his teammates from Akagi Middle School's baseball team. Those days had become precious treasures and memories of his life.
Looking back now, it still felt incredibly nostalgic.
Whenever he thought about it, Sawamura found himself looking at Hanagata's face with much more favorable eyes.
"Dark horse, huh! Our Seidou baseball team likes dark horses the most."
Kuramochi said with an evil tone.
Upon hearing Asou's words, the surrounding teammates also sneered.
A sense of villainy filled the entire bus.
Even the kind-hearted Kominato Haruichi couldn't help but start questioning life.
Did I choose the wrong team back then?
Why did it feel like, ever since the seniors from his brother's year retired, the style of Seidou High School's baseball team was becoming more and more like gangsters?
Haruichi-kun's confusion was destined to have no answer.
Because even the leaders of Seidou High School's baseball team, Miyuki and Maezono, wore expressions that hinted at something sinister.
A team that returned as a powerful force, a dark horse that made it into the Koshien in one go.
But they were facing Seidou High School's baseball team in the first round.
What to say about this?
They could only say that their luck was truly bad.
And sometimes, luck is also part of strength.
From this angle, they could only blame their lack of skill.
This was certainly better than complaining about fate being unfair.
That would just make them look like whining losers!
While Seidou High School's baseball team was finding the matchups, the players from Nanakyo High School had already learned about their opponents.
Their first-round opponent was... Seidou???
The Nanakyo High School baseball team wasn't as rich as Seidou. They didn't have dedicated buses for transportation.
Instead, they rented one.
The bus fare was partly paid by the school, partly from the parents' contributions, and some funds were raised from the local community.
For them to participate in the Koshien was honestly not easy.
They had their ambitions for this Koshien trip.
It wasn't about winning the championship — that was just a pipe dream.
With Seidou High School's baseball team standing in their way, there weren't many teams that would dare to dream such a big dream at this stage.
But at the very least, they wanted to win a game or two.
Their goal was to make it into the top 16 or even the top 8!
This was the goal they had set for themselves.
If they couldn't even achieve that, they felt they wouldn't be able to face their hometown once they returned.
The players from Nanakyo High School were not daydreaming — they truly had that kind of confidence.
Especially when they trusted their new team Captain so much.
Before entering high school, he was already one of the "12 Rising Talents" of their era, one of the best players in their grade.
With his leadership, what couldn't they accomplish?
Although Old Kyoto wasn't exactly a hotbed for fierce competition, its overall strength couldn't be considered weak.
Being able to stand out in such a region showed their strength.
It was through the semifinals and finals that Nanakyo's players would come to fully believe in Hanagata.
They trusted this star player to lead them to glory.
But they hadn't expected their luck to be so bad.
In the first round, they drew Seidou High School.
Before the game had even started, the players from Nanakyo High School were already deflated, like eggplants hit by frost.
They weren't opponents!
Or rather, there wasn't even any comparability.
The moment the players from Nanakyo High School thought about facing Seidou's baseball team, an image would instantly pop into their heads.
That image was one of an egg smashing against a stone.
They could even imagine the broken eggshells and scattered yolk and egg whites flying everywhere.
It was over, completely over!
No matter what ambitions they had before, after seeing this matchup, the players from Nanakyo High School had already seen the outcome of the game.
A slender player, holding his phone, shook his head.
"It's over, completely over. I even told Rumi-chan that I'd show her my amazing performance at Koshien. Now it's all ruined! Do you think if she sees me getting slaughtered by Seidou's baseball team, she'll break up with me?"
"Definitely! She will!"
"Why don't you just call her now and break up with her? That way, she won't dump you and you'll save some dignity."
"Is it really that serious?"
The slender player seemed to be on the verge of tears, his eyes misty with tears.
"Yes, it really is that serious."
"Think about how much care we've received from the uncles and aunties back home. If we lose like this, how disappointed will they be? If Honami-san's parents find out, what would they think?"
It sounded quite reasonable.
The player's face grew even gloomier.
The surrounding teammates, however, looked much better.
Why was this guy always showing off his love? Didn't he know that showing off love leads to a quick death?
We're all happy baseball-playing single dogs here.
Why did this guy have to go and get a girlfriend?
The most infuriating thing was that he actually found a beautiful one.
People really are like that — some are doomed, others are just too good.
How could the teammates not be upset?
They were extremely upset. If they got the chance, they'd definitely vent.
"Honami-san, isn't she competing in the national gymnastics competition now? How would she have time to watch you play baseball?"
At that moment, a deep voice spoke.
Although it was from a young man, his tone was filled with maturity.
He wasn't tall, more average in height, and his appearance was rather handsome.
This person was Hanagata Hiroshi.
One of the "12 Rising Talents" of middle school, and now the captain of this team.
For those who knew Hanagata during his middle school days, seeing him now would be hard to believe.
The transformation was just too great.
At this moment, Hanagata was also holding his phone, staring at a photo on the screen in silence.
Sawamura Eijun!
In their era, no one in the high school baseball world didn't know Sawamura.
When Sawamura said that others might not know him, he was being modest.
Hanagata knew Sawamura, even though the two of them had never faced off before.
But Hanagata had watched Sawamura's match videos.
Even though he had decided not to play baseball after entering high school, he couldn't completely resist his desire and often watched videos of Sawamura's matches.
So, he was very familiar with the man on the screen.
Now that they had made it to Koshien, he had fantasized more than once about facing Sawamura head-on.
But he never expected that the opportunity would come so quickly.
'Forty-something teams!'
The probability of them facing Seidou High School's baseball team in the first round was 1 in 47.
Such a low chance, and yet it happened.
They could only say, this was truly fate.
…
T/N: As always, Thank you all for reading!!
See you Tomorrow!
Until then, take care!
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