Rinichi sat there, staring blankly at the washing machine, lost in thought.
Miyuki walked over and sat beside him. "What's wrong? You look really worried."
Rinichi snapped out of his daze. "It's nothing. Just thinking about a few things."
"About only pitching for two innings today?"
Rinichi shook his head. He wasn't the type to dwell on minor things like that. Then, perhaps on purpose to change the subject, he said, "Vice-Captain Takashima said that if Chris-senpai hadn't been injured, you wouldn't have had a shot at being the starting catcher, right?"
It reminded him of something from his time in the Daikyou Senior Baseball Team.
"Yeah," Miyuki replied calmly. "If Chris-senpai hadn't gotten injured, there's no way I would've become the starter."
"So… if he recovered and came back to reclaim the starter position, how would you feel?"
Though realistically, by the time Chris recovered, he would've already graduated.
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden? If Chris-senpai came back, I'd honestly be happy."
Rinichi paused for a moment. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips, as if he'd just let go of something inside. "I guess that makes sense."
"What's with you? You're being weird," Miyuki said, clearly confused.
Rinichi gave him a glance but didn't explain. Just then, the washing machine finished.
He stood up, opened the lid, gathered his clothes into a basket, and walked off without even saying goodbye.
Later, Rinichi spent three days and nights poring over online resources to put together his own training regimen.
He completed the training tasks Takashima Rei had assigned him first, then started on his own customized program.
He was also very aware of his physical limits, so he never over-trained.
But everyone quickly noticed the change — Rinichi had begun working hard.
And that made it impossible for the others to slack off. If even the laziest guy was now training seriously, how could they let up?
His newfound effort inspired the whole team to push harder.
The First String was especially surprised. They used to have to supervise Rinichi just to get him to practice. Now he was putting in work on his own?
That had to be a good sign.
Everyone knew — unless something unexpected happened — Rinichi was going to be their ace.
Anyone who'd seen him pitch thought it made perfect sense. With a pitcher like him on the mound, scoring wouldn't be so difficult anymore.
The one under the most pressure, however, was Tanba.
A third-year, this summer would be his last shot.
No matter what, he wanted to protect his current status as the ace pitcher and give it everything he had.
Coach Kataoka noticed Rinichi's efforts. Behind those ever-present sunglasses, his eyes showed rare approval.
Takashima Rei also felt quietly pleased. "The promise of the No. 1 jersey and the talk about Chris… for him, that's the biggest motivation."
He wanted to become the ace, but he didn't want to be one of those aces who get hurt and fall apart afterward.
The intense training even started affecting his school life. In class, Rinichi could barely stay awake — his eyelids drooping, head nodding over and over…
Eventually, he completely passed out on his desk.
It wasn't until the bell rang for the end of class that he woke up.
And when he did, a group of girls immediately surrounded him.
"Are you okay, Kamishiro-kun?"
"You must be pushing yourself too hard at baseball practice."
"Yeah, you need to make sure you're getting enough rest."
Each girl spoke with genuine concern.
Rinichi rubbed his temple. His head was starting to ache.
"I heard Kamishiro-kun likes sweets, so I made some. I hope you don't mind," one of the girls said shyly, blushing as she quickly placed a small bag of candies on his desk and ran off.
The other girls didn't look too pleased, but they still smiled when facing Rinichi.
"So Kamishiro-kun likes candy, huh? I'll make some for you too!"
"Huh? I didn't expect Kamishiro-kun to like sweets. That's so childlike!"
And then came the comments like, "That's so cute."
He definitely didn't want to be called "cute." That word only brought back bad memories.
Once the day's classes were over, he slung his bag over one shoulder and held the small bag of candies the girl had given him in one hand.
Loosening the drawstring, he saw glistening, translucent candies in a variety of colors. They looked beautifully made.
He popped one into his mouth — surprisingly, it tasted better than most store-bought candy.
Not that he had any idea how it was made—
But Rinichi quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. After changing clothes back at the dorm, he headed out for more training.
He threw himself into it completely.
Today, he didn't train until late. In fact, he wrapped up about half an hour earlier than usual.
After devouring three big bowls of food at the cafeteria, he returned to the dorm.
That's when he spotted Kuramochi-senpai holding the bag of candy, looking curious. Behind him stood Masuko-senpai — they had probably just gotten back, dropped off their stuff, and were about to go eat.
Seeing Rinichi return, both of them turned their eyes on him.
"Who gave you this? Don't tell me it was a girl?" Kuramochi's tone was sharp, borderline accusatory.
Rinichi hesitated, then nodded slightly.
And that's when he got lectured.
With his arm twisted behind his back, Rinichi immediately regretted telling the truth.
"Must be nice, huh? Getting attention from girls!" Kuramochi grumbled, clearly jealous.
"Don't senpai get anything like that?" Rinichi asked innocently, unintentionally pouring salt on the wound.
Neither of them answered for a beat — stunned. Then the retribution got worse.
"Wait… that 'Mei' from the other day — don't tell me that was a girl too!?" Kuramochi started throwing out wild guesses.
"That name obviously sounds like a guy!"
Hearing that, both Kuramochi and Masuko visibly relaxed.
They were hungry anyway, so Rinichi narrowly escaped.
Though they still swiped a couple of candies before leaving.
He didn't think eating candy before dinner was a great idea, but he wasn't about to get into it with his senpai.
He sat down and started doing his homework.
Since he'd slept through a few classes earlier, he had to catch up on everything he missed.
It was the first time Rinichi experienced the consequences of not paying attention in class.
He definitely didn't want to fail any subjects.
If poor grades kept him off the field, that'd be a disaster.
And besides, nothing felt better than a long bath after training and studying.
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.