"Coach Goto~ It's so good to see you again!"
Seiji's overenthusiastic voice called out from the Yokohama squad before he moved ahead of the pack to greet the opposition coach.
Coach Goto's face remained in a smile, yet after hearing his nemesis speak, he couldn't hide the twitch in his eyebrow.
"Coach Hanada, welcome to our humble school." He said stiffly.
"Oh thank you so much, every time we come here I always leave feeling… satisfied."
With that, he clasped the offered hand, sending a devious grin to the older coach.
A flash of anger appeared in the older man's face at those words, yet he did well to keep his composure.
"Let's hope this time will be different then." He stated, gripping the hand tightly.
Ken couldn't help but chuckle, seeing the two coach's act like kids. Their rivalry seemed to be even deeper than the team's.
Ken led the team down to the field and already saw the opposing team warming up.
He raised his arm, waving to a familiar figure not far away.
Kazuhiro's expression lit up after seeing Ken waving at him. Despite the rivalry between the two teams, he had always looked up to him.
He waved back, yet there was a determined expression on his face.
"Alright you guys, put your stuff in the dugout and lets get a warm up going." Ken said, directing them like a Captain would.
He didn't know much about being a Captain, but he knew what to avoid thanks to Makoto.
Soon enough, the coach joined them in warm ups, sending grounders towards the infielders and barking out orders.
After 20 minutes or so, the teams were sent back to the dugout for a briefing before the official start of the game.
"Alright, the team will be roughly the same as usual: Outfielders, Tohi, Hideaki Shogo. Infielders, Yusuke, Shingo, Ryo, Yasuki. Ken on the mound and Shiro catching. Any objections?"
"No sir!"
Ken's catchphrase seemed to have caught onto the whole team, bringing a smile to Coach Hanada.
"Alright let's smash them into smithereens!" He said, raising his arm above his head.
"…"
However, he didn't get the spirited response that he expected, leading to an awkward silence.
'Oh crap, I let my true feelings come out…' he chastised himself inwardly.
"Ahem… Let's all do our best!" He said, raising his arm once more.
"YEAH!"
With that, the team walked up onto the field and lined up in front of Shuei.
"Bow"
"Let's have a good match!"
After the ceremonial bow, Ken walked up to the umpire and awaited the coin toss. Across from him was Kazuhiro who also had inherited the Captaincy from his predecessor.
The two grinned at each other, no words needing to be spoken.
The umpire tossed the coin high into the air, spinning until it landed on the ground.
"Heads. Shuei, the choice is yours." The umpire directed.
"We'll take the field first." Kazuhiro said, his voice oozing with confidence.
"Shuei won the toss and has chosen to take the field!"
With that announcement, the Yokohama team retreated to the dugout where they began to get ready for the game.
With the new line up, the 1st year Toshi was the lead-off batter, followed by Yusuke, Shiro and then Ken at the clean up.
"Good luck Toshi! Hit it big!"
His fellow first years called out as he ascended the stairs, cheering him on.
"Don't worry about hitting big, just try and get onto base." Coach Hanada said, flashing him a smile.
Toshi nodded, though he was still a little nervous.
In their past few games he hadn't been able to make an impact on the game, despite being the lead-off hitter. Yet the Coach and his teammates were still cheering for him.
'I'm gonna do it this match…' He said inwardly, determination creeping onto his features.
Kazuhiro began his warm up throws on the mound.
His form was beautiful to look at, seeming like one fluid motion.
Ken watched on in amazement. When he had first seen Kazuhiro, the guy still looked to be improving his pitching form, yet a year later it was fully polished.
Funnily enough, it was the exact form that he had seen many times on the TV before in his previous life when he played for the Chiba Falcons.
It was no wonder why Shuei had one of the best defenses in the Kanagawa prefecture, and it was all because of this teen.
"Play Ball!"
After the warm ups were done, Toshi stepped into the batters box and stared at the mound. Kazuhiro's eagle-like features were gazing at him, filling him with nervousness.
'I can do this…'
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
"Ah…"
Seeing the blistering speed of the fastball, Toshi began to lose confidence.
'How can I hit such a ball?'
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strike."
He grit his teeth, gripping his bat tightly. He had only one more chance to hit it, he needed to make it count.
WHOOOSH
Ding
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Toshi blinked a few times before accepting the reality. He had been able to knick the ball, yet it wasn't enough contact to change the course of the ball.
In only 3 pitches he was sent back to the dugout.
"Sorry Senpai, I couldn't hit it."
"Don't mind, we've got at least 3 chances of facing him." Yusuke said, patting his junior on the shoulder and walking towards the plate.
"Nice try Toshi."
"Don't beat yourself up."
Toshi entered the dugout and heard his fellow teammates console him. Unfortunately, he was the hardest on himself in this kind of scenario.
"Nice work making contact." Ken said.
Toshi froze in place, his gaze moving to the tall figure of the Captain.
"But it wasn't enough…"
Ken shook his head, letting out a chuckle.
"Each at-bat, try to get a little closer. Just keep at it, you'll be able to read his pitches soon enough."
"Senpai…"
Toshi paused for a moment before nodding, a flash of determination appearing on his features.
"Mmm."