Chapter Text
Akagi Junior High is a small place. The students are already friends with each other long before they begin school, while their parents and teachers are all acquaintances. In this close-knit community, people are often found congregating, chatting. These mindless small-talks are ripe grounds for gossip. For budding young junior high school kids, it’s a nightmare. No secret can be kept for long, and anything interesting happens, everybody is guaranteed to know about it.
Case in point: Sawamura Eijun’s trip to Tokyo.
He didn’t want to make a big deal of it. He wasn’t really interested in some pompous private school in the city . However, as soon as he leaves in the morning, his grandfather, Sawamura Eitoku, goes around and announces that Eijun was scouted by a famous Tokyo baseball powerhouse. The news travels quickly. By the end of the day, the whole town was informed of the matter.
Aotsuki Wakana doesn’t want Eijun to go to Tokyo, and she’s sure their friends share the same sentiment. They’ve been together since childhood through tough and thin. The gang feels empty if any one of them’s missing, let alone Eijun.
Still— Wakana turns over, hugging the pillow. Her eyes focus on the baseball magazine on her desk beside her bed.
Today, as soon as Eijun bid goodbye to Wakana after he walked her home, he ran to the convenience store and searched for a sports magazine featuring high school baseball. Truthfully, Wakana doesn’t care about any high school plays or those powerhouses’ achievements — she has no interest in baseball. Most of the kids in their circle aren't interested in baseball, either. But, Eijun likes baseball, and they like Eijun. So they play for him — with him — even if they aren’t very good at it, because Eijun lights that fire in them.
However, compared to Eijun, every player from those top baseball schools has a strong body. Even from the static photographs, she can imagine their imposing presence on the field. They’re in a different league from the casual, amateur players in Akagi Junior High’s makeshift, scrappy baseball team.
But , she thinks, Since Eijun is picked up by a strong powerhouse like Seidou, he’ll be able to play baseball with many talented players and become a reliable, dominant pitcher on the mound, right?
Wakana hugs her pillow and laughs softly.
Although reluctant to part with him, Wakana understands. This is a great opportunity for Eijun who loves baseball with all his heart.
Contrary to his friends who’re happy for him, Sawamura himself is extremely troubled.
As soon as he closes his eyes, he recalls what happened on Seidou's practice field.
It was the first time he heard his pitch making such a nice sound when it landed in the catcher's glove. Despite the catcher being a bastard with an annoying personality and setting him up to get his first pitch knocked out of the park, nonetheless—
The best pitches are works of art produced by the pitcher and catcher working as one.
I will draw out your fullest potential.
The last ball he threw there was the best pitch Sawamura had ever made, he knows. A pitch thrown with a sense of security he had never experienced before: that no matter what he pitched, it would be caught, and he would take down any batter just by throwing his best pitch into that mitt.
Suddenly, baseball feels like it isn’t just about the joy of playing with the friends he loves, but something much more, much bigger and grander.
Sawamura doesn’t know how to feel. He wants to go to Tokyo to play baseball and partner up with Miyuki Kazuya again. At the same time, though, he also just wants to stay and play baseball with everyone here.
Yet, seeing the encouraging smiles from his friends, Sawamura can’t utter those words without swallowing the heavy guilt in his heart. These people — who’ve grown up alongside him, who played with him since forever — had seen through him. Sawamura’s heart was already set on Tokyo, on the wider world.
“Thank you!” Sawamura sniffles, trying his best to suppress his tears, “I’ll definitely, definitely—” Before he starts crying earnestly and embarrassing himself, Sawamura opens the classroom door and speaks loudly to cover up the tremble in his voice. “I need to find Sano-chi!”
Sano-chi knows nothing about baseball, but he still serves as the team’s instructor at Sawamura's begging. He gave up his days off to train with them, took them out for practice games at his own expense, and occasionally treated them to barbecue afterward. Although he isn’t good — and they aren’t good, either — he always encouraged them to give their best effort during games. In a way, despite never teaching Sawamura anything about the sports, Sano-chi is his first coach.
After spending five minutes sorting out his emotions, Sawamura knocks on the teacher’s office door in a polite manner. Then, without waiting for a response, he opens the door. "Excuse me. Sano-chi! I’ve something I want to tell you!"
Alerted, Sano raises his head. After teaching Sawamura for three years, his hair had been getting thinner. "Sawamura!? What trouble did you get into again?!"
"I promise I’m bringing good news," Sawamura put his hands on his hips proudly. "Sano-chi, I was invited to the best baseball school in Tokyo!"
"Huh?" Sano's first reaction is the same as Sawamura Eitoku after hearing Takashima Rei praise Sawamura’s pitching. "You must be lying, right?"
"No! I've already been to Tokyo for a campus tour!" Sawamura has the words Trust me written all over his face. "Let’s just say I was great!"
Sano doesn’t know if the kid’s serious or not, but he almost sheds a handful of bitter tears. These days, he’s so worried for the brat’s future that his hairline is receding. Sawamura’s recommendations to all the local high schools were withdrawn after the shenanigan at their last baseball game. And with the kid’s grades, after graduating from junior high school, he really may end up dropping out of further higher education and taking over his family’s farm instead.
"It’s not that easy, Sawamura,” Sano says.
"Yes, indeed there are some troublesome obstacles on my path that I require Sano-chi's help with," Sawamura scratches his head and smiles.
Akagi Junior High’s baseball team didn’t have a single win during its existence. Although the slapping incident in their last game didn’t spread far and wide since it was played in a remote town and few watched, it still left a record of Unsportsmanship against the opponent's players. Furthermore, due to his lackluster marks, Takashima Rei wasn’t able to convince the directors to grant Sawamura a sports-scholarship. If he wants to get into the school, he now has to participate and pass the Recruitment Boot Camp in order to receive out-of-prefecture status.
Sawamura stares at Sano-chi with bright eyes after explaining the circumstances. “The scout mentioned a bunch of registration and some other messy stuff. But, honestly, I can’t remember them all specifically. So I’m counting on you to fill them in and send them off for me, Sano-chi!"
"I say, Sawamura, be polite to your teacher. And why do you need me to help you with everything? I am a teacher! Not a nanny!!!” Although he complains, Sano-sensei still turns on his computer.
Sawamura immediately jumps up, aims raised, already running out of the door, shouting with a big grin. "Thanks so much, Sano-chi!"
"Hey! Which school's Boot Camp are you supposed to sign up for?"
Sawamura's voice sounds far away down the corridor: "The best baseball school in Tokyo!"
Sano's expression softens as he sighs.
Although he’s foolish, impulsive and willful, Sawamura Eijun is a good boy. At that last game, because he stood up for his friends who were ridiculed by the opponent team, he lost all high school recommendations. There’s not much Sano could’ve done with that brat, nonetheless he couldn’t help but feel anxious for him. But now that a famous powerhouse in Tokyo is willing to take him, Sawamura will be in good hands.
"The best baseball school in Tokyo, huh,” Sano repeats, a wave of inexplicable melancholy washes over him.
He looks out the window. On the playground, there’s a pitcher's mound built by Eijun and his friends, though they only practiced there a few times. Right now, everyone's attention seems to be drawn to the small wild animals that got in through the holes in the school’s walls.
Eijun and his classmates will be the last students from Akagi Junior High before it’s demolished. Sano will lose his job after they graduate. Regardless, before finding his next job, he hopes to go to Tokyo once and see Sawamura standing on a real pitcher's mound in a real baseball field, instead of a shabby mound in a small playground.
His ancient computer finally boots up. Within a small smile, Sano opens the student file and mutters to himself. "Let’s see. Which one is the best baseball school in Tokyo?"
The admission notice for the Baseball Recruitment Boot Camp was not sent to Nagano until mid-August.
Sano scolds Sawamura for telling him too late. They almost missed the registration date by a hair. “Fortunately, the camp was postponed because they're competing in Koshien. You’ve more than a week to prepare. You’ve to perform well, otherwise they won’t give you a recommendation, okay? And you’ve no choice, since you can’t be admitted to other high schools with your grades.”
“Okay, okay, I will, Sano-chan!”
Sawamura, big-hearted as he is, doesn’t realize anything wrong with Sano's words. Instead, he happily runs back home from the post office, holding the envelope close to his chest. His family gather around as soon as he barges in the front door and announces he was accepted to Seidou’s boot camp. They’re very happy for him. His mom immediately thinks about cooking some red rice as a celebration.
However, his attentive mom is also the first to notice something’s wrong.
In the place of the school name on the envelope, written in black and white, is not Seidou High School .
Instead, it is: Inashiro Jitsugyo u.