Chapter Text
The stadium lights had long gone dark.
Sawamura Eijun sat alone in the empty dugout, listening to the distant sounds of the city beyond the ballpark. The cheers that once followed him everywhere had faded years ago.
Retirement.
Even after all this time, the word felt strange. He had accomplished everything a baseball player could dream of—Koshien champion. Professional star. National team representative. Yet there was one regret he could never let go.
Takigawa Chris Yuu.
Chris-senpai.
The person who had believed in him before anyone else did.
The person who had changed his life.
The person he never got to stand beside long enough.
Sawamura closed his eyes.
Chris had been robbed of his final summer.
Robbed of Koshien.
Robbed of the chance to play alongside his friends until the end.
Even decades later, Sawamura still remembered the frustration hidden behind Chris's gentle smile. "If only..." The words escaped him. "If only I could go back." He laughed bitterly.
"If only I could save your shoulder."
His gaze drifted toward the night sky. "If only I could take you guys to Koshien." The stars shimmered above. "And if I get greedy..."
His voice softened. "I'd like to be your classmate."
Not your kouhai.
Not someone left behind.
Someone who could stay beside you from beginning to end.
A sudden wind swept through the stadium.
The lights flickered.
Sawamura frowned.
"What the—"
The world exploded into white.
...
"EIJUN! WAKE UP!"
A pillow slammed into his face.
Sawamura jolted upright.
"HUH?!"
A familiar room.
A familiar ceiling.
A familiar smell.
His eyes widened.
No.
No way.
The door burst open.
A woman stood there with her hands on her hips. "Eijun, you're going to be late for school!" Sawamura froze.
"M-Mom?"
His mother blinked. "Did you hit your head?" Sawamura can only stare.
Young.
She was young.
Far younger than he remembered. His hands trembled. He looked down.
Small hands.
Teenage hands.
His heart nearly stopped. "No way..." He leaped out of bed and ran toward the mirror.
A seventeen-year-old stared back.
Black hair.
Bright eyes.
The face he hadn't seen in decades.
Sawamura Eijun.
First-year high school age.
The room spun. The impossible had happened. He had gone back in time.
Hours later, Sawamura sat in stunned silence on a train heading toward Tokyo. Not only had he returned to the past, but something else had changed.
Everything.
His middle school records.
His age.
His history.
Somehow, he had become part of an entirely different timeline. He wasn't entering Seidou in the same generation as Haruichi and Furuya.
He was entering as a first-year alongside Chris's generation.
Alongside Tetsu-san.
Ryo-san.
Jun-senpai.
Masuko-senpai.
Tanba-senpai.
Alongside all the third years who never reached Koshien.
And most importantly, Chris-senpai. The very reason why he's here.
His wish.
Every single part of it.
Had been granted.
Sawamura slowly clenched his fists.
This time.
Chris-senpai would play.
This time.
They would reach Koshien together.
And maybe...
Just maybe...
He could finally tell Chris everything he had never voiced out loud.