Chapter 14: You Must Become the Pillar of Seido

Upon hearing this, Chris's eyes lost their focus; this sudden, terrible news left him completely unable to accept it.

He had known his shoulder was injured months ago, yet he had persisted in completing his daily training and delivered perfect performances in games, carrying the team on his shoulders as he pressed forward.

When he learned that Miyuki would be joining Seido, he felt both relieved and comforted; perhaps in another six months or a year, once Miyuki had fully matured, he would be able to take it easier.

But he never imagined that his shoulder had reached such a critical state. Was his baseball career over?

In reality, Chris's shoulder had been hurting more and more lately, and he had a vague, ominous premonition in his heart, but he had been too afraid to come to the hospital for an examination. Perhaps it was avoidance; as long as he didn't know, he could pretend nothing was wrong.

After all, Seido still needed him.

Even today, he had come to the hospital with the intention of accompanying Huangqian Yangyi, but the result was what had just transpired.

Reason told him that stopping now was the best choice.

But...

Chris turned his head with difficulty to look at Huangqian Yangyi, a hint of pleading in his eyes.

Seeing Huangqian Yangyi shake his head, Chris looked up at the ceiling, his eyes gradually turning red.

He took a deep breath and sniffled.

"Yangyi."

"I'm here."

"You must become the pillar of Seido."

"Yes!"

On the way back to Seido, Chris didn't say a word, just quietly watching out the window.

After getting out of the car, Huangqian Yangyi followed behind Chris to the field.

It was not yet 7 o'clock, and the team's training had not yet ended.

Seeing the two return, Director Kataoka, Takashima Rei, and Department Head Ota all looked over.

With just this one glance, the three of them noticed that Chris's state was wrong!

Takashima Rei walked over first and asked, "Chris, what's wrong?"

Chris smiled bitterly and raised his head, "I might have to quit the Baseball Club."

"What!"

The expressions of the three Seido leaders changed drastically.

Kataoka hurried over, looking at the shoulder Chris was clutching, his expression extremely grave.

"Director, this is my medical report." Chris took out the report and handed it to Kataoka Tesshin.

He took it solemnly, and after reading the diagnosis, Kataoka Tesshin's hands began to tremble. After a long moment, he said with a choked throat, "Chris, I'm sorry."

As the director, Kataoka Tesshin knew better than anyone how great Chris's baseball talent was, and how much he loved baseball and this team.

How could someone like this be injured?

Kataoka felt immense self-reproach; if only he had discovered it sooner, if only he hadn't placed such a heavy burden on Chris, would he not be injured now?

"Director, it's okay. The doctor said that although my shoulder is quite seriously injured, it only needs half a year of rest to recover." Chris squeezed out a smile to comfort Kataoka.

Beside them, Takashima Rei already had tears welling up in her eyes.

They had all seen how hard Chris had worked over this past year; why, why hadn't anyone thought of this sooner?

The heavy atmosphere among them kept Huangqian Yangyi, who was following behind Chris, from daring to move a single step.

"Yangyi, go train. I still have things to discuss with the Director and the others," Chris suddenly said, turning back.

"Understood."

After saying this, Huangqian Yangyi walked toward the bullpen.

The abnormal situation among the group naturally could not escape the players' keen intuition. Seeing Huangqian Yangyi approach, a group of them immediately surrounded him.

"Don't ask. It's not convenient for me to talk about this; you'll all know later." Before anyone could speak, Huangqian Yangyi cut them off.

The group dispersed, with only Miyuki and Kuramochi, who were close to Huangqian Yangyi, remaining.

"Yangyi, Chris-senpai, he..." Miyuki stopped halfway, but Huangqian Yangyi knew what he wanted to say.

"Miyuki, I'm going to warm up. Catch for me in a bit." Huangqian Yangyi said expressionlessly, walking out of the bullpen to start running.

Kuramochi Yoichi leaned over to Miyuki, looking at Huangqian Yangyi's running figure and said, "What on earth is going on?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. Let's continue training."

Half an hour later, Miyuki was enduring Huangqian Yangyi's frantic, high-speed pitching. With every pitch, a loud boom echoed in the bullpen, causing Nanjo Taishi, who was also practicing in the bullpen, to feel immense psychological pressure.

Even though he had already let go in his heart and had come to terms with the matter of the ace number, standing next to Huangqian Yangyi now and feeling the other's strength, Nanjo Taishi felt a trace of unwillingness alongside his admiration.

"Hey, take it easy! That's hard to catch!" Miyuki dove out, blocking a wild pitch.

"Sorry." Huangqian Yangyi wiped the sweat from his head, "I'll buy you a drink later."

Miyuki gripped the baseball and clicked his tongue, "Forget it. Just pitch with all your might."

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, standing in the catcher's position, his pitcher was clearly in a bad mood and a bad state, needing to vent. Since that was the case, he would let him vent to his heart's content.

The time reached 7:30 PM, and training ended. Just as everyone was preparing to go to the cafeteria for dinner, Director Kataoka and the others returned.

After Department Head Ota gathered all the members, Director Kataoka walked to the front.

"Announcing some news!"

"Starting today, Chris will officially withdraw from the First String. The position of First String starting catcher will be vacant. Tanaka, you will temporarily fill Chris's position."

Tanaka Wataru, a third-year catcher, was also a member of the First String, though he had previously been Chris's backup.

"Yes!" Tanaka Wataru responded loudly, "Director, Chris, he..."

"Chris is injured."

"What?!!"

Nearly a hundred members turned their heads to look at Chris behind Kataoka.

Especially the second and third-year seniors; their eyes were filled with deep worry, as it could be said that every one of them, from the starting players to the regular members, had for the most part received care from Chris.

"Everyone! Although Chris is temporarily stepping down from the First String, he will still remain with the team, contributing to the team in the capacity of an advisor and Manager."

"There are only two days left until the Spring Metropolitan Tournament, and I do not wish to see anyone slacking off; even if Chris is not on the field, everyone must bring out their best performance!"

Kataoka Tesshin spoke these encouraging words, yet although the second and third-year seniors responded loudly with their mouths, they could not help but feel anxious in their hearts.

Seido was already lacking an absolute ace Pitcher; it was not to say that Nanjo was not formidable enough, as his pitching was still quite sufficient when facing other schools, and his High-speed Slider also made it very difficult for any Batter to deal with.

But when facing their old rivals, Ichidai Sanko and Inashiro Industrial, he would still appear somewhat inadequate, and now, their starting Catcher was unable to play due to injury.

For Seido, this was undoubtedly terrible news.