Chapter 188: Confronting Sawamura!

As soon as Huangqian Yangyi finished speaking, it was as if Sawamura's soul had been extracted; his eyes became hollow and vacant, and his mind was almost a complete blank.

After a long while, Eijun muttered to himself as if waking from a dream: "Just having fun is absolutely not enough..." This sentence seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his heart, his voice so soft that almost only he himself could hear it.

All along, Sawamura had harbored an extremely high level of passion for baseball.

Back in his hometown, not only was he keen on this sport himself, but he also strongly persuaded his friends around him, who were not originally very interested in sports, to form a Baseball Club; every time they trained, everyone would happily shout about wanting to make it to the National Competition.

However, at this moment, Sawamura began to doubt: for his friends, were the National Competition and Koshien truly their dreams?

If it were just about playing baseball happily, Sawamura believed that he and his friends could play for a lifetime.

But if they were to set their goal as the National Competition, or even Koshien, what would that mean for them?

Sawamura slowly turned his head, casting his gaze toward the players training on the field; he stared at each and every one of their figures, watching them shed sweat under the sun, and the emotions in his heart grew increasingly complex.

"Oi, kid, since you're here, do you want to try our training?" Huangqian Yangyi, seeing that his words had an effect, continued.

Taking advantage of the moment Sawamura's heart was wavering to deliver a heavy blow, and finally adding the "talk therapy" manipulation technique—Huangqian Yangyi considered himself an expert at this.

Hearing Huangqian Yangyi invite him, Sawamura finally snapped back to reality; looking at this guy in front of him who had just been lecturing him but was now looking at him with a mocking smirk, Sawamura suddenly felt his anger flare up.

"Come on! Who's afraid of whom!" Sawamura shouted.

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi shouldered his bat. "What's your name? What position do you play?"

"Sawamura Eijun, Pitcher!"

"Very good, go change your clothes, then warm up. You pitch later, and I'll hit. Let me see what you've got," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Seeing Huangqian Yangyi's "let me test you" attitude, Sawamura became even more determined to show this guy what he was made of.

Takashima Rei, who had witnessed the entire conversation from the side, gave Huangqian Yangyi a quiet thumbs-up, then turned and shouted: "Fujiwara Takako, please take this little guy to change into a uniform."

Fujiwara Takako said "mm," trotted over, and took Sawamura away.

Once Sawamura left, Takashima Rei came to Huangqian Yangyi's side and said: "What do you intend to do?"

"Well, let him witness real high school baseball. Isn't that what you said, Rei-chan?" Huangqian Yangyi smiled.

Takashima Rei nodded: "That is so, but take it easy."

"Mm-hmm, don't worry, I have a sense of proportion."

When Sawamura returned in a Seido training uniform, Huangqian Yangyi turned his head and shouted at Miyuki, who was watching the fun from the corner: "Kazuya! You come be the Catcher."

"Huh? Why is there still something for me to do?" Miyuki was clearly not very willing, and he stood up slowly and walked over.

Seeing this, Takashima Rei walked to Miyuki's side and whispered: "Miyuki, this child's pitching is very interesting. Even he himself hasn't discovered his true self yet. Can you bring his potential to its absolute limit?"

"Oh? Is that so? That's truly something to look forward to." Miyuki looked toward Sawamura; this guy brought by Takashima Rei seemed to really have something in him.

Putting on his gear, Miyuki looked at Huangqian Yangyi, who was already prepared with his bat, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a sense of excitement.

Heh heh, if he could Strikeout Yangyi, it would definitely be fun.

Miyuki smirked behind his glove.

Bang!

A large foot kicked Miyuki in the butt.

"What are you laughing at? So sleazy, like a pervert on the train," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Miyuki turned his head back, laughing "hee-hee," "I'm saying, you specifically asked me to catch for this guy, there must be a reason, right?"

"Is there? You're overthinking it."

"You're planning to go easy, right? After all, if there's anyone who knows your pitching best, it's definitely me," Miyuki whispered.

Huangqian Yangyi turned his head and rolled his eyes, "Are you stupid? If I really wanted to go easy, would I need you? I could just pretend I can't hit it."

"That would be too obvious, I get it," Miyuki said with a "I understand you" expression.

"You should just go communicate properly with this guy; at least find out what pitches he can throw," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Just then, Sawamura, having finished his warm-up, shouted toward them: "What are you whispering about? Ah! I get it, you're plotting how to deal with me, right? As expected, you've realized how good I am!"

Uh...

Huangqian and Miyuki both craned their necks to look at Sawamura, then turned their heads to look at each other.

He's an idiot, right?

Seems like it.

Eh?

Sawamura was also craning his neck to look at the two people; for some reason, he felt like someone was bad-mouthing him.

At this moment, Miyuki suddenly threw the baseball in his hand toward Sawamura. Sawamura was stunned after catching it.

"Hm? Is this your first time hitting a hard ball?" Miyuki asked after noticing Sawamura's confusion.

Looking at the baseball in his hand, Sawamura seemed to realize something.

"Quick, throw it over, throw a few more to get used to it," Miyuki shouted.

Although he didn't know who this guy with the sports glasses was, Sawamura didn't care about that; he nodded and threw the baseball over without a word.

Whoosh!

The baseball flew out.

Nothing special, just plain and ordinary, Miyuki thought.

As a result, just as the baseball was about to enter the Home Plate, the flight path of the ball actually underwent a strange change.

Snap!

Miyuki, with lightning-fast reflexes, quickly made a move to catch the ball.

At the same time, his pupils vibrated slightly; this is interesting.

With just one pitch, Miyuki, this old hand, saw the essence of Sawamura's pitching.

However, looking at this guy's expression, as expected, he himself was unaware of it.

"One more pitch," Miyuki returned the ball.

The two of them played catch for a while, then Miyuki asked, "That's enough, right? We can start now."

Sawamura nodded in silence, and at this moment, Huangqian Yangyi also stepped into the Batter's Box carrying a bat.

"Kid, watch me hit it flying; don't get scared, okay?" Huangqian Yangyi imitated the squinty eyes and smile of Senior Kominato.

"Huh?!"

"You're the one who should be saying that! Don't regret it when I bean you!" Sawamura bared his teeth like an angry puppy, two puffs of white steam spraying from his flared nostrils.

Huangqian Yangyi shook his head helplessly and said to Miyuki in a low voice, "Let's start."

The commotion from the three of them drew the attention of everyone else present, and seeing that Huangqian Yangyi was really going to face off against this middle schooler, they all started jeering.