Chapter 59: Changing Personality

"The seniors are amazing, aren't they?" Huangqian Yangyi asked.

"Amazing," Kawakami said.

At this moment, Isashiki stopped swinging his bat and walked over, "Huangqian, come here, I want to hit your pitches!"

"The senior must be tired already, you want to hit my pitches at a time like this?" Huangqian Yangyi laughed.

"What? Looking down on me? Even if I'm tired, I can still hit your pitches!" Isashiki had the expression of a delinquent on his face.

Huangqian Yangyi shook his head, "I'm not pitching today."

"Then what did you come here for?"

"I want to practice my batting, to strive to hit another home run in the next game."

"You kid are greedy enough, don't tell me you want to surpass Senior Azuma's record?" Isashiki said.

Huangqian Yangyi gave a cheeky grin: "A pitcher who doesn't want to hit a home run isn't a good center fielder."

"Huh? Kid, you still want to steal my position?" Isashiki had an angry face; center fielder, isn't that his position? Could it be that he was being targeted?

"Just kidding, don't get worked up, Senior. But come to think of it, the manager really did tell me to practice outfield defense properly. Could you teach me, Senior?"

"And you say you aren't targeting my position! Kid, come here and die!"

Isashiki pounced on Huangqian Yangyi like a dog in heat.

After roughhousing for a while, Isashiki stood up triumphantly and looked at Kawakami, who was standing to the side looking somewhat panicked and uneasy.

Is this how Huangqian-san always gets along with the seniors? I can't learn this!

"What about you? Are you going to pitch?" Isashiki had a fierce look on his face.

"I... I..."

Facing Isashiki's question, Kawakami was instantly stunned; this senior is too terrifying!

"Are you pitching or not?" Isashiki continued to ask; he really wanted to hit some balls right now.

Kawakami swallowed hard and said in a small voice: "Pitching."

"Hahaha, come, let's go over there." Isashiki laughed loudly, grabbed Kawakami's arm, and dragged him away just like that.

Kawakami was forced to follow behind, turning his head to send a distress signal to Huangqian Yangyi, who had just gotten up from the ground.

"Kawakami, good luck, I'm going to hit your pitches too." Huangqian Yangyi flashed a devilish smile and waved at Kawakami.

Soon, Kawakami was dragged by Isashiki to the Batter's Box at the Indoor Training Ground.

"Come on, Kawakami, entertain me!"

Isashiki held his bat high and shouted excitedly.

"Isashiki, you're too impatient, our little junior hasn't even warmed up yet." Another voice that made Kawakami shiver all over; it was the squinty-eyed Kominato Ryosuke.

Hearing this, Isashiki slapped Kawakami on the back: "Quick, warm up, warm up."

A few minutes later, Huangqian Yangyi also came to Kominato Ryosuke's side, "Senior, are you going to hit too?"

"Yeah, I want to see what our junior is capable of," Kominato Ryosuke said.

"That's a bit cruel, isn't it?" Huangqian Yangyi couldn't help but worry for Kawakami. One Isashiki was enough for Kawakami to handle; if another demon came along, wouldn't Kawakami's Dao heart shatter tonight?

"Well, isn't this what you wanted to see?"

Kominato Ryosuke turned his head to look at Huangqian Yangyi. Bringing Kawakami, who was always introverted and didn't interact much with the seniors, here—he didn't believe Huangqian Yangyi was doing this just for fun.

"Senior is truly sharp, then I'll leave it to you," Huangqian Yangyi laughed.

"Small matter," Kominato Ryosuke waved his hand, then immediately asked: "Hey, Huangqian, aren't you afraid that other pitchers will grow up and threaten your position?"

Hearing this, Huangqian Yangyi chuckled and said: "No, it's a good thing for the team to have one more capable pitcher. Otherwise, no matter how good I am, Seido won't be able to win the Koshien championship."

"Championship? You have big ambitions," Kominato Ryosuke was somewhat surprised. Although their slogan was to conquer the nation, how many of them truly believed it could be done in their hearts? Just making it to Koshien was difficult enough, okay?

"Of course, this is a goal that must be accomplished," Huangqian Yangyi said while looking at Kawakami, who had already started pitching over there.

"Besides, my pitch speed is too fast. You should know what will happen if I throw too many pitches like that, Senior."

Kominato Ryosuke's brows furrowed slightly. Indeed, a pitch speed averaging 150 km/h, and still growing, was a considerable burden for a high school student whose body was not yet fully developed. Pitching a few innings in a game might not be a problem.

But if they encountered a strong enemy, or a crucial must-win game, forcing Huangqian Yangyi to pitch a complete game would very likely cause him injury.

Once the number of such games increased, it could even destroy his shoulder and threaten his professional career.

"Have you talked to the manager about this?" Kominato Ryosuke asked.

"Not yet. The manager is already very busy. Since I have a handle on this myself, there's no need to add to his worries," Huangqian Yangyi said.

Kominato Ryosuke nodded, "I'll keep an eye on you."

"Haha, if you want to help me, Senior, why not train Kawakami a bit more?"

"You think highly of him?"

"Of course. If he can master his Slider and Sinker, he will definitely be a huge help next summer. Although I'm a bit wild, it's too difficult for me alone to carry the team through an entire summer. You wouldn't want to see me burned out in a single summer, would you, Senior?" Huangqian Yangyi smiled with a sincere expression.

Kominato Ryosuke stared at Huangqian Yangyi for a good while, then finally smiled and said: "Yeah, without you, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

Once he finished speaking, Isashiki, who had already tormented Kawakami for a round, walked over triumphantly, carrying his bat.

"Ya-haha, my batting is just super awesome."

"Being so serious against a First Year, that's really classless," Kominato Ryosuke remarked in a gentle yet terrifying voice.

"Kominato, your words are getting more and more infuriating," Isashiki said irritably as he stood next to Huangqian Yangyi.

Kominato Ryosuke didn't retort to Isashiki; he nodded toward Kawakami and then stood opposite him.

Seeing this, Huangqian Yangyi carefully observed Kawakami's expression. He looked alright; there was no sign of him wanting to shy away from the battle.

To put it bluntly, Kawakami's biggest problem was his personality. He lacked confidence. Although he had the ambition to become the ace in his heart, he didn't dare to express it at all, especially in front of the manager and the seniors, where he appeared somewhat weak.

As for Kawakami's pitching, Huangqian Yangyi had no intention of giving pointers; he wasn't qualified to do so, as his own pitching was still a mess.

Since he couldn't provide help on the technical side, he would find a way to change him through his personality.

Isn't he weak? Isn't he unable to handle pressure?

"Kawakami!"

Huangqian Yangyi suddenly shouted, and Kawakami, who was just preparing to pitch, was startled into a shiver, causing the ball to slip from his hand.

"Huangqian-san, what is it?" Kawakami asked.

"Bottom of the ninth inning, Seido leads by one run, two balls, runners on first and second, no outs."

Uh...