New opportunity. (Rewritten)

(Wanted to change some things, but I decided against it

Fuck the system.)

3 years have passed, and Yuki's been struggling to improve any further. While Yuki was already way better than any of his peers, that wasn't saying much, considering his peers weren't that good at baseball to begin with. However, because he was so dominant, it led to him being ostracized by them. No one wanted to play baseball with him anymore because he would dominate them in every aspect, whether it was hitting or pitching. Even his worst aspect of fielding was far above his peers.

Yuki wasn't hurt by this because it showed that he didn't waste all his time training.

Yuki knew he wouldn't be able to play baseball by himself. Unfortunately, however, Yuki's middle school didn't have a baseball team, nor did anyone feel the need to play.

Yuki's second choice was to join a baseball club, but the fees were way too expensive. He knew his mom would not be able to afford it. Also, the coach was a bit of an asshole. As soon as he heard Yuki didn't have money, he shooed him away and told Yuki not to return because they didn't give handouts.

That's why he turned to his last resort, the batting cages. At least this way, he can improve his batting significantly and hopefully practice his pitches as well if all goes to plan. However, money was still a problem, but he had a plan for that.

Yuki walked into his local batting cages with a determined expression on his face.

'Wow, this place is so old.' Yuki grimaced as he looked around.

Everything about the place was old and rundown, the cages, the pitching machines, even the owner was old and rundown.

Yuki walked up to the counter where an old man with thinning gray hair and a massive gut sit reading a magazine.

"Uhmmm... Hello." Yuki greets.

The man puts down his magazine and looks at Yuki annoyed. "What do you want, kid?" He asks rudely.

'What's wrong with this guy? What if I was a customer.' Yuki reprimands the old man in his mind.

"Actually, ojisaan, I was hoping you could give me a job here. I can clean the place up and do maintenance on...." Yuki asks politely, but the old man snorts and interrupts Yuki. "Sorry, I can't afford to hire anyone at the moment, kid." He shoots Yuki down.

"I don't need to be paid. I just want to be allowed to use the machines after I'm finished working, as well as practice my pitching." Yuki tells the old man.

This catches the old man's interest. Who says no to free labor. After thinking for a few seconds, he replies. "Alright, you got a deal, kid." He agrees.

"My name's Yuki Kaiba, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yuki introduces himself before bowing politely to the old man.

"Names K. When can you start?" The old man asks.

"I can start now." Yuki replies enthusiastically.

"Alright, get to it, I want this place spotless." K orders.

"On it, boss." Yuki immediately goes to look for cleaning supplies and quickly finds a broom closet with said supplies.

So begun Yuki's job at the batting cages, which unbeknownst to him, would start him on his path to glory.

Finally, after Yuki was done cleaning up, he was given permission to use the cages.

First Yuki started at the 120 kmph cage.

While he was a pitcher in his last life, he still faced pitchers that threw 140kmph+. So 120kmph should be bearable.

While Yuki was a southpaw, he actually hit as a righty.

The first pitch came straight down the middle, but Yuki didn't swing.

He wanted to see if he could actually handle 120kmph.

It was quick, but Yuki was able to see it.

The next pitch came, and this time, Yuki swung with all his might. *Ping!!!* Yuki made contact and sent the ball flying into what would be short left field, most likely resulting in a fly out for him.

'Man, that was heavy. It's going to take a while before I can hit 150kmph.' Yuki frowns a little unhappy with his current self. 'I shouldn't be in a rush, I still have 3 years till high-school, by then, I'm sure I'll be able to hit 150kmph easily.' Yuki reassures himself.

While Yuki was practicing, he didn't notice K watching him intently with an unknown gleam in his eye.

For 3 hours straight, Yuki continued alternating between 120kmph and 130kmph because that's all he could handle at the moment. He killed it on the 120kmph machine, but the 130+kmph machines seen him barely get any hits at all.

Yuki had to keep on reminding himself that he's in no rush and that getting good takes time.

And so, day after day, Yuki would come practice his batting while also practicing his pitching.

A few weeks passed, and one day, while Yuki was practicing his pitching, K suddenly approached the batting cage he was practicing in.

'Hey brat!" He called.

Over the weeks that passed, Yuki and K had become closer. Yuki would even call them friends, not that K would admit it.

"Yes, K?" Yuki asks, stopping midway while pitching.

"I noticed you only pitch 4-seamers, and don't get me wrong, it's a good 4-seamer for your age, but is that all you got?" K asks with a curious glint in his eyes.

"Uhhh, I have a sinker, but I'm still working on it." Yuki explains.

The sinker was one of the two pitches Yuki threw in his past life. The 4-seamer was the other.

"Hmmm... It's not a bad pitch, but I got something even better I can teach you." K smirks confidently.

"Oh." Yuki looks at the old man in shock, but if it was useful, Yuki wouldn't hesitate to learn this pitch. "What is it called?" Yuki asks, taking the bait K laid out for him.

K's smirk becomes more pronounced. "It's called the rising cutter."

Yuki's jaw drops. "What bullshit is that old man!!! A pitch like that doesn't exist." Yuki scolds while glaring at K for making up such a ridiculous pitch.

"Huh!!! Are you questioning me, you brat!!!" K scolds Yuki as well. "Heh, I'll prove it." K says and walks into the cage.

He walks over to Yuki and reaches out his hand for the ball.

Yuki passes him the ball. "If you lie to me, old man, I expect to start getting paid." Yuki demands.

K grins at Yuki. "Sure, but if I'm telling the truth, you'll have to wash my car 10 times." K challenges.

"Deal." Yuki agrees, knowing there is no way a pitch like that exists.

Yuki was soon proved wrong, as K started his wind up before throwing his pitch.

To Yuki's complete and utter shock, the ball as it reached the plate curved to the left as expected from a right-handed pitchers cutter, but to Yuki's amazement, as the ball cut to the left it also started to rise. What started as a pitch down the middle ended up hitting the top left corner of the strike zone.

Yuki's jaw dropped, and his eyes almost bulged out of his head from compete and utter amazement.

"Th...that's impossible." Yuki mutters still in complete shock from what he saw.

"You owe me 10 car washes." K smirks proudly, seeing the young brats' awed expression.

Yuki turns to K with a serious expression on his face. "I'll do it. If you teach me that pitch, I'll do anything you want." Yuki explains with a burning passion in his eyes. A pitch like that was practically unhittable, Yuki had to learn it.

"Very well, I'll teach it to you." K can't say no seeing that look in his eyes. It reminded K of himself when he was younger.

For the rest of the day, K taught Yuki how to throw the rising cutter.

Yuki didn't get it right until 2 months later when he managed to throw his first successful raising cutter.

Just like that, 4 years passed. Yuki continued his training and yielded substantial results.

He also hit puberty recently and grew to a staggering 6'3, surprising his mom and K.

His mom couldn't help but burst into tears when she noticed how much her baby had grown.

Yuki's improvement in baseball was monstrous. He could pitch his 4-seamer at a constant speed of 150kmph. In fact, his fastest speed was actually 153kmph.

His rising cutter was also coming along nicely, reaching a max speed of 145kmph and moving at least 5 inches upward and 6 inches inward.

His sinker was practically neglected, but he could throw it at a decent 135kmph with a drop of 8 inches . He was a monster as K liked to put it.

His batting was almost as impressive as his pitching. On the 120kmph machine, he never missed. On the 140kmph machine, he missed about 30% of the time. And on the 150kmph, he missed 60% of the time.

While that may not seem that impressive, it's a massive improvement over his previous life.

However, Yuki knew that actual pitcher pitches would have more movement on it than the pitching machine. Yuki wasn't worried, though. His reflexes were insane, and he knew it'd only be a matter of time before his hitting caught up to his pitching.

Overall, Yuki was very pleased with his progress.

One day, while Yuki and K were lazing around, seeing as they had no customers, K suddenly asked Yuki a question that would change the trajectory of his life for the better.

"Hey Yuki, what high school will you go to?" K asks while stroking his gray beard.

"Uhh, I'm going to our local high school, Tenri Gakuen." Yuki answers unenthusastically.

The local high school had a terrible baseball team, but Yuki was hoping if he put in a stellar performance for his school, a massive high school would give him a scholarship because he knew that his mother would not be able to afford to send him to a prestigious High School.

Yuki's answer caused K's eyes to widen. He couldn't believe a kid as talented as Yuki has not been scouted by some prestigious high school.

"How's that possible? Are you telling me no schools offered you a scholarship?" K asks, astounded.

"Well, my middle school never had a baseball team, so they've never seen me play." Yuki admits with a sad smile.

"I see." K says while stroking his bread. "Well, I heard that your high school just barely qualified for the Summer Regional tournament." K informs Yuki.

"Seriously?" Yuki asked, shocked. "I thought that their team was terrible." Yuki exclaims, surprised.

K grimaces. "Well, they are, but they got lucky not to meet any big schools before the quarter finals." K explains.

"This will be my chance to shine." Yuki clenches his fist, excited to get the chance to play proper baseball once again.

"Hahaha! That's the spirit boy. Use the tournament to spread your name far and wide." K encourages his young protégé.

"I will!."

________

Hope you enjoy the no system, personally I do.