Chapter 16 : Chris's Comeback

"Come on, Masuko-kun! Concentrate!"

"Kuramochi-kun, move faster! Ryousuke-kun, always be ready to cover up his ass!"

"Isashiki-kun, Shirasu-kun, keep communicating! This is the third time you crash into each other there!"

"Hiroto-kun, don't throw the ball too high! Keep it low!"

"Yuuki, keep your eyes on the liner! Don't let it slip that easy!"

"Tanba-kun, be prepared! Don't forget you are also a fielder too!"

"Miyuki, instruct the pitcher faster! If the runner was Carlos from Inashiro, he would be able to steal the base right now!"

"Come on, everyone! Where is your spirit?!"

This was in the middle of June when all the first teams were gotten their asses whipped by Kataoka-sensei. Since they were eliminated from the Kanto tournament, their annual summer hell training was also started a bit earlier than the schedule.

The second-team members who watched from afar had sweat rolled down nervously when they saw the senpai who was always invincible in their eyes was so vulnerable right now. It was fortunate that this was their day off and they didn't have to join. Since there were two more spots for the first team, Kataoka-sensei scheduled five sparing games for the second team to determine who deserved to fill that spot.

"So, how long have they trained fielding like this?"

"About one hour, give or take," Maezono answered the question, still observing the training seriously. "But they did it after two hours of calisthenic training, so you can guess why they are so sluggish right now."

All the players who heard that winced at the information, looking at the first-team players with pity. Even though the baseball calisthenic program was mild compared to the other sports, it was still torture for players. It seemed Kataoka-sensei vented out his dissatisfaction with the last game and showed no mercy here.

"Come on, Furuya!" They all heard the coach barked out loud. "Don't be lazy! Move your ass!"

They all saw Furuya's pitiful state and winced unconsciously at the sight. The pitcher had sweat drenched all over his clothes and face while still running sluggishly. If they observed carefully, they would see the lack of focus on Furuya's eyes as if he were about to pass out.

Even though on one hand they wanted to gloat over his misery, on the other hand, they had to give a hat off to the first-year pitcher. No matter how exhausted he was, there was no sign of stopping or giving up from Furuya. Instead, with every step he ran, new determination could be seen flared from him. Compared to his performance, the second-team players who had the experience of doing the first-team's spartan training were ashamed of themselves as they couldn't do better than Furuya.

As for Kataoka-sensei, even though he just scolded Furuya, he was satisfied with the pitcher's attitude. To be honest, he didn't have too much hope that Furuya would be able to adapt this quickly.

He knew the baseball atmosphere in middle school was far less competitive compared to in high school. This should be time for the newcomers to adapt first rather than jumping up high into the second or first team directly after joining the team. That's why a lot of newcomers' training was focused on improving stamina and maintaining physical state rather than going for the baseball skill itself.

This was also the reason why no matter how good the newcomer was, if not exceptionally good like Furuya or Miyuki, he wouldn't promote them to the first team this fast.

But since Furuya was able to impress him, Kataoka-sensei gave the pitcher the same choice as he gave Miyuki and Chris when they were newcomers to join this kind of hell training. What he wanted to see is his perseverance here. If Furuya couldn't hold his own ground and chose to give up too early, that only means the pitcher was not ready for the first team. But looking at how he still running and moving even though he was about to reach his limit, Kataoka-sensei was satisfied with Furuya's attitude.

'Well, it seems I can use him in the next summer tournament. The newcomers this year are really interesting.'

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May passed quickly, and June finally came. Even though training was rough, there was no complaint from anyone on the team. They all knew the hardest training hadn't come yet. They also had a lot of free time as Kataoka-sensei spent almost all his time observing the second team.

And speaking of the second team, they were indeed far busier compared to the first team in May. Since the elimination in the Kanto Tournament, the main team only had three sparing games in three weeks. As for the second team, they had ten sparing games in the same period. That was about three games in a week, far exceeding the normal schedule.

However, no one made a fuss about it. This was just the annual Kataoka-sensei operation here when he would conduct a lot of sparing games for the second team and observe the performance of every player carefully to fill up the two spots for the first team.

And even though usually the players who were chosen only had the bench warmer role, they still worked hard to get that spot. This was basically a guaranteed spot for them to be on the main team next year, so they had to fight from now on to ensure they wouldn't be left out.

It was one hour after the class was over when Hiroto just finished doing some of his homework when his phone was buzzing loudly. He checked it out just to find Miyuki sent a short text in the group chat.

Miyuki Kazuya: Everyone, come to the field A! Quick! Chris-senpai is playing here!

This news shocked Hiroto to the core. Even though he knew the third-year catcher had been joining the training with Sawamura and the others, there seemed to be no news about him going to make a comeback soon. That's why when Hiroto saw the news, he was stunned on the spot.

And it seemed, he wasn't the only one who was surprised by that.

Isashiki Jun: Oi, Miyuki! Are you serious?!

Ryousuke Kominato: If he thought it was a fun joke, we can kill him together, Jun.

Kuramochi Yoichi: So scary…

Instead of using his words to convince the other, Miyuki just sent a picture that he just took from his place. There, Hiroto could see Chris using his protective gear behind the batter box guiding Sawamura on the mound. Seeing that, Hiroto stood up from his seat excitedly, putting all of his books in the bag, and ran toward the field to see it by himself.

On the road, he also met Masuko and Miyauchi who went in the same direction as him.

"So, you also heard the news, huh?"

"Yeah." Hiroto nodded at Miyauchi's question without slowing down.

As they got closer to the field, they also met several other players who were either the first team's players or Chris's acquittance. However, not everyone came with good intentions. Since Chris had not joined the training for almost a year, his popularity among his kouhai was not great. A lot of them watched in disdain, wanting to know what was so special about Chris that made Kataoka-sensei give him this special treatment.

And it seemed they arrived at the right time. Hiroto could see Chris in the batter's box, facing the opponent's pitcher calmly. The count was still 1-1, and by the sheer determination that Chris showed, Hiroto knew this would be a good fight.

And right to his predicament, Chris showed his aggressiveness from the start, not giving the pitcher any chance to take a breath. Except for the ball that went out of the strike zone, Chris would always swing his bat even though it would just end up as a foul. However, his goal was already achieved. In total, the opponent's pitcher had already thrown 11 balls just for him this inning. This would wear the pitcher out and put more pressure on the opponent.

Hiroto was excited and felt a bit nostalgic at this sight. This was the playing style that he discussed a lot with Chris and Ryousuke in the past. If you don't have a huge presence like Tetsu or a high batting average like Hiroto, what could you do to leave a big impact on the game? Just play aggressively and prolong the battle as long as possible. Not only it would pressure the opponent's pitcher, but it would also give enough information for the next batter.

This playing style was used by Ryousuke until now, which was a huge help for the team. Now that Chris used this kind of style on the box, Hiroto couldn't help but think about the past.

"Is it okay for Chris to play this aggressively?" A voice in front of him snapped Hiroto from daydreaming. Unconsciously, he went straight to the place where all the first-team players gathered around. When Hiroto checked who was the one who voiced his concern, he could see Tanba had a worried expression on his face.

"This is just his first game, should he try to restrain himself?"

"Don't worry about it, Tanba-senpai." He spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "Chris-senpai knows his limit. Don't you see that all of the fouls were just grounders to the tricky place? It didn't even pass the infield. He knows he should restrain himself."

"Since when did you arrive?" Ryousuke raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Since the count was 1-1. You hadn't noticed my presence?" Hiroto asked helplessly, taking a seat next to the pink-haired senpai.

"Well, if you say so." Ryousuke shrugged off his shoulder, putting back his focus on the game. "But Hiroto is right, Tanba. Chris knows his limit. He is not stupid. If he wanted to make a comeback, he knew this was his last chance. Don't worry about him."

Despite Ryousuke's reassurance, the worry didn't disappear from the pitcher's face, and Hiroto couldn't blame him. Being the two fastest players of their generation to be promoted to the first team and formed a battery duo since their first year, it could be said Tanba was the closest friend Chris had in Seido. Combined with how difficult it was for Tanba to get along with Miyuki, of course, the one who wanted Chris to make a comeback the most was him.

Hiroto shook his head, trying to put his focus back on the game. With Chris's sharp observation, he managed to send the ball to the foul zone three more times before letting a bad ball slide over, resulting in a walk for him.

"What the hell?!" Isashiki frowned, showing his dissatisfaction. "Even though it was a ball, why did Chris let it slide and go for a walk? He could blast it away easily for at least a double, right?"

Ryousuke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Well, it seems you didn't hear what I and Hiroto said to Tanba before. It was clear he tried to restrain himself, so he wouldn't swing in an unnecessary play like that. He is playing it safe, and you should know it, Idiot."

"What the hell?! I just voiced my opinion, no need to be harsh!"

"Well, a stupid opinion didn't count here."

"HA?!"

Hiroto, Tanba, and the other players who sat in the same row could only look at each other helplessly. For Ryousuke and Isashiki who had a polar opposite personality, it was pretty often they bickered with each other.

Usually, it would be Tetsu who were able to tame those two. But since the captain wasn't here yet, no one dared to be the middleman. They didn't want to suffer from Isashiki's angry roar or Ryousuke's sharp tongue.

Fortunately, the sound of the metal bat hitting the ball could be heard loudly, distracting those two from their bickering.

*CLANK!*

The ball went to the area between the third baseman and the left fielder with good speed. It was clear that the opponent's third baseman wouldn't be able to get the ball in time, and the outfielder himself was not quick enough to cover the defense. If nothing went wrong, Chris would be able to reach the third base without any suspense.

Unfortunately, the ball landed a few inches outside of the foul zone.

"FOUL!"

"AAARGH! SORRY, SHISOU! I WILL NOT MESS IT UP NEXT TIME!"

Hiroto and the others were stunned when they realized who the batter on the box before. If it was another second team's players, they wouldn't think about the last ball too much. But it was Sawamura who did it, the worst batter on the team. They could still remember a few weeks ago, Sawamura couldn't even swing the bat properly, let alone hit the ball like this. His transformation stunned and scared them for a bit,

"Is that you who taught him, Jun?"

"Even though I want to claim the credit, it wasn't all in me." Isashiki shook his head at Ryousuke's question. "Hiroto laid a good foundation on him, and I just polished it a bit here and there. Your brother also taught him a lot in their free time."

"Oh?" Ryousuke raised his eyebrows slightly, turning around at Hiroto. By now, everyone also had their attention on him, asking the question silently.

"Yeah, I taught him the basic posture and batting mechanic," Hiroto admitted freely. "But I don't remember teaching him how to recognize the pitcher's ball from the box or how to time the swing properly. Is that you, Senpai?"

"Yeah. For that, I would claim this credit." Jun grinned widely. "Teaching him was such a fun experience. He absorbed all of my knowledge like a sponge. You should try it."

"Is that so?" Seeing Hiroto nod in confirmation, all the players there observed Sawamura's next play with such an interest. And the pitcher didn't disappoint, as in the next ball, he slammed it hard without hesitation.

*CLANK!*

"OOH!"

"Nice hit, Sawamura!"

"Keep running!"

Even though Sawamura didn't see where the ball would land, he knew it was a good hit. When he reached the second baseman and was about to go to the third baseman, he grinned widely as he saw Chris had already arrived at the home plate.

'Shisou is already back home? Yosh! Let's stop at the third baseman and wait for Haruichi or anyone else to bring me back home.'

That was what he thought at that time. Sawamura didn't want to be greedy and forced his way to the home in one turn. However, fate seemed to favor him today. Right when he was about to slide his body over the base, he saw Maezono who acted as the base coach shouting excitedly.

"DEFENSE ERROR! DON'T STOP, SAWAMURA! KEEP RUNNING!"

Sawamura was caught off guard for a second. However, his brain caught up with the new information instantly and he sprinted back to the home plate with all his might. He didn't know where the ball was right now. However, when he saw the anxious look on the catcher's face, he knew what he should do.

"DIVE, SAWAMURA!"

The pitcher didn't know who shouted that, but it was the exact same thing as he thought right now. Right before he could reach the home plate, the ball finally arrived at the catcher's mitt. However, when he was about to be touched by the catcher, he dove forward, avoiding the touch in the air, before landing on the ground acrobatically while grabbing the home plate tightly as if it was the last thing he could do.

And when the chaos was over and everyone could see what happened, a roar of excitement could be heard all over the field.

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Author note :

Hey! I have written a few next chapters of this new story and posted it already on my patreon account. If you want to read it in advance, you can visit patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes .

You can read this story up to chapter 25, and I will try to update it faster. 

You can also read my other fanfiction, Kuroko no Basket: The Sixth man of Seirin Basketball Team up to chapter 160 on that page.

Thank you for your support! I appreciate it! :)

-Zeta Faes-