Chapter 02 : Roommates

The next morning, Hiroto's activities were back to normal again. He woke up at 4 A.M. and spent about an hour studying before going out for his morning run. Usually, he would only do this for an hour before going back as the team would hold the morning training session. But since the first official training of the year would be held tomorrow, he added another 30 minutes to his morning run.

"Hiroto-kun?" A voice calling his name stopped him from his run. When he turned around, he could see his head coach, Kataoka, staring at him sternly. "What are you doing here? Aren't you still in a recovery period?"

"Ah…I went to the clinic yesterday with Rei-san and I got the green light to start the normal practice again."

"Is that so?" Kataoka raised his eyebrows slightly, a bit surprised by the news. "Then, why don't you report to me first?"

"Well, I want to do that too.. But it was already dark when we arrived back at school, and Rei-san said she would convey the doctor's message to you and I only need to report this morning, so I just did what she said." Hiroto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Is that so?" Kataoka repeated his last word, but now his mouth twitched in annoyance. "It seems I need to have a talk with her too."

There is an awkward silence for a few seconds before Hiroto finally speaks, "So, Kataoka-sensei, am I allowed to continue my running?"

After pondering for a second, Kataoka finally nodded, giving his permission. "Just don't go overboard. Don't risk any unnecessary injury. You are a valuable member of the team."

"Yes, Sir!"

After running for another 30 minutes, Hiroto went back to his dorm room, only to find out a stranger stood in front of the door nervously. After thinking for a few seconds, a realization dawned through his head.

"Are you the newcomer?"

"AH!" The stranger yelped, surprised at Hiroto's sudden question. "No! I mean, yes, Sir! I am the new member of the team, Tojo Hideaki!"

"Don't be too nervous." Hiroto chuckled a little. "Sorry for scaring you. My name is Suzuki Hiroto, and I am a second-year student here. Oh, and just call me Hiroto. If this is the room you were signed in, we will be roommates for the next two years. It would be awkward if you acted too formal to me."

Tojo nodded slowly, still processing Hiroto's words. He followed Hiroto into the room, only to find out three neat beds had already been arranged there. There are several books stacked on one of the beds, which he could guess belong to Hiroto.

"Well, as you can see, that is my bed." Hiroto pointed at the one Tojo just looked at. "The other two belonged to the Senpai who graduated last year, so it is still empty. I asked the Sensei, and he said there would be one third-year senpai who would move into this room. But since you come first, you can choose which one you prefer, and the senpai will have whatever is left behind."

"Eh?! Is that alright?!"

"Don't think too much about it." Hiroto waved his hand nonchalantly "The senior members here are pretty chill. They wouldn't make a fuss about the bed choice."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Tojo finally decided to trust Hiroto. His friendly appearance kinda put Tojo at ease, which made it easier for them to put aside the awkwardness.

"Well, you settle down first. I need to prepare myself for the morning class in the next hour. Let's talk again and try to get to know each other after the third member of our room arrives, okay?"

"Yes, Senpai!"

After that, he left Tojo alone, starting to prepare himself for his class. Today is Friday, so the class would end earlier to give the students extra time for their clubs. Even though Seido is an elite high school, it was all due to their extracurricular achievements. That's why they were a bit loosened up regarding clubs.

However, that doesn't mean they couldn't ignore their study. There are several cases of students who had to be dropped out of the club due to their bad grades. That's why even for a sports member like him, he would still need to maintain their grade and not let it fall below the acceptable standard.

"Yo, Hiroto-kun!" A sudden voice from behind suddenly snapped him from his thought. When he turned around, he could see a stocky boy walking in his direction. "How is your recovery? Any good news?"

It was Keisuke Miyauchi, the third-year reserved catcher for the first team. Hiroto looked at his senpai strangely, because Miyauchi is not someone that close to his Kouhei except for Kawakami, and that was only because Kawakami is a pitcher. However, he still answered the question politely.

"Yes, Senpai." Hiroto nodded, a smile cracked on his face. "The doctor said I am finally allowed to join the normal training again. I will join the second team training first to re-adapt to the intensity of the team, and I will also probably join the game against the first year too."

"Really?" Miyauchi snorted a little. "Poor the first year. They wouldn't see what is coming to them. Good for you, though. Don't be reckless again, okay?"

"Yes, Senpai."

"And speaking of which, I will move to your room after my class is over." Seeing Hiroto raise his eyebrows, Miyauchi shrugged helplessly. "Apparently, our case is similar. My two roommates were graduated last term. Rei-san asked if I was willing to move and he said there was a spot empty in your room. So, I just accept that."

"So that's the case…" Hiroto hummed, finally understand why Miyauchi approached him. "Well, there is a new resident in my room too, and he just came this morning. I hope you don't mind you cannot choose which bed you want, okay?"

"Don't worry about it. All the beds in the dorms are the same, so I don't have any preference." Miyauchi waved his hand nonchalantly. "Speaking of the new resident, what is your impression?"

Hiroto pondered for a moment, trying to remember his impression of Tojo.

"Well, he is a bit meek and pretty obedient toward his senpai, which was the usual case of a newcomer." He spoke after a while. "But other than arranging the bed and introducing ourselves, we haven't spoken to each other. We will speak later after the class is over, so you are welcome to join."

"I would like that." Miyauchi nodded. "Well, I have to go to a class too. See you in the training, Hiroto-kun!"

After saying goodbye to Miyauchi, Hiroto continued preparing himself, changing his casual training clothes into the school uniform. Feeling ready, he went straight to the dorm cafeteria first for breakfast. When he arrived, he could see several students had already been there, either chatting with their friends or with a school book in front of them.

Breakfast itself is not a formal occasion. As long as they were not late for their class, students were allowed to have breakfast after the morning training. That's why Hiroto could see several of them still wearing their casual clothes, some even come with their pajamas. Only the third-year students who have an additional class to prepare themselves for the university entrance test next year were ready for the day.

"Hiroto-kun." A soft voice calling him from behind. "A perfect student like usual, huh?" Hiroto snorted at the sarcastic remark from his pink-haired senpai.

"You know I hate that nickname, right, Kominato-senpai?"

"I know. That's why I call you that."

The corner of his mouth twitched as he looked at his senpai annoyedly. Yeah, this was Ryousuke Kominato, the second baseman of the baseball team. With his forever-smile face, Ryousuke is somehow scarily annoying, which he knows it too well as he uses his persona to scare the shit out of everyone else.

However, behind that scary face, Ryousuke had a good heart, always caring about his teammates. He was the first one who came and asked about his condition when he first received his injury.

"So, you are good enough for training?"

"Um." Hiroto nodded. He knows that with him telling Miyauchi, the information would be relayed to the other players quickly, and only the ones who don't have a phone in their possession would miss his condition.

"Good." Ryousuke nodded in approval. "Go back to the first team quickly. The training session is a bit boring without you." After that, he left Hiroto alone who could only stare at his senpai helplessly.

The day itself went pretty quickly. Hiroto puts all the attention on his class, not wanting to miss anything the teacher said. Even though he was the number one student of his year, he didn't want to grow complacent and let his grade drop. Moreover, by putting all his effort into the class, the amount of study he had to do outside of school time wouldn't be too much, which he could allocate more to his baseball training.

"Yo, Hiroto!" Kuramochi, another member of the baseball team greeted him after the school was over. "I heard you are allowed to train normally again. Good for you!"

"Yeah." Hiroto nodded. "Are you going to go for self-practice after this?"

"Nah." Kuramochi shook his head, grinning mischievously. "My firstie roommate would arrive this evening. I need to prepare something special for him."

Hiroto snorted, already having an idea of what Kuramochi considered special. He and Miyuki were notorious for their prank streak, and sometimes, even Kataoka-sensei had to reprimand them to not going overboard.

"I pity your future roommate."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Kuramochi waved his hand. "Masuko-senpai would be there too. He wouldn't allow me to go overboard."

"Well, if you say so."

After exchanging pleasantry for another few minutes, Kuramochi finally left, and having nothing to do, Hiroto decided to go back to the dorm and change to his casual clothing for another self-training. But when he entered the room, he was greeted with quite an amusing atmosphere where Tojo just looked awkwardly as Miyauchi settled down there, arranging his things into the spot left for him.

"Hiroto-senpai!" Tojo greeted excitedly, sighing in relief as he was glad he could finally get out of the awkward situation. Miyauchi turned his head for a second, sending a slight nod before he continued his doing.

Hiroto just chuckled a little before he turned around at Tojo.

"You don't have anything to do?"

"Not really." Tojo shook his head. "It was time for the first year to explore which club they wanted to join. But since I have already committed to the baseball team, I don't think I needed to join."

"Hmm…." Hiroto hummed slightly. "That is Keisuke Miyauchi, the third-year senpai who would join our room. He is the reserve catcher of the first team, so if you have any questions, just ask him."

Miyauchi didn't even take a look, keep continuing his doing. For him, it was just a normal introduction, nothing special about it. However, Tojo gasped comically, staring at Miyauchi with mouth gaped wide.

"You are the member of the first team?!" Miyauchi and Hiroto looked at each other for a second, a bit concerned about Tojo's sudden excitement. "I cannot believe I would be a roommate with one of the regular players! I heard the competition to enter the first team is very hard! Can you tell me about it? Geez.. Kanemaru would be jealous if he knew about this…"

At this point, Miyauchi just stared at Tojo and Hiroto strangely before he asked Hiroto, "You didn't tell him?" Seeing Hiroto's sheepish look, he sighed, knowing the answer.

"You are still too humble for your own good, Hiroto-kun." He muttered lowly before turning around to Tojo. "Boy, let me tell you something. I am not the only one who is a member of the first team here."

"EH?!"

Hiroto blushed red when he saw the astonished expression on Tojo's face.

"Yeah, and he is far more impressive than me. Hiroto-kun is one of our best hitters, second only to our captain. He was also named one of the best players in Tokyo last year and one of the two players who could hit Narumiya Mei's pitch successfully. If not for his injury, we would probably be able to go to Koushien last year."

"That impressive? Why don't you say something about that first?!"

Hiroto just rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, it is a bit embarrassing to say, especially to a person you just met."

Although Miyauchi agreed with his words, he also added his thought "You should take more pride in your work, Hiroto-kun. Almost all the pitchers in Tokyo would rather avoid you on the box and giving up a walk instead of facing you. That was not a treatment everyone could enjoy. Only Tetsu was treated the same, and he is our best hitter."

Looking at the worship gaze from Tojo, Hiroto was a bit uncomfortable and decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"What about you, Tojo-kun? What position do you play?"

"I am a pitcher, Senpai!"

"Oh?" Hiroto raised his eyebrows slightly in curiosity. "Do you have any experience in that position?"

"Huh?" Tojo looked at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it is not a secret that everyone wanted to be a pitcher at some point. It was the most eye-catching position in baseball, after all. There are a lot of self-proclaimed pitchers who joined Seido in the past that have to give up because they are not suitable."

"Oh, yeah. I remember Jun is also the same." Miyauchi snorted amusedly. "I could still remember his stupid face when he was told he was not suitable as a pitcher. That was hilarious."

Tojo gulped nervously, feeling the pressure from Hiroto and Miyauchi's words.

"Well, I was the main pitcher for Matsutaka Middle School and we won the national tournament last year." Even though he was a bit nervous, Tojo still took pride in his achievement. "I hope it was enough to convince the coach I am suitable as a pitcher."

Hiroto and Miyauchi were a bit surprised at his words, not expecting their new roommate would be a big shot. Inwardly, Hiroto recalled his conversation with Rei last night about the newcomer this year.

'A pair of pitcher and hitter who won the national? So, Tojo-kun is the pitcher huh? Interesting…'

After spending a couple of seconds in silence, he patted Tojo's shoulder reassuringly and said, "Well, I don't know if you are suitable or not. No matter how much you achieved in the past, if you couldn't convince the coach with your play, he wouldn't hesitate to throw you from the team. You know that, right?"

Tojo's gaze turned firmly as he nodded.

"I understand, Senpai."

Seeing the burning ambition in Tojo's eyes, Hiroto couldn't help but smile, satisfied with the attitude of his new roommate.

'Well, if he is as good as what I imagine as the national caliber pitcher, it would be a great boost for the team. I cannot wait to see it in the game against the first year!'