Chapter 15 : Sawamura's Future Development Route

"Interesting, right?"

"Yeah." Hiroto who stood on the batter box nodded seriously. "Did you transform his form?"

"Not really," Chris murmured lowly, catching another ball from Sawamura's pitch. "He has already had this form in his arsenal, yet he felt weird the first time he showed it to me. I just polish it to make him feel less awkward, but his form is all his."

"That's incredible."

They were in one of the bullpens nearby, and Hiroto who stood on the mound was in awe at Sawamura's progress. Even though the speed and route didn't change too much, the transformation of his form was enough to change everything.

"His dominant hand moves so slowly, yet because of the new form, the ball was hidden pretty well behind his right hand's wall. His movement before the ball was thrown also increased the torque in his body, and in turn, increased the power and speed of his pitch slightly. But the only thing different I notice is that. I didn't know how could he hide the ball behind his tight form that well."

"As expected from you, Hiroto. Your observation skill is still incredible." Chris praised his analysis. "But it is understandable that you don't know how he did it. If you are not familiar enough with his pitch, it would be hard to notice. Next, observe his front leg. Sawamura-kun, throw the ball again!"

"Hai, Shisou!"

Sawamura started his wind up again, ready to throw another pitch. This time, Hiroto watched the pitcher's front leg carefully just like Chris said to understand what happened. And when the ball was thrown, he finally realized the case.

"He stepped his front foot in line with the home plate, which hid his throwing hand behind until the ball was finally thrown," Hiroto murmured. "Before, he shifted his front food inside too much when lifting it up, and it forced him to open up his body quickly, revealing his hand too early. That shouldn't be a problem if he had a good pitch. But for now, changing where his front foot will land changes everything for him."

"Once again, you are correct." Chris nodded.

"The effect is great, making the ball seem faster from the box. But his accuracy is still weak, huh? I notice your mitt always moves from the middle of the strike zone and the direction is so random. Maybe, he can improve that first?"

"Good suggestion." The catcher appreciated the suggestion. "It would be impossible to improve his speed and power in a quick time. But this ball control, he could start from now."

Hiroto sighed as he felt a wave of nostalgia hit his memory. It had been a long time since Chris joined a training session, and Hiroto's favorite thing to do before or after the session discussed baseball with Chris and Ryousuke. Those two were probably the most knowledgeable players he had ever known, and he learned a lot just by listening to what they said.

Sawamura who didn't know what those two talked about waved his hand excitedly. "So, what do you think, Senpai? Is that great?!"

"Yeah, that's awesome. It seems you are not fooling around in the second team." Hiroto praised.

"Of course, this Sawamura Eijun is awesome! Sooner or later, I will be able to chase down Furuya-kun and become the ace of the team!" He laughed cockily at his self-declaration. Chris just looked at his kouhai with disgust as he stepped away, trying to pretend he didn't know Sawamura at all. However, Hiroto was immune to Sawamura's shamelessness right now, so he didn't have any problem.

"Well, if you are so good, are you brave enough to face me again? This time, I would swing the bat."

Sawamura was stunned for a second, not expecting the challenge issue from Hiroto. He took a quick glance at Chris who was behind the second-year right-fielder, and after thinking for a while, the catcher nodded in approval.

"Ahahaha! Of course, this Nagano pitcher would never back down from any challenge! Come on, Hiroto-senpai!"

Chris could only sigh tiredly as he saw Sawamura grinning excitedly at the prospect of playing against a strong player again. Unlike his clueless kouhai, how could he not see Hiroto's mischievousness? It seemed the right fielder wanted to give Sawamura a bit of shock therapy.

Well, as a catcher, what else can he do other than guide his partner to get the best outcome here?

Hiroto walked back to the box, picking up the bat from the ground. When he looked up, his eyes were glowing gold fiercely as a pressure suddenly emerged from the batter. Sawamura was startled, feeling a chill on his back while trying to avoid Hiroto's gaze. The pitcher gulped nervously while trying to pick up all the confidence that seemed to have disappeared a second ago.

Chris who saw that nodded in approval. He knew not a lot of pitchers could stand on the mound firmly after receiving Hiroto's intimidation. However, even though he wasn't completely back to his normal state, at least Sawamura could ignore the discomfort of being stared at like prey.

'Now, let's see how he would react when one of the best hitters in Tokyo is getting serious.'

Sawamura took a deep breath before raising his front leg high above the ground and moving his right arm in front of his left one, completely hiding the ball within the wall. Hiroto observed every tiny detail of Sawamura's movements carefully, still with pressure radiating from his body. And when the pitcher finally launched the ball, he hit it without hesitation.

*CLANK!*

Sawamura could only stare blankly at the ball that flew high before it was prevented from going too far by the net behind him. However, the pitcher knew that if there was no net, it would be a home run for Hiroto.

"So, come again?"

"Yeah!"

Even though Sawamura knew the strength difference between him and his senpai, this didn't dampen his excitement. In fact, he got fired up after seeing how easily Hiroto hit his pitch. He set a small goal today. He knew with his current ability, it was impossible to get a strike out from Hiroto. But at least, he would force Hiroto out twice before they ended this session.

Chris also felt happy. He usually used an imaginary batter to tell Sawamura what would be the result of his pitch. Even though there was no protest from the pitcher, he knew his kouhai didn't believe in his on-the-spot analysis to the fullest. This time, facing a serious Hiroto, Sawamura would be able to see how big the difference between him and a strong player is.

They played for a while and Hiroto kept blasting Sawamura away with ease. Sawamura started to get frustrated as his pitch was getting wilder and uncontrollable. This kept happening until when Sawamura threw his usual fastball and Hiroto swung his bat again, when the ball suddenly changed its direction into the route where Hiroto didn't expect. The second-year right-fielder widened his eyes in shock as he messed up his timing. As a result..

*CLANK!*

Even though he hit it, the result was just a weak groundball to the pitcher. Chris opened up his helm and stared at Sawamura in shock, too stunned to say anything. However, the same couldn't be said for the main protagonist who was filled with joy and excitement as this was the first time he won in a matchup against Hiroto.

"YOSSHAAAA!" The pitcher roared out loud. "I FINALLY BEAT YOU, SENPAI! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GUIDANCE!"

"That's a good pitch, Sawamura-kun." Hiroto praised the pitcher.

"OF COURSE, THE PITCH IS GOOD! THERE IS NO WAY THIS NAGANO PITCHER THROWS A BAD BALL! HAHAHA!"

"Don't tell him such a bad lie, Hiroto-kun." Chris suddenly stood up from his spot, ready to throw cold water into his kouhai, "That didn't even enter the strike zone, Sawamura! Your control sucks."

"Aaah… Can you be less ruthless, Shisou?!" Sawamura cried comically. Hiroto had his sweat drop at how fast Sawamura's mood changed.

"Well, indeed, your control is bad. But the pitch itself is good." Hiroto took pity on his kouhai. "At first, it looks like an easy ball. But I didn't expect it would change its direction wildly, messing up with my bat contact. This should be a good experience for you. A pitcher doesn't need to have a strong pitch to send out the batter. As long as he could force the opponent to swing his bat to something unexpected, it would be alright."

"Ah! Thank you for your praise, Senpai!"

"But you still need to practice your control, though." Hiroto chuckled. "The last one was a coincidence, right?" Sawamura could only rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, depending on luck and coincidence should not be your strong point. Just like Chris-senpai always said, you need to strengthen your control."

"But it is so hard!" The pitcher whined. "Even though you all say my pitch changes its direction, I couldn't see it clearly from here! How could I improve that?!"

"That's why I am here." Chris interrupted. "We will start your training to refine that idiosyncratic ball of yours step by step."

Hiroto chuckled a little at the blank expression on Sawamura's face. "It seems that's a big word for him, Senpai."

"Yeah." Chris sighed tiredly, racking his brain to think of how to explain it to his idiot kouhai. "Think about it. You know how erratic your ball moves, right?"

Sawamura nodded. "Yeah. That's what you always say I have to improve. I need to be better to the point that at least I could throw the ball to the middle without you moving your mitt."

Hiroto was speechless at what Sawamura said. If Chris who always had a high standard for his pitcher even lowered it to the point of throwing straight to the middle, how bad was Sawamura's pitch before?

"Good for you to remember." Chris nodded, ignoring Hiroto's expression. "But that's not our final goal. No, what I have in mind is for you to have the control to at least know where the ball would go, not just depend on blind luck."

"Is that possible, though?"

"Very possible." Sawamura was surprised at the sheer confidence Chris uttered for him. "Unlike Furuya-kun's strong style which relied upon gathering all of his body strength in his fingertips and releasing it to generate a heavy and rapid fastball, you have flexible fingertips that would always slip at the last moment before you throw the ball, which resulted in your ever-changing, unpredictable pitch."

"Isn't that bad?" Sawamura was confused.

"No, it is just a unique habit," Chris shook his head. "This subtle slip along your fingertips allows you to create a brand-new pitching style. Now, what we have to do is to experiment with how your fingers slip, how many types of grips you accidentally create when your fingers slip, what kind of ball for each slip, and many more."

"Aaaaaargh!" Sawamura cried out loud. "Why are there so many things to improve? Is this the cost of greatness?!" Hiroto chuckled when he imagined a smoke coming out of Sawamura's brain.

"Well, if you want to, you can think of it as the cost of greatness." His expression changed out of a sudden, startling Sawamura. "Think about it. Your fastball sucks, and you don't have any breaking ball. Polishing this idiosyncratic ball is definitely your best way to survive on this team."

"And if you build on the core strength of your body and improve the power of your ball, even if it was just a slight improvement, your pitches should be a force to be reckoned with," Chris added. "Your goal is to be an ace, right? With two different pitching styles, as long as you both could show your best performance, Kataoka-sensei would have a headache in the future."

"Well, at least it would be a happy headache." Hiroto chuckled.

Sawamura himself was frozen on the spot, ignoring the two senpai in front of him. The part of building core strength and flexibility threw him back to the first time he received Chris's training menu, where he kept protesting that the catcher was not serious about him.

'So, I am the one who is wrong here?' He murmured inwardly. 'He had already observed and thought about the best way for me to survive here since the beginning. If not, how could Chris-senpai form such a detailed and targeted training plan for a kouhai he had never met before?'

"Are you okay, Sawamura-kun?" Hiroto waved his hand in front of Sawamura's face, snapping the pitcher out of his thought.

Seeing the concerned gazes from his two senpai, Sawamura was touched. To be honest, he felt lucky. Coming alone from Nagano, he had never expected he would be mentored by two amazing players like Hiroto and Chris. Added to the several times he interacted with Isashiki, it feels good to be accepted in such a strong team, even though he is not strong enough to be on the first team yet.

"Sawamura-kun?"

"Don't worry, Senpai!" Sawamura suddenly shouted, startling both Hiroto and Chris. "This Nagano pitcher will remember your kindness and become the future ace of the team! Remember that!"

Chris had his face palmed at this sudden declaration. However, after thinking for a while, he sighed, decided to give up trying to figure out how his kouhai's brain worked. As for Hiroto, he just chuckled out loud, amused at Sawamura's antic. It seemed since he met the pitcher, he laughed more in life. But he didn't mind though. As for the bold declaration before, he was looking forward to it.

'Well, it seems the future would be more interesting here.'

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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-