Early Numbers

"HAHAHAHA…Where's Rei? I'm going to send his pitch flying today", exclaimed Raichi.

"I wonder who's pitching against us today", said Kazuma.

Discussed Yakushi High's players as they walked to Seido's field.

5 Minutes later, Yakushi players arrived on the field.

In Yakushi's Dugout.

"Get ready! If you guys can't score, then I'm going to get fired. So, you better be ready to score some home runs, especially you Raichi", said Raizou casually.

"Haii", yelled all the players simultaneously.

The captains had decided that Seido will be pitching first and Yakushi will be batting first.

"Woah, look Rei is coming to the mound".

"I knew It he was starting".

"GO ALL OUT!", exclaimed Raizou seeing Rei come up to the mound.

After 30 minutes into the game.

Yakushi was feeling overwhelmed when Rei struck out every single batter without even giving them a chance to hit.

Seido's dugout was cheering Rei on while Kataoka was deeply in thought observing Rei's style of pitching.

When it was Seido's turn to bat. Rei hit a home run.

In the 5th inning, Rei was switched with Sawamura even though he insisted on pitching.

In the 6th inning, Raichi hit a home run off Sawamura. In the 7th Sawamura let a run-through.

Yakushi High Vs. Seido High. 2-1.

In the end, Yakushi won.

Both teams' coaches thanked each other for the scrimmage.

'Why does that coach Kataoka use Rei like that? Even if he insisted on pitching, he should have let him. If Rei was on my team, I would raise him as an ace even better than Sanada, especially if that will increase our winning chances. I guess this is what happens when a team has different kinds of pitchers', thought Raizou as he walked back to his team's bus.

After the match, in the meeting room.

"We lost the match. Do you know what went wrong!", yelled Kataoka.

All the players had their heads lowered while Rei didn't. He was confident in his pitching and batting.

"BATTERS! What happened when you were given the chance why couldn't you guys score? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SWINGS!", exclaimed Kataoka glaring at Rei.

In Japan, respect is the most important aspect of your lifestyle.

Seeing Rei not lowering his head made Kataoka think he was being rebellious since he wasn't following everyone else.

Ever since he read the notebooks his opinions on various players had changed.

"Stretch, and that's it for the day", said Kataoka.

"HAII", exclaimed all the players.

At Night, in Field B.

"Sawamura what happened? Today you let runs through. Is something bothering you?", asked Rei. He was getting worried that Sawamura's self-esteem would hit rock bottom because recently he hadn't been showing good pitching results.

"I'm just having trouble executing some pitches", said Sawamura.

"You started thinking about the grip when you throw the pitch, right?", asked Rei.

Sawamura nodded.

"What pitches do you know how to throw?", asked Rei.

"Fastball and 2 pitches similar to Splitter and Cutter", said Sawamura.

"What do you mean by similar?", asked Rei.

"Sometimes when I practice, I can luckily throw pitches like Cutter and Splitter in between", said Sawamura.

"NUMBERS!", exclaimed Rei. 'How could I have forgotten about that', he thought.

"What do you mean by numbe-", said Sawamura.

"Go call Miyuki-senpai. He needs to see this", said Rei interrupting him.

Sawamura obediently nodded and went to call Miyuki. He was being obedient since he knew Rei was helping him with his pitching.

After 10 minutes.

"Why are you guys disturbing me? I was about to swing my bat", said Miyuki.

"You can do that later", said Rei.

"Oh, you're here too. Anyways, why did you 2 call me here?", said Miyuki.

"Here", said Rei throwing Miyuki his catching gear.

"Do I have to?", said Miyuki looking at the gear.

Sawamura and Rei nodded.

A few minutes later, Sawamura was in his pitching position and Miyuki in his catching position ready.

"Why am I catching Sawamura's pitches? I caught his yesterday it's not like he can throw any new pitches", said Miyuki yawning.

"Just catch his pitches", said Rei making Miyuki speechless.

"Sawamura. You keep throwing pitches using random grips as you do usually then maybe we will see your lucky pitches", said Rei.

Sawamura nodded.

Sawamura started throwing his pitches, he threw his fastball. That's it. He kept throwing his fastball continuously.

After 10 minutes of continuous throwing Sawamura still hadn't thrown one of his lucky pitches.

"Sawamura, relax", said Rei.

Sawamura nodded and relaxed his muscles. Without even thinking he gripped the ball and threw it.

The ball dropped right before Miyuki. He caught it startled.

"Wha…Wha…was that", said Miyuki shocked.

"Didn't I tell you Sawamura's pitches are amazing", said Rei.

Hearing Rei the sullen-looking Sawamura brightened up.

"Wasn't that a splitter", said Miyuki.

Rei nodded.

"Sawamura, keep the current mindset and throw another one", said Miyuki. 'His body is made for baseball maybe that's why he can do something like this', he thought.

For 2 hours, Sawamura kept throwing pitches with random grips.

"Aish…why do I have to suffer because of you again", said Rei yawning. This was the second time they had done night training. Even though it was helpful for Sawamura it was tiring.

"Well at least I got to see his potential", commented Miyuki.

"Yeah. Sure. I can't even believe the captain who used to ignore Sawamura is asking him to throw for him. How shocking", said Rei mocking Miyuki.

Sawamura chuckled upon hearing Rei's comment.

Miyuki received 2 critical arrows and decided to leave for the day.

Now only Sawamura and Rei were left in the field.

"Yo…Sawamura just continue to practice like this and I'm sure you'll be close to Furuya before you even know it", said Rei.

"THANK YOU. MASTER #2", said Sawamura enthusiastically.

"Master #2…what's with the name?", muttered Rei as he walked back to his dorm.