<17> Partners

Chapter 17: Partners

With a clear direction, Eijun felt less anxious and cheerfully approached Rei Takashima with quick steps.

"Takashima-sensei, may I borrow the freshman roster for a bit?"

Rei was slightly moved by Eijun's wide, pleading eyes.

"Ahem, Sawamura-kun, what do you need the roster for?"

"I want to look for catchers in the same grade. These past few days, practicing with Masuko-senpai and Haru-chan has been great, but I feel like I'm constantly being overpowered. It's clear that one person's strength is limited."

Masuko?

Rei Takashima turned her back to Eijun as she searched the bookshelf for the files.

"You've been training with Masuko lately?"

"Eh? Not exactly. Masuko-senpai occasionally joins us for practice. He's so strong! At first, I could somewhat hold my own, but now it's completely impossible. Lately, he's hitting more and more solid line drives off me."

Thinking about the scenes during practice, Eijun couldn't help but feel his blood boil with excitement.

Rei handed the documents to Eijun with a sense of pride.

"Of course! Even though Masuko is currently in the second string, he was once the fifth batter on the first string. Seidou's training and evaluations are inherently strict, and he's a hardworking and dedicated person. I'm confident he'll return to the first string soon."

Flipping through the roster, Eijun thought of the sincere senior who was always the last to return to the dorms, his clothes soaked with sweat.

He had no doubt about the truth of Rei's words.

Takashima's notes were detailed and well-organized. It didn't take Eijun long to find what he was looking for: a catcher from his year named Wataru Kariba.

This was the partner he needed.

After sincerely thanking Takashima, Eijun left with the extracted information.

Later that afternoon, after practice, Haruichi invited him as usual,

"Sawamura-kun, want to come and swing some bats with me later?"

"Not today. I'm off to find my secret weapon. Hehe."

Seeing Eijun in such high spirits, Haruichi didn't insist.

After all, Eijun had seemed a bit troubled during practice lately, so seeing him so relaxed was a good thing.

Still, there was a tinge of loneliness in Haruichi's expression at the rejection.

Separating from Haruichi, Eijun pulled a crumpled note from his pocket, smiling as he read it. With a spring in his step, he arrived at Kariba Wataru's dorm room door. However, now that he was here, he hesitated, unsure how to begin.

"How should I say it? 'Hi, I'm Eijun Sawamura. Let's train together.' Would that be too abrupt? Or maybe, 'I'm Sawamura. Can we train together?' Hmm, still doesn't feel quite right. Ugh, what should I say?"

Kenjirou Shirasu, returning from outside, found an unfamiliar figure squatting at his dorm door, mumbling something under his breath like he was casting a curse.

"Do you need something?"

The sudden voice startled Eijun, causing him to fall to the ground and scramble back a few steps. Looking up and realizing it was a senior, he quickly stood up.

"Good evening, senpai. I'm Sawamura, and I'm here to see Kariba-kun in your dorm."

"Ah, I see. Want to come in and wait?" Shirasu asked, unlocking the door.

"Oh no, it's fine! I wouldn't want to disturb you."

"Alright then. Kariba, Sawamura's here to see you," Shirasu called into the room.

Hearing Kariba's response from inside, Eijun felt a sudden rush of nerves.

All the mental preparation he'd done seemed to collapse in an instant.

"Um, Sawamura-kun, what can I do for you?" Kariba asked hesitantly, looking at the freshman who had garnered so much attention.

He couldn't figure out why someone like Sawamura would seek him out.

"Well… I was wondering if you'd like to form a pitcher-catcher pair with me after practice?" Eijun launched his sparkling offensive, his big eyes filled with hopeful anticipation.

Unable to resist, Kariba instinctively agreed.

"Sure… I guess." Kariba was still confused.

Why him?

"But Sawamura-kun, aren't you close with the seniors? Wouldn't it be better to practice with someone more skilled? I've noticed that Miyuki-senpai, the first-string catcher, seems very interested in you. I'm sure he'd be happy to help."

Eijun couldn't understand why Kariba kept asking so many questions even after agreeing to pair up with him.

"And honestly, my relationship with Miyuki-senpai isn't good at all. He just teases and mocks me. I'm not really close to any of the senior catchers either. Well, except for one really nice senpai, but he's currently injured. The main reason I want to team up with you is that we're in the same grade. It feels more natural, and I think we'll have more in common."

Kariba stared at Eijun for a moment before replying,

"My skills aren't great yet, but if you don't mind, we can train together."

Hearing this, Eijun almost jumped with joy.

"Great! Let's meet later by the bridge near Field B. See you then!"

Watching Eijun dash off as quickly as he had arrived, Kariba muttered to himself,

"What a strange guy."

Meanwhile, Kuramochi, returning from practice, noticed Eijun humming happily to himself.

"What's gotten this guy in such a good mood? Could it be Wakana?"

"Hey, Dumb-mura, no extra practice today? Back so early—did something happen?"

Lost in his own happiness, Eijun didn't notice Kuramochi's suspicious tone.

"Of course I'm going to practice! I'm just grabbing my gear first. I found a catcher in my grade to team up with! He agreed to train with me. Finally, after all this time, I can pitch properly again. Kariba-kun is such a nice guy!"

Hearing that it had nothing to do with Wakana, Kuramochi dropped his dark thoughts and let Eijun off the hook—for now.

"Alright, but come back early tonight. I got a new game. Let's play together. After a whole day of training, you need to relax."

"No way! Kuramochi-senpai, you should train more yourself. I heard your performance in the recent practice game wasn't great."

Watching Kuramochi's face darken, Eijun quickly bolted out of the dorm, escaping Kuramochi's wrath and leaving him to fume alone.

...

When Kariba finally arrived at the designated spot, over 20 minutes had passed. He found Eijun already warming up and hurried over.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"No, no, you're right on time. I just finished warming up. Can you catch for me?"

"Sure. What pitches do you throw, and how's your control?" Kariba asked while putting on his gear.

"I can throw a fastball and one weird pitch. I don't really know what it is, but my baseball coach said it's unique to me. As for control, I aim for the nine quadrants, but my precision isn't great yet. I can, however, consistently hit inside corners and straight fastballs down the middle. By the way, you brought your gear with you?"

Kariba's preparedness made Eijun inexplicably happy, and he cheerfully helped him with the equipment.

"Yeah, for safety and to make it easier for you to throw comfortably. Let's start with a few simple pitches to get a feel for things."

Kariba crouched at a reasonable distance, signaling Eijun to throw.

Eijun assumed his pitching stance and released the first ball.

Hmm, decent speed, around 130 km/h. Not particularly fast, but his pitching motion is unique. Let's see a few more.

After a couple of fastballs, Kariba subtly adjusted the glove's position, and Eijun still managed to hit the target consistently.

His control is better than he claims.

Now, let's see that weird pitch unique to him.

"Eijun-kun, throw that strange pitch next."

Eijun glanced at Kariba, spun the ball in his hand a few times, and settled into his natural grip.

Though his four-seam fastball was solid, the familiar grip of this mysterious pitch felt better, fueling his desire to throw.

He loosened his shoulders, struck his pitching stance, and hurled the ball.

The motion doesn't change—so the uniqueness isn't in the delivery.

Kariba was analyzing the pitch when suddenly, the ball, which had been following a straight trajectory, veered sharply near the plate and grazed past him.

"Sorry, it was off target."

---That's incredible. I lost focus for a split second and couldn't even react.

"No, it's a great pitch. Let's try that one again."

Kariba adjusted his mask and focused intently on Eijun.

The next pitch came barreling in like a fastball, but as it neared the plate, it unexpectedly shifted.

Kariba adjusted his posture just in time to catch it, though he felt the ball squirm in his glove, indicating he hadn't perfectly timed the catch.

Standing up, Kariba walked toward Eijun.

"Sawamura-kun, do you really not know what pitch you're throwing?"

"No idea," Eijun replied, shaking his head.

"Can you show me how you grip the ball?"

"For my fastball, I use the four-seam grip that Grandpa Tanaka taught me during vacation," Eijun explained, raising his hand to show Kariba his grip. Then he adjusted it slightly.

"But for the weird pitch, I grip it like this. Before Grandpa Tanaka's coaching, I always held it this way. My friends used to say that my pitches would unpredictably curve in random directions."

Kariba stared at Eijun in shock.

---A five-finger grip? What kind of environment did he grow up playing baseball in?

But with this, Kariba was able to confirm his theory. The issue really lies in the grip.

Combined with Eijun's naturally flexible body, it creates the effect.

This is essentially a standard changeup grip, but instead of reducing friction like a normal changeup, Eijun throws it with full force.

As a result, the velocity doesn't drop, but the trajectory becomes erratic.

"Eijun-kun," Kariba began thoughtfully, "this strange pitch of yours is essentially a changeup grip, but because of your unique throwing style, it behaves differently. I have some doubts about how to best utilize it. For now, can we focus on your fastball today?"

"Of course, no problem at all. Thank you so much, Kariba," Eijun responded enthusiastically.

With Kariba's assistance, Eijun had an incredible training session. Even though it was just a simple fastball, the coordination with his catcher amplified its power significantly.

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