After 10 pitches to warm up my shoulder, I felt in good condition.
My muscles felt relaxed and ready to burst with power, my joints felt loose yet sturdy, my mind was clear, and I was purely focused at the task on hand.
I saw Miyuki start walking up to me on the mound.
When he arrived, he put his glove up to mouth and did the same.
"So, what kind of pitches can you throw?" He asked me.
"I have a four-seam fastball, a moving fastball and an improved cutter." I replied. "I haven't used my moving fastball in a while because it's still unpredictable. So, it might be best to only use the four-seam and cutter."
"Hmmmm, okay so one finger for the four-seam and 2 fingers for the cutter for the signs, okay?" He said back.
I gave an okay sign with a bright smile.
"By the way Miyuki senpai, when you call for a cutter, no matter what happens, don't move your mitt. You will have the urge to when you see the path of the ball, but don't worry, it'll end up in your mitt for sure. And when you've caught the cutter, have a look at Azuma senpai's face when he turns to look at the ball, you'll get a good laugh at his expression." I said to him with a chuckle.
I then looked at him with a smile. "I will trust your mitt and follow your leads, Miyuki senpai. After all, the best pitches are works of art produced by the pitcher and the catcher working as one. Right?"
I held up my glove in front of him. "We'll be great partners, now and in the future. So let's get cracking, partner!" I said with a wide grin on my face.
Miyuki looked at me for a second with a glint in his eye.
'That's right, this is your own philosophy to a battery Miyuki senpai. And now you've found a pitcher with the same ideas.' I thought.
He then composed himself from the sudden mixture of thoughts he was having and smacked his glove against mine with a bright smile on his face.
"Damn right! You're one interesting kid you know that? Alright, let's get party started." He said as he turned and jogged back to home plate.
I took this time to look around the field. There were a lot of Seido's players gathered around after hearing about a match between me and Azuma senpai.
I started to grin as I looked at the faces of some of the players.
There were a few that I recognised from the manga.
But it wasn't the time to focus on them right now, I will eventually meet them when I join the team.
When I saw the Miyuki was in a crouched position at home plate and Azuma was walking into the batter's box, a called out to Max.
'Max, please activate 'Ace's indomitable will' skill.
[Activating Ace's indomitable will skill]
I sudden rush of power surged throughout my body and muscles.
My whole body felt like it was bursting with energy, ready to be released.
I closed my eyes and drew a big breath out. "Pfffff."
'Okay, let's see what the combination of both 'Ace's indomitable will' skill and 'wind up' skill can do to my pitching. After all, both combined makes my pitching go from a B- to a B+.'
I suddenly opened my eyes; I turned towards home plate with calm expression.
But my eyes had a glaring flame in them, raging violently.
'Let's do this.'
****
Miyuki was looking at Sawamura on the mound as he drew a big breath out and closed his eyes.
'Is he starting to feel nervous? I can't say I'm surprised; there's a hell of a crowd that's turned up for this match.' He thought as he looked around.
He looked back towards the mound and what he saw made him widen his eyes a little.
It was like he was looking at a blazing fire ready to storm from the mound towards him. Sawamura's eyes were awake and his expression calm.
'He reminded me a certain blonde fool for a second then.' He thought.
He then drew a short breath out.
He then looked up towards Azuma, he looked quite calm and had a slight smile on his face.
'Sawamura was right. He really will take it easy on the first pitch.' He thought.
'If that's the case, let's start aggressively. This might Azuma senpai's favourite place to hit but he's too full of himself right now to even swing. Alright, high inside fastball it is.'
Miyuki then signalled for a fastball and placed his glove high and inside to Azuma.
Without hesitation, Sawamura nodded and started his wind up.
He lifted his right leg high off the ground.
Yet his balance looked completely stable.
'What a beautiful posture.' Miyuki thought.
Sawamura then swung his leg back down towards the mound with great momentum and planted on the mound.
THUUD
Sawamura then twisted his hips violently, pushing his momentum forward onto his planted foot.
'Okay looking good! Now just for the pitching ar- huh? Where's his throwing arm?' Miyuki thought suddenly.
WHOOOOSH
PAAAH
The deafening sound of the ball hitting the mitt perfectly echoed across the field of players.
Absolute silence followed.
There was not a sound to be heard.
'Holy shit!!' Miyuki thought as he looked at the ball snuggled tightly in his glove. 'I just got fucking goosebumps.' He felt chills run up his spine.
'It just appeared out of nowhere. How did he do that? Where was his throwing arm? I didn't see it at all. Is this what Rei-chan was talking about? Wait! So, this was just from over a week's worth of training?!?!'
Miyuki was currently gobsmacked.
Murmuring started to trickle across the crowd.
"Holy shit, what was that?"
"Did you hear the sound of the ball?"
"Is he really in junior high?"
'Where did this little monster come from?' Miyuki thought with a smirk.
He then looked up towards Azuma and he almost burst out laughing.
Azuma looked like he was struck by lightning.
His face was screwed up and twisted and his eyes were widened fully.
'I don't blame that reaction.' Miyuki thought. 'I don't think he would've gotten a piece of that pitch even if he tried his hardest.'
"Okay, nice pitch Sawamura!!" He shouted to Sawamura as I through him back the ball.
He then turned towards Azuma. "That was definitely a strike right, senpai?"
Azuma didn't reply straight away.
He was still looking a little dazed.
He then shook his head violently, waking himself up.
He then looked incredibly calm and focused.
"Yeah, that was a strike." Azuma said with a calm tone and drew out a breath. "Pffff."
'Oh dear, Sawamura. You have just awoken the beast.' Miyuki thought, silently chuckling.
When Miyuki saw that Sawamura was ready, he then called for another strike, but this time low and away.
Sawamura again nodded with no hesitation.
'Okay let's try and get a glimpse of his throwing arm this time.' Miyuki thought.
'Okay, so leg up, leg down.'
THUUD
'Then the twist of the of the hips and body. And then the throwing ar-'
WHOOOSH
DINK
Azuma's bat flew in front of Miyuki with mighty velocity and managed to hit the suddenly appearing ball.
Unluckily for him, it flew straight backwards for a foul.
Miyuki let out a deep breath.
"Pfff."
'Having Azuma senpai's bat suddenly coming into view when I was focusing on trying to see Sawamura's pitching arm was a startling.' Miyuki thought. 'I still couldn't see his throwing though. I need to ask him about this afterwards.'
"Nice ball, Sawamura!" He shouted after getting a new ball and throwing it to the mound.
Sawamura caught it and nodded with a calm expression.
'This guy is a completely different person on the mound. He looks a lot more mature when he's pitching. He's also extremely calm. Like nothing could phase him. He's really interesting, this kid. I already want the new year to start so I can work with him more. I'm fucking excited for the future!' Miyuki exclaimed in his mind.
Seeing that Sawamura and Azuma were both ready he got back into position.
'Okay, we've shown 2 fastballs, one high and inside, the other low and away. He even swung and connected with the low and away so his batting form might be a bit off. He also must still focused on Sawamura's form and the suddenly appearing ball so he might not be expecting a breaking ball right now. Okay, let's go with that.'
Miyuki's mind was running through his thoughts clearly and quickly, truly showing the mind set of a powerhouse high school's starting catcher.
He then signalled for the improved cutter, high and inside.
Again, Sawamura nodded without hesitation.
He then went into his wind up again and lifted his right leg high into the air.
He swung his leg down and planted it on the mound.
THUUD
He twisted his body forward and suddenly the ball appeared, zooming towards home plate.
WHOOSH
'Wait, no! The ball doesn't have the same velocity as the others! And it's way off course!'
Miyuki instinctively almost moved his mitt towards the course of the ball. Thinking it was a failed pitch that turned into a slower fastball.
He then suddenly thought back to what Sawamura said before the match.
'"no matter what happens, don't move your mitt." '
'Fuck it, Sawamura, I'm trusting you on this one.' Miyuki thought as he held his mitt in place with his jaw clenched.
Azuma saw the pitch coming down at him.
'Fastball!' He thought with glee as instantly swung towards the path of the ball.
SHWIIP
Then suddenly, the ball disappeared from his sight mid-swing.
'Wha-?'
PAH
The sound of the ball hitting Miyuki's mitt rang across the field again.
Miyuki looked down at the ball in his mitt and drew a big breath out.
"Pfffffff."
'It really did land in my mitt from that angle. That is one nasty cutter, Jesus!' He thought.
He then looked up at Azuma's face and what he was met with was a face with whole mixture of emotions: anger, fear, confusion, sadness.
'He right again. That is a face I've never seen before.' I wish I could take a picture of it.' Miyuki thought.
"Pfft" he couldn't help it and let out a little giggle.
Azuma saw this and was about to snapped at Miyuki, when a loud shout echoed through the field.
"YOSH YOSH YOSH!!!"
'Hahah, this guy!' Miyuki thought, looking over a Sawamura.
****
[Congratulations User. You have successfully completed the optional mission: Strike out Kiyokuni Azuma.]
[You have been rewarded:
>1 B-grade random elixir
>1 silver tier Lottery ticket
>15 Ace points]
I couldn't hold back when I saw the message.
"YOSH YOSH YOSH!!!" I screamed as loud as I could whilst bending over slightly and grasping my fists close to my face.
I then noticed everyone looking at me from my sudden outburst.
I slightly cleared my throat out of embarrassment and started jogging over to Miyuki and Azuma with a wide grin on my face.
"Miyuki senpai!! Nice catching!" I shouted along the way.
When I arrived at both, I held up my glove to Miyuki in which he smacked without hesitation.
"Nice pitching, you little monster." He replied with a cheeky grin of his own.
"I thought you were going to move your mitt on my last pitch." I said to him. "Thank you for trusting me, partner. Hehe."
"What was that last pitch?" I suddenly heard a voice to my side.
I turned and saw Azuma standing in front of me, his height was towering over me.
"Ahh." I said whilst bowing deeply to him.
"Azuma senpai, thank you so much! You were truly a formidable opponent! Your swing is really lethal and I got chills when I saw the velocity of it!" I said to him with a loud voice.
I was truly being honest, whenever Azuma swung, it felt like a terrifying aura unleashed from him and was going to smash my pitch out of the park.
"What was that last pitch?!" He repeated, a little louder this time.
His eyes slightly narrowed.
"Huh? You didn't know what pitch that last one was?" Miyuki asked?
"No!" Azuma replied. "It looked like a slower fastball right until last second and then it just disappeared from my eyes, mid swing!"
"Hmmmm, so that's what it looked like from the batter's perspective. Truly a nasty pitch." Miyuki said to himself with his hand on his chin.
He looked deep in thought.
"Shut up Miyuki!!" Azuma snapped back.
He turned back to me with a fire in his eyes, expecting an answer.
I chuckled inwardly when I saw this.
'He's desperate to know what that pitch was. Maybe I can make this beneficial to me.' I wondered to myself.
"Azuma senpai. I can tell you what that pitch was, but I want to get some batting advice from you in return. Please be my batting master for the day! No, even an hour will do!" I said to him like a soldier talking to his drill sergeant.
Azuma looked a little taken back from my request.
He then started laughing, wholeheartedly.
His belly was jiggling throughout the laugh.
"It seems you know who the best batter around here is. Hahaha!!" He said.
"Okay, you've got yourself a deal! Grab a bat and follow me!" He continued whilst turning and walking towards the pitching machines.
I quickly grabbed a bat that was one the floor and followed quickly.
I did however turn back towards Miyuki before I left and gave him another wink and a smirk as I left.
****
This made Miyuki chuckle while holding his sides as he watched Sawamura leave.
'This guy! Hahaha, he defeated Azuma senpai with ease and now managed to make the future pro himself give him a batting lesson for almost nothing! Clever brat!' Miyuki thought.
"Well, this wasn't what I had in mind when I invited Sawamura to visit the school." Rei said walking up to Miyuki, whilst letting out a big sigh.
"It may be not what you had in mind, but I think this might've been beneficial for everyone that saw this." Miyuki replied.
Rei was confused when he said that.
"What makes you say that?" She asked.
Miyuki started looking towards the crowd of players that were starting to break away.
Rei followed his action and looked at the players, she got slight goosebumps from what she saw.
Almost every single player that watched the battle had a stern expression, fire was dancing in their eyes, fuelling their determination and desire to train harder.
There were hardly any words said, they just started individually training with a harsh intensity.
"Three pitches from Sawamura caused this atmosphere to make the team train harder." Miyuki said. "I'm looking forward to next year even more now. Hehe." He giggled.
"As am I." Rei replied with a smirk, whilst pushing up her glasses slightly.
"I must ask though." Miyuki turned to her.
"Is his form really just from a week's worth of training? I mean, to come up with such a deadly weapon in such a short amount of time is truly unfathomable. And all on his own?" He continued.
"Yes, that's right. I was very shocked when I saw his progress. The fact his flexible joints allow him to completely hide his throwing arm until the release of the ball whilst also creating more velocity and spin to his pitch is a deadly weapon. One that will be a great asset to the team." She replied.
"Ahhh, so he has flexible joints that makes him throw like that. I was wondering how he did it." Miyuki replied.
He looked over to see Sawamura getting berated by Azuma whilst he was swinging the bat.
This made him chuckle.
"Well, I'm going to keep an eye on Sawamura and continue with the tour after he's finished with Azuma. See you later." Rei said as she started walking away.
"Okay, see you later, Rei-chan." Miyuki replied.
'I should do some batting training myself.' He thought as he left.
****
After being berated and shouted at by Azuma for a whole hour, focusing on the absolute minor details of my batting form, I finally had a decent swinging motion.
'I will use this as foundation to train in batting throughout the time until I come to Seido.' I thought.
"Thank you so much Azuma senpai. You are truly an amazing batter and teacher. I will never forget this lesson." I said to him.
"Hmph! Damn straight kid!" Azuma said with his arms folded and a smirk on his face.
"So, what kind of pitch was it?" He asked.
"It was my improved cutter." I replied.
"Hmmm a cutter, huh?"
"Yes, the starting path of the ball looks like a slightly slower fastball which makes the batter want to swing at it, and then just as it gets to the plate, it breaks sharply towards the right-handed batters. But the deadliest part of it is the change of direction, it's so abrupt that the ball disappears from the batter's view, especially when they're mid swing." I answered truthfully.
Azuma was thinking deeply at my words.
He then let out a laugh.
"Hahah! You really got me, kid! I underestimated you at the start but you've got skill, you have a lot of time to grow and improve at this school as well."
"Thank you for your words senpai!" I said whilst bowing.
"Alright I'm gonna go back to training. See you kid." Azuma said whilst walking away.
"Goodbye, senpai!" I replied, still bowing.
After he left, I sighed to myself.
'He was a little scary, but he was actually a really good teacher for batting.' I thought looking at his back.
"You look like you're having fun." Rei said from behind me.
"Ahh Rei-sensei!" I bowed to her.
"I'm sorry a deviated from the tour!"
"It's fine, we still have lots of time left and I think the events of today have been beneficial for the team as a whole." She replied.
"I was going to suggest Miyuki catching some of your pitches in the bullpen sometime today anyway so it turned out fine." She continued.
"Shall we carry on with the tour?" She asked.
"Yes! Let's go." I replied.
We carried on with the tour and it was incredible to see all the places I had seen many times in the manga.
The cafeteria, the dorms, the indoor training areas, the washrooms.
It was making me excited to know I will be living here soon.
At the end of the tour, we were walking towards the exit.
"Are you sure you don't want to say anything to Miyuki before we go?" Rei asked.
"No, it's okay. I will be seeing him again soon enough." I replied.
"Plus, I want the last thing he remembers about me is my current pitching, so when I join next year, he will see how much I've progressed." I continued with a glint in my eye.
Rei smirked at this answer.
"Alright, let's get you home." She said.
"Yes!" I replied.
I turned back to the school one last time.
'I'll be back soon. Wait for me. I'm going to bring a storm with me when I return.' I thought whilst clenching my fist.
I then turned back and left Seido.