Ace of Diamond: Return of the Pitcher

"After a week of fierce battles at the Kanto Tournament, the reigning champion Seidou High School proved to be a cut above, defeating the host team, Hakuryu High School, with a huge score of 6:2."

"Seidou High School, once again, demonstrated its dominance in high school baseball with its powerful performance."

"Superstar player, Sawamura Eijun, has once again proven that his 'Great Demon King' title is no empty boast."

The news online was buzzing with excitement.

Sitting on the bus, returning to Seidou High School.

The members of the Seidou High School baseball team all took out their phones to browse the online information.

Of course, the hottest topic was still Sawamura Eijun.

The news about him had the most coverage, accompanied by a large number of pictures. Some even used Photoshop to add demonic effects to his profile picture.

With horns growing on his head and black wings added to his back.

The image was as cute as it could get.

The reporters online weren't fools. They knew how popular Sawamura was, and if they truly turned him into a demon-like character, they might be facing severe backlash.

This wasn't like a few years ago when the internet hadn't spread everywhere. Now, misinformation on the internet could get one into serious trouble...

"Haha!"

"I didn't expect those guys to have such good taste."

Kuramochi was reading the reports with great interest.

The reason he was so happy wasn't because of his friend Sawamura's success, but because there were a lot of reports about him in these online articles.

Kuramochi Youichi-kun had finally made a name for himself.

He felt happy, and that was completely understandable.

Beside him, Shiratsu had a cold expression and had barely spoken.

In the earlier games of the Kanto Tournament, Shiratsu's performance was commendable. However, in the final game, apart from a lonely single, it seemed like he didn't contribute enough to the team.

He felt a bit guilty for not living up to his role as the core batter of Seidou High.

Some were happy, some were troubled.

There was another player in a similar situation to Shiratsu—Maezono.

It wasn't that they weren't good enough; it was just that in this Kanto Tournament, they had fallen behind Kuramochi by a significant margin.

Not to mention the second-year students and the monsters in the first year who later showed their true potential.

Among their own grade, there were players who had been on the same level as them but suddenly had a breakthrough.

This kind of awakening was a huge shock to players of the same year.

Especially for third-year students like them, who were about to graduate.

The feeling was even more apparent.

Sitting in the back of the bus, the team captain, Miyuki, was no longer as energetic as before.

He slouched in his seat and covered his eyes with a towel.

"There's also a lot of news about you online, aren't you happy?" Sawamura asked curiously.

Apart from the news about Sawamura Eijun, most of the other reports were about Miyuki.

They called him the Young General of Seidou High's baseball team.

They also revealed how many professional teams were interested in him.

Some even praised him as the best catcher in high school.

Not just one of them.

Although Sawamura and Furuya were great, they still had a long way to go before retirement.

As for Miyuki, being a third-year, after this summer tournament, he would face the issue of his future.

Coupled with the good relationships he had established before, reporters swarmed around him like sharks sensing blood in the water.

As a high school baseball player, it was quite impressive that Miyuki had reached this level.

Even if he couldn't participate in this year's Koshien, given his current fame, Seidou High hadn't wasted his efforts.

There was no reason for him to look so down.

"Didn't you notice? We're being targeted!"

Miyuki let out a bitter smile and removed the towel from his face.

Seidou had already been in the spotlight.

But back then, the summer tournament was still far off, and people weren't paying as much attention.

Now, with the Summer Tournament approaching and Seidou just winning the Kanto Tournament, everything has changed.

Seidou High was THE Eye Of The Storm.

Any ambitious teams in the country would surely want to face off with Seidou and try to bring them down.

On one webpage Miyuki had browsed, someone even made a ridiculous statement:

"Even if we don't make it to Koshien, Seidou must be defeated!"

It was as if they had nailed Seidou High to the pillar of shame, positioning them as the absolute enemy of every other team.

As the Captain of Seidou, Miyuki genuinely felt overwhelmed.

How could they play like this?

No matter how strong Seidou High was, they were still just a high school team.

If they stood against all the teams in the country, Seidou High would have no chance of winning.

Hearing Miyuki's worries, Sawamura was stunned.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"You're the one with the problem!" Miyuki shot back without hesitation.

Hearing this, Sawamura finally relaxed a little.

"We've been targeted for a long time now. It just didn't show its effects before. This time, in the Kanto Tournament, they finally brought out their trump cards to deal with us. But so what? Didn't we still win?"

"The road to victory is never smooth, but so what? Are we going to back down? Just hand over the victory and championship to others?"

"Ridiculous!"

Sawamura's tone was full of scorn.

"Bring it on, we'll deal with it. If they have the ability, let them come, and we'll be ready. Worrying like this is just asking for trouble."

Miyuki was momentarily stunned by his words.

Then, he thought about it carefully. He was right!

Why was he getting stuck in such a narrow mindset?

The sky wouldn't fall, and even if it did, he wouldn't have to face it alone.

He had Seidou High's strong backing behind him.

And reliable teammates like Sawamura Eijun.

There was no need to fret.

"Heh!"

The journey home was always so lighthearted.

In just a few hours, they had arrived back at Seidou High.

The chubby principal and the sharp-voiced dean had already gotten the news.

They arrived early at the school gates to welcome their victorious heroes.

"Great job, great job!"

The principal's round face was all smiles, looking as harmonious as a teddy bear.

The dean, standing beside him, was nodding and bowing, looking quite polite.

As long as the team won, these two didn't mind being overly courteous.

Seidou High's progress could not have happened without their contributions. At least, in terms of logistics, they had never hindered Coach Kataoka.

"The victory banquet is ready. Let the boys hurry up and head over."

In addition to the principal and dean, some students had come to welcome the Seidou High baseball team.

Naturally, the members of the baseball team were grateful and waved at the surrounding students.

Finally, they went to the team's dining hall, where a feast had already been prepared.

After every Championship win, such a lavish banquet was inevitable.

This year, Seidou High had won several championships, so they were used to it.

The boys found their seats and began to feast.

At mealtime, people were the most relaxed. Even the Seidou High baseball team couldn't avoid it.

They laughed and chatted while eating, discussing their previous performances.

Kuramochi Youichi held a chicken leg in one hand and deftly peeled shrimp with the other, all while talking about his heroic performance in the game.

It was understandable that Kuramochi was so excited, considering the breakthrough he had made recently after a long period of stagnation.

However, his boasting was somewhat exaggerated.

From the way he spoke, it seemed like he had singlehandedly won the final.

The first-year players in the second-string team rolled their eyes.

The first-string team wasn't bothered since they knew Kuramochi's personality.

But the second-string members didn't know him as well, so some misunderstandings naturally arose.

It was only way later that Kuramochi realized that he had gone too far with his boasting.

The food was delicious and atmosphere was merry, and everyone was relaxing and enjoying his time after such a hard battle.

Well not everyone as the substitutes celebrated with everyone but when it ended they didn't return to the dorm to rest for the day, they took their bats and started swinging.

They have a lot of energy and a lot more ambitions, the game inspired them very much so they want to swing some more before the summer.

'It really is too much! We should be celebrating today, right? Right?'

Sawamura expected this, but the number really exceeded his imagination.

The indoor practice field.

Kawakami, Nishiyama, and Furuya were all there, practicing pitching with catchers.

Three pitching spots were completely occupied.

Sawamura Eijun took a look and quietly stepped out.

He originally planned to go to the equipment room to run with tires.

But there were also familiar faces around the field.

Lee-Hyun, Hirota, and Matsumoto.

Seeing any of these three would inevitably lead to small talk.

It would be better to skip it.

In the dark corners of the field, Maezono was sweating it out with a group of third-year players.

Toujou, along with the second-year players, had also found a secluded spot to practice hitting.

In the equipment room, Yamaguchi and the substitute players of the first team were doing strength training.

During the day, the equipment room was mainly for the starters, but at night, it was for the substitutes.

The whole campus was filled with players practicing.

Many areas were occupied by first-year students, making the baseball team's space look even more crowded than before.

Moreover, since Sawamura held a special position in the Seidou High School Baseball Team...

Although no one would refuse to practice with Sawamura wherever he went, he felt like he was disturbing others.

Eijun didn't want to do that, so he didn't actively join in.

Over 60 new players arrived on the team.

Sawamura had never felt much about it before; it had always seemed normal to him.

The only difference was that the team had grown a bit when they ran in the morning.

Now, as he looked for a place to practice by himself, he realized how crowded it had really become.

So much so that he couldn't find a quiet corner for some evening sweat.

This also made him realize just how considerate these little guys were of him, the Ace pitcher.

No matter where Sawamura trained, these Kohai would never disturb him.

"They really are some good kids!"

Walking along the field's embankment, Sawamura suddenly felt that admiring the night was quite nice.

He hadn't had time to relax like this in a long while.

High school's beautiful moments pass by so quickly, and Sawamura didn't want to miss a single second.

Perhaps because he had always been in such a rush, never stopping to take a break.

It wasn't until now that he realized how precious such leisurely moments had become.

As he walked, he suddenly saw two familiar figures ahead.

It was the inseparable duo of first-year students, Takuma and Okumura!

They were holding bats, clearly facing the same dilemma as Sawamura.

'They couldn't find a place to practice.'

"It's really not easy to find a place to practice without anyone else around!" Takuma said with a bitter smile.

Since Okumura ate later and insisted on finishing three big bowls of rice, their extra practice time was inevitably later than others.

By the time they started, all the spots had already been occupied.

Thinking about it, it was truly a tragedy!

"You really don't have to wait for me!" Okumura said apologetically.

Although he was still struggling with his three bowls of rice, Takuma had clearly adjusted to life in the Seidou High School Baseball Team.

"Why? We're friends, aren't we?" Takuma said nonchalantly.

"By the way, when you were practicing earlier, you caught balls from Furuya-senpai and Sawamura-senpai. How did it feel?"

Sawamura was originally going to approach and greet them.

He wasn't the type to hide, so eavesdropping behind the younger students wasn't his style.

But just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly heard Takuma asking Okumura about his impression of him and Sawamura.

Sawamura slowed down, intrigued.

He still wanted to know what Okumura thought of him and of Furuya.

"I didn't really know before because we hadn't practiced together. But recently, after catching their pitches, I can really feel the gap in our abilities."

Both Takuma, who stood beside Okumura, and Sawamura, who was behind, never expected Okumura to say something like this.

Anyone who knew Okumura would know he was extremely proud. Even if he was inferior in skill, he would never admit it.

"Furuya-senpai's pitches all contain his will. He wants to be the ace, unwilling to accept fate. Every pitch feels alive. Just catching the ball drained all my energy, and I couldn't even think of leading him. Even though I'm unwilling to admit it, I have to say that the person who can guide him must be terrifyingly powerful!"

Takuma looked at his friend in surprise.

It was the first time Okumura had admitted someone was better than him.

"Is the legendary Miyuki-senpai really that impressive?"

"Then how about Sawamura-senpai's pitches?" Takuma asked.

Okumura gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"To this day, I still can't catch all of Sawamura-senpai's pitches. I can't even guarantee that the ball will not go behind me…"

This made it even harder to judge!

But it was because of this that Miyuki's status in Okumura's heart had become even more prominent.

Miyuki could guide the pitches Okumura couldn't even catch.

The gap between them was more than just a little.

Okumura clenched his fist, swearing to surpass Miyuki no matter what.

Sawamura felt that it wouldn't be appropriate to show himself now. So, he quietly stayed behind and prepared to leave.

But the two guys suddenly turned around for no apparent reason and saw Sawamura trying to sneak away.

"If I say this is a coincidence, Would you believe me?" Sawamura Eijun shrugged awkwardly.

…