𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 | Miyuki Kazuya

Chapter 18: Believe In Me, Believe In Us

| Haruka Inejiro |

Haruka frowned deeply to himself. Although Seidou had won against Akikawa, his mind couldn't help but linger over the quarter final match that followed.

He carefully recalled the game between Yakushi and Ichidaisan. With the added commentary of the third years, it was a brutal defeat. It reminded Haruka that he couldn't take his mostly healthy and uninjured body for granted. In the blink of an eye, all of the third years' hard work had dissipated into thin air. It left a bitter aftertaste in Haruka's mouth, and he wasn't even on their team. The thought stung even more so, when he took into account the heaviness of third year baseball.

"—Wait! Where's our bus?!" Eijun exclaimed.

Oh right, they were in the middle of being lost. Bathroom trips in this stadium never actually ended well for Haruka. He pursed his lips as he tried to rethink their steps. It shouldn't have been this hard to find the transport bus.

"It's this way," Furuya and Haruichi answered together. However, they both pointed in opposite directions.

Haruka frowned, glancing in both directions, "Which way?"

They were doomed, irrevocably doomed.

After lots of screaming; coming mainly from Eijun, the first years opted to go in the direction that Haruichi had pointed. They were skeptical about trusting Furuya's heat muddled mind. And as if in tune with his thoughts, Furuya panted heavily next to him. On his other side, Eijun was still yelling his head off.

Haruka could feel a headache pulsing behind his eyes. He would've rather been next to Haruichi at the end, then he would between the two troublesome pitchers.

Haruka was already very irritated by the time their bickering made an appearance. By now the four were all frustrated and tired. He wondered if they could see the ikari maaku ready to burst from his head.

"Would you guys quit it!" Haruka growled out from gritted teeth. At the same time, an unusual sound stirred the air. It sounded almost like... a bat swinging. The force of the sound coming from the swing was downright impressive and it instantly peaked the interest of all four first years.

Turning around the corner, the four of them leaned over the wall. Haruka's eyes widened in surprise, it was the boy from earlier—Todoroki.

"He's swinging right after a game?" Furuya mumbled out loud to himself.

"—Another hundred," The coach demanded monotonously. "Make sure the batting you did today seeps into your body."

"Seeing his swing up close is really scary. We definitely can't underestimate them tomorrow," Haruichi perked up quietly.

"I wonder how much he's been practicing to get where he is," Haruka added softly. His eyes followed the fast and powerful swings that he knew most could not. There were good players everywhere and they all worked hard to be great.

"—I want to hit and hit and hit, I want to play against every pitcher in this country!" Todoroki barked, laughing manically as he swung his bat.

Beside Haru, Furuya and Eijun got a similar burst of energy, their instinct as pitchers, subconsciously rising them to the challenge.