Sawamura Eijun scratched his soft hair sheepishly.
“Yeah, I’ve decided to go to Tokyo and play baseball.”
“Then have you already accepted that Takashima Rei person’s invitation?” his mother asked.
“I plan to call her tomorrow and tell her that I’m willing to attend Seido High School,” Sawamura replied while continuing to move his chopsticks.
The moment they heard that Sawamura hadn’t officially accepted the invitation yet, the entire family immediately became anxious.
“Why are you still eating?
Hurry up and call them and tell them you’re willing to go!” his mother urged.
“That’s right!” his grandfather chimed in.
“Seido High School is a nationally renowned school.
With your grades, opportunities like this don’t come often.
Hurry and tell them now.
What if all the spots fill up and it’s too late?”
“Go, go!
Make the call right now!” his grandfather added as he pushed Sawamura from the side.
“It’s already dark.
They might be asleep by now.
Calling tomorrow would be the same, hehe…”
“No way!”
Seeing all three family members staring at him in unison, Sawamura had no choice but to put down his rice bowl, walk over to the house phone, and dial the number Takashima Rei had left behind.
He had assumed Takashima Rei would already be asleep at this hour.
To his surprise, the call connected almost immediately.
“Moshi moshi, who is this?” a woman’s voice came from the other end of the line.
“Hello.
This is Sawamura Eijun, the person you invited to Tokyo the other day.”
“Oh, it’s Sawamura-kun.
Is there something you need?
Calling this late at night?”
Although Takashima Rei’s voice sounded slightly puzzled, anyone listening carefully could hear the excitement hidden beneath it.
Ever since Sawamura had visited Seido’s baseball facilities in Tokyo and watched Azuma Kiyokuni crush his pitch for a massive home run, he had looked completely different.
The smile that had always been on his face had vanished, replaced by shock and confusion.
Takashima Rei had worried that the experience might have discouraged him, making him afraid of Seido’s level of competition and unwilling to join the school.
But judging from this phone call, it seemed the opposite had happened.
Rather than being discouraged, Sawamura had been motivated.
“I’ve thought it over,” Sawamura Eijun said slowly.
“I’m willing to join Seido High School.
I look forward to working with you.”
Hearing his answer, Takashima Rei could no longer hide her excitement.
She immediately instructed him to mail the necessary enrollment documents to her the following day and assured him that once he graduated from junior high school, he would be admitted directly to Seido High School.
After finishing the call, Sawamura hung up the phone and turned around.
The sight before him nearly made him jump.
The three adults in the house were all crouched nearby, shamelessly eavesdropping on his conversation.
“What are you all doing?”
“Did Seido High School accept you?” his mother asked excitedly.
Looking at the eager expressions on their faces, Sawamura didn’t bother teasing them.
“They accepted me.
I’ll send them my documents tomorrow.
Once I graduate from junior high, I can report directly to Seido.”
“That’s wonderful, Eijun!” his mother said with a relieved sigh.
“We were worried you were throwing a tantrum and wouldn’t go to Seido High School.
If you didn’t go, I honestly wouldn’t know what to do about your grades.”
Several black lines immediately appeared across Sawamura Eijun’s forehead.
Although he had been reborn, when it came to studying, he knew himself well.
Even without trying, he could already tell that academics still weren’t his strong suit.
But did they really have to have so little faith in him?
After all, in his previous life at Seido High School, he had never failed a class.
Even if he had needed a little help from others to get by.
Soon afterward, the family returned to the dining table and continued their meal in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.
That night, Sawamura sat alone at the small desk in his room.
The light from his desk lamp illuminated an open notebook before him.
At the top of the page, only four words had been written:
Training Plan.
That’s right.
There were still more than six months before Seido High School’s entrance ceremony.
If he wanted to erase the regrets of his previous life, he had to become stronger during this period.
Right now, he was still playing middle school rubber-ball baseball, and his understanding of control, defense, and batting was still extremely limited.
Of course, things were different now.
Having inherited decades of experience from his previous life in Major League Baseball, his baseball knowledge was already at the highest level.
The pitching mechanics, grips, and techniques engraved in his memories had long since become a part of him, impossible to forget.
What he needed to do now was familiarize himself with his current body as quickly as possible, allowing those baseball memories stored in his mind to transform into physical instinct and become part of his strength.
Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, Sawamura Eijun was already out on his morning run.
By the time he finished and returned home, his family was just beginning breakfast.
After eating, he went out into the yard, set up a practice net with a nine-square strike zone target in one corner, and began working on his pitching mechanics.
Watching Sawamura practice in the yard, his family understood that he was working hard for baseball, so they didn’t disturb him.
From that day onward, every morning when Sawamura returned from his run, the family would just happen to be sitting down for breakfast.
Along with refining his pitching mechanics, his pitching practice naturally began as well.
Unlike in his previous life, Sawamura’s current pitching form looked almost identical to the one he had used before—if anything, it appeared even more textbook-perfect.
However, the rhythm and movement of his delivery were noticeably different.
From the moment he lifted his leg to the instant he released the ball, anyone watching closely would be able to tell that this pitching form utilized the power of his entire body far more efficiently.
Bang!
The white baseball crashed into the upper-center square of the practice net.
Sawamura slowly let out a breath.
That’s right.
This was the new pitching form he had perfected through years of blood, sweat, and tears during his Major League career in his previous life.
Back then, his pitching rhythm had been extremely fast.
While that quick tempo often disrupted opposing batters, it also meant that the amount of time available to generate power during his delivery was greatly reduced.
To maintain his velocity, he had no choice but to apply more force through his fingertips at release.
During high school, this flaw had not been particularly obvious.
It wasn’t until the Summer Koshien Tournament during his second year, when inflammation first appeared in his elbow, that the problem began to surface.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time.
Later, after entering Major League Baseball, the injury gradually accumulated and developed into a chronic condition.
Only then was he forced to thoroughly study his pitching mechanics and push them toward perfection.
If someone compared the form he was practicing now to the one from his previous life, they would discover that both shared one key characteristic:
The release point was extremely difficult to see.
However, his current pitching form possessed several clear advantages.
The power-gathering phase was longer.
The generated velocity was higher.
And the strain placed on his fingertips was significantly lower.
Of course, the longer power-gathering motion also came with a drawback.
It made it easier for runners to attempt stolen bases.
But for Sawamura Eijun, a pitcher blessed with an arsenal of diverse breaking balls, the delicate sensation of his fingertips on the baseball was far more important than preventing every stolen-base attempt.
As for runners stealing bases?
That was the catcher’s responsibility.
If the opponent successfully stole a base, then it simply meant the catcher wasn’t good enough.
Thinking of this, a mysterious smile appeared on Sawamura Eijun’s face.