NOVEL NEXT Enter Todoroki
"Clean up. You guys too!", said Miyuki pointing at Rei, Sawamura and Furuya.
The trio was startled but nodded.
"Sawamura clean-up for my share too", said Rei since he didn't feel like it.
"Why me! It's your work, do it yourself", said Sawamura.
"I'll tell you my pitching secret if you do it for me", said Rei holding a finger to his lips signifying that it is a secret.
Thunder crackled in Sawamura's mind he stiffened thinking that his pitching would be like Rei's if he learned the secret.
"Haii, I Sawamura will do it for you. But you better tell me", said Sawamura.
Rei nodded and Sawamura went to clean up.
"He's so gullible", said Rei chuckling.
"Demon!", thought Furuya and Haruichi witnessing this.
"Furuya you better get it together or you're not going to be ready for the summer", said Chris.
Furuya nodded stoically.
"It's fine even if Furuya can't pitch we still have Rei", said Miyuki chuckling.
Furuya blasted his chilling aura hearing Miyuki's comment.
"OHHH, Senpai I agree", said Rei chuckling.
"2 Demons!", thought Furuya and Haruichi seeing Rei and Miyuki chuckling together.
"Hurry up and let's go!", said Kuramochi.
As Rei was about to step outside the bullpen, seeing his teammates stop suddenly and feeling the sudden tension he wondered what happened.
"OOO", thought Rei realizing seeing the Ichidai High team.
"Congratulations on making the quarter-finals", said Toshihiko.
Kataoka nodded receiving the congratulations.
"Haa…this tournament is so fun", thought Rei seeing the competitiveness and the glares he was receiving from the Ichidai Third High players.
"We will now begin the third-round game between Ichidai and Yakushi. Ichidai, start your warm-up, please. You have 7 minutes", said the announcer.
The Ichidai High team started the warm-up.
Ichidai was a well-known team since they made it to the quarterfinals at the Invitational.
"Their lineup is no joke", said Rei in the audience.
"It could be compared to ours. They are super offensive and reading the data they haven't once bunt", said Chris seriously.
Furuya, Sawamura, and Haruichi nodded seriously and decided to observe the team's lineup during their match.
"Why is the line-up changed?", questioned Chris surprised looking at the Yakushi High lineup.
"They're all 1st years", said Miyuki.
"Mishima, Todoroki, and Akiba", said Rei while grinning.
"Do you know them?", questioned Chris.
"No, but I do know about their skills. Let me just say, DO NOT underestimate Todoroki even though he's like a monkey", said Rei.
"MONKEY?", said Sawamura.
Hearing Rei's warning, Furuya, Chris, and Miyuki took It seriously and looked forward to Yakushi's team.
Rei was so happy to finally see Todoroki. Todoroki was his favorite batter in the series. In his opinion, instinct wise Todoroki could beat Yuki as a batter. That's how high of an opinion he had of Todoroki.
In a room.
"Raichi, how long are you gonna keep swinging? The game's already…", said a Yakushi player.
Raichi continued swinging his bat with his powerful swings.
"The pitcher today…pitched at nationals, right? I bet he's good. I bet he has amazing pitches. KEHAHAHAHAHA…", said Raichi laughing maniacally.
"PLAY!", said the umpire.
The audience cheered as Ichidai made a 3-run home run in the first inning.
In the audience.
Yuki was fired up observing the match.
"They have an unparalleled cleanup batter, hit hard, and use little tricks. If you think of it as pitching against us, you should get an idea", said Miyuki.
Furuya and Sawamura were horrified just thinking about it.
"HAHAHAHA…what are you guys worrying about. Your homerun master is right here. Just rely on me and we will get a lot of home runs", said Rei proudly.
Sawamura and Furuya gave Rei a hateful glare.
As Ichidai High hit a ball to the 3rd base, Raichi immediately caught it.
Raichi threw the ball back and it went wide!
In the Audience.
"Is it him, the Monkey!", said Sawamura.
"Didn't you say he was skillful? What he just did makes me think he's a newbie", said Chris.
"HAHAHA…He's just stupid sometimes", said Rei laughing awkwardly.
Furuya, Sawamura, Haruichi, and Miyuki send him doubtful glances.
Back in the field.
"HAHAHA…", said Raichi laughing off his mistake.
In the Audience.
"Look he's coming. Wanna bet if he will hit a home run or not", said Rei.
"Sure…", said Sawamura. "That Newbie, there's no way he's going to hit a home run", he thought.
"Ok, 20,000 yen", said Rei.
"OK", said Sawamura.
"DEAL", they both shook hands.
"Can't you ever stop teasing him", said Miyuki.
"Nope. I can't stop. It's too much fun", said Rei.
"You still haven't told me the pitching secret you promised", said Sawamura.
"Oh that. Just eat a lot and massage your fingers. That's my secret", said Rei.
"THAT'S NOT A SECRET! YOU TRICKED ME!", said Sawamura.
"Well, you shouldn't have fallen for it", said Rei casually.
"You just wait! I will get you back through this bet", said Sawamura.
Back in the Field.
Raichi came up to bat and hit a home run on the first pitch breaking Manaka's confidence.
In the Audience.
"Well hand it over", said Rei.
Sawamura was dazed with his mouth hung open seeing the homerun.
"Isn't that monkey amazing", said Rei.
All of the players observing the match nodded.
Sawamura clicked his tongue and gave Rei the money.
Outside the field.
Inashiro just came back from winning their match.
"Ichidai lost to Yakushi", said a staff member approaching them.
The whole team was shocked.
The staff member explained the situation about the match and how Manaka got injured.
Back in the field.
"I'm going to the bathroom so wait for me on the bus", said Rei.
"OK. You better be back on time", said Miyuki.
"K", said Rei.
After several minutes.
"Where the hell am I", said Rei frustratingly.
Rei returned to the bathroom and climbed out the window since he hoped to at least make it outside.
*THUD* Rei dropped out the window. As soon as he got up, he saw 2 people looking at him.
"Where did you come from", said Yakushi's coach.
"OH, Toilet", said Rei.
Yakushi's coach nodded and ignored him.
"So where was I, yeah. The only pitcher worthwhile is Narumiya Mei", said Yakushi's coach.
Rei was leaving to go to the bus but stopped when he heard the comment.
"OYE", said Rei turning back and glaring at the coach.
"Who are you to say Narumiya is the best pitcher, OSSAN", said Rei giving off a hostile aura.
"KEHAHAHA…OSSAN!", laughed Raichi.
"Who are you, kid? Don't interrupt other people's conversation", said Yakushi's coach.
"WHO AM I? I am Rei Fujikawa and the best pitcher in Seido. The team you are playing next. And I promise that I will strike you out every single time", said Rei glaring at Raichi. Before he admired Raichi because of his skills now he was going to make sure he struck out Raichi and destroyed his ego which will satisfy him since he didn't like them underestimating him.
Haruichi, Furuya, and Sawamura who were hiding and overhearing the conversation were dumbfounded at his declaration.
Rei turned around and left leaving the 2 father and son astonished.
Furuya, Sawamura, and Haruichi followed Rei since they didn't know where the bus was.
Evening Practice, Seido High.
Rei was batting aggressively taking his frustration out.
Furuya and Sawamura were also practicing aggressively.
"What happened to them", asked Miyuki.
Hearing Miyuki Senpai's question Haruichi answered him and told them what happened yesterday.
Everyone was pissed off and was glad that Rei challenged them.