Baseball: A Two-Way Player

The summer for Waseda Industries and Lin Guanglai has ended, but the Summer Koshien tournament continues.

After the match between Waseda Jitsugyo and Konan, the following game featured two teams: Tokai University Sagami High School and Hodokusho Academy. The favorites clashed with the home team, and after a fierce battle, Tokai University Sagami, led by ace pitcher Ichiyotai Shintaro, narrowly defeated Hodokusho Academy 6-5, advancing to the finals.

If you ask who is happiest right now, it would certainly be the media responsible for related news reporting: the young first-year prodigy Lin Guanglai narrowly losing, the host team Hodokusho Academy's five-point lead overturned, the two pre-tournament favorites meeting in the finals, the showdown between Ichiyotai Shintaro and Shimabukuro Hiroshi... any one of these would be enough to dominate the headlines.

Of course, none of this concerns those at Waseda Real; the next morning, they boarded the Shinkansen back to Tokyo—a grand procession of nearly ten thousand people drawing the curious glances of onlookers along the way.

As the scenery outside the Shinkansen window flashed by, the memories of this summer replayed in the players' minds like photo after photo, evoking a sense of nostalgia.

"I never thought we'd make it to the Final Four of Koshien this summer—thinking back now, it feels like a dream." Leaning back in the plush seat, Tsuchiya Ryota looked up at the ceiling of the train carriage, exclaiming with emotion.

His lament was echoed by the group around him: "Indeed, even now I can hardly believe it's true—honestly, if before the tournament you had told me we'd make it to the Final Four, nearly reaching the finals, I would've thought Ryota, you'd gone crazy."

As they overcame the sadness of defeat, reflecting back on the half-month journey of Summer 甲, the players were genuinely satisfied with their performance:

After all, for these senior players, in previous years they didn't even make it to the regional finals, only having a reputation as a strong team; now, not only did they enter Koshien, but they also reached the Final Four—what is there to be dissatisfied with?

When the Shinkansen arrived in Tokyo and the bus stopped at the school gate, the players disembarked to find the campus appearing unusually lively:

Though it was still the summer holiday period, many people had come to support them—students from Waseda Industries, nearby residents, and fans from all over who became infatuated during Summer 甲. They traveled long distances just to see the players in person.

"Great effort!"

"You guys played wonderfully, do your best next year too!"

"I'll definitely be there to support you live next year!"

Feeling the heartfelt support from everyone in Tokyo, the players felt warm inside—as they walked towards the school building, they constantly high-fived and interacted with the surrounding crowd.

After a brief assembly, Mr. Izumi announced the disbandment, allowing everyone to return home:

"There are still a few days of summer vacation left, everyone should rest well—those in the third year, thank you for the hard work over these years! As for the rest, train even harder when the holidays are over!"

"Yes! Coach!"

Upon hearing the announcement of the holiday, the players instantly became lively, gathering in groups to discuss how to spend the short vacation—such a scene could only be found in the athletic club.

In Japan, high school education typically follows a three-semester system:

April to July is the first semester, the second semester runs from September to December, and the final semester is from January to March—the months in between are summer vacation, winter vacation, and spring vacation.

Currently, it was mid to late August, a time that should have been summer vacation—yet due to participating in Koshien, the baseball team's vacation was significantly shortened, now leaving them with less than 10 days.

For the third-year players who never had a vacation in the past three years, this was their first chance to take a break, so they planned well.

Lin Guanglai, on the other hand, went home with his parents who came to pick him up—although they couldn't watch the games live due to work, they watched every game Lin Guanglai participated in without missing one.

On the way, his father, a baseball fan, was extremely excited, talking non-stop while driving, constantly praising Lin Guanglai's performance in this Summer Koshien:

"Oh, Guanglai, you don't know how stunning your two home runs were against Chukyo University—the following day even my boss asked me about it;"

"And the walk-off steal in the game against Narita, it had my heart pounding out of my chest, my son, you really dare to play!"

With his excited gestures, Lin's father's praise made Lin Guanglai a little embarrassed—if it weren't for his mother interrupting his father's performance under the pretense of concentrating on driving, he might have continued talking for much longer.

Sitting in the back seat with Lin Guanglai, Lin's mother wasn't as excited as his father, silently caressing her son's face and muttering words like "thinner, darker."

Upon arrival at home, as soon as they opened the door, a bright figure emerged from the living room on the first floor into the hallway, the sound of slippers scraping across the floor resounding along the way.

One moment, Lin Guanglai was looking down to change his shoes; the next moment, that face all too familiar appeared in front of him:

Lin Xinglai, the older sister four years his senior, a woman who loves to travel all over Japan during vacations, was actually at home!

Judging from their appearance, the siblings indeed inherited good genes from their parents. As the older sister, Lin Xinglai not only possessed outstanding features but was also quite tall, reaching a height of 1.82 meters for a girl.

Seeing her brother return, Lin Xinglai's face immediately broke into a smile:

"Yo, isn't this my adorable little brother Guang? Come, come, sister has something good to show you."

Having said that, without waiting for Lin Guanglai's consent, Lin Xinglai dragged him to the TV in the living room.

The TV was playing the footage of Lin Guanglai sobbing uncontrollably after the match with Konan—seeing this footage as the person involved, Lin Guanglai wished he could disappear into the ground with embarrassment.

Seeing her brother in such a state, Lin Xinglai instantly burst into a peal of laughter:

"Hahahahahahaha—!!!"

"Lin Guanglai, do you know this footage is everywhere now? Any baseball fan has almost certainly seen it."

"My silly Ou Doudou, hahaha, you've really become famous now!"

The years of sibling rivalry told Lin Guanglai that continuing to engage with this woman in front of him would only end up with him at a disadvantage.

Therefore, with his sister's mocking as background noise, Lin Guanglai quickly turned around and went back upstairs to his own room.

The room was pitch black, but Lin Guanglai didn't choose to turn on the lights; exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed, gazing at the ceiling. A deep sleepiness slowly invaded him, causing his eyes to gradually close.

"Now, summer really is over."