Seeing Yuuki remain silent, Kanzaki Ryou's heart skipped a beat; it was just as he thought!
No, he had to find a way to correct his mindset.
But it was hard to know where to start with something subconscious, so in the end, Kanzaki Ryou still turned his gaze to Yuuki.
"Senior, help me out, please," Kanzaki Ryou said with a smile.
Yuuki silently raised his hand, extending his index and middle fingers together.
"Play chess!"
"Huh?"
Three question marks popped up over Kanzaki Ryou's head.
"Playing chess can train your mindset, starting with your impetuous and eager problem," Yuuki said.
"Actually, I'm not that impetuous, am I?" Kanzaki Ryou suddenly felt like he might have been tricked.
It was like those horoscopes, where each zodiac sign had certain personality traits, and it felt like anyone could relate to a few of them.
He felt that the mindset issue Yuuki mentioned could apply to anyone to some extent.
This person… he wouldn't be trying to trick him into playing chess, would he?
"You are!"
Yuuki nodded decisively. The time was ripe; he was determined to cultivate an opponent who could challenge him on the chessboard.
"You don't believe me?"
"I do, I do."
"Good, follow me back to the dorm. I'll teach you how to play chess right now!" Yuuki said as he stood up.
Uh...
For an entire morning, while others were doing self-training, Kanzaki Ryou was learning something new.
"This is so annoying!"
After losing 5 consecutive games to Yuuki, Kanzaki Ryou admitted that he was indeed very impatient.
The problem was, anyone would be impatient in this situation, right?
Seeing Kanzaki Ryou clutching his head and scratching his hair, Yuuki smiled triumphantly, "Again."
"No, no, I just started learning, I can't possibly beat Senior," Kanzaki Ryou said, about to get up.
"See, you're impatient again."
Yuuki put down his chess piece. "Let's go, we'll practice batting."
"Okay!" Kanzaki Ryou had long wanted to get out of the dorm.
The two of them took their bats and went to the lawn by the path. After taking a few casual swings, Yuuki said, "Your batting skills are not bad. Your swing speed and accuracy are good. There's not much I can teach you. Just follow my practice. Whenever I swing, you swing."
"Mhm, okay."
Kanzaki Ryou stood opposite Yuuki, and the two faced each other, looking into each other's eyes.
"Come on, first find your most comfortable ready stance," Yuuki said, then raised his bat, adopting his usual batting stance.
Seeing this, Kanzaki Ryou also took his stance.
"Good, now close your eyes and imagine a Straight ball flying towards home plate, very, very slowly," Yuuki said slowly, closing his eyes.
Ten seconds later.
"Can I hit it yet? My ball is almost at home plate."
"No! Let the ball fly back, even slower."
One minute later.
"Still not hitting? It's flying over again."
"Slower!"
Five minutes later.
"Still..."
"Don't talk!"
"Oh."
Time passed second by second. Kanzaki Ryou felt incredibly tormented. The imagined baseball became slower and slower. It was so uncomfortable, he wanted to open his eyes so badly, he couldn't hold on much longer.
"Hit!"
Yuuki's voice came from beside his ear, followed by a whooshing sound.
Reacting, Kanzaki Ryou quickly followed with a swing, his momentum unconsciously much weaker.
"You weren't focused, were you distracted?"
Kanzaki Ryou opened his eyes after swinging and heard Yuuki say this.
"Uh..." Kanzaki Ryou smiled awkwardly. He had indeed been distracted just now. Holding the bat like that for so long, his thoughts had almost drifted to Kyoto.
Yuuki smiled and shook his head: "Actually, many people think that mental training can improve batting levels, but that's not really the case. It's more about training one's concentration."
"Oh, oh, I understand."
"Let's do it again."
After speaking, Yuuki closed his eyes again.
A full half hour passed, and the two of them only swung three times in total, and each time lasted almost 10 minutes, which was frighteningly precise. Kanzaki Ryou even suspected that Yuuki was a reincarnation of a watch.
"From now on, you'll practice like this: once every ten minutes, try to stick to that time, and you can't use a timer," Yuuki said.
The time limit was naturally also to train Kanzaki Ryou's concentration. Even if it only improved a little, it could play a big role in a game, as opportunities during batting are fleeting.
Kanzaki Ryou nodded: "Okay, Senior."
"Hmm, also, don't neglect shogi. Remember to find me."
"This... okay, Senior," Kanzaki Ryou said helplessly.
That afternoon.
After the actual combat simulation within the first string ended, Kanzaki Ryou took a deep breath, looking at Yuuki, whom he had struck out.
Ah~ His thoughts were clear now.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Azuma Kiyokuni slapped Kanzaki Ryou's back with a big hand, almost knocking the wind out of him.
"Hey, Senior Azuma, you're in great form today," Kanzaki Ryou said. In the batting simulation just now, Azuma Kiyokuni had crushed his inside Straight ball to left field—almost a home run.
Azuma laughed loudly, his belly trembling.
"You know Senior's power now, don't you? Next time I'll hit your ball out of the park."
"Yes, yes, Senior is the best," Kanzaki Ryou rolled his eyes. This guy really was something; give him an inch and he'd take a mile. Next time, he'd screw him with a Changeup!
After Azuma left, Kanzaki Ryou and Miyuki, who had been catching for him, reviewed the pitching from earlier.
That evening, everyone gathered in the meeting room after dinner.
First, Chris led everyone to watch the opposing team's game footage, then analyzed the players with Coach Kataoka.
Before the meeting concluded, Coach Kataoka announced the starting lineup for tomorrow's game:
1st – Kusunoki Fumiya (shortstop)
2nd – Kominato Ryosuke (second baseman)
3rd – Yuki Tetsuya (first baseman)
4th – Azuma Kiyokuni (third baseman)
5th – Nanjo Taishi (pitcher)
6th – Isashiki Jun (center field)
7th – Araki Keita (right field)
8th – Miyuki Kazuya (catcher)
9th – Kanzaki Ryou (left field)
Miyuki replaced Tanaka Wataru as catcher.
Kusunoki replaced Shida Shota.
Nanjo Taishi took the mound.
And Kanzaki Ryou became the starting left fielder.
He couldn't guess the head coach's intention, but he was thrilled. As long as he could play, it didn't matter whether he pitched—batting was also a chance.
Their opponent was a public school, and the pitcher's strength wasn't high. Not only him, but Yuuki and Azuma Kiyokuni were also waiting for tomorrow with the expectation of hitting a home run.
Especially Azuma—every home run increased his value in the upcoming draft.
The next day, 11 AM—Jingu Second Stadium.
Seidou High School vs. Asuka High
The game officially began!