"My name is Morita Yoichi! I am from Class 1-C and I play in the position of the catcher!"
His loud voice got through the coach's ears nicely and that made him satisfied with his introduction.
"Good. Next!"
The guy next to Yoichi started to introduce himself, in the same manner, he was doing it.
Right now, all of the freshmen that wanted to join this club were lined up and obliged to do this kind of introduction.
The location was the baseball club, just outside the mound they would be playing in.
The sophomores and the third years observed the freshmen. They wondered if they can get multiple great additions to this club if possible.
This sounds far-fetched because most of them would be benched or sent to the second-string team if they are not good enough.
Looking at the situation, it is rather difficult or even near impossible to directly get into the first-string team unless there is an exceptionally talented player.
So to say, this high school club is inhabited by very strong and powerful members.
That is why the freshmen's senpais were looking at them with sympathy. Even they went through this when they were freshmen so the feeling was going to be mutual.
"Alright time to do some training! Everyone, follow your seniors as they go through the training drill!"
Right off the bat, they were encountered with some strict drills. Yoichi expected this kind of treatment because this school wasn't strong for no reason.
Obviously, he followed every routine exercise that his seniors were doing.
Now, they were jogging around the baseball mound with the third years in front, second years just behind them and the newly added freshmen at the back.
A pretty standard exercise, considering all of them kept the same pace. Some freshmen felt confident because they thought the training is not so bad.
Great mistake.
After a few laps, the pace picked up slowly gradually as time goes. By the 10th lap, they were panting heavily.
"Huh!.....Huh!.....Huh!...."
Sweats began appearing earlier than usual. Yoichi's feet weakened and he was starting to feel a little dizzy.
"10 more laps!!" The senior in the front, leading the pack, screamed to inform the number of laps they need to complete.
The freshmen gasped in shock and wanted to quit already. But they endured it the best they could.
They would not want to show their weakness in front of the coach right from the first day.
The coach saw this as a test to gauge their physical capabilities. From then on, he would be able to adjust their training regime and assign positions for each individual.
Still, it was pretty harsh for the freshmen. They were not expecting that.
"S...Shit!.....Huh! I want to.....hit that coach!"
A boy beside Yoichi, his black hair drenched in sweats, complained about the exercise and aimed his blames towards the coach.
Yoichi could not help but warn this guy.
"Shhh.....Huh!...Don't say it.....out loud....Huh!.....Our senpai will listen to this..."
That boy veered to his left and saw a tired Yoichi that was running as desperately as him. His green eyes scanned Yoichi from head to toe.
Empathy crept from Yoichi and the boy could not help but feel a sense of comradery with him even though they just met.
"I....just don't care....Huh!...at the moment..."
"You don't care...about being in.....Huh!.....in the first-string team?"
"...W-Well.....I do care."
"Then.....Huh!...Make sure our senpais....don't hear you..."
"Ha!....What a pain!"
Even talking seemed tiring for them so they stopped for a moment and focused on the training.
By the 13th lap, most of the first years started to crumble and fall out of exhaustion. Or they couldn't keep with the pace of the seniors and gave up.
There were only a few freshmen that were still behind the tails of the sophomore and Yoichi was one of them.
But soon, he was also ready to give up.
His glasses were getting slippery due to his sweats. He wanted to adjust and wipe off his face clean but that action also was too tiring to even consider.
He thought that if he was to do anything other than running, then he would fail the exercise. So the only thing on his mind right now was running.
He was a little surprised to see that the boy he just talked to previously was still going. Although he was complaining, he was doing better than Yoichi.
The boy did see Yoichi struggling and asked worriedly.
"Are you.....Okay.....? Hah! You should.....probably.....stop..."
Yoichi's gaze was weak but he still looked at the boy with determination and declared.
"Not.....Hah!....on.....this.....Huh!.....lap."
"...? Why?"
"Because....., 13 is.....is.....Hah!.....an unlucky.....number..."
Yoichi sneered at him which made the boy amazed. Unconsciously, that also made the boy grin because he thought Yoichi to be a funny guy.
He applauded his efforts in his mind because he wasn't ready to go down so easily like the others.
But there are limits to the human body.
Yoichi's pace diminished exponentially. His legs started to tremble and his arm was more than just flailing around
After about a minute, Yoichi tripped on his leg.
"Gah!?"
He fell to his knees. It was more like he sat down as he looked down to the ground.
"Hah....Hah......Hah......Hah...."
His heartbeat was louder. His ears only received that noise because any other thing he heard sounded distorted. He could not hear his breathing.
The droplets of sweat dropped on the ground. He watched at the ground but slowly, he started having blurry visions.
The ground looked like it was moving on its own. His head ached like nothing before.
Pushing himself beyond his limits was a bad idea. The world was turning around along with him.
"Hah....I am.....relieved..."
He smiled as he thought that he would not do that again. It was over. He wanted to show he tried his best. There was no way a catcher like him could run as fast and longer as an outfield player.
In his middle school, he did not indulge himself in harsh training because a catcher does not have anything more physical to do compared to the others.
So to say, he was sheltered from the more exhausting exercise.
He now knew how much the others felt while doing this training. He did not want to go through this again. But in truth, he may as well be prepared to face multiple tiring exercises like this.
"-?...H-Huh...?"
The thought of getting up instantly was rendered useless.
The strength on his knees was non-existent. Getting up was impossible for him at the moment.
"Am.....I really that.....weak?"
At one attempt, he almost stood upright but he lost his strength again to maintain his posture.
He cursed at himself for pushing too hard. Yoichi learned a valuable lesson and the consequences are bad.
His mouth was dry. He wanted to scream out for help but he got the feeling that if he yelled, his throat will get damaged.
Just when it he was about to faint because he gave up in trying to stay conscious, a light came through and extended towards him.
"Well well, you pushed too hard....Huh..."
Yoichi's left arm was brought around a boy's shoulder whilst another hand came from his back to lift his Yoichi. The heavy panting from that certain someone was heard by Yoichi
He also noticed the boy's sweaty face that looked over his pathetic self.
"...You...?"
"I can't believe you completed another lap.....Hah.....You really hate the number 13...Hahaha..."
The boy ignored tiredness and laughed at Yoichi as he was amused by his action.
Yoichi noticed that the other seniors has not still completed the exercise. He realized that the boy just gave up on continuing with them even though he still had some energy spared.
"...What about.....training...?"
"Ah...I am so tired. I feel like.....i am going to collapse.....Hah.....any second now."
Yoichi was surprised which made him stare down on the ground. It looked like he was pondering about something.
"W-What happened? Are.....Hah!.....you feeling sick...?"
The boy's pants blatantly kept on going, signalling how exhausted he was. However, he did not stop caring in front of him as he was in a worse state than himself.
Yoichi looked up to reply to his questions.
"You are an idiot......but you are kind..."
Yoichi smiled with the rest of the energy he had.
"Hah!?!.... Is that a compliment...?"
That took the boy by surprise.
"Don't know...."
"*Sigh*...Come on. Stop rambling and get up."
As the boy sighed exasperatingly, he aided Yoichi in getting up. Slowly but surely, they got near the coach. Most of the freshmen that gave up earlier were all resting on the ground, observing their seniors still going with their jogging.
They were in awe of their physicality. Part of them was now fearful of the fate that awaits them in this baseball club and the strict coach.
The boy put Yoichi down on the ground while he sat next to him.
"Hah.....hah........hah...."
"....hah......hah....hah....."
Both of them needed time to catch some oxygen. Yoichi took off his glasses and wiped them off clean. While he was at it, he also wiped most of the sweats on his face and neck using his t-shirt.
The coach glanced at them but he did not say anything. He silently watched the sophomores and seniors complete the routine.
After some time, as they looked at the mound where their seniors ran around it, Yoichi initiated a conversation with the boy.
"Thank you very much, for saving me."
"Ah, no no. I could not bear to see you so pitiful like this."
"Oi! At least say that I was trying my best!"
"Sorry sorry, it is hard for me to lie."
"You..."
Yoichi was pissed but seeing how humorous the boy was, he laughed joyfully at him. The boy grinned and was pleased that he took his joke in a good way.
"What is your name?"
"Morita Yoichi. You?"
"The handsome Kimura Naoko."
He sat in a cool pose with his one knee up and he rested his arm on it.
"Oya? You indeed are handsome. I am getting turned on."
This time, it was Kimura who was in for a surprise joke. He wasn't sure himself if it is even a joke.
"........Are you being serious?"
"What do you think?"
Yoichi put his index finger on his lips and gazed at him with sparkling eyes. Kimura was put off guard and thought to himself.
'Does he really swing that way!?!'
As Yoichi leaned his face towards Kimura, his heart beat faster. He even saw Yoichi's lips forming into a kiss.
He had enough.
"S-Sorry, I have a girlfriend!!"
Kimura bowed 90° to him which made Yoichi burst out laughing.
"Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!"
The other freshmen investigated what was going and saw Yoichi having a laughing fit. They did not pay much attention to it as they were still tired.
"W-What?"
"Seems like you cannot take a joke even though you like to joke a lot."
"...That was a joke? My gosh, that scared me." A sigh of relief escaped from Kimura's mouth.
"Hahaha! With that said, wouldn't you say that you would want me as a girlfriend?"
".....I mean, with that personality of yours, I am sure that my life would be enjoyable."
"Right? I am still laughing at how you thought I was not joking."
Kimura put on an awkward face as he faced Yoichi.
"I mean you did not strike me as this type of guy..."
"Hm? Why?"
"Because....you wear glasses."
Yoichi squinted his eyes, "Heeee.....So you are that type of people, huh."
"I did not mean anything ill will by that! I am sorry if I offended you!"
"No, that's okay. People often have that kind of first impression of me."
Kimura thought that he would get along with this guy. He brought his fist up and declared in front of Yoichi.
"Let's be friends, Morita-kun."
Yoichi saw his intention and smiled widely.
"You can call me Yoichi because we are more than friends. Isn't that right, Naoko-kun."
"Not in a sexual way, though. Hahaha! Alright, Yoichi-kun."
Yoichi lifted his arm bumped his fist against Naoko's. Both of them had grins deprived of any trouble.
They both acquired a great friend.
.........
The seniors completed their exercise routine and were panting. But they were in line, waiting for the coach to speak. The freshmen too were also in line but in another direction.
"I have seen all of your capabilities and have decided on the positions and teams you will play in."
The freshmen gulped, hoping that they would get into the first string team. The second-string team rarely participates in tournaments so it is a given that everyone wants a position in the first-string team.
They expected results from the coach. Suddenly he diverted the topic.
"But for now, let's welcome two of the assistant manager that will help with the team's health, food management and other related tasks."
Two girls came forward and they were beautiful in their own ways. The seniors themselves had their eyes on them. They were both first years and would aid the team alongside the manager.
"Hm?"
Yoichi looked at one of the girls.
"What, you recognized them?"
"Yes, one of them actually. The one who has a ribbon on her head. I suppose she is a friend of a friend."
"Oh her?"
The person that Yoichi was looking at was none other than Ando Yui, the person that Keiko hates.
'The hell is she doing here?' Yoichi thought.
"Hehe~"
Naoko proudly laughs beside Yoichi. Seeing him like that, Yoichi was forced to inquire.
"What? You know her?"
"Hehe~ Extremely well. That is because she is my girlfriend that I talked about earlier."