A good family is a great blessing. On the day Sawamura returned home after a while, his Grandpa and his parents doted on him excessively.
They handled him with such care, as though he were so fragile that he might dissolve like ice or escape from their grasp.
The treatment was akin to treating him like a rare treasure.
In the morning, if not for his internal clock waking him, Sawamura might have continued sleeping.
After waking up, he jogged for thirty minutes and swung the bat for almost an hour.
By the time Sawamura returned home again, it was already seven o'clock, and his family was still not awake.
"Yawn~"
Letting out a big yawn, Sawamura collapsed onto his bed and resumed sleeping.
Training isn't about quantity, especially when Sawamura just came back from Koshien. He only needed to maintain his daily training and focus more on understanding baseball. Torturing his body endlessly like in Anime would likely result in injuries rather than rapid progress.
Of course, such devilish training isn't entirely ineffective; in the short term, concentrated training without compromising physical endurance can be very effective.
For example, before a major competition, dedicating one or two weeks to intensive training implants those memories into your body for when the competition starts.
This shows very clear effects during the competition.
But continuing such training every day would inevitably lead to injuries.
After finishing his morning training, Sawamura also had to return to school to guide his younger teammates.
So he felt it wasn't a big deal to sleep in a bit.
However, before he could sleep for even an hour, Grandpa rushed in with a paper fan.
"Don't think winning the National Championship allows you to be so lax. How can you, as an athlete, be so lazy? Get up quickly and start training!"
"EH?!!"
Sawamura, who had just fallen asleep, opened his eyes, feeling the urge to curse.
After having his mom's carefully prepared breakfast, Sawamura headed straight for Akagi Middle School.
His home wasn't far from the school, so he could get there by walking.
Riding with the wind, Sawamura arrived to find about twenty people waiting at the school.
"Aren't you all on break? Why are you here?"
Sawamura greeted them with a smile.
Hearing Sawamura's voice, they became very excited.
"Eijun-kun!"
"Captain!"
"Ei-chan!"
They all called out to Sawamura, surrounding him joyfully.
"We went to watch your final!"
"You were so cool!"
"The Koshien Championship!"
"As expected of the captain!"
Not only Sawamura's juniors but also Yamaguchi and Aoi came.
And of course, Wakana too.
Sawamura greeted everyone with a smile and discussed the wins achieved by Seidou High School.
In the baseball team of Akagi Middle School, whenever Sawamura returned, he was always the absolute core and leader.
After chatting and laughing for about fifteen minutes, they all finally rushed into the classroom together.
"Sano-san!"
Upon entering the classroom and seeing Sano, whose hairline was slightly receding, excitedly greeted Sawamura, opened his arms wide, and hugged him.
Even though they hadn't seen each other for over half a year, the feeling of reunion was just like before.
Sawamura was satisfied with this result. He also opened his arms wide and hugged Sano.
They all sat in the teacher's office, discussed their situations, and then got to the point.
"This year, your younger teammates have also graduated. Many of them have received invitations from high schools. We want to hear your opinion."
Sano cut straight to the point.
To be honest, this issue has troubled Sano for a while now. Advising on the future paths was a daunting task. It would have been easier if he knew what the best choice was, but since Sano himself didn't know, he hesitated to give random advice. If the children's futures didn't turn out well, they wouldn't blame him, but he might regret it himself.
Sawamura wasn't surprised by this outcome at all.
Sano and Wada, two teachers loved the players of Akagi Middle School's baseball team to the core.
So it was natural for them to have concerns about their future.
"Well, let's talk about the issues you're facing now."
Sano and Sawamura patiently discussed it.
It seemed that Sano had worked hard to investigate the schools that sent the invitations and the conditions of the players themselves.
First and foremost, the schools extend invitations.
Two other powerhouses from Nagano Prefecture in addition to Seiryu High School have reached out to some players from Akagi Middle School's baseball team.
For outstanding players, choosing one of these three schools is the most crucial challenge.
This decision, while seemingly simple, is actually quite difficult in reality. All three schools are respectable, so any choice would seem acceptable on the surface. However, the reality is more problematic: these schools are all interested in the cream of the crop from Akagi Middle School's baseball team.
And these players must choose just one of these schools. This decision is crucial because, for a player aiming for Koshien, they must analyze which team has the highest chance of advancing to Koshien. They also need to assess their prospects of standing out in that team.
All these factors must be weighed carefully to determine which option is the best fit.
Does Sano understand all this?
When Sawamura was still around, he handled these matters within the team himself. Now that Sawamura is gone, how can a normal middle school teacher like him, with no experience in this field at all, dare to make such assertions?
Apart from these outstanding players, the second-tier players also face a critical decision.
Should they go to a powerhouse school to seek opportunities, or should they opt for a more ordinary high school?
This, too, is a question without a clear answer.
Hearing Sano's dilemma and seeing the earnest looks from the team members, Sawamura smiled and walked to the front of the blackboard.
"The issues you're facing are actually quite simple. It's similar to why you chose Akagi Middle School in the first place—it's your own choice. Therefore, the answers to these questions are also in your hands."
Standing in front of the blackboard with a piece of chalk in hand, Sawamura naturally exuded authority.
At this moment, he got into the Captain mode of Akagi Middle School's baseball team.
"First and foremost, what do you want for your future?"
…