Chapter 338: After the Draw
September 27, Seidou High School
After finishing their morning practice and customary breakfast, several second-year players gathered in the cafeteria to take a break.
However, their expressions carried a subtle complexity.
"Hah?! Our first opponent is Teito?! I mean, seriously, Sawamura, how bad is your luck?" Maezono exclaimed, staring at the tournament bracket with a dramatically exaggerated monkey-like expression, making it hard for Eijun not to burst into laughter.
Barely managing to hold it in, Eijun scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle.
Kuramochi, who had already heard about the draw the night before, also wore a complicated expression.
The slight twitch of his eyebrow was enough to indicate that the vice-captain's mood was not as composed as it seemed on the surface.
"I'm just saying, Sawamura, did you forget to wash your hands before drawing that lot?" Asou muttered, his lips twitching in resignation.
"Our ace sure has some rotten luck. First match of the tournament, and we're already up against the team that represented Tokyo alongside us at Koshien this summer. Tsk, tsk," Kuramochi shook his head.
"Hahaha, but doesn't that make it even more exciting?"
Unexpectedly, Miyuki chimed in to back Eijun up.
This, however, only earned him a slightly resentful look from Eijun, who was visibly unimpressed.
Miyuki, of course, was completely oblivious to the reason behind that expression.
If I had known this would happen, I would've just let you draw instead. In the original timeline, you also picked Teito, didn't you? So why am I the one getting blamed here?!
Eijun sulked internally. During the lottery, he had been too caught up in the excitement to consider the consequences. Now, thanks to this, he was likely to be branded as the team's "bad luck charm."
This really doesn't feel worth it…
"Exciting, my ass!" Kuramochi rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated.
No wonder I had a bad feeling about this. Letting those two handle the draw was a mistake.
"Teito, huh? Their biggest threat is undoubtedly their cleanup hitter, the catcher and captain," Shirasu, who had been silently listening, suddenly spoke up. "There's already data showing that this summer, their regular catcher was one of the key figures in Teito's deep run. Back then, wasn't he batting fifth?"
"Fourth batter, catcher, captain… huh, that sounds familiar," Maezono muttered, sneaking a glance at the ever-smiling Miyuki sitting across from him.
"That guy is definitely someone we need to be wary of. Not just as a catcher, but as a batter—his hitting ability makes him a serious threat," Miyuki said, his usual grin fading into a more serious expression.
When Kengo Inui was mentioned, Miyuki's face took on an uncharacteristic solemnity. As a fellow catcher who had gained recognition since junior high, Miyuki had crossed paths with Teito's captain before.
Among their peers—especially among catchers—Kengo was one of the few that Miyuki acknowledged as a genuinely formidable power hitter.
"Wow, now that's rare—you're actually complimenting someone," Kuramochi raised an eyebrow in mild surprise, glancing at Miyuki.
"You make it sound like I never do," Miyuki retorted.
"Yeah."
Without missing a beat, everyone in the group—Kuramochi, Maezono, Asou, even the normally reserved Shirasu—all nodded in agreement.
Miyuki's mouth twitched slightly at their synchronized reaction.
Still, his skin was thick enough that he recovered in an instant, smoothly shifting the conversation back to strategizing about Teito.
Together with Shirasu, Kuramochi, and the others, they continued discussing their upcoming opponent.
Meanwhile, sitting beside Miyuki, Eijun narrowed his eyes, a flicker of tension flashing through them.
Just as Miyuki had said, Teito's catcher wasn't just dangerous because of his role behind the plate.
As a cleanup hitter, Kengo's batting prowess was among the best in the nation. There was no need for exaggerated examples—
In the original timeline, during the Spring Tournament, Kengo had managed to hit a home run off Narumiya Mei, the ace of Inashiro's third-year lineup. That alone was enough to prove just how powerful he was.
After all, getting a mere hit off Narumiya Mei was already an incredibly difficult feat, let alone hitting a home run against him. The fact that Kengo had managed to do so spoke volumes about his strength.
In short, under Kengo's leadership, Teito High School was undoubtedly a formidable opponent for Seidou High School at this stage.
In the original timeline, didn't Seidou almost lose that game?
Even though Eijun was now far stronger than he had been in the original timeline, Teito was still a perennial powerhouse.
A single misstep could easily lead to defeat.
Furthermore, Teito wasn't just about Kengo—there was also that guy.
Mukai Taiyou couldn't be underestimated either.
Eijun rubbed his chin, and a thought flashed through his mind—Mukai Taiyou and his three-dimensional control pitching ability from the original timeline.
That kind of pinpoint control, at the high school level, was practically unbeatable.
"Mukai Taiyou, huh? I can't wait for our showdown. Hurry up, time—move faster. I really want to see what this so-called three-dimensional pitching looks like in action..."
A faint gleam flashed in Eijun's eyes as he murmured to himself.
...
Meanwhile, in East Tokyo...
At Teito High School, several districts away from Seidou, inside the office of head coach Okamoto, a quiet but serious meeting was underway.
Seated across from Okamoto, with a solemn expression and a straight posture, was none other than team captain Kengo.
Aside from the head coach and one of his assistants, the office was empty.
Okamoto held a copy of the Autumn Tournament bracket, his expression thoughtful as he spoke.
"Our first-round opponent is Seidou, huh? This is... not exactly a great top-tier draw."
The assistant coach standing behind him blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Not great? But still a top-tier draw?"
The young assistant looked utterly baffled.
It sounded like their coach was contradicting himself.
But Kengo, Teito's captain, understood exactly what Okamoto meant.
It was both a difficult and a great draw—at the same time.
For Teito High School, this match was a double-edged sword.
"Miyuki Kazuya... Sawamura Eijun..."
"If we want to take down Seidou, those two will be the key obstacles to overcome."
Okamoto set the bracket aside and picked up a detailed report on Seidou High School, flipping to the first page—where Miyuki Kazuya and Sawamura Eijun's profiles were prominently displayed.
But what caught his eye even more—were the compiled statistics of Eijun's summer performances.
As he scanned through the numbers, a subtle look of admiration flickered across Okamoto's face.
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