Diamond Ace: Another Story of Sawamura

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"You must not have eaten yet, let's eat in the cafeteria after such a long time!"

Although there were still tears in the corners of her eyes, Takashima Rei couldn't stop smiling. She sniffed and pulled Sawamura inside.

"You look so thin, you must not be taking good care of yourself, eat more..."

"Hmm..." Eijun looked at Miss Takashima who had packed a lot of food for him and was looking through the refrigerator, "Actually, it's enough..."

"Sawamura, eat quickly! If it's not enough, there's more!" Minister Ota was also very motivated and prepared together with Takashima.

"Let them eat as they please..." Ochihe did not join the two people who were overly happy, but did not intend to stop them either. He signaled Sawamura to eat first.

"Let's eat first..." Director Kataoka also nodded in agreement.

"Hmm..." Since the four elders were so enthusiastic, Rong Chun couldn't refuse. He carried the plate and walked to the child amid a group of hungry gazes.

"I said I would."

"..." Qiu'er looked up blankly at the person standing in front of him, and slowly remembered what happened at the garbage disposal station that night.

"You..." It turned out that he was not dreaming. After being stunned for a moment, Qiu'er stood up with a look of horror on his face, then bowed 90 degrees and slammed his head on the table.

"Ow..."

"Murakami!"

"Yeah...sorry!"

Qiu'er covered his nose in pain and hurriedly picked up the chair that had been knocked over and the food that he had knocked over.

"Hehehe..." Looking at the cafeteria that suddenly became noisy again, Rongchun found it interesting and couldn't help laughing.

"What? Do you know each other?" Takashima Rei came over to help the children clean up and asked curiously.

"No... no..." Murakami quickly denied it, trying to cover up what happened last night in a panic. If he was discovered...

"I met this kid at the stadium last night..." While lending a hand, Eijun looked at Takashima Rei and chuckled, "He was pitching alone, so I practiced with him for a while."

"I told you, we'll see each other again..." Rongchun looked at the stunned Qiu'er and smiled gently, "Right?"

“...Yeah!” Murakami realized that Sawamura-senpai was helping him cover up, and his eyes reddened as he nodded heavily.

"Would you like to pitch with me again tonight?"

"...certainly!"

After dinner, the players lined up one after another to ask Sawamura for advice. After all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in touch with professional players from the major leagues.

Rongchun also generously imparted his experience to the players and provided guidance on every question asked by the players.

"My name is Murakami Eiji! Please give me your guidance, senior!"

Finally, he got the chance to pitch with Senior Sawamura. Murakami bowed 90 degrees and was so nervous that his voice was shaking.

"Murakami Eiji..." Eijun looked at the child whose body was also stiff with amusement, and stepped away a proper distance, "Our names are similar!"

"Yes..."

After the two threw a few warm-up balls, Rongchun saw that Murakami was a little relaxed, so he signaled him to throw with all his strength.

"Um... Sawamura-senpai..." Murakami looked at Sawamura-senpai who was squatting down, and couldn't help but hesitate...

"Wouldn't it be more clear if you looked at your ball from a catcher's perspective?" Eijun explained Murakami's doubts on the grounds that it would be more effective this way.

"..." Murakami suddenly felt his whole body trembling. That person was actually willing to lower his status to catch the ball for him.

"I'm glad that Sawamura-senpai is willing to help me catch the ball, but I admire you as a pitcher. Please look at my pitch from a pitcher's perspective."

"..." Rongchun was stunned for a moment, then he chuckled and nodded, standing up and putting his gloves in place, "Come on!"

"Yes!" Murakami responded loudly and excitedly, then took a few deep breaths and prepared to pitch again, "I pitch!"

"bring it on!"

"I voted!"

"it is good!"

"I voted..." Murakami was so nervous that he couldn't speak clearly...

"Hmm..." Rongchun waited patiently for the little pitcher who had said "I pitch" three times but still didn't pitch, always keeping the same posture waiting for the ball.

"I voted!"

After being told for the fourth time, Murakami took a deep breath, raised his gloves, raised his left foot, paused for a moment, stepped forward, and swung his arms with all his strength.

"Snapped!"

"Beautiful!" Rongchun praised without thinking, looked at the child who was smiling happily, and passed the ball back.

"Come again!"

"Yes!"

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"today..."

"..." Seeing Rong Chun hesitated to speak, Xiaogou just smiled and said, "I know."

"Thank you..." Puppy agreed without even asking, which made Rongchun feel somewhat guilty.

He clearly asked to come along, but he didn't help at all and just kept running away.

He hadn't acted with the two of them for five days and had been staying in Qingdao. He only came back to meet them last night.

But the whole night, the two were unusually honest. No one went out. They were either reading or playing games.

"I didn't consider you as part of my job..." Xiaogou didn't look at Rongchun, but just changed a book and sat down to continue reading, "If you have something you want to do, just do it."

"Hmm..." Rong Chun hesitated for a moment before slowly responding.

"..." Puppy raised his eyes slightly and saw Rongchun's lost look, "There is a cocktail party tonight... I will pick you up."

"Okay!" Rong Chun responded immediately and smiled happily, "Then I'll go out."

"Be careful..." After waving goodbye to Rongchun, Butterfly supported her face and looked at the puppy.

"..." After receiving Butterfly's meaningful gaze, the puppy looked back at Butterfly uncomfortably after falling silent, "It's just a cocktail party..."

"No..." Butterfly didn't care about that and turned around to pick up the remote control.

"I'm just curious about why you indulge him so much?"

Although Rongjun is aware of being a controlled person, Xiaogou is quite laissez-faire towards him and basically doesn't ask about his affairs.

"I'm just sure he won't betray us."

"..." Butterfly did not react to this, but just pressed the button on the remote control with her left hand.

"Games start!"

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But the puppy's indulgence made Rongchun feel uneasy...

Why...

"..." Rong Chun couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he would take the initiative to tell him some things.

"Sawamura...Sawamura..."

"Huh?" Eijun came back to his senses after being pushed by Takashima Rei.

"You don't look very well..."

"It's okay, I just didn't sleep well last night..." Rong Chun said as he pretended to rub his eyebrows, and then relaxed his brows.

"Really..." Takashima Rei saw Eijun's expression just now, but she couldn't guess what that expression meant.

"Don't worry!" Not wanting to make his elders look worried, Rong Chun quickly adjusted his state and then gave her a reassuring smile.

"The left foot is raised high, the balance is perfect, and the arm swings smoothly..." Even Eijun can say that this is the perfect pitching posture...

'The only flaw... is that I took a confused step...' Maybe it's because I took all the responsibility for losing the finals on myself...

"He is indeed a good seedling..." No wonder the supervisor sent him to play in such an important occasion.

Hearing Eijun's affirmative comment, Takashima Rei raised her glasses proudly.

"He was a kid I happened to meet when I was out relaxing. He had a beautiful pitching posture, but it was a shame that he didn't participate in baseball activities."

Takashima Rei recalled what the kid said, "When I asked him why he didn't join the baseball team, he said..."

'I have no interest in baseball, it's just that someone I respect plays baseball.'

"Hehehe..." Rong Chun couldn't help but laugh when he heard it. What an interesting kid.

"But as soon as he knew I was from Qingdao, he immediately accepted my invitation."

"Eh..." Rongjun thought that the player he respected must be born in Qingdao...

"That's really curious... What kind of player can make a kid who has no interest in baseball learn baseball?"

"Heh..." Kataoka couldn't help but laugh when he heard it, "It's you."

"..." Eijun looked at Director Kataoka, a look of surprise flashed across his face, and then he smiled, "I'm really flattered..."

"...When do you plan to return to the court?" Kataoka saw the hesitation in Eijun's eyes and asked tentatively.

"..." The supervisor's words made Rongchun fall silent, because he couldn't give an answer to this question.

Takashima Rei looked at the silent Eijun worriedly. He had been away from the court for more than half a year, and everyone had been waiting for him during this time.

"It's okay...it's okay..." Minister Ota saw that the atmosphere suddenly became strange, and hurriedly came out to smooth things over, "If you still can't find your form, take a rest for a while!"

"Many people are waiting for you..."

Ochiai walked out from the rest area. He heard what was said just now. "Especially your juniors."

There are often people returning to Qingdao to ask about Sawamura's progress, and it seems that they will also go to the university where he graduated to look for him, especially his juniors.

"I..." After Ochiai finished speaking, Eijun took over the conversation, but was silent at the beginning.

Rongchun suddenly felt that the sunlight was a bit dazzling. He squinted his eyes slightly, not knowing where to look. Finally, he chose to look at his mentors.

"After I left, I went to many places, saw many people and things, and did many things that I had never thought of or done before."

"Then, I discovered that there are really many things in this world that are beyond our reach..." Rongchun said and smiled softly, but he didn't know why he smiled.

"I also realized that my world is not about baseball, but... I have nothing else besides baseball."

“……”Looking at Sawamura in front of them, the four of them all showed shocked expressions.

At this time, Rong Chun's expression revealed other emotions.

His voice was so calm, and tears flashed in his deep eyes, as if fragments of stars fell into them.

"I like baseball and want to keep playing baseball..."

"Sawamura..." They all read sadness in his eyes.

He smiled...

But it's not in sight...

"But, I don't know since when..."

'Pitching has become a torture for me...'

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