Do you need a reason to like someone?
Maybe you do, or maybe you don't. In a romance drama, if the female protagonist were to ask this question, it would probably be because there is no reason!
You like them because you like them. What reason is there to explain it? If there is a reason, then is it truly love?
Similarly, not liking someone probably doesn't require a reason either.
Sawamura doesn't like Hanayama.
There's no reason for it, he just doesn't like him.
When Sawamura Eijun doesn't like someone, although he wouldn't actively go looking for trouble with them, it would be impossible for him to warmly and politely welcome them.
Sawamura and Miyuki exchanged simple pleasantries with the Minori Shigeru players before parting ways.
Miyuki and Minori Shigeru's Ace seemed quite familiar with each other.
But if we're talking about real friendship, it wasn't quite there.
Miyuki's social circle is very limited. He's not a fan of socializing.
Aside from his teammates, he mostly interacts with others as opponents.
A simple greeting from an opponent was all there was to it.
But after they parted ways, Miyuki's behavior was very strange, which caught Sawamura's attention.
"Are you troubled?" he asked.
Miyuki was momentarily stunned when he heard the question, then shook his head.
"No, nothing's wrong."
"Is it because of the team we just saw? Or is it because of that guy named Hanayama?"
Sawamura asked.
They've been friends and teammates for a long time across two lifetimes, so despite Miyuki being a master at hiding his thoughts, Sawamura could still catch onto some of his concerns.
Miyuki gave him a helpless glance. Some things were hard to hide from Sawamura.
He finally spoke up. "There's something strange. With Hanayama around, how could the team wait until their third year to show their potential?"
Even Miyuki, from Tokyo himself, couldn't make sense of this question.
Sawamura certainly couldn't figure it out either.
He shrugged helplessly, admitting that he had no idea either.
"How about we go back and check out the team's research information?"
Seidou High School has detailed files on all local teams.
This means they have full records on every school, and these records are very thorough.
Even if a school is eliminated in the first round of major tournaments, Seidou still has data on them.
You wouldn't believe how obsessive a prestigious high school can be about baseball until you experience it firsthand.
The level at which they manage information sometimes even exceeds professional baseball teams.
After returning to the school, they went straight to Takashima Rei.
As the vice president of Seidou High's baseball team, Takashima's responsibilities weren't just about recruiting new students. She also had to maintain records for all schools.
Of course, with over 130 schools, it's not possible to have detailed profiles for every single one.
For schools that aren't much of a threat, they usually only have basic records—things like their results from previous years and a few words of evaluation.
The information on Minori Shigeru is very interesting.
In their first year, their main players were all third-year students.
Their exact skill level was unclear, but they were eliminated in the first round, and it was a large margin.
Then, the school was involved in a violent incident just before the second-year summer tournament.
As a result, they were punished, and their club was banned for a year!
This ban wasn't lifted until June of this year.
It's said that they barely made it in time to register for the summer tournament.
This incident was quite well-known in Takashima's circle.
"Enduring hardship and waiting for an opportunity, huh?" Sawamura sighed.
What kind of hardship did this team face in the past?
Sawamura wasn't clear on the details, but he could roughly guess.
It was likely something like younger players making trouble with the older ones and getting into a real fight.
Don't think this is something made up for baseball manga. In reality, incidents like this happen often.
In fact, they happen every year.
Among a hundred people, you'll find all kinds.
There are over 4,000 high schools in the country, and nearly 80,000 players participate in official tournaments.
Many teams even have more than 20 players.
This means there are at least hundreds of thousands of high school baseball players.
With so many people, how could there not be troublemakers?
Even teams that have made it to the Koshien have been disqualified due to things like drinking and fighting.
For Sawamura and Miyuki, this story is quite ordinary.
But the opponent, Minori Shigeru, isn't so ordinary.
Even though their club was banned, they managed to train together.
They couldn't play official games and didn't have players of equal strength for practice matches...
Thinking about the kind of hardship Minori Shigeru has gone through this past year...
It's enough to send chills down your spine.
And in such conditions, they managed to stand strong again.
That's truly remarkable!
To be blunt, this kind of team can pose a huge threat to Seidou High School's baseball team.
A Sly Dark Horse appeared!!
Because Minori Shigeru is unknown, their strength has never been revealed.
How much potential do they really have?
How much did they actually show in their game with Sanae?
Was it 100%, 120%, or only 80%?
"No matter how strong they were in yesterday's game, we won't change our strategy," Miyuki said confidently. "We'll stick to our style and show them our strength. As long as everyone executes their roles well and brings out our momentum, it doesn't matter who the opponent is. We'll win in the end."
The words were inspiring.
The Seidou High team members were in agreement.
They are the kings, and no matter who the opponent is, they will never lose!
After analyzing Minori Shigeru's players, the coaching staff quickly finalized the starting lineup for tomorrow's game.
Their first opponent was unpredictable, and since this was Seidou High's first match, they wanted a strong start for the team's morale.
So, tomorrow's starting lineup would feature their core players, giving it their all.
Then, depending on how the game goes, adjustments and replacements would be made could be made.
As the Ace of the team, Sawamura Eijun naturally had to be the first to pitch in the team.
~~~
"The first game of the Seidou High School baseball team is about to start!"
"Then we definitely can't miss it!"
"Let's go watch!"
"Let's all go together!!!"
Before the Seidou High School baseball team's first match even began, it had already caused a huge sensation in the West Tokyo area.
Everyone was especially excited and wanted to see this team that had once tied with the legendary Dream Team in America.
In the West Tokyo area, teams that had the strength to compete with Seidou's baseball team were also sending representatives to watch the game.
Even teams from outside Tokyo had sent scouts.
Media reporters, online journalists, and even social media influencers…
The numbers were staggering.
Although it was only the first game, as the most hopeful team to defend their national title at the moment, Seidou High School's baseball team naturally attracted public attention.
The public was eager to know how much Seidou High School's baseball team would lead their opponents.
What kind of opponents would they face in this year's tournament? What kind of fierce battles would they endure? Could they successfully defend their title?
All of these were still unknown.
But that didn't stop the gossip and excitement that was burning in the hearts of the viewers.
They couldn't wait to see how Seidou High School's baseball team would respond to the situation.
Would they crush their opponents, or would an unexpected dark horse defeat them?
No matter what the final outcome was, they were all excited and eager to see the drama unfold.
Their blood was already pumping with excitement.
"By the way, who is their first opponent? How strong are they?"
A fan who was just following the crowd curiously asked.
The one sitting next to him made a dissatisfied glance.
He hated fake fans!
Why did this person have to follow everything without understanding a thing? He didn't even know who Seidou High School's first opponent was, and yet he claimed to be a fan of the team.
It was ridiculous.
But since they were friends, he didn't want to embarrass him.
"A public agriculture school Minori Shigeru!"
"An agriculture school?"
Upon hearing this answer, the fan frowned in disbelief.
It was hard to believe that such a team could win the first two rounds and make it to the third round, where they would face Seidou High School's baseball team.
Unbelievable.
"But their luck ends here."
Meeting Seidou High School's baseball team, the Minori Shigeru players didn't know whether to consider themselves lucky or unlucky.
If they were lucky, it was because they could play against the national champion, Seidou High School.
But if they were unlucky, it was because their journey would probably end here.
Facing the champion team, even an elite private school would be no match.
Let alone a grassroots public school like Minori Shigeru.
They would definitely be eliminated, the only question being how much they would lose.
"It's probably not that easy!"
True fans scoffed at the idea of the fake fan.
'They are making high school baseball sound too simple.'
Many fans who loved Sawamura and Seidou High School's baseball team had some concerns about the tournament that summer.
The media outside kept hyping up the idea of Seidou High School defending their championship title.
A three-peat at Koshien!
This was something no one had ever accomplished before.
If Seidou High School really achieved this, it would be a historic feat!
But is history so easy to make?
If it were so easy, why hadn't anyone else done it before?
Let's face reality—despite Seidou High School's current strength and their potential to defend the title,
It was still too early to make such bold claims.
If they said it too soon, it would be like taking too big of a step and stumbling.
Now, about the players they were facing today: Minori Shigeru!
A grassroots public school!
Compared to Seidou High School, they were on entirely different levels.
Even the formidable Sanae had been defeated by them.
Now, they were challenging Seidou!
Could this team be underestimated?
The biggest issue Seidou High School was facing was not how to defeat the opponent,
Because with their strength, beating the opponent was the expected outcome.
The real challenge was how to win the game in a dominant and impressive manner, showcasing the team's power and momentum.
Obayashi and Kobayashi had made plans early on.
The Brotherhood of the Red Heart had not made many breakthroughs in terms of membership.
The cheerleaders' numbers couldn't compare to the Demon King's Guard.
Fortunately, those who remained were all die-hard fans, so gathering a few hundred people wasn't difficult.
Apart from Obayashi and Kobayashi, the rest of the cheerleaders came in shifts.
They just needed to maintain the Brotherhood's reputation and didn't require everyone to act together.
For a large part of the Red Heart Brotherhood's members who were already working, this was a rare occasion.
In Japan, the work culture can be very cruel.
Taking a day off was strictly forbidden unless absolutely necessary.
Even if the boss permitted it, the employees would still feel guilty, as though they were dragging the company down.
So most of the people who came to cheer were those with more flexible jobs or those on their rest days.
Despite this, they had been able to keep this up for two years without anyone leaving, and their numbers were still growing, albeit slightly.
It was no easy feat.
Of course, this was also because Sawamura's fame had been rising in recent years.
Otherwise, if Sawamura had faded from the scene, his fans would have naturally lost interest.
Along with the Red Heart Brotherhood, the Demon King's Guard was also participating.
Unlike the Red Heart Brotherhood, the Demon King's Guard had developed at an alarming pace.
In just three years, this group, led by a high schooler, had grown like a cult of 100,000 followers.
Japan was a country with a strong presence of anime culture,
So when people saw the Demon King's Guard grow so quickly, many couldn't help but imagine how such a large fan group had come to be.
But it was all quite simple.
A philosopher once asked: Why can the sea accommodate all rivers?
His disciple immediately answered, "Because it's the sea!"
The philosopher smiled and shook his head.
"No, the sea can accommodate all rivers because it is low."
It was because of the sea's low position that all the rivers flowed into it.
The Demon King's Guard was able to develop so rapidly for the same reason.
Because it had a low entry barrier.
In contrast, joining the Red Heart Brotherhood had some conditions, though they weren't too strict. But these conditions filtered out many half-hearted fans.
However, joining the Demon King's Guard required no such thing.
All you had to do was visit Sawamura's homepage and click a button.
No requirements nor technical skills are needed for such a thing at all!
Because of this, the Demon King's Guard had grown so quickly.
Although a large portion of its members couldn't strictly be considered true fans,
With their large number, even if only 1/10 were true fans,
The impact they caused would be unimaginable.
As the leader of this organization,
Miyamoto was still quite responsible.
This time, with the tournament being in Tokyo, he started by shouting a rather intimidating slogan to the Guard:
"Gather 10,000 people!"
So, his subordinates began mobilizing and gathering people.
In the end, only a little over 7,000 people could make it that day.
Miyamoto felt quite disappointed.
How could such a large organization be so lackluster?
…
T/N: As always, Thank you all for reading!!
Have a good day people!
You also can check my Patre0n for extra Chapters.
https://www.patre0n.com/ColdColt
There are +170 Chapters there.