"Tell me more!"
Kanzaki Ryou's obvious enthusiasm made Takashima Rei look at him a little strangely.
"That child will be visiting Seido tomorrow," Takashima Rei said, pushing up her glasses with her index finger. The familiar glint in her eyes made her intentions clear. "When that time comes, I want you to show him what a real pitcher looks like—and what true high school baseball is."
"Alright," Kanzaki Ryou replied with a grin. "I just hope I don't scare away the kid you worked so hard to find."
"Don't be too serious," Takashima Rei said helplessly. "Just go through the motions."
If Kanzaki Ryou really went all out, she was genuinely worried that Sawamura Eijun would suffer a psychological blow.
Kanzaki Ryou only smiled and said nothing more.
That guy won't be scared, he thought.
If anything, it'll just light a fire under him.
The next day, Kanzaki Ryou woke up early. He first ran ten kilometers around the field before starting his usual morning training routine.
"Kazuya, let's try a new pitch," Kanzaki Ryou suddenly said while throwing in the bullpen with Miyuki.
"Huh?"
Miyuki hadn't fully processed the words yet, but Coach Kataoka, who was standing near the entrance, heard them clearly and turned his gaze toward Kanzaki Ryou.
Seeing the Coach looking at him, Kanzaki Ryou scratched his head with a smile.
"Besides the four-seam and two-seam fastballs, the only pitches I can reliably use in games right now are the Circle Changeup and the Slider. I think if I can master a pitch with vertical movement, it'll be very effective."
Coach Kataoka frowned slightly, clearly thinking.
Originally, he had planned to let Kanzaki Ryou experiment with new pitches after the Meiji Jingu Tournament. At this stage, refining his existing arsenal was far more important. Kanzaki Ryou was still only a first-year—there was no need to rush.
Still, the Director's thinking aligned with Kanzaki Ryou's.
For a pitch with strong vertical movement, the most suitable options were either a fast forkball from the fastball family or a high-speed curveball derived from off-speed pitches.
Between the two, the fast forkball was clearly the better choice.
If Kanzaki Ryou could eventually wield three fastball-based pitches—a four-seam, a two-seam with horizontal movement, and a fast forkball with sharp vertical drop—batters would find it extremely difficult to distinguish them when the velocities were close. It would also fully amplify the threat of his changeup.
"Your priority right now," Coach Kataoka said slowly, "is stabilizing your control as your velocity increases."
At Koshien, Kanzaki Ryou's maximum pitch speed had surged to 157 kilometers per hour, with his average hovering around 154. However, that increase had inevitably led to some loss of control.
"Boss, I understand!" Kanzaki Ryou replied loudly.
Then, rubbing his hands together, he grinned.
"So… forkball?"
"…Alright," Coach Kataoka said after a moment. "But don't rush. Take it step by step. You know that principle."
"Yes!"
After Coach Kataoka left, Kanzaki Ryou immediately turned toward Miyuki with a shameless grin.
"Come on, come on—let's try it."
Miyuki sighed helplessly.
This guy really did whatever came to mind.
"Wait. I'll put on my gear first," Miyuki said seriously. "I still value my life."
Nearby, Tanba Koichiro and Kawakami Norifumi, who were also practicing, stopped to watch. They were just as curious about Kanzaki Ryou's forkball.
Adjusting his grip, Kanzaki Ryou fired the ball.
Miyuki extended his glove, tracking the trajectory.
Hmm? Not bad—
Then, just before reaching home plate, the baseball suddenly dropped sharply, slipping beneath Miyuki's glove and smacking into the dirt.
"…A grounder?" Tanba stared in disbelief.
Even though he didn't particularly get along with Kanzaki Ryou or Miyuki, he couldn't deny their strength. Yet Kanzaki Ryou had just spiked a pitch into the ground.
What a dark history.
What a dark history indeed.
If only he had his phone—this moment would have been worth recording.
"Hey," Miyuki stood up and glanced back at the ball. "Your forkball isn't going to end up like your slider, is it? Full of problems?"
"Heh heh…" Kanzaki Ryou laughed awkwardly. "The drop's a bit too big, huh."
He didn't understand why either. His grip and mechanics were correct, yet the drop was far more dramatic than a typical fast forkball.
"Ah," Miyuki said as he tossed the ball back. "Then throw it higher. Let the batter think it's a strike before it vanishes. That'll make them swing."
"The disappearing magic pitch—got it!" Kanzaki Ryou nodded enthusiastically.
After Miyuki crouched down, Kanzaki Ryou threw again. This time, the pitch entered from the upper half of the strike zone.
Whoosh!
Slap!
"Nice ball!"
Miyuki raised an eyebrow.
"One more."
Whoosh!
"That's a ball!"
Whoosh!
"Too high!"
"Too low!"
"Don't throw it so hard!"
"It hit the ground again!"
Miyuki criticized every pitch mercilessly. After a while, Kanzaki Ryou was the first to give up.
"I'm done, I'm done. I really need to find my feel first," Kanzaki Ryou groaned. The exaggerated drop made control incredibly difficult.
"Then focus on your basics and stabilize your velocity first," Miyuki said calmly.
At noon, after lunch, Kanzaki Ryou, Miyuki, and Kuramochi were wandering around campus when they saw Takashima Rei driving out of the school grounds.
"Rei-chan, where are you going?" Miyuki asked.
"You'll find out soon," Kanzaki Ryou said with a mysterious smile. "It's pretty interesting."
"Huh?" Kuramochi leaned closer. "You know something, Kanzaki?"
This guy had been going in and out of the Coach's office constantly lately—there was no way he didn't know something.
Kanzaki Ryou wiggled his eyebrows.
"Relax. Just wait."
In the afternoon, not long after self-training started, Kanzaki Ryou smashed Kawakami's pitch during batting practice. As he adjusted his stance again, he noticed Takashima Rei walking toward the field—this time with a young boy beside her.
"Senior Azuma!" Kanzaki Ryou shouted toward the sidelines. "You're up. I don't feel like hitting anymore."
Azuma Kiyokuni, who often came by to help train the juniors despite having already retired, laughed loudly and strode over with a bat slung over his shoulder.
"Haha! Leave it to me!"
In truth, he just wanted another chance to show off.
"Kawakami," Azuma Kiyokuni grinned dangerously, "prepare to die."
Kawakami shuddered.
Off to the side, Kanzaki Ryou chuckled quietly.
Kawakami was much stronger now than he had been in the original storyline.
Kanzaki Ryou couldn't help but wonder—
Would that scene where Azuma Kiyokuni ruthlessly taught Kawakami a lesson and told him to go back to his hometown… still happen this time?