When Nitta arrived at Ichidaisan Third High School, the baseball team was in the middle of a strategy meeting.
In response to Seido's strong showing, they were making minor adjustments to their lineup and tactics. The game between Seido and Koudai Affiliated High School had offered little of technical value, and after studying it for a while, the Ichidaisan team set it aside. Seido had displayed extraordinary offensive power in that game, but they clearly hadn't gone all out. As rivals, Ichidaisan was well aware of that.
Coach Tahara had originally been inclined to treat the final as a low-stakes affair.
If Tokyo Television weren't broadcasting it live, the game would have been essentially meaningless. Winning wouldn't help Ichidaisan in any meaningful way, and pushing too hard risked exposing their trump cards ahead of the tournaments that actually mattered.
But a live broadcast changed things.
People need face. Teams need reputation.
From the team's perspective, as a prestigious school, they could not afford to look weak. From the players' perspective, especially the third-years, this kind of exposure genuinely mattered. Whether a player was aiming for professional baseball or a university recommendation, reputation counted. If they failed to show enough in the final with the whole country watching, it could affect their futures in real ways.
It was a difficult call.
Coach Tahara had been going back and forth for a while, unable to settle on whether they needed to go all out against Seido or hold something back for the Kanto Tournament and Summer Tournament, where facing Seido again was a strong possibility. Was it worth showing their hand now, just for the Spring Tournament final?
He hadn't decided.
What he was clear on was that whatever they chose, they could not look weak on television. That much was non-negotiable. So even if they held things back strategically, they still had to show some real strength.
While he was still turning this over, Reporter Nitta arrived with his assistant.
"Didn't you just leave?"
Coach Tahara was taken aback.
They had prepared carefully for the Tokyo Television interview, and their answers had been thorough. Why was the reporter back?
"I apologize, Coach Tahara. After I returned, my department head came down on me. I was so focused on the coaching staff interview that I forgot to interview any of the players."
"You want to interview the players?"
Coach Tahara hadn't prepared for this at all.
With only one day's break before the final, any interview would have to be brief. The real in-depth coverage would come after the championship game, when the winning team could be profiled properly. Ichidaisan had not prepared any player statements in advance.
He felt something slightly off about the situation.
"Who did you want to interview?"
"Hoshida and Miyakawa."
That was not the answer Coach Tahara had expected.
The star player on the current Ichidaisan team was Omae, a powerful hitter considered comparable to Yuuki of Seido and Harada of Inashiro.
The three of them were known as the Three Peaks of Tokyo. Two rising stars had recently begun to generate more buzz than any of them, but nobody could deny that Omae, Yuuki, and Harada remained the top batters in Tokyo.
If you were going to interview the most prominent player at Ichidaisan, it should have been Omae. Second choice would have been their ace, Manaka.
Hoshida and Miyakawa were two second-year players who had improved rapidly over the past year and become genuine contributors to the team. But they were still some distance from Omae and Manaka in every measurable respect.
Why them?
"I wonder if the players are available?"
What reason could Coach Tahara give to keep two of his players off television? Doing that would be actively harming their futures. He couldn't bring himself to do it to his own boys.
"Go call them over."
He still didn't understand why the reporter was insisting on those two specifically, but he cooperated.
Hoshida was broad and muscular, the typical build of a power hitter. Miyakawa was considerably leaner by comparison, though taken on his own he was still tall and solidly built. Standing in front of Nitta, the two of them naturally radiated a quiet sense of presence.
Both looked genuinely puzzled about why a reporter had sought them out.
Nitta, for his part, was quietly impressed.
As expected of Zhang Han's former teammates, players who had won the national runner-up title together. Just standing there, they carried a different kind of aura. Hard not to notice.
"When we interviewed Seido earlier, we heard Zhang Han specifically mention your names."
Zhang Han mentioned their names?
Hoshida and Miyakawa didn't quite follow what the reporter was getting at, but they were very curious how their former teammate, now at the height of his fame, had talked about them.
Watching the curiosity light up in their eyes, Nitta found himself quietly impressed by his department head all over again.
When he had first joined the television station, looking at the man's comfortable and well-fed appearance, he had assumed he was nothing more than a well-connected relative put in charge of something harmless. He had been completely wrong. Not only did the man look after his staff, but most of the tricky situations Nitta ran into were solved by him without much visible effort.
"Zhang Han didn't comment on your strength or how much you've developed. He simply said he was really looking forward to playing against you. I wonder if you two feel the same way about playing against him?"
Old men are cunning. Old horses know the road.
Coach Tahara caught the scent of something calculated in Nitta's words immediately.
His two players, unfortunately, did not have his experience.
Both their faces lit up with open surprise and excitement. Zhang Han looking forward to facing them as opponents clearly meant a great deal.
Before high school, Zhang Han had occupied a particular place in the Matsukata Little League group. His external reputation might not have been as large as Hoshida's, but his role and standing within the team had been no smaller.
Since entering Seido, his strength and fame had risen at a speed that left most people behind. He was now Matsukata's most successful alumnus, the one who had gone furthest.
And now, that person had said he was looking forward to facing them.
How could they not feel something?
"We're very much looking forward to it too."
Miyakawa said it with a genuine smile. Hoshida nodded alongside him.
They had come in intending to follow their coach's lead and play it safe in the final. That plan had just quietly shifted.
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