CH 38

Chapter 37: Another Invitation

The class responsibilities for the festival had been decided, and all that remained was to make preparations and wait for the day of the festival.

“Tanimura-san, if there is anything you need to buy, just let me know. I’ll ask one of the students behind the scenes to help you.” (Hiroto)

“I bought bananas the day before, so it’s okay. Chocolate bananas are easy, I tried making them with the girls earlier and it went smoothly.” (Tanimura)

Tanimura was the girl who proposed the idea of chocolate bananas. I asked her to be the team leader for the festival and she seems to be enjoying the role.

“More importantly… are you sure the students responsible for selling the bananas are okay?” (Tanimura)

“They said they would do whatever it takes, so they won’t let me down. They’ll go through with it even if they complain.” (Hiroto)

Yoichiro, Ando, and Sanada were asked to sell the bananas. The study group likely won’t be able to shout all day, so I’m leaving them in charge of shopping and setting up the booth.

Takahashi-san and I will help out, but on the day of the festival, we will be busy patrolling the school and serving as ushers for the students.

The other classes were excited about the festival, and I felt that the Saijo High Festival would be amazing. I’m looking forward to the day of the festival.

After school, Yoichiro and I headed to the club room to practice. Today, I’m going to watch the pitchers for the fall tournament and make sure they’re ready for the next game.

“Hey, Hiroto. Why am I always practicing and never getting a chance to pitch?” (Takuma)

Takuma complained after practice in the bullpen.

TLN: A bullpen is the area where relief pitchers practice their pitching!

“You never know, you might ruin the game from the first inning.” (Hiroto)

“Do you have that little faith in me?” (Takuma)

“No, I trust you. If I didn’t trust you, you wouldn’t even be practicing as a pitcher. You’re a bit of a hothead, and you like tense situations as a relief pitcher, don’t you?” (Hiroto)

TLN: A relief pitcher is basically a backup pitcher for when the main pitcher(s) get out from injury, fatigue, ejection, or strategic purposes.

“Oh! That’s true! I can’t get enough of those situations. Although Summer was… bad… I got hit by a pitch.” (Takuma)

“Do you still think the reason we lost was because of you? I’m the reason we lost, don’t blame yourself.” (Hiroto)

Takuma should be as noisy as possible, being quiet doesn’t suit him. It can’t be helped…

“Takuma… unlike Kimura-san and Hayakawa-san, you play defense in center, right? As a pitcher, I can tell you that it would be more helpful if you didn’t move from center. Your defense really helps the team out.” (Hiroto)

I hope this will make him feel better.

“Are you guys still talking about that?” (Yoichiro)

It seems that Yoichiro and the twins were nearby.

“That’s enough!” (Ando)

“That’s right! We’ll just win next time!” (Sanada)

““Hiroto should heal quickly and win with us!””

That’s right… we’ve been on the same team since middle school and there’s still two years left to go. Kazuya will have a position next year, so I’m looking forward to playing again.

“I wonder if I will play against Kazuya next year…” (Hiroto)

Kazuya Morishita… is a fellow student who went on to attend Toko High.

“I heard that he got a position on the new team.” (Yoichiro)

“Ah! Speaking of Kazuya, what are you guys doing for the school festival?” (Ando)

“You’re all going too, right?” (Sanada)

Yoichiro and I had no idea what the Yamazaki brothers were talking about. Takuma looked as if he had just remembered something.

“I forgot to tell you! Kazuya invited us to the school festival of Toko High! I have tickets for each of us!” (Takuma)

You shouldn’t have told Takuma first… why didn’t you tell me or Yoichiro…

“Takuma, I don’t need a ticket.” (Hiroto)

“You’re not going?” (Takuma)

“No, I already have a ticket for the festival.” (Hiroto)

Takuma seems to be thinking of something… it probably isn’t anything good.

“Ahhh! That’s it!” (Takuma)

“Takuma! Shut up!” 

“What is it?” (Ando)

“This guy… he was with a girl! He probably got a ticket from the girl! They were flirting in Central Park!” (Takuma)

“Hiroto… tell me about it…” (Yoichiro)

Why is Yoichiro even interested in this…?

“Takuma… don’t make a fuss. I wasn’t flirting, and I didn’t get the ticket from her. The girl is just a friend. The ticket was from Saito-san, the guy who bumped into me. Someone from the baseball team wants to meet me, that’s all.” (Hiroto)

Now Yoichiro seems to be thinking hard about something…

“Hiroto… the baseball club is affiliated with Toko High, right? If you can, ask them if it’s possible to schedule a practice together.” (Yoichiro)

Yoichiro seemed to be thinking the same thing I was. Their school is close by, and it would be nice if we could practice with each other. If you are a prestigious private school, you can easily travel to other prefectures and play with the best, but it’s difficult for us public school students to do so.

“Don’t worry, I’m planning to do that too. I’ll make a good connection with them. Their coach seems to be interested in me.” (Hiroto)

The five of us decided to go to Toko High’s school festivall. We’ll all go at the same time since the practice is only in the morning.

I’m looking forward to the school festival on Saturday.

I wish I could have given her the birthday present last Saturday… but I didn’t bring it because I brought gloves and didn’t want the gift to get crushed…

I hope I can meet Aizawa-san at the festival…