"We're going to arrive early at the stadium. Our game is the second of the day, the other Tokyo tournament sixth-round game from the other bracket will be before ours. You can watch the game if you want, but starting in the seventh inning, I want everyone in the parking lot to begin warming up. Understood?" - Coach Yamada spoke loudly so all his players could hear. They were standing beside the school baseball field, gathered in front of a bus, just waiting for the signal to board and head to the stadium.
"Yes, Coach!" - The players of Shoto Junior High responded together before noticing the coach's signal and starting to board the bus one by one.
"If I'm not mistaken, Seishin qualified for the other sixth-round game, right?" - The young samurai, Ren, turned to his friends and asked while the younger players got on the bus.
"Yeah. Are you planning to watch their game, Shun? I know we're focused on Kasuga, but they could be a possible opponent in the Kanto tournament..." - Kenta looked at his friend and asked, knowing that although Shun was laser-focused on their upcoming match against Kasuga, he never missed the chance to observe potential opponents.
"Hm." - Kenta's question caught Shun's attention, and he nodded as he searched for something in his bag. After a few moments, Shun pulled out an old video camera his dad used to record games.
"Shimizu, could you use this to film the whole game? We'll have to leave by the sixth inning, but from what we've seen of Seishin, they might be a tough opponent, so having the video for study would be a big help if we end up facing them." - Shun held out the camera and asked Mio Shimizu, who was standing next to Kenta.
"Of course! I can do that!" - Shimizu took the camera and responded excitedly. She'd always wanted to help the team more, but since she didn't know much about baseball, her contributions were limited. But when given a task that could help the team in their biggest tournament of the year, she didn't hesitate to accept.
"Thanks." - Shun said after handing over the camera, then returned to his focused state.
"He's really in the zone..." - Ren was speechless, it was the first time he'd seen his friend like this. All he could do was hope that this intense focus would lead to great results on the field.
"Ohh, looks like the other game's still going! Seishin... those guys are strong in high school." - Akira said as he climbed the steps and glanced at the scoreboard.
"Oh, that's right. I think I got a scholarship offer from them recently!" - Toji said as if receiving an offer from one of Tokyo's top high schools was no big deal.
Not paying much attention to the boys' conversation, the beautiful blonde girl with green eyes, Hana Hoshino, also climbed the stands, scanning for good seats for everyone. But when she spotted a familiar silhouette sitting with three others, she called out, a bit surprised.
"Hey, Shun!" - Hana called out loudly as she walked toward where Shun was seated, catching the attention of her Tokyo Nakano friends, as well as Kenta, Ren, and Shimizu. The only one who seemed not to have heard was Shun himself, who was distractedly watching the game.
Mika and Kaori were also surprised by Hana's call, but after seeing Shun in the direction Hana was heading, they followed along, with the boys trailing behind.
Meanwhile, Ren, whose attention had been caught by the sight of three beautiful girls walking his way, looked at Shun, who remained engrossed in the field. Seizing the opportunity, Ren couldn't resist.
"Haha, sorry, lovely ladies, but our pitcher is deeply focused right now. Don't worry, though! You can tell me anything, and I'll pass it along to him!" - The young samurai sprang up, standing confidently before the three girls and pointing to himself with a proud grin, chest puffed out.
"Huh?" - Confusion filled the eyes of the three girls as they looked at Ren, unsure how to react to the scene of the young man with a samurai topknot smiling and striking a strange pose.
"This guy..." - Kenta sighed at his shameless samurai friend's antics. He stood up, ready to try to fix the situation, but before he could act, someone else stepped in.
"Ehhh, who do you think you are to talk to my Mika like that, huh?" - Toji appeared in front of the girls with a threatening look, glaring at Ren. As a man, he felt his primal instincts kicking in as he moved to "mark" his territory in front of the "threat" that was the young samurai before him.