The cherry blossom season is in full bloom.

On both sides of the road, cherry blossom trees stand side by side, and the petals of the cherry blossoms fall silently to the ground with the wind, like a carpet covering the asphalt road. Spring here is pretty much the same as you could have imagined.

"Sure enough, the seasons are different......" Shiichi, who had just entered junior high school, couldn't help but sigh, "Those classmates in elementary school have probably been in junior high school for half a year, am I already behind them?" ”

He couldn't help but think of Dong Guo, and he didn't know how Dong Guo was doing now.

Shiki-1 is a public school located in Hamakibunaka in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, and is about a 10-minute bike ride from home. And because it's in Nishinomiya City, it's not far from that Koshien Stadium.

Japanese schools are really different from those in China, and not long after he entered the school, he was sent an application form.

Since the sixth grade, Shikiichi has been frantically tutoring Japanese, and finally passed the language barrier when he came to Japan. I can still understand this application form, and I know how to fill it out.

INTERVIEWER Only, which ministry do I apply to join? This doesn't seem to be mandatory, so it's better to be an honest member of the "Home Department". If you're still studying in China, you're probably going back to the home department like any other student. But is that really good?

My father once warned himself that when I came to school here, I must join a club, because most people will do it, and if I become a minority, I will be isolated.

- Then join the cultural department, how about passing the time casually?

"Have you decided which ministry to join?"

"Sure enough, it's still the football club!"

"You're really a sports fool, I just want to read quietly, so I'll join the art department!"

- Here it is again, one sentence after another Kansai accent...... If it weren't for my father's work in Hyogo, I would have preferred to go to school in a city like Tokyo. Since they are all Japanese, why don't they just speak the standard language according to what is taught in the textbook?

< such as ...... If you can...... I think...... I want to ...... with you Play real baseball with you...... ＞

He suddenly remembered what Dongguo said to himself that day, and his answer at that time was: "Then we have made up our minds, and we will see you on the court one day in the future." ”

Was it something that came from the bottom of my heart, or was it just an insincere way to comfort him? Do you really fantasize about that day?

Relieved, he found that he had written the baseball club on the application form.

- Well, that's it...... If you can't hold on one day, it's good to retreat......

In this way, even I felt incredible, Shikiichi's baseball life really began.

***

There are fifteen or sixteen members in the soft baseball club of the Hamaki Boat Middle School, although it is not the kind that can't even get together the number of players, but it is definitely not a strong man in the county, after all, it is a public school.

In recent years, due to the declining birthrate, the number of members in the junior high school soft baseball club has decreased a lot, and some people who really like baseball have been shunted to play hard baseball.

Due to the half-year blank period, Formula 1 is actually the same age as the second grade. However, he felt that the first year was like a first-year, and he spent most of the first semester doing chores, swinging sticks, passing and catching balls, and occasionally had a practice game, but he didn't have a chance to play at all. The pyramidal hierarchy lives up to its name.

The smell of dirt on a small field, the pungent smell of sweat in the airtight locker room, and the body temperature you feel when you touch each other while running, these are the daily routines of a baseball club.

- Is it really interesting to continue like this? Is this the baseball life you've always dreamed of? If you are in the second grade and you don't even have a chance to compete, is it necessary for you to stay here?

Shiichi gradually began to doubt himself.

"Nanjun is early, I'm here so early, seeing that you train so hard every day, you should like baseball very much, right?" The person who greeted him was Captain Maekawa.

"Okay...... I have a friend who likes baseball more than I do, and I was just curious, so I played and watched it......"

"Just for fun, will you train so hard?" The captain smiled, "I know that you first-year students will be a little anxious because you haven't had a chance to play, but don't worry, as long as you come step by step, you will definitely have a chance!" Especially you, your physical fitness is so good, and you are working hard, it must be no problem! ”

- Is it not because of the genetics of the parents, plus a year older than the same grade?

Listening to the captain's words, Shiichi couldn't help but smile and shook his head. However, Captain Maekawa is really a good senior, which can be seen by anyone as a bystander, and his words did make Shiiichi find a reason to continue to persist for the time being.

However, the other seniors are not necessarily as good as Captain Maekawa. Yes, especially the second-year Li Yuan Yan Chao, I heard that his father was an ultra-right parliamentarian, and it was just a matter of commanding, but he had been in the ministry for a while, and he should have also found out that he was a mixed race, I don't know if he would make some fuss about it in the future?

Fortunately, Senior Maekawa was there when he was in the first grade, and Li Yuancai was not so blatantly difficult for himself, but what about Senior Maekawa after graduation? I heard that the coach wants to give face to the congressman's father and let Li Yuan be the new captain, what will happen when he is in the second grade?

***

Summer vacation is here. It was an August evening, and my father gave Shikiichi a ticket to the Koshien finals after work.

"Strange, Dad, why did you give me this all of a sudden?"

"Look, aren't you already playing baseball? When you reach high school, if you still play baseball, you'll be aiming for it, so it's always good for you to go there early and feel the atmosphere. Father said.

"yes, you're in a hurry, I'm still in my first year of junior high school, and I can't tell if I'll play baseball in high school," Shiichi sighed, "Aren't you going along?" ”

"I still have to go to work," said my father, "our house is not far from the stadium, and we are all in junior high school, do you still need me to send you?" ”

Shi Yi always felt that this father seemed to be prevaricating something, and he couldn't guess it at all, but when he went to the scene that day, he probably knew what medicine was sold in the gourd.

On the day of the finals, Shikiichi came to the stands on the first base side. Sure enough, there are a lot of people, and there is still some time before the game, and there are already people around, and they are not afraid of the heat in the summer, so Koshien is very popular.

The two sides of the match are Akashi Chaofeng Gakuen in Hyogo Prefecture and Yokohama Institute of Technology High School in Kanagawa Prefecture, both teams are regular visitors to Koshien and have faced off many times in Koshien, and the media also likes to play up what kind of fateful matchup this game is. But for him, it doesn't matter who wins or loses these two teams, so what's the point of him coming to watch the game? Watching live TV at home, can't you see it more clearly?

(To be continued)