Chapter 3 chapter 2

The box of seven stars was empty, and Takumi stood up from the bench.I will be looking for work again from tomorrow.This is the most annoying. He was walking with his head down when a ball rolled to his feet, a soft baseball.He picked it up and looked up, seeing a boy who looked like a primary school student running over. "Excuse me." The boy took the ball and went back to where he had been, where there was a sign saying "Ghost Game". Takumi put his hands in his pockets and walked over.The boy was throwing the ball at the belly of the red ghost with the iron club and missed.He seemed to want to throw it, but was dragged away by a woman who looked like his mother.

Tuoshi went to the ball seller.One hundred yuan and five balls, it's cheaper to buy a joint ticket, but he doesn't want to come often. He felt the touch of the ball and stood in the throwing position.He hadn't held the ball for a long time, and he unconsciously adopted the curveball grip, which is his best throwing method. He recalled the situation when he was standing on the pitching position before, aiming at the red ghost's belly and throwing the ball lightly.He thought it would be a straight hit, but the thrown ball drew an unexpected arc and hit the Red Ghost on the shoulder.

"I'm not in good shape." He turned his right shoulder to himself, and threw the second ball with a little effort.Missed again, rubbing the red ghost's thigh and going wide. Tuoshi took off his shirt, and he got more involved. He imagined a catcher standing across from him, aimed at the imaginary mitt and threw the third and fourth balls, but he still missed one, and the fifth ball he threw with all his strength went far. . Tuoshi ran to the ball seller and took another five balls.Only then did he notice that an audience was watching him.It was the audience, but in fact there was only one person, who looked less than twenty years old, not tall, thin, and very capable, with a dark face and hairstyle reminiscent of a surfer, and a hooded short over the T-shirt. trench coat.

Tuoshi wanted to say, "What are you looking at?" But seeing the young man's friendly smile, he swallowed it back.The man's eyes were reminiscent of the eyes of a dog that has found its owner, and Takumi was very concerned. He started pitching and missed his first two pitches.The young man in the trench coat chuckled. "What are you laughing at? What's so funny?" Tuoshi asked angrily. "Sorry. It's not funny, I just think it's really the same." "what?" "It's always been like this, the way it's pitched. The elbows are low, and I'm just shooting with my wrist."

"I'm sorry. It's none of your business." What an annoyance!What is exasperating is that he saw the shortcomings of Tuoshi's pitching at a glance. In the past, the coaches often said "Tuoshi, his elbows are hanging down again" and so on. The third ball was missed again, and the fourth ball was missed.Tuoshi felt that the more he invested, the more he couldn't control it. "Some pitchers are weird," the young man in the windbreaker accosted. "They lost control when hitting the home plate, but they were very accurate when they hit the ball. It's probably because of their concentration and relaxed shoulders."

"what you want to say?" "It's nothing, I said there are pitchers like that." This person just said some inexplicable things, but it made Tuoshi really angry.Out of control at home plate, accurate at pinch, yes, that's what people often say about him. Tuoshi grabbed the last ball, and when he was about to make a move, he happened to meet the young man's eyes.The young man didn't smile, but was looking at him seriously. Takumi took a breath, glanced at the target, turned around, and stood with his back to the red ghost. In the second half of the ninth inning, with two outs, leading by one run, and a runner on first base——Tuoshi pictured in his mind the scene of a baseball game, the smell of the dirt on the field, and the shouts of the cheerleaders.

He turned sharply, aimed at the center of the Red Devils instead of first base, and threw the ball, unbiased, right on target. The red ghost waved the iron rod and roared "Aw".Hit! The youth clapped their hands. "I won, and the reputation is well-deserved!" Finally got one, Tuoshi heaved a sigh of relief, but was too embarrassed to show it on his face.Others might think it was hit by chance.He went to the ball seller, took out another hundred-dollar coin, caught five balls, and returned to the pitching position. This time, he used the technique of throwing the ball to control the ball from the very beginning, first turned his back to the red ghost, turned around quickly, and shot the ball.The control power was completely different from just now, the balls were hit one after another, and the red ghost roared again and again.

Seeing that the last ball was hit beautifully, Takumi picked up his shirt and put it on his shoulders, and went outside. "Good vote." The young man accosted. "If you really want to shoot, just do it that way. At first, the shoulders were not used to it." "After all, he is the king of holding the ball." "Huh?" Tuoshi stopped and looked at the young man, "How do you know?" "what?" "You said just now that you are the king of ball control, how do you know that people call me that?" The young man rolled his eyes and gently spread his hands. "I didn't know it earlier, I just thought of it when I saw you throwing the ball."

Takumi felt that something was wrong, but there was no reason not to believe his words.How could this young man who had never met him know what happened to him in the high school baseball club? "okay, bye." Tuoshi waved his hand and was about to leave, but the young man brought something in front of him.Taking a closer look, it was a navy blue tie, the one he just threw into the trash can. "It can still be used after washing. It's a pity to throw it away. Don't you live a poor life?" Tuoshi was angry when he heard "poor days", but another thing was even more strange. "When did your kid stare at me? What do you want to do?"

"I can't say I'm following you, but I should say I'm looking for you. To be honest, it took a lot of effort to find you. Because the only clue is Hanayashiki, more hints would be great. There is no way, I just have to wait at the entrance." What he said was utterly bewildering.Tuoshi thought, is this kid out of his mind? "I don't care about your affairs." Tuo Shi grabbed the tie, turned around and left. A young voice came from behind: "I know everything about you, Mr. Miyamoto Takumi."