Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter Has Arrived

Chapter 418: Class Division

The night before school officially started, Coach Kataoka called Zhang Han to his office to discuss his finger.

Zhang Han had been eager to get back for a long time. The layoff had really worn on him. He couldn't wait to return to the pitcher's mound.

But Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff disagreed.

Kataoka put it plainly: "I spoke with the doctor. His advice is that even if you feel fully recovered, you still need two more weeks of consolidation. Going straight back to your previous pitching load could easily cause the injury to recur, and a recurrence won't heal as easily as the first time."

Zhang Han took it badly. He felt like he had suddenly become made of glass. By his own measure, he felt perfectly fine.

But Coach Kataoka and the coaching staff held firm. They would not let him resume pitching practice that quickly.

Facing the people who were so clearly looking out for him, Zhang Han had no choice but to accept it.

School officially started the next day.

The student representative this time was Yuuki Tetsuya.

The Seido High School Baseball Club truly lived up to its reputation as the face of the school. Other clubs simply didn't get opportunities like this.

Yuuki had practiced his speech and performed well enough, not losing his place. He addressed the new students calmly.

The atmosphere, however, was a little flat.

Yuuki Tetsuya's speaking ability was clearly a step below their former captain, Tanaka Kakuei.

Fortunately, the Seido teammates were supportive, applauding steadily and managing to keep things from going cold.

After the welcoming ceremony came the first real business of the new school year: class assignments.

Changing classes after each academic year was a Tokyo tradition. Zhang Han scanned the dense list of names until he found his own.

He had been placed in Class C, second year.

Many of his baseball teammates were in the same class. The most notable among them were Kuramochi and Miyuki.

Three of the core second-year players in the same class. If that was a coincidence, Zhang Han wouldn't believe it for a moment.

It had almost certainly been arranged by the school to keep them in close contact. To improve the baseball team's performance, everyone at Seido, from the principal down, was putting in effort.

"With the school behind us like this, it would be inexcusable if we still couldn't get results," Zhang Han said with a smile to his two teammates.

Kuramochi and Miyuki agreed completely.

Given everything the school was doing for the Seido High School Baseball Team, failing to reach Koshien and compete at the top would be genuinely unreasonable.

The three of them were talking among themselves, unaware that not far away, another second-year player was also very excited.

His name was Maezono Kenta.

He had been placed in the same class as the three core second-year players, and he was taking it as a sign.

"Does this mean I'm about to get promoted to the First-string too?"

When Maezono shared this idea with Asou, Asou looked at him in disbelief.

"What do you think the First-string is?"

If getting into the Seido High School Baseball Team's First-string were that easy, the team's future would be genuinely worrying.

"Making the First-string by autumn would already be something to be proud of."

That was Asou's honest assessment.

Maezono knew his own limits. He told himself that making the First-string before the Autumn Tournament would be more than enough.

"It's still a good sign, isn't it?" he said, unfazed.

Zhang Han was well-liked in his class. Had he not had other priorities, he would have been a strong candidate for class officer. At least a third of the girls in the class had put love letters in his drawer.

Zhang Han, out of curiosity, had actually opened and read them. Letters from roughly a third of the girls in his class, and about a fifth of the girls across the entire year. Not every one of them proposed dating outright, but it was clear that most of them would be open to it if Zhang Han showed interest.

At first he had been quite pleased. After a while, the novelty wore off.

He had thought about what his future partner might be like.

But for now he was still in school, his future uncertain. He wasn't even sure whether he would continue playing baseball in the long run. A girlfriend was even further off.

"Still need to focus first."

He didn't want to refuse anyone outright, but throwing the letters away didn't feel right either. They were a genuine gesture.

Unsure what to do, Zhang Han quietly went to Miyuki and Kuramochi for advice.

Miyuki had also received some letters. Not as many as Zhang Han, but the quality was notable. Several of them were from particularly striking girls.

Miyuki had chosen to keep every one.

His reasoning? When he was old, they would serve as proof and memories of his youth.

Zhang Han had never seen this side of Miyuki before.

It seemed everyone had another side to them. Even someone who acted like a sarcastic jerk in front of his teammates could turn out to be thoughtful and emotionally aware in private. Perhaps Miyuki would actually make a good partner for someone one day.

While Zhang Han and Miyuki were talking, Kuramochi opened his desk drawer.

It was empty.

He looked at the two of them, expression darkening.

"Are you two trying to rub it in?" He turned on them, voice rising.

Zhang Han and Miyuki both waved their hands. They hadn't meant anything by it.

But Kuramochi wasn't listening.

"Scissor kick!" He launched himself at them right there in the classroom.

Zhang Han and Miyuki, seeing where this was going, immediately made themselves scarce.

There was no reasoning with someone in that state.

After school started in earnest, training fell back into a proper rhythm. The Spring Tournament groupings were also released around the same time.

Because of their loss in the Autumn Tournament the previous year, the Seido High School Baseball Team had lost their seeded status. They would not be able to wait until the third round. They would have to play in the second round, and it would come down to their draw and who they faced.

On the afternoon of the first day of school, the team held a normal practice session. The First-string had already moved on to simulated match play.

Several players, however, were not in the First-string lineup.

Zhang Han was one of them.

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