Chapter 5: CH 5

Chapter 5: Kota Saito

In a private room… it’s so boring…

It couldn’t be helped; I was in pain.

“There are times when the pain is unbearable, so until you recover, you’ll be in a private room,” Toru-san said.

For me, it didn’t really matter whether I had a private room or shared room.

Today, the team affiliated with Toko University had won the championship and decided to participate in the Koshien Tournament.

I was in a daze, looking at the ceiling, when I heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“…”

Someone was there, but the door didn’t open.

What…? Didn’t they hear me?

“Please come in, the room is empty.”

I shouted in a louder voice.

“…Excuse me.”

After replying in a small, weak voice, a large man walked in.

Huh…? Who is this guy?

Even after looking closely, it was someone I didn’t recognize. He was wearing a uniform, but it wasn’t the Saijo High School uniform.

He came in, but he was silent. All I could think of was, “Are you sure you aren’t in the wrong room?”

The silence continued and I called out to him.

“Are you sure you’re in the right room?”

“…”

Silent again? Who is this person?

When I looked him in the eyes, he finally opened his mouth to speak.

“…Are you okay?”.

Huh? Did they hear about me from someone?

“I’m fine. I don’t look okay because I’m dressed like this. It seems to be a ruptured Achilles tendon and a fractured internal capsule. I’m sure I’ll be fine once it heals.”

After hearing that, the unknown man’s face contorted.

“I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking about hitting you or anything… I was just running to first base…”

I see… This uniform was the uniform of Toko University. This guy is the player with uniform number 4.

“Is it possible that you are the player with uniform 4 from Toko University?”

The man looked up.

“Yes… my name is Kota Saito from Toko University. I’m really sorry about that.”

I knew it… I heard that this guy was also replaced right after the incident, but he still cared about me. I’m pretty sure he was just at the game… He came to me right after they won.

“We were both desperate. It was the middle of a match, so it couldn’t be helped. Were you okay, Saito-san?”

“I only had bruises. I wanted to come to you right away, but I had to go to the hospital as well, and with today’s final, I couldn’t get out… I apologize for the delay.”

“Saito-san was the captain, right? Please don’t worry about it. Thank you for coming today. Also, congratulations on making it to Koshien. Please go and play hard for us!”

After thanking me, he left the room.

After that, everyone on the team came to see me several times, and Saito-san also visited me again.

After that visit, Saito-san traveled straight to Koshien.