Kaede726

  Trigger Warnings: Suicidal Thoughts, Drug Addiction Seasonal Opening Ceremony "Let's get to it. In celebration of Banba's hospital discharge!" A man in a business suit, Shigematsu, announced in a boisterous voice, taking the lead to hold a toast, holding up his glass of draft beer in hand with a smile. Glasses clinked together, and everyone hollered, "Cheers!"  when Xianming Lin overheard others object:  "But didn't we already hold a celebration for him last week?" "Aren't you all going overboard with the drinking parties?" Zenji Banba had been released from hospital, albeit still with bandages. The whole team had already gone out for yakiniku together to commemorate Banba's recovery. Calling this occasion a celebration for Banba's hospital discharge was nothing more than an excuse; they all merely wanted to get together for drinks and get stupid loud. It was around the end of October, when the city of Fukuoka became tho...

Hero Interview For the first time in a long time, all the members showed up to the practice match today. Even the hospitalized captain - Banba - was there in his salmon pink uniform, having received special approval to be out. That said, he was still not well enough to fully play as the second baseman, so he was regulated to the assistant coach.  The Tonkotsu Nine gathered around Banba in front of the benches alongside third base, listening to the assistant coach's instructions. "First up, right fielder Yamato-kun. Second up, center fielder Enokida-kun." Normally Enokida would be the initial batter. Banba puffed up his chest, offering in explanation, "It's nice to change things up every now and then." It had been some time since he last did grass-lot baseball, even if he could only participate as a spectator on the sidelines. He seemed to especially be fired up. Genzo - who was substituting for Banba this match - smiled at him, "Coach Banba is pressin...

Top of the Ninth Inning Banba finished his lunch and sighed, alone in his hospital room. He was sick of hospital food at this point. The selection they had was good for his health, but he was unsatisfied with the little flavor it had and moderate portion sizes. Banba bit into an apple, hoping he could eat himself stupid over junk food soon. The apple was the one given to him by Igarashi's mother earlier that morning. He was able to fill his stomach with the generous snacks meant for his next door patient as of late. There was a daytime professional baseball match on today. He turned on the TV that was set up in his room and flipped the channel to the live footage. The regular season had concluded, and they were in the middle of the Climax Series. Banba watched the game with bated breath. It was the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Hawks on the offense. They had the game in their favor - all bases loaded and no outs - yet were unable to score any points. They got three outs - o...

Top of the Eighth Inning  "Wait a moment. Could you run down the situation with me?" Jiro cut in, holding up a palm towards them. That night, Yamato and Enokida dropped by Bar.Babylon to explain the developments and their plan. They sat in a row, starting from the right of the counter: Martinez, Enokida, Yamato and Lin. There were no other customers present, the reservation sign hung on the door. "Let me get this straight," Jiro collected his thoughts from behind the counter. "Enokida-chan looked into the disappearances, and Yamato-chan was looking for someone he knew that went missing." "Right," Yamato confirmed. "And the people behind it were the higher-ups of a company called Kawabata Calling Services." "Correct," Enokida nodded. "And the hitman the company employed was Lin-chan's target?" "It was," Lin finished. "Threw me for a loop."

 Top of the Seventh Inning How do life-threatening situations keep barging their way into my life? Saitou contemplated, now more at a loss than afraid. He thought they would finally make it out when Enokida and Yamato came to rescue them (they actually did not). Somehow in one way or another, luck was on his side. He was almost relieved, believing his stroke of luck came in clutch yet again. However, the world had other plans. The moment the enemy spotted them, his two friends ditched them. Saitou was in disbelief. They were unbelievably heartless. He was nearly brought to tears. And yet, he could not help but admire their speed, nothing less from our team's first and second batters . That aside, he was not in a position for commendation. He must have passed out, as he could not recall anything after the janitor got him with a stun gun. By the time Saitou awoke, he had already been moved elsewhere. His eyes wandered around the area, trying to grasp his location. He seemed to be in...

 Top of the Sixth Inning “I must say, it sure is a coincidence to run into you here. Do you want anything? I’m going to get orange juice,” Enokida transparently asked as he looked at the menu. Yamato had panicked when he ran into Enokida at the roadside earlier and tried to leave but was forcibly stopped by Enokida, suggesting they go out for tea. And so, this was how he got stuck sitting across from Enokida in the corner of a nearby cafe. The beverages they ordered came out after a couple of minutes. Yamato pondered to himself as he drank his coffee, finding it overly suspicious how many coincidences like this had occurred. Running into Enokida when they were waltzing around Nakasu was one thing, but he found it hard to believe he would happen across Enokida in such a remote place. He glared at the man questionably, “...Don’t tell me you were stalking me.” “Wow, gross.” Enokida smirked provocatively, “What gave you that impression? Did you feel like you were?” This man always stru...

Top of the Fifth Inning It started off well - for at least the morning induction course. It was an ordinary compliance training course that occurred at any company. They even shadowed others within the company. The call center was not out of the ordinary, as he had perceived from its reviews, and the staff and nature of the work all seemed upstanding. He felt like he managed to get a job in a proper company this time. Saitou had been relieved. But then in the afternoon things started to go downhill. The head of the department - Gotou - for some reason only called for Saitou to follow him, and they got on an elevator, bringing him to the first floor in the basement. “I will have you take charge of a very special position,” the man told him, and he could not say he was displeased. He could earn more pay, but he also felt honored to have sold himself so well. And yet, for some reason, his heart was pounding. The sixth sense Saitou developed after getting into numerous incidents throughout...

Top of the Fourth Inning “The champagne is here~!” An enthusiastic voice boomed through the club over the microphone. Just as he thought, the center table could not get any more loud, a huge paying customer came in for his senior host, who recently climbed up the rankings. She was a woman in her forties, and it was said she was a doctor. She would come to this club once a week, usually with a few bottles of something. This time she bought an S class Mercedes Benz to commemorate him getting into the top ten. It looked so fun over there that he was nearly jealous. That said, he never believed he would put that much effort in to reach that level. Yamato did not work at this club to rack in big bucks, have women buy him cars or rule the world. Besides, he knew as a host only a handful made it big, and he earned more than enough from his career pickpocketing. If he wanted money, he could achieve that through that job alone. The reason why he had a side job like this was simply to earn money...

Top of the Third Inning His roommate would usually be shouting at the TV at this hour - when the baseball match was on - but as he was currently hospitalized, the Banba Detective Agency was quietly peaceful, leaving him alone with free reign of the channels. He could watch any TV dramas or variety shows he enjoyed of his choosing. In this room that felt more spacious than usual, Lin sat watching the news. Apparently there was an inauguration of a new Cabinet, as every channel was talking about it. Lin did not know much about the political world; it seemed hectic to him. The thought dazedly passed his mind as he lazed about when he received a call from Genzo with a job offer for him. Lin left the office, deciding to have some ramen for dinner while he was there.

Top of the Second Inning Once Lin got to the hospital, he passed by the reception, bee-lining for the elevator. He got off on the fourth floor and walked down the hallway lined with inpatients’ private rooms. The room he was going to was at the end. He was already accustomed to coming here. The door to the room before his clicked opened as he passed; a young woman around university age coming out from inside. Her eyes met his, and she bowed in greeting before leaving the sickroom. The nameplate on the door read ‘Mister Souma Igarashi.’ Lin did not intend to look inside, but he saw the inside of the room from the crack as the door slipped closed.