After presenting the flag and the championship plaque, and finishing the interview, there was still one final award ceremony—individual medals.
This should've happened before the interview, but standing before Takashi , Sakurajima Mai had been so nervous that she forgot.
Thankfully, Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Otani helped cover for the flustered girl, and the audience wasn't too harsh on her for the slip-up.
Of course, it was just a minor incident.
With the medals awarded, this year's Summer Koshien officially came to an end.
As Aoba and Advanced Nurturing left the field, the entire crowd stood up to applaud.
This round of applause wasn't only for Aoba—but also for Advanced Nurturing.
No matter what, this was a spectacular final.
Passion, grit, fights, brawls, ties, comebacks, miracles—everything you could want in a grand final, this match delivered.
Advanced Nurturing showed the world what "power is everything" means. Aoba, on the other hand, proved: The tougher the situation, the harder we fight!
Hearing the crowd's cheers for the first time, Advanced Nurturing felt nothing but stinging pain.
They all kept their heads low, quickly exiting through the players' tunnel.
The Aoba players, however, didn't hurry to leave. They waved left and right to the audience, unwilling to part.
Many of them knew—this might be their only moment basking in the spotlight.
After today, many would have to return to school, or face the harsh realities of life.
"Kitahara, thank you."
As they entered the tunnel, Momodani Kaname glanced one last time at the grand and legendary Hanshin Koshien Stadium and sincerely thanked Takashi.
Still biting his medal to check if it was real gold, Takashi froze—then chuckled. "Thank me? You're the one who threw every pitch that earned us our ticket here."
"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have won so easily today."
Takashi truly respected Momodani Kaname.
If it had been him from the start, maybe he'd have been knocked out in the first round of Koshien.
He only pitched six or seven games, not even full ones—and his right arm was already in dire need of rest.
If he had started from the qualifiers' first round, he doubted he could've won even if his arm caught fire.
And if Kaname hadn't insisted on playing through his injury and stepping back as a supporting player, Koenji Rokusuke wouldn't have come off the field.
That would've forced them into extra innings.
And with Takashi's arm in that state, there's no way he would've lasted.
Everyone says this Koshien title was Takashi 's one-man show of heroism.
But only Takashi knew—today's victory belonged to everyone.
In team sports, every player matters.
Just like the national soccer team—no matter how good your Messi or Ronaldo is, that alone won't win you a World Cup.
Takashi and Aoba had brought out the best in each other.
"No matter what, without you, Takashi, I wouldn't have been able to fulfill my dream."
Momodani Kaname placed a firm hand on Takashi 's shoulder.
Takashi immediately understood and slowed his pace deliberately.
As they fell behind the rest of the team, Momodani looked toward the departing Aoba players and lowered his voice intentionally.
"After I graduate high school, I'm not going to touch baseball again."
Takashi's steps faltered slightly.
Without looking at him, Momodani continued on his own, "I had some talent for baseball, but not a lot."
"Before high school, everyone—my family, the people around me—called me a genius. I was pretty full of myself."
"But after entering high school and making it to Koshien, I realized this place is filled with geniuses. The talent I used to be so proud of is nothing here."
"No matter how hard I try, even if I train myself to death, I just can't pitch over 150 km/h."
At this, Momodani glanced deeply at Takashi.
The talent he once thought was amazing couldn't even compare to a single casual pitch from Takashi.
Was it because he didn't work hard enough?
No. He trained late into the night every day.
On every rest day, he secretly practiced behind his teammates' backs.
But talent determines your ceiling.
In the face of absolute talent, all his hard work crumbled to nothing.
"Until now, not a single team has sent me a tryout invitation. Even the emails I've sent out myself vanished into the void. From that moment, I knew—I needed to give up my dream."
While Takashi was still hesitating whether to accept the Fighters' general manager's offer of an annual salary of 890 million yen, Momodani couldn't even get a single contract—no, not even an interview opportunity.
The moment he heard that people from the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Orix Buffaloes were actively reaching out to Takashi, he decided to stop chasing the dream.
That's also why he played through injury today.
Not because Takashi moved him, nor out of some selfless desire to help him shine. Simply because today's game was his last.
Since that was the case, he might as well go all out and leave with flair.
"Ah, I'm only telling you this—don't tell the others."
"Okay."
Seeing how calm Takashi remained from start to finish, not even offering a word of comfort, Momodani was a little taken aback.
He couldn't help but complain, "Aren't you being a bit too calm?"
"Do you need comforting, senpai?"
Takashi shot back.
"Uh… I guess not."
Coming from Takashi, any comforting words would've just sounded weird anyway.
"What is it you want to say, then?"
Takashi showed no emotional reaction to anything Momodani said. No matter how well he disguised it, at his core, Takashi was a cold, self-centered egotist.
Bluntly put, Momodani's life didn't concern him in the slightest.
"Feels like nothing can be hidden from you."
Momodani scratched his head.
He found Takashi a little terrifying. At a time like this, shouldn't he at least pretend to be touched or sympathetic? Show some kind of emotion?
But there was none.
"My dream may be over, but you can keep moving forward, Kitahara."
"Kitahara, if I'm not mistaken, you're not planning to compete in next year's Koshien, right?"
He sounded very certain.
Because in Takashi's eyes, he hadn't seen even a sliver of love for baseball.
"Yeah."
Takashi didn't deny it.
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