A young 10 year old Sawamura was simply watching students from the nearby school play baseball, eyes filled with stars and admiration as he stood from afar, he wanted to play just as well as they did.
He couldn't help but gasp everytime the pitcher would strike out a batter, he even held his breath everytime the batter would manage to hit the ball.
"You seem pretty interested in this kid, do you play?" A man asked him
Eijun knew better than to talk with strangers, so he politely bowed and left to find another spot to watch from, only for his grandfather to grab him by the arm to yank him back
"Gramps! what's the big deal??" he said
Sawamura received a hard hit on the head for that "I apologize for this kid's behavior, yes he does play and he started quite recently" he said, The boy was now confused, did they know each other? how come it's the first time he's seen the stranger, the two adults exchanged a few words that eijun didn't bother listening to as he once again focused his eyes on the game
"No worries, what's your position? or what do you want to be?" he asked
This guy is a baseball player? he does look really buff and tanned "i want to be a pitcher! no! the ace!!" eijun exclaimed
The man smiled at him and placed his hand to ruffle his brown locks "Do you want to play catch? i brought a ball with me, an actual baseball not softballs"
He got him at 'play catch' eijun instantly nodded, not even bothering to ask the man's name, if his grandfather trusted him and he should as well
They went to a nearby open space, eijun was amazed at the feel of an actual baseball, it was way more solid and heavier than the softballs they use, he then looked at the man who was a few meters away from him, holding up his glove signalling that he was ready to catch the ball.
Eijun smiled, it wasn't everyday that someone was willing to play catch with him afterall.
"looks like you're a southpaw, that makes it easy to see the first base runner then" Mister said
The young boy tilted his head to the side "what's a southpaw?" he asked
The man laughed "it means you're left handed" he pointed at eijun's left hand who which he was holding the ball with
Sawamura threw the ball, making sure not to throw too hard so he wouldn't strain his shoulder, he did not want to spend days in his house because he pulled a muscle
The longer they played catch the more they talked, eijun mentioned things like having a dislike for natto, why he wanted to play baseball and how cool it is to be the ace, the man listened with a smirk on his face, but soon that smirk turned into a look of shock, eijun was confused at first, did he throw too hard? that couldn't be it, the man caught his other pitches just fine before
"can you throw that again?" the man asked as he tossed the ball back to eijun
The boy nodded and pitched the ball as hard as he could to the man, he still caught it normally, was there a problem?
He then gave a wide smirk "ah i see now" he said, he then walked over until he was standing in front of eijun and then crounched so that they would meet at eye level
"Say, you said you wanted to become ace right?" he asked
Eijun nodded
The man took his hand and placed the ball on top, he then reached into his pocket and handed eijun a wrinkly envelope "give this to your gramdfather or your parents" he said before ruffling eijun's hair again and turning to leave
When they got home eijun handed his guardians the letter, when they opened it and read the contents their eyes went wide, his mom hugged him full of joy
"What's happening??" eijun asked
His grandfather was speechless and his father was in tears, which left eijun the most confused he's ever been in his 10 years of existence
"Eijun, this is your chance now! You were invited to be a candidate for the National Treasure title" his mother said
National Treasure?
Eijun raised his eyebrow "what's that?" he asked
He received another blow on his head from his grandfather "idiot! a national treasure is a title given to the best pitchers of every generation, that man you met earlier is the current national treasure holding the name Mikazuki from one of Japan's great swords!" he exclaimed
"getting an invitation means he saw potential in you! you'll be sent to a camp where other kids around your age who had also been invited will practice hard and if you prove yourself they'll be passing the title to you!" his father said
The youngest sawamura was in awe, that man earlier was actually a big shot!
"wait why are they passing the title?? are they dying?" eijun asked
His mother chuckled "no eijun, they're just moving on to the pro leagues" she said
Eijun was still confused "they don't get to keep their titles?" he asked "then what's the point?"
"The turning point of a baseball player's life is in their adolescent age, highschool baseball is where everything changes and where those with talent and potential stand out from the rest" his father said "for your second question, i don't know the answer to that"
Why should he fight for it when he'd have to just give it up to another person after half a decade? what's so great about being a national treasure
The thought of meeting other kids his age that was just as obsessed with baseball as he was held him back from completely rejecting the offer, there will be kids like him who plays baseball and aims to be the ace, he can't be beaten if he wants to be the best pitcher in Japan!!
In the end he accepted the offer, a few weeks went by and he found himself infront of a facility with a backpack on his shoulders and the baseball in his hands.
Author Note:
oh no it's flashback timeeee
Anyways i'm pretty tired now, next chapter will be a continuation of eijun's backstory
Btw i took some inspiration from the Anime: Hinomaruzumou which named their five characters with most potential after Japan's Great Swords! In my case since there are eight of them here i also went with the concept but added some names from the Game/Anime: Touken Ranbu
Both series i recommend btw!
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National Treasure
Fanfiction(Probably won't update this anymore, it will be marked as complete but it's not) Eight National Treasures aiming to be the best in Japanese baseball. one of them is sawamura eijun, a golden eyed southpaw pitcher and is the best in terms of versatil...
