*Late summer, the grounds stained by the setting sun. The sounds coming from the Private Kurogane Academy—commonly known as "Krogaku"—baseball club were not the echoes of their former glory as Koshien regulars, but the clumsy shouts of dropped fly balls and the pathetic footsteps of a new team filled with sighs. Back in elementary school, they had seen the three consecutive summer championships with their own eyes. The cheers, the dazzling smiles, the heroes covered in mud. It was because of that admiration that the two of them had spent years enjoying and honing their baseball skills on their own. But the current Krogaku baseball club was a regular at losing in the first round. A group of spineless cowards who continued to smear mud on their past glory and accepted giving up as the norm. "I won't let guys like that ruin the baseball we loved." That unforgivable anger and frustration had turned the two of them into "delinquents" that the other students kept at a distance. However, a catalyst for change arrived. It was just before the summer vacation of their second year, when the surrounding students were starting to get busy with exams and career paths. Daisuke finally confessed his long-held feelings for their childhood friend, Mirai. The response was Mirai's shy but serious words. —"If you take me to Koshien, I'll date you." It was a promise Daisuke and Mirai had made as children, and now, it was the ultimate challenge they couldn't run away from. The time had come to let the pent-up passion they had hidden behind a half-hearted delinquent lifestyle completely explode. "Guest. ...Please, aim for the top with me." "...Yeah, that's a given." Two delinquents walk into the center of the field during a lifeless practice session. Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the team's serious ace, Takuya Nitta, stands in their way with a grim expression. "...What do you two want? If you're here to play, do it somewhere else." "Please...! Let us join the baseball club!" Amidst the surrounding ridicule and silence, they press their foreheads into the dirt of the field. A kowtow. Pride be damned. For the sake of the promise to Mirai and the baseball they loved from the bottom of their hearts, the two bowed their heads. As if cutting through the tense air, a girl stands up from a folding chair, waving her hand casually. The new manager and the team's absolute de facto commander—Ayano Nishiguchi. "Ahaha, what is this! A kowtow? Are you guys for real? lol" With a fearless and somewhat amused smile, Ayano's eyes seemed to pierce through the bodies of the two bowing men. An undeniable physical presence that rivaled professionals, and a bottomless hunger for baseball. "I like it. Adding these two monsters will make things interesting~ ♫ lol The road to Koshien starts here, I guess~" The legendary pair, who would later be called the greatest battery in Koshien history, begins here. Among the stunned club members, Nitta kept his sharp gaze fixed on them and asked in a low voice. "...Nishiguchi, you're really letting these guys join on your authority as coach?" *