[Ace of Diamond] Metamorphosis

If Chris hadn't been injured, Miyuki would have competed with him for the starting catcher position...

If Sawamura had had some baseball experience and better control, Furuya's steady growth wouldn't have been derailed by injury, and Tojo would have gotten a chance to take the mound...

If Kataoka had stopped being so fixated on having an ace, and Ochiai had joined the coaching staff sooner...

If the former third-years, including Tetsuya Yuki, Jun Isashiki, Ryosuke Kominato, and Toru Masuko, had earned a ticket to that year's Koshien...

There's no medicine for regret in life. Regrets can only ever be regrets. Maybe imperfection is simply the norm in life... But humans are creatures that dream.

This is an IF story written to make up for my own regrets (and selfish wishes).

Things to know before reading / potential deal-breakers [Please read!]:

1. No CP. Faithful to the original's realistic tone.

No transmigrate, System, time reversal, reborn, or overpowered original protagonist elements. It stays close to reality, Sawamura is the protagonist, and I'll do my best to keep everyone in character.

2. The original plot has been heavily altered. This isn't a power fantasy, but it isn't angsty either. There are growth arcs for three pitchers and two catchers. They compete with each other without putting one another down, and I'll do my best to follow the original's setup.

Sawamura isn't invincible. His fastball won't get much faster, and he won't start out throwing eleven pitches. Furuya keeps his original characterization: he isn't weakened or sidelined. Tojo will join the pitching group. Miyuki isn't the starting catcher, and he competes with an uninjured Chris. There are quite a few scenes of him learning from Chris (picking up tips).

If you want an invincible Sawamura or a starting-catcher Miyuki leading the team, please take note!

3. No made-up games or magical baseball.

There are lots of explanations of baseball rules and game analysis, starting with the basics: how to call balls and strikes, and what stealing bases and bunting mean. These are woven into the plot and explained as simply as possible. The early chapters won't feature many full-length games, and I hope even baseball beginners can follow along!

4. I have 100,000 characters drafted already, written for love of the story. If it gets a good response, I'll update daily. If no one's reading, I'll update slowly as I feel like it, around one to three times a week. I won't abandon it. Comments, corrections, discussion, and questions are all very welcome, especially about baseball!

Theme: To be added.