Chapter 263: "Provocation"
Only this one pitch—there is no room for us to ease up! Throw with everything you've got! After two pitches put Kuramochi in a corner, Harada also chose an aggressive approach.
Whish!
Ping!
Foul!
"So close! He's started throwing full power now!"
Kuramochi barely managed to touch the ball out of pure stubbornness.
In the very next moment, the Inashiro battery didn't allow him a single breath.
Step—
Arm swing—
"Ah!!"
Pop!
"Ch—changeup…!"
"Strike! Batter out!"
"YOSSHA!!"
"That's two outs now!"
"Nice pitching, Narumiya!"
"So this is all it took for you to be satisfied, huh? Yassan…"
Turning around, Narumiya flashed a gentle smile—
A smile filled with mockery, as if he was saying: You overestimate yourself. Know your place. The kind of smile worn by someone sitting high on a throne.
"In a one-out, runner-on-third situation—where a wild pitch, slow throw, error, balk, sac fly, bunt—ANYTHING would give up a run… Narumiya silences it all with just four pitches and strikes out the batter! This is the pitching of last year's champion—Inashiro's ace!!!"
The neutral commentator roared with justified excitement.
2nd Batter – Second Baseman, Ryousuke Kominato-kun!
"Ryo-saaaan!"
"Kominato!"
"Let's go!"
"Our attack isn't over yet!!"
"Shut him down, Narumiya!"
"Come on, Narumiya-kun!"
But the spotlighted Onii-san was gritting his teeth, enduring the stabbing pain shooting up his injured foot.
Even for someone as tough as him, sweat was dripping like rain.
"Here comes the first pitch!"
"Thrown!!"
"…Huh?"
Pop!
"Strike!!"
Even though Ryousuke tried his best to match the ball, he swung early, anticipating the fastball's timing.
His small frame meant his bat speed wasn't as fast as other sluggers.
To catch Narumiya's heater, he always had to swing earlier than usual—but after that previous full-power pitch to Kuramochi…
it made him extremely vulnerable to off-speed pitches.
And then—
Pop!
"Strike!"
"Another changeup?!"
Seeing Narumiya's changeups suddenly increasing, everyone except Sendou wore a grim expression.
Sendou had already noticed— Narumiya's "velocity differential" wasn't as big as it looked. The real threat was the late, vicious drop.
"Two changeups in a row? Weird sequencing…He must be relying entirely on the movement. Troublesome— But he won't throw me anything hittable anyway."
Sendo scratched his head with a wry grin.
"Here comes the third pitch!"
A single bead of sweat rolled down Ryousuke's cheek—no one knew whether it was pain, or the tension from Harada's strange pitch-calling.
Narumiya raised both arms, smiling wide.
Whoosh!
Ping!
"Shirahama!!"
Pop!
Out!!
Ryousuke sprawled on the ground in front of first base, supporting himself with both arms—
the last dive worsened the pain in his foot.
He couldn't even get up from the ground immediately.
"RYO-SAN!!"
Sendo and Kuramochi, who always kept an eye on him, both looked crushed with worry.
Coach Kataoka finally sensed something was wrong.
Still, he didn't call time.
He believed—A player will speak up when they truly can't continue.
And in this team, the infield defense needed Ryousuke.
Even though Haruichi was an excellent defender, the middle infield was a pair.
You didn't replace one lightly.
After a brief moment…
Ryousuke slowly stood up—step by step returning to the dugout.
And Sendo, Kuramochi, and Coach Kataoka all watched him walk, concern written all over their faces.
.....
"Furuya! Use this!"
Tanba called out to Furuya while handing over his glove.
"You'll go defend left field!"
"Eh?"
Furuya thought he was being subbed out entirely.
"The team still needs your strength."
Furuya looked at Coach Kataoka.
....
Official Change Announcement!
"Pitcher: Tanba-kun! Right fielder: Banba-kun OUT!
Furuya-kun moves to left field! Isashiki-kun moves to right field!"
"YESSS! We beat him!!"
Narumiya—always competitive toward Furuya—cheered gleefully.
Everyone else: (…this guy is seriously picking fights with his kouhai)
"Furuya! The game's only beginning—defend well!"
Tanba encouraged him with a smile.
Deeply moved, Furuya bowed and sprinted toward the outfield.
For the first time ever—he willingly let go of the mound.
Tanba froze in shock—his junior had truly grown.
....
And now… the bottom of the 5th begins.
Sendo had warned everyone even before the game:
Inashiro would definitely target the weaknesses of Seido's pitchers.
Miyuki understood that perfectly.
Just like Sendo expected, these weaknesses—especially Tanba-senpai's—were essentially a matter of luck to overcome.
....
"Curveball!"
Pop!
"Strike!"
"YOSSHAA!! Good pitch!"
"Bold but careful! Let's take down the lead-off hitter, Tanba-senpai!"
"Mm!"
Sawamura, for once, said something sensible.
Miyauchi-senpai next to him snorted, nodding in agreement.
"The curveball's in good shape. With this, I can call pitches without worrying!"
Miyuki relaxed after checking Tanba's condition.
Tanba grunted, building up pressure inside his body.
Whish!
Pop!
"Strike!"
Following Harada's earlier chain of changeups, Miyuki also called two straight curveballs.
Yamaoka couldn't time any of them.
And Inashiro had no idea about Tanba's current fastball velocity.
"He's cornered him!"
"His condition is perfect, Tanba-san!"
"Good ball!"
"Tanba-senpai! Soleil! Dan-ba! Dan-ba!"
Sawamura cheered with full spirit—completely forgetting he was supposed to be warming up.
Miyauchi-senpai could only sigh.
This kid never learns…
"Excellent! Tanba looks good, Coach!"
Ota-buchou cheered while striking weird poses.
Two strikes. A perfect setup.
....
The curve is working. No issues.
Next pitch—an outside-zone lure to bait a swing. A waste pitch.
But then…
Sendo's earlier warning about Tanba's dangerous fastballs flashed through Miyuki's mind.
…No. Better to go with an outside forkball first.
A power hitter like Yamaoka—
I shouldn't give him a fastball in his first at-bat.
Tanba, though awkward with Miyuki off the field,
trusted his pitch calling completely.
Whish!
"Fastball!"
Yamaoka suddenly remembered how Tanba kept throwing forkballs in the three-school practice game.
And he thought—
This pitch is likely a strike!
He gambled.
Pop!
"Ball!"
"Lucky… If I had swung, I'd be dead!"
.....
Inashiro's Bench (and their genius coach)
"Seems we're lucky too. They're clearly avoiding his fastball weakness."
But that weakness cannot stay hidden.
"Yamaoka didn't swing… even Miyuki must be wondering why. If they don't throw even one fastball, the batters will eventually lock onto the breaking stuff, too."
Coach Kunimoto observed sharply.
....
He didn't swing…?
Their goal isn't waiting for Tanba's occasional easy fastball?
Or was that just coincidence…?
But the situation now made the choice for him:
We HAVE to throw a fastball.
Ball count is good—we still have space for a miss.
Fine, this time it'll be an outside lure fastball.
Miyuki glanced toward Sendou in center.
With that guy behind us…
I can feel safe.
....
Then—
Whish!
"No way…"
Miyuki's eyes widened.
"Right down the middle!!!"
KA-BAM!!
"Sendo!!!!!"
Even though the ball trended slightly toward left field where Furuya was closer—
Furuya's judgment of fly-ball trajectories was unreliable.
Miyuki could only rely on one person.
Sendo had already started sprinting backward at the very instant Tanba threw the pitch.
Tanba himself spun around in panic, staring at center field.
.....
"There is NO pitch easier to hit than this…and NO weakness more obvious…"
Coach Kunimoto confirmed the moment the ball was struck.
High-level sports never rely on brute strength.
They ruthlessly attack your weak points.
....
Then it happened—
PING!!
The ball blasted deep—into the stands, bouncing into a fan's glove.
"UOOOOOHHHH!!!"
Inashiro's bench exploded.
"It's—IT'S GONE!!! HOME RUN!!! The first home run of the day!!! The ace who just stepped onto the mound…
is immediately baptized by last year's champions!!!"
Tanba stared in disbelief.
His first pitch mistake resulted in a home run.
He had become somewhat numb to home runs over his long recovery—after all, during rehab his easy fastballs were repeatedly crushed by Seidou's monsters, especially Yuki and Sendo, who absolutely never held back.
But NOT HERE. NOT NOW.
Not in such a crucial moment.
This home run hit deeper than any before.
Because Miyuki's slight adjustment a deviation from canon—still led to the same tragic outcome.
This home run was unbearably heavy.
....
Yamaoka rounded the bases with a hulking swagger worthy of his build— but when he stomped on home plate, he hopped with both feet together, bending his knees…
To Sendo, it looked like a woman shaking her hips dramatically.
And to him—
It felt like pure provocation.
He could do nothing about it.
If it were another pitcher, Sendo would absolutely return the favor next at-bat.
But…
"Damn it… I can't believe it. This is the first time someone's ever provoked me like this..."
Sendo whispered.
The louder Inashiro's cheering grew, the more that pose burned in Sendo's chest like gasoline.
But he endured.
Barely.
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