Down 2:10 in the middle innings—it was like watching a pro boxer beat up a kindergarten kid. You'd think this was the Koshien finals, but it felt more like a first-round qualifier.
"If you go in now, won't that waste all our earlier efforts?"
Amatani Kensuke's face was tense. His expression wasn't great either.
Before the match, he and Takashi had stayed up last night analyzing every Advanced Nurturing player—their skills, playing styles, and personalities.
He knew Advanced Nurturing was strong, so he had his left and right outfielders play further back and handed the center zone over to the shortstop.
He gave precise instructions on what types of pitches to use against which batters and where to aim.
He left no detail unplanned—he had done everything a coach possibly could.
Aoba's players followed his strategy to the letter.
But even so, Advanced Nurturing still easily scored 10 runs.
The game plan wasn't flawed. The players executed well.
The problem was with the opposing players themselves.
They were just too strong.
They were like Takashi—absurdly, overwhelmingly strong.
Whether it was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Nagumo Miyabi, Koenji Rokusuke… any one of them would be the core player at another school.
And there were 8 of them like that on this team.
For the first time, Amatani Kensuke understood how other schools felt facing Takashi.
Everyone knew he only throw fastballs.
But they still couldn't react in time. Still couldn't hit it. That sense of despair from deep inside.
Against absolute strength, all strategies felt like a joke.
"The problem is, at this rate the team won't even last until the fifth inning."
Takashi was clearly frustrated.
He and Amatani had agreed: he would take the mound after Koenji Rokusuke was done.
If he never stepped down, then Takashi would sub in by the fifth inning.
That was the plan. It sounded good. But reality was cruel.
At this pace, Aoba wouldn't even reach the fifth inning.
"Hold on. Just wait a little longer."
Takashi was right, but Amatani still wanted to hold off.
If he let Takashi pitch now, he might as well have started him from the beginning.
"Ah—Advanced Nurturing lands another hit! Ayanokoji is running… safe! He makes it to first base!"
Hearing the announcer, Takashi turned and saw that while they were talking, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already made it to first.
He looked at Horikita Manabu stepping up to the plate, then glanced at the stubborn Amatani Kensuke and clenched his teeth.
"15 points."
If Advanced Nurturing scored 15 runs, then no matter what Amatani said next, he would take the field.
Amatani Kensuke might be the head coach, and within the baseball club he had the highest authority, sure.
But Takashi's girlfriend was still Hitomi Hitomi.
The Konoe family was Aoba's biggest sponsor, and her grandfather was the chairman of Aoba's board.
If Takashi wanted to play, no matter how reluctant Amatani was, he would have to let him.
Amatani Kensuke was a good coach. Takashi really didn't want to go against him, to make things ugly.
That was why he compromised this time.
"Thank you."
Amatani Kensuke was a little moved by Takashi's concession.
"15 runs is enough."
Baseball rules are far more complicated than other sports.
In soccer, you just kick the ball into the goal. In basketball, shoot it into the hoop.
But baseball?
The field is fan-shaped, with the home plate as the starting point and first, second, and third bases forming a diamond—the infield.
Everything beyond is called the outfield.
The distance between each base is 90 feet.
The offense hits the pitcher's ball, then runs the bases in order. Only after returning to home plate does it count as a run.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka now stood on first base.
Normally, to score a run, he'd have to advance base by base—meaning the next three batters would all need to hit the ball.
Of course, if someone like Koenji Rokusuke hit a home run again, then he could score immediately.
Just like how Koenji Rokusuke had hit a homer earlier, sending not just himself, but also Kakeru Ryuen on first and Nagumo Miyabi on second, all the way back to home base.
That one hit counted for three runs.
"And besides you, Takashi, I still have one more trump card I haven't played."
Takashi blinked in surprise.
A trump card he didn't know about?
…
"Oh, unexpected. The fifth batter from Advanced Nurturing played a bunt—it's a ground ball. Will he make it to base safely?"
"Damn it!"
Momodani Kaname cursed and rushed forward to grab the ball off the ground, then spun and threw it toward the second baseman.
If Haruki Yuto, Aoba's second baseman, could catch it before Ayanokouji Kiyotaka stepped on second base—or tag him—it would be an out.
Otherwise, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka would be safe.
The moment the ball hit Haruki's glove, Ayanokouji's foot landed on the base.
Because it was nearly impossible to judge with the naked eye, the umpire called for a replay.
On the stadium's giant screen, slow-motion playback revealed that Ayanokouji's cleat landed on the base first.
The umpire ruled the runner safe.
Meanwhile, Horikita Manabu also made it safely to first base.
"There are runners on first and second. Aoba's in serious trouble now."
The camera cut to the bullpen.
Takashi wore a cold expression, while Amatani Kensuke occasionally glanced at his watch, like an office worker counting down the seconds till clock-out.
"Did he get bought out by the enemy?"
"Once this game ends, I'm definitely writing a report to Aoba. They better investigate this guy thoroughly!"
Some people began to suspect Amatani Kensuke had accepted favors from Advanced Nurturing.
"He's just salty about my Gege embarrassing him last inning, that's why he's keeping my brother benched!"
"Wait and see—I'm going to post about this online the moment I get home."
The girls who adored Takashi started spinning conspiracy theories, ready to drag Amatani Kensuke on social media and ruin his reputation.
"What a waste of money!"
"Ugh, what a jinx!"
"I'm leaving."
Some spectators, seeing no point in watching further, stood up and left.
With people leaving in real life, the online viewership plummeted even faster.
From over 5 million viewers, the number had already dropped to just over 3 million.
At this rate, it looked like it would keep falling.
"Contact Aoba and tell them to put Takashi in immediately!"
If they had Amatani Kensuke's number, the tournament organizers would have called him already.
Without Takashi on the field, they were losing real money here.
Might as well be killing them.
Did they think all these people were here for anyone else?
…
"Beautiful hit!"
The male commentator's voice was charged with excitement.
"Advanced Nurturing's cleanup hitter, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, sprints back to home base—another point for Advanced Nurturing!"
As Aoba students and supporters looked on in despair, the score moved from 10 to 11.
And what made it worse was, Advanced Nurturing's turn at bat wasn't even over.
"Next up for Advanced Nurturing is their eighth batter, Katsuragi Kohei."
Katsuragi Kohei walked up with a bat and was effortlessly struck out by Momodani Kaname.
Don't let the shaved head and big frame fool you—he was more of a brain guy than a brawler.
"Looks like I'll have to go in early," Takashi said coldly.
To switch sides, they needed to eliminate three batters.
So far, Momodani Kaname had only taken out Katsuragi Kohei.
Next up was Sudo Ken.
Even if he managed to strike out Sudo Ken, the batter following him would be Nagumo Miyabi, the leadoff hitter.
That's right—they were already back to the top of the order.
To loop around back to Katsuragi Kohei again, Advanced Nurturing would likely score at least 7 more runs.
"..."
Amatani Kensuke didn't say anything, which was as good as giving tacit approval for Takashi to play.
Just as Takashi was rising from his seat, Amatani suddenly stood and said, delighted, "He's here."
Takashi: "?"
Amatani gestured to the umpire for a substitution and simply said, "Kitahara, take off your jersey."
"Huh?"
Takashi thought he'd gone crazy.
"The real owner is here."
Amatani pointed toward the entrance.
Takashi looked and saw the team manager, who had disappeared earlier, returning—accompanied by someone.
Recognizing the newcomer, Takashi's pupils contracted.
"Oh! Aoba's coach has requested a substitution—game paused. Is Takashi about to take the field?"
Spectators who had reached the exit turned right back around.
Under the hopeful gazes of over 60,000 people, Takashi stood up from his seat, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
But just as everyone thought he was about to play, he took off his jersey and handed it to someone else.
The cheers abruptly died.
"You? Why are you here?"
Takashi handed jersey #7 to Otani Shota, stunned.
He hadn't expected to see Otani Shota show up here.
"You think I'd let you hog the spotlight?"
Otani Shota grinned as he pulled on the jersey.
"Your arm's healed?"
Takashi gave him a once-over.
He'd even called Tanaka Kota earlier—Otani shouldn't be out of the hospital yet.
"Nope."
Otani Shota answered honestly, "I snuck out of the hospital myself."
"Why would you do that?"
Takashi frowned, clearly displeased.
"You think just because my right arm's injured, I can't win anymore?"
Takashi raised his left hand. "Even with just my left, I can still crush them."
"That's not it."
Otani Shota shook his head gently, then looked Takashi in the eyes. "I just don't want you to carry the weight of my dream alone."
Otani extended his right fist toward Takashi. "Kitahara, let's do this together."
Just then, the male commentator spoke again: "Oh! Advanced Nurturing is making a substitution too."
"But this move is baffling."
"Koenji is on fire—why pull him out now?"
…
"Koenji, what the hell are you doing?"
"We've got momentum—why are you stepping down?"
Sudo Ken stormed up to Koenji Rokusuke, angry and ready to throw hands.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka raised a hand to block him.
"I don't feel like playing anymore," Koenji Rokusuke said with a bright grin, taking out a small mirror to fix his hair.
He'd come here for Takashi.
Now that Takashi had handed his jersey to someone else and clearly had no intention of playing, Koenji saw no point in staying either.
"You're quitting now? Then why'd you agree to play in the first place?"
"You damn bastard—don't you have any team pride?"
"Nope."
Koenji flashed a gleaming smile and gave a thumbs-up.
"You damn—!"
Sudo Ken raised a fist to punch him, but Ayanokouji was ready and stopped him.
"He's here."
Takashi exchanged a glance with Amatani Kensuke. Both of them smiled faintly.
They had finally waited for Koenji Rokusuke get out.
His exit wasn't a coincidence—it was inevitable.
Lying in bed with Hitomi, the two had chatted deep into the night about him.
Through Hitomi's stories, Takashi had learned about Koenji Rokusuke.
Koenji Rokusuke was the sole heir to the Koenji financial group, possessing top-tier talent in all fields—but he was incredibly arrogant.
He did whatever he wanted in class, never cared about making friends or earning points. He didn't even care about his class, let alone his school's honor.
He wouldn't have joined this match if it weren't for Takashi.
The only reason he played earlier was to provoke Takashi into appearing.
Now that Takashi had clearly decided not to play, Koenji had lost all interest.
"He can't be substituted back in anymore, right?"
Takashi still felt the need to confirm with Amatani Kensuke.
"I'll go check."
Amatani Kensuke nodded.
He walked up the pitcher's mound and exchanged a few words with the umpire. The umpire glanced at Takashi , then pressed his earpiece and said something to the organizers.
"As long as Takashi can play, agree to anything they ask."
The organizers' voice came through the earpiece, loud and clear even to Amatani.
He gave Takashi a small nod.
Then came the announcement, delivered in a calm but slightly excited voice by Sakurajima Mai:
"The tournament committee announces that Aoba High School has made two consecutive player substitutions."
"The pitcher replacing the third batter, Momodani Kaname—Kitahara Takashi !"
"Ohhhh!!!"
As Sakurajima Mai announced Takashi 's entry, the entire stadium erupted.
Teachers, students, and supporters of Aoba all stood from their seats, screaming wildly.
Takashi listened to the thunderous cheers brought about by his presence. He turned to Otani Shota, who still stood dumbfounded with his fist outstretched.
He bumped fists with him and said, "Should we give them a breather?"
"No—let's crush them outright."
"Alright. Let's show them what helplessness feels like."
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