Chapter 48: Gone Mad
"Fastball."
...
"High-spin fastball."
...
"Low-spin fastball."
...
"Inside corner fastball."
...
Every pitch landed cleanly in the strike zone. Just from the way the ball came in, Miyuki could already tell—Rinichi was still in top form.
To date, he had never once seen Rinichi pitch while in poor condition.
"Changeup."
A changeup was similar to the low-spin fastball in concept, but its trajectory was entirely different.
"Power forkball."
It came with a brutally sharp downward break. Honestly, at the high school level, probably no one could even hit that kind of power fork.
Watching from the side, Kawakami looked a bit surprised. "Rinichi sure has a lot of pitches."
Chris smiled warmly. "That's not even all of them."
Today, Rinichi was laying his entire pitching arsenal bare.
Very few people even knew just how many pitches he had.
"Butterfly curve."
Miyuki called it out, and the three pitchers watching stiffened.
The butterfly curve? Wasn't that the signature pitch of that ace from Sakurazawa High?
The ball dropped into the glove, and Miyuki winced slightly—this pitch was hard to catch.
"Unlike Nagao Akira from Sakurazawa, Rinichi can land his butterfly curve exactly where he wants in the strike zone," Miyuki explained.
The other three pitchers were now looking at Rinichi with new eyes.
The butterfly curve demanded extreme precision. Landing it in the strike zone was incredibly difficult.
But thinking back on it, it actually made sense.
Every time Miyuki asked for a low pitch, Rinichi always hit the edge of the strike zone perfectly, right at the bottom—without fail.
"Cutter."
Still more?
And a cutter, at that!
Wasn't that the specialty of that pitcher wearing number 18 from Yakushi?
Rinichi's cutter was sharp and flawless.
"What about your curveball from the Akikawa game? Want to throw that in too?" Miyuki asked.
Right, in the game against Akikawa, Rinichi had used a curveball.
Rinichi paused. "Forget the curveball. Let's go with a power slider instead."
Miyuki was a little surprised, and slightly exasperated. "Alright then. Power slider it is."
He adjusted his mitt and got ready.
What followed was a high-velocity slider with massive break.
Everyone watching froze.
Technically, a power slider shouldn't have such a wide break. But somehow, Rinichi's had break comparable to a regular slider—maybe even more. The timing and angle of the break were sharper too.
And with Rinichi's usual velocity hovering around 150 km/h, combined with the pitch's bite, there wasn't much a batter could do. Even if they realized too late that it wasn't a fastball, they'd either swing and miss or make weak contact—or not even touch it at all.
That was Rinichi's power slider.
Watching from outside the bullpen, Takashima Rei and Kataoka looked visibly stunned.
Now, Rinichi had both horizontal and vertical breaking pitches.
Rinichi adjusted his cap slightly, eyes shadowed beneath the brim, and muttered coldly:
"With these pitches, I can completely shut down Inashiro's lineup, right?"
"When to use them… I'll leave that up to you."
Completely shut down... Inashiro's lineup?!
Miyuki grinned, eyes glinting with a mix of madness—and just a hint of fear.
With a pitcher like this… If it were any ordinary catcher paired with Kamishiro, they'd probably be crushed by his relentless drive forward and end up quitting the position altogether.
Thinking that, Miyuki burst out laughing, a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
This is exciting… Partnering with such a strong pitcher is exhilarating!
Once he calmed down, his expression turned serious.
"Of course."
The others: "…"
They all thought the two of them were completely insane.
Since it was just a check on pitch types and condition, they didn't throw much—it ended pretty quickly.
Just as they were stepping out of the bullpen, Coach Kataoka appeared, wearing a glove and holding a bat.
"Chris, after the pitchers finish their cooldown, they can rest."
"Yes, sir."
"Today really flew by," Rinichi thought.
Coach Kataoka then turned toward the field. "Yuuki! Pre-game fielding practice! Treat it like a real match!"
At his shout, the upperclassmen snapped to attention and smoothly began fielding drills.
Rinichi hadn't even noticed when Miyuki joined in: "…"
Their voices echoed across the field, the atmosphere boiling with energy.
Coach Kataoka personally hit balls for them to field and relay—during the entire session, not a single bobble or error occurred.
...
"About tomorrow's game," Coach Kataoka said, "I'm planning to have Kamishiro start—and go the full nine innings. Is that alright, Kamishiro?"
Everyone turned to look at Rinichi.
His expression didn't change. "Yes."
He had planned on that from the beginning.
"Dismissed!"
"Yes!"
As the upperclassmen started to leave, some of them couldn't help but mutter:
"Kamishiro's pitching, huh… I actually feel relieved now."
"Yeah, against Inashiro's lineup, only Kamishiro has a shot at shutting them down."
After the meeting, some went to the bathhouse, others to swing bats—everyone drifted off into their usual routines.
Rinichi was going to stay behind and watch the game footage again, but the upperclassmen dragged him off before he could.
"…Seriously?"
"Come on, it's the night before the big game," Jun Isashiki said, still wearing his usual menacing expression. "You should relax."
Rinichi nearly choked on his breath.
A whole crowd of them stormed Miyuki's room and started goofing off—some even launched into a game.
"Kamishiro's game skills are trash!" someone shouted.
"…" Rinichi said nothing. "My bad."
"Uh, senpai… It's getting pretty late. When are you guys heading back to your own rooms?" Miyuki asked delicately.
Eventually, Miyuki managed to kick everyone out.
Rinichi was the last one to leave. Hand on the doorknob, he paused, then turned back to Miyuki.
"Tomorrow, I'll throw a pitch that looks easy to hit. It will get hit… but it'll land right in my glove," he said.
Miyuki was slightly surprised Rinichi even said that to him.
Smiling, he replied, "We're partners, right? Trusting each other comes with the job."
Rinichi: "…"
He looked away, walked out—and the door slammed behind him with a loud thud.
Miyuki: "…"
Rinichi strode down the hallway, his pace quick.
"Who the hell is his partner?!"
"Talk about self-important!"
His expression darkened, a trace of rage in his eyes.
Then suddenly, something came to mind—and he stopped.
——"I'm sorry… I can't play baseball anymore. But Rin… you can keep playing. And someday… you'll meet the catcher who will stand beside you. Once you do… that person will be your partner…"
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