13:7
1 out; bases loaded.
The batter's turn returned to the first batter, Shibata Sou.
Ayanokouji clearly understood.
Class B was completely treating Ike Kanji as a breakthrough point; the balls were basically all near Ike Kanji.
Sumida and the others were one thing.
Tricky positions naturally went without saying.
But the landing points from Beppu and others were not very perfect.
With Ike Kanji's strength, mistakes would indeed occur occasionally, but he should have been able to handle it; it absolutely shouldn't have reached this point.
As expected, his mindset was affected by something.
This made Ayanokouji feel a bit strange.
After all.
Long before the start of the game.
Except for Koenji, Horikita Suzune had already given a heads-up to all the participants.
Even Kushida Kikyo.
Although her performance was average, she was doing what was within her power.
Just a bit of psychological warfare.
Absolutely shouldn't have influenced Ike Kanji to this extent.
"Timeout."
Ayanokouji applied for a timeout.
The team desperately needed a communication right now.
Originally, Ayanokouji wanted to control the score, so he had been keeping the score difference within two to three points.
Whether it was a single or a home run.
In fact, it was easy for Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji's talent for things he comes into contact with is not actually outstanding.
Even.
In terms of talent alone.
Ayanokouji is far below Koenji.
What is terrifying is his unparalleled learning ability and control.
Two months' time.
Was enough for Ayanokouji to completely master the sport of baseball.
And then be unrivaled.
To put it simply.
Even if Koenji might win against him once initially, winning again after that would be almost impossible.
Therefore.
Controlling the score was not difficult for Ayanokouji.
After all, if they lost too much, the impact on Class C would be too great.
Since Hikigaya was full of confidence and felt that Class C's way of doing things was wrong, Ayanokouji also intended to pay attention.
Until Class C collapsed.
And then he would become the opponent for Katsuragi, Hikigaya, and Ryuen.
But.
The collapse brought about by defeat is undeniably an anomaly.
What Ayanokouji expected was a way of collapsing that exceeded his own expectations, to become nourishment for his own growth.
That's why he planned to control the score.
But he suddenly found that he couldn't keep it controlled anymore.
Losing too much.
Even hitting a grand slam wouldn't help; he had to stop Class B's offensive here.
What exactly happened?
The members of Class C gathered together, and Ayanokouji said expressionlessly:
"Ike, did something happen?"
"Yeah, what on earth is going on?"
Everyone's gazes couldn't help but converge on Ike Kanji.
Anyone with eyes could see it.
The several losses of points.
Were entirely because of Ike Kanji's mistakes.
"It's nothing."
Feeling everyone's gaze, Ike Kanji forced a smile.
"I was just mocked a few times."
Ayanokouji keenly sensed something was wrong.
He had already been given a heads-up, so logically the influence shouldn't be this great; Ike Kanji clearly didn't intend to tell the truth.
"Don't mind it, that guy is just like that."
Sudo, on the other hand, felt the same way and patted his brother's shoulder.
"Don't take it to heart, pull yourself together."
Pull himself together?
Upon hearing these words, Ike Kanji's expression stiffened.
Feeling the gazes of Miyake Akito, Horikita Suzune, and others, Ike Kanji felt like he was seeing wild beasts.
They were speaking as if it was all his fault?
He could apologize himself.
But he absolutely could not let others attribute the mistake to him.
Feeling the gazes of the people around him, Ike Kanji's distorted self-esteem was at work.
Not only that.
More importantly, it was fear.
If the responsibility was on him, it would definitely lower his evaluation within the class.
When it came to the next expulsion, it would inevitably be him.
"Ha... what are you saying."
Ike Kanji dismissively slapped away Sudo's hand and said with some exasperation:
"Why are you acting like it's all my fault? Miyake is the same; if he hadn't competed for that ball with me at the beginning, I could have thrown it back. And the ball after that, if you could have caught it, there would definitely have been 2 outs."
"And Horikita, really, although I know you're a girl, can't your ball speed be a bit faster?"
As he spoke.
Ike Kanji was sweating profusely.
He also felt a trace of guilt in his heart, but he still insisted on finishing.
Shifting the blame!
He absolutely could not keep the responsibility on himself.
What's more.
To some extent, this was also the truth.
If Miyake Akito's performance had been better, and if Horikita Suzune had been stronger, some balls could have been caught!
Looking at Ike Kanji who was sweating profusely.
Everyone could clearly feel that this guy was under too much pressure.
Fortunately.
The people here were relatively rational.
"Sorry."
Miyake Akito frankly admitted his mistake.
What Ike Kanji said was not entirely without reason, but justice lies in the hearts of the people; the biggest mistake was still on Ike Kanji.
Horikita Suzune also said with some self-reproach:
"It is indeed as you said, everyone has their respective responsibilities. I'm sorry I couldn't be more useful."
However.
There was a guy present who didn't know how to read the atmosphere.
"How truly ugly..."
Koenji said without any politeness: "Does attributing the mistake to others make you satisfied, lucky-boy?"
"Ha, you guy..."
"Now is not the time to discuss these things."
Before Ike Kanji could speak, Ayanokouji forcibly interrupted.
"Continuing like this will only lead to defeat. I have a slight idea. For the rest of the game, all the people in the outfield should come to the infield."
"What about the outfield then?"
"It's fine. Sudo's pitches have enough power; even if hit, they won't fly too far. If it really doesn't work out, we can only give up on them."
Ayanokouji turned to look at Koenji and said: "Or Koenji, with your stamina, even if you sprint back and forth a few times, it should be fine. Can I entrust this to you?"
"Of course, this kind of game is just child's play to me; it doesn't matter if we play for a few more hours."
"Does that mean I can leave it to you?"
"Naturally, it depends on my mood."
"Then there's no choice. Sudo, suppress the balls in the infield as much as possible."
Ayanokouji said expressionlessly.
Ike Kanji's heart was clearly in chaos; wanting to persuade Ike in this short timeout period was impossible.
He could only wait until the end of this inning to communicate properly with Ike.
However.
What was somewhat puzzling.
At the start of school, Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki did indeed like to shift blame to others, but they had also changed afterward.
How did they suddenly change back again?
On the other side.
Class B coach's bench.
Hikigaya sat in a chair.
Looking at the members of Class C returning to their respective positions.
Wanting to persuade Ike Kanji?
That's impossible.
Does the fact that the people around you say they don't care really mean you can stop caring?
The people of Class C.
Cannot understand the current feelings of Ike Kanji, who is in the last place of the OAA.
Saying there's no need to care means you won't care?
In Ike Kanji's ears, those were just some cold remarks; it's not like they are the ones being expelled.
Clearly.
Ike Kanji is terrified right now!
Is he afraid of losing the game? Or afraid of being unable to move up to Class A?
Clearly.
It's neither!
It's Horikita Suzune, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Sudo Ken, Hirata Yousuke.
It's that group of once-close friends.
It's that group who, even if they had to break their promise, still cut off the last-place Sakura Airi.
As early as when they wanted to implement the bottom-out elimination system.
Unity had already ceased to exist.
This includes Ryuen's class, which is ruled by violence.
It's just that no one had targeted this point before.
The fear that Ike Kanji feels.
The root of the fear is his companions!
Feeling fear toward the person he is talking to, conversation has naturally lost its effect...