Chapter 258: Opportunity
"Mmph… now what? Our goal of messing with Mei's mentality before the game—that was already achieved in the last at-bat. This one… is a true head-on battle of pure strength."
Miyuki watched Sendo take his final adjustments in the batter's box.
"Nice expression you've got there… But doing things the opponent hates most—that's my specialty.
Grit your teeth and endure it."
Sendo thought, staring at the tyrant-like pitcher on the mound.
Up to this point, Narumiya Mei had only used his full power against Seidou's No.4 and No.5 batters.
The benefit was saving pitches and stamina.
The drawback was that it demanded extremely high defensive support—though Inashiro's defense was truly trustworthy.
But this pitching style demanded something from the pitcher: He had to pitch with the mindset of an absolute superior—an unshakeable confidence looking down at the opponent from above.
Anyone without that level of conviction would fail.
The human body instinctively wants to "fill in" the emptiness created when you don't exert full strength.
When you hold back, the body feels a strange anxiety and hollowness—then instinctively wants to push harder.
A typical example was when Sawamura learned the changeup—he felt he "wasn't using enough strength," added force, and ended up spiking the ball into the dirt…
In other words: For Mei to "hold back," he must genuinely believe, "This level of power is enough."
But that superior attitude struck violently at Sendo's pride.
He may look carefree and indifferent—but in truth, he is far more arrogant than Mei.
Sendo didn't provoke with words or antics—
He used power to crush opponents.
Then torment them.
If possible, even destroy whatever they were most proud of.
But Sendo was no fool.
He wasn't the type to rush in without awareness.
"—Yasan! What's with that look!"
Narumiya instantly picked up on Sendo's gaze.
No one understood this look better than Mei—it was the same condescending stare he had been giving others a moment ago.
Two proud monsters clashed—with their eyes alone.
"Play ball!"
The umpire ruthlessly interrupted their "deep staring contest."
....
"In the last at-bat, this hitter didn't swing at Mei's changeup at all. And for every other pitch—good or bad—he swung if it was hittable. He might've abandoned the changeup entirely… Normally, that pitch tends to float if thrown too much, and for a lefty it's very easy to smash. But before the changeup loses effectiveness, to neutralize him perfectly and take control of the game… We need to increase the number of changeups against this hitter."
Harada hesitated.
"First pitch? No… Not to this batter. Too dangerous."
After a brief internal debate, he signaled.
"Whoosh!"
Ping!
"Foul!"
"Slider for the first pitch! But he pulled it foul!"
"You serious, Yassan? Are you getting aggressive too?"
"Shut it. The most dangerous pitch… is the one the opponent least expects."
Harada instantly read the mischievous glint in Mei's eyes.
"If that's how you want to play…Then I won't back down either."
"Whoosh!"
Pop!
"Ball!"
"Second pitch—Mei's full-power inside fastball!"
"You idiot! That didn't even enter the strike zone! Baka yarou!" Harada cursed internally.
"Is he losing control? Or remembering the inside-the-park homer?"
Miyuki watched the pitch, deeply confused.
The pitch sequence itself was brilliant—inside slider → full-power inside fastball.
No one would expect Mei to throw the same pitch that Sendo crushed earlier.
But the pitch missed badly—so far inside even Sendo wouldn't swing.
Miyuki wondered if Mei's body was subconsciously resisting inside pitches to Sendo.
But in truth…
It was just an accident.
If Mei had the chance to explain, he absolutely would—he'd rather die than let people think he was "scared."
After all, he only thought he looked cool.
Everyone else saw a brat.
Harada, however, understood from Mei's movements that it was an accident—so he didn't hesitate to call inside pitches again.
"Same pitch! Lower it! He'll swing!"
"Hah?! Do you know who I am?"
The tsundere Mei grumbled inwardly, insulted by Harada's warning.
"That last pitch was just an accident!"
"Whoosh!"
"Same pitch! And this time—it's in the zone!"
Pop!
"Strike!"
"He's cornered him!"
The entire Inashiro side—players, bench, fans—shouted this in their hearts.
"S-Sendo… miss a swing?!"
Even the seniors couldn't remember the last time they saw Sendo whiff.
That's how shocking it was.
"Third pitch—a forkball on the inside! The batter fell for it! Now one out, one ball, two strikes—the batter has lost all ground! What kind of showdown will Mei and Sendo give us next?!"
.....
"Deep breaths! Deep breaths, Sendo! Like this! Deep breaths!"
Sawamura was the most affected—his mind blank, his voice trembling.
"Sawamura."
"Ah!"
Kuramochi startled him.
"Stop saying things that actually make sense! How am I supposed to joke about that?!"
But truthfully—Kuramochi was panicking hard.
Sendo's at-bat meant the direction of the entire game.
But Sendo himself felt no pressure—his titanium nerves wouldn't buckle over something like this.
"Ah, I missed. How rare," Sendo said softly, almost teasingly.
"…What are you planning next?"
Harada couldn't help asking—half curious, half irritated.
No one knew if he meant to unsettle Sendo.
"Who knows? But…"
Sendo suddenly stopped speaking.
Then—
Harada's eyes widened.
"He shortened his grip? Is he trying to stabilize contact? Or—"
"Pitch tricky!"
Harada quickly signaled Mei.
"Whoosh!"
Ping!
"Foul!"
"Let's foul off a few more first," Sendo said, as if completing his unfinished sentence.
He relaxed his entire body—shaking out his limbs loosely.
His movements looked exactly like Carlos yesterday when he adjusted for the butterfly pitcher—relaxed, rhythmical, unreadable.
"You're not aiming for a hit?"
Harada couldn't understand Sendo at all.
Ping! Foul!
Ping! Foul!
Ping! Foul!
Every single ball flew neatly behind Harada—like well-trained pets.
"He's only hitting the outer half of the ball. That way he doesn't need the sweet spot—just enough to change the ball's direction so it doesn't go forward.
That guy…"
Miyuki thought, delighted, already guessing Sendo's purpose.
Pop!
"Ball!"
No one knew how many foul balls it had been—but Mei was unraveling.
"This damn brat!"
"You little—!"
Even Harada was getting mad.
"This is kind of fun… no wonder Ryo-san likes it,"
Sendo laughed.
"Stop talking during the at-bat!"
The umpire warned him.
"Yes sir," Sendo answered without a hint of remorse.
The umpire was annoyed—yet oddly charmed.
He thought Sendo was a "tough-mouthed but obedient kid" with a cute gap.
If Mei knew what the umpire was thinking, he'd scream:
"You must be blind!"
(Of course, he'd never say that to an umpire.)
....
"Are you kidding me…You want to face me with this clowning style?"
Mei narrowed his eyes.
"Don't underestimate people!"
Harada snapped—also provoked.
Sendo's ability to tilt people's mentality was legendary—exactly as Miyuki always said.
Harada's anger was simple to understand:
Imagine preparing fully for a duel—research, analysis, everything—
Only for the opponent to treat it like a joke.
Who wouldn't be furious?
"One more pitch! Fastball!"
Harada wanted him punished.
Ping!
"Foul!"
"This pitch will end the farce! With such mechanical, lazy swings, he'll never react in time. Finish it with your decisive ball—teach this brat a lesson!"
But Harada overlooked one thing—
Full relaxation allows instant explosive movement.
And Mei—already mentally drained—acted instantly.
"Changeup!"
"He swung! Perfect! As long as it stays low—no one can hit—"
But Harada still didn't understand Sendo.
Didn't understand that Sendo was a walking paradox—you never knew what he would do.
Then—
As Sendo swung loosely, his left hand did not follow the bat.
Instead, it slid along the bat, while the right hand completed the motion, and his entire form—
turned into a bunt stance.
"—A SAFETY BUNT?!"
The moment Inashiro realized—
It was already too late.
Clink!
"Ku! Ku! Ku! Ku! Ku!"
Sendo exploded forward with inhuman speed.
Third baseman Yoshizawa and shortstop Shirakawa rushed forward in panic.
Honestly—the bunt wasn't even that good.
But their reaction was a beat too slow—completely thrown off by Sendo's bizarre at-bat.
Even if they weren't a step late, stopping a sudden bunt of that quality with Sendo's speed was nearly impossible.
Pop!
Shirakawa picked up the ball, turned—
And froze.
Sendo was already on first.
"So fast!"
Harada remembered Sendo's words in the first inning:
"Have you ever seen my full speed?"
Those words echoed painfully—like Sendo was looking down on him:
"You know nothing about my speed."
"What unbelievable speed! The infielders didn't even have a chance to throw! A monster—faster than even Kuramochi! Sendo Akira!!!"
With that kind of speed—and only one out— Seidou High School, already leading by three runs, suddenly found themselves with a golden opportunity to score again, while last year's champions had yet to create any scoring chance.
"Can Inashiro withstand Seidou's attack?"
The commentator, finally seeing a true climax in the match, poured his excitement into the microphone.
"I'm truly shocked! I didn't expect that in this deadlock, it would be Seidou who first gained the chance to score additional runs!"
Owada exclaimed.
"Yeah. Even though the lineup is about to cycle for the second time, and Furuya's stamina is starting to drop—just when Inashiro was close to gaining momentum, Seidou broke the stalemate first.
This is a huge blow for Inashiro. Seidou this year has relied heavily on relief pitching—
if a pitcher shows problems, they immediately switch him out. Now their central lineup has shown the ability to create scoring opportunities at any moment.
This shakes Inashiro's previous strategy—
holding Seidou to zero runs while slowly earning back their own. A score gap steadily transforms into pressure."
Mine Fujio explained calmly to his junior as he analyzed both the present and the possible future developments.
"What's going to happen in this match…?"
Ninomiya asked Yang beside him.
"No idea. But right now, there's no doubt—
the game is flowing entirely in Seidou's rhythm."
"Hahahaha! Keep attacking, you brats!
…The dream I couldn't achieve last year…I leave it completely in your hands!"
That was Azuma's voice from the sidelines.
Of everyone present, he was probably the one with the most complicated feelings right now.
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