Arima Kazusa had been struck by a pitch, leaving a massive bruise across his shoulder.
Lying on a stretcher, he clenched his teeth as waves of pain coursed through his body.
Only after Arima was taken to the hospital did the Seido players turn their furious gazes toward the field.
Hit-by-pitches weren't uncommon in baseball.
But a pitcher who hit a batter, seriously injured him, sent him to the hospital, and then showed absolutely no intention of apologizing?
That was almost unheard of.
Even the most ill-tempered player would at least feel some embarrassment.
Yet Ogawa Tsunematsu stood on the mound without the slightest trace of remorse.
"Alright, the game has to continue."
Coach Kataoka took a deep breath.
"Higasa Shoji, you're in for Arima."
"Yes, Coach!"
After Higasa hurried onto the field, Coach Kataoka turned toward the bench.
His eyes eventually settled on Kanzaki Ryou.
The usually calm coach was visibly angry.
In all his years of coaching, he had never seen a pitcher with such terrible sportsmanship.
"Today..."
His voice was low and heavy.
"Score as many runs as you can."
"Hold nothing back."
"Show me what you've got."
He paused briefly before adding:
"This semifinal will last all nine innings."
Everyone immediately understood what he meant.
Strictly speaking, a coach shouldn't let personal emotions affect his decisions.
But after witnessing Ogawa's completely unapologetic attitude, Kataoka decided to be selfish for once.
"YES!"
The entire Seido bench roared.
Today...
They were going to crush Seikou.
—
Behind home plate, Masu Shinichiro felt a headache coming on.
He could hear the fury radiating from Seido's dugout.
Unfortunately, Ogawa's personality had always been like this.
Hot-tempered.
Stubborn.
Single-minded.
Throwing at full power from the first pitch wasn't surprising.
But hitting someone badly enough to send them to the hospital...
Even Masu hadn't expected that.
"Scumbag."
The sudden insult reached his ears.
Masu looked up.
Standing in the batter's box was Seido's sixth batter.
Shirasu Kenjirou.
Even the normally calm and emotionally stable Shirasu was furious.
Masu could only sigh.
After a moment of thought, he gave the sign.
First pitch.
Spiral Ball.
Whoosh!
The giant pitcher delivered the ball with an ugly sneer on his face.
Shirasu watched it pass.
No swing.
The second pitch came high and outside.
CRACK!
Foul ball.
One strike.
The third pitch was another Spiral Ball.
This time, Shirasu squared around.
Bunt!
The ball rolled softly toward third base.
The instant the bat dropped, Shirasu exploded out of the batter's box.
At the same time, Higasa sprinted from first toward second.
"SAFE!"
The throw arrived a moment too late.
Higasa's determination was obvious from the dirt-covered uniform he wore after his headfirst slide.
Normally, he would never risk such a play.
But today was different.
He was replacing the injured Arima.
He had to make Seikou pay.
After Shirasu came Maezono Kenta.
Unlike Shirasu, Maezono wasn't known for his patience.
He swung aggressively at an outside fastball.
CRACK!
The ball screamed into right field.
No outs.
Bases loaded.
The pressure from Seido's offense felt like a mountain crushing down on Seikou's players.
Even breathing became difficult.
Next came Aso.
Facing another Spiral Ball, he made solid contact.
The ball flew toward right field.
Not far.
The heavy spin killed most of its momentum.
Still, it was enough.
Higasa crossed home plate safely.
Shirasu advanced to third.
However, Seikou managed to turn a double play.
Both Maezono and Aso were retired.
Two outs.
Finally, Toujou stepped into the batter's box.
As one of Arima's closest friends in the same year, anger burned inside him.
Whoosh!
The Spiral Ball arrived.
CRACK!
Foul!
Toujou grimaced.
What a heavy pitch.
His palms tingled from the impact.
No...
I have to bring Shirasu-senpai home.
I have to score.
The next pitch came.
CRACK!
"OUT!"
In the end, Toujou failed to deliver.
Despite his awful personality, Ogawa's pitching was undeniably effective.
His Spiral Ball was both heavy and fast, making solid contact extremely difficult.
The first inning came to an end.
Score:
Seido 5 – Seikou 0
"It's fine."
Kanzaki patted Toujou's shoulder as he returned to the dugout.
"We'll get plenty more chances."
"Next inning is our turn to watch the seniors work."
Five runs wasn't an insurmountable lead in a Seido game.
But today was different.
Today, they were guaranteed to play all nine innings.
As for those bastards from Seikou...
They'd better be ready.
—
At the start of the second inning, Miyuki quietly approached Kanzaki before they took the field.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah."
Kanzaki's answer was immediate.
"I'm sure."
Miyuki studied him for a moment before nodding.
He stopped trying to persuade him.
What they were about to do was a little crazy.
Dangerous, even.
If things went wrong, there could be serious consequences.
But Kanzaki had already made up his mind.
And Miyuki was willing to go along with it.
—
Standing on the mound, Kanzaki stared coldly at Seikou's cleanup hitter.
Nagata Shouhei.
One of the most dangerous batters in the country.
His hitting ability ranked among the best in Japan.
His power exceeded even Todoroki Raichi's.
His explosiveness rivaled Yuki Tetsuya's.
His bench press reportedly reached 243 kilograms.
Even Masuko Toru couldn't match him.
In short—
He was a monster.
A batter no pitcher could afford to underestimate.
Yet Kanzaki's very first pitch shocked everyone in the stadium.
WHOOSH!
A 160 km/h fastball screamed toward Nagata's chest.
The ball missed by less than a fist's width.
SMACK!
"BALL!"
The crowd froze.
What kind of pitch was that?!
Even Nagata stood stunned.
His mouth hung open.
"Are you serious?"
"That thing almost hit me!"
If a pitch like that connected, I'd end up in the hospital too!
His eyes immediately shot toward the mound.
There he saw Kanzaki.
Standing tall.
Chin raised.
Looking down at him with an ice-cold gaze.
Nagata's pupils contracted.
Damn it.
He did that on purpose.
This is revenge.
The realization made anger surge through him.
"Come on, then!"
he shouted.
WHOOSH!
The second pitch was even worse.
The ball came directly at his body.
This time there was no room for doubt.
Nagata cursed and jumped away.
Then—
The baseball suddenly broke inward with a huge arc and settled into Miyuki's mitt.
"BALL!"
Two balls.
On paper, Kanzaki seemed to be losing the count.
But everyone in the stadium knew the truth.
He was doing it deliberately.
Openly.
Blatantly.
Retaliating for Arima.
"You..."
Nagata's expression twisted.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
Kanzaki merely held out his hand.
"Again."
Miyuki silently threw the ball back.
The third pitch came.
Still inside.
Still aimed directly at the batter.
Nagata didn't dare gamble.
He could only dodge.
Against another pitcher, he might have trusted his strength and stood his ground.
But against Kanzaki?
No chance.
If one of those pitches actually hit him, being sent to the hospital would be the best possible outcome.
Three balls.
No outs.
For the first time in his entire high school baseball career—
Kanzaki Ryou had fallen behind 3-0 in the count.
And absolutely nobody believed it was an accident.
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