Chapter 285: Home-Field Advantage
"Be careful! This is where it gets decided!"
After pulling his gaze away from Sendo, who was already crouching in the on-deck circle, Harada began preparing the pitch sequence with a serious expression.
"I know! If I hesitate here, then I don't deserve to go to Koshien!"
Seeing how seriously Harada was setting up the call, Narumiya Mei immediately understood his catcher's intent.
"Tetsu-san!!!"
"Hit it out!"
"Crush him!"
"Tetsu-san!"
"We've come this far! Just take us to Koshien already, you bastard!" Zaizen shouted arrogantly.
"Hmph. I wonder what you're thinking right now?"
Ozawa glanced toward Sendo, who had his head lowered in the on-deck circle, curiosity flickering in her eyes as she let out a small laugh.
Ever since getting to know Sendo, Ozawa's personality had changed a lot—from hot-tempered and irritable to a full-on cool, mature big-sister type.
No one would ever imagine what she'd been like a few years ago.
"Mei's pitch count is already at 120! Stop them here and shut the door on this chance!"
Harada raised his mitt.
"Mei!"
"Stop them!"
"Inashiro Industrial—strongest!!!"
"Top of the tenth inning in extra innings! One out, bases empty—the cleanup hitter steps up! Seidou, having just survived a crisis, now gets its chance to score! The result of this fifth confrontation between the two sides is about to be decided!!"
"In the first two rounds, Narumiya got consecutive strikeouts with changeups. In the next two, although he got outs thanks to Carlos and some luck in the fourth, his fastball was completely read! At this point, breaking balls alone probably won't make Yuuki swing and miss anymore! How effective those two changeups against the previous batter will be—
that's the key to this at-bat. And after this comes the fifth batter—Sendo, who just blasted a three-run homer in the last inning! His condition today is downright terrifying! The impact of a home run isn't something you can just shake off. If Narumiya doesn't reset his mindset before facing him again,
he might get hit consecutively. But before that, he must get Yuuki out!"
Mine laid out Inashiro's dilemma perfectly.
"Come on!"
"Hah!"
"Whoosh—(AAAH!!!)"
Narumiya Mei roared to fire himself up, unleashing a pitch with everything he had!
Ping!
"Foul!"
"Ohhh!!!"
"Mei!"
"That's aggressive! Even after getting his fastball read in back-to-back at-bats, he throws it on the first pitch?! And it's fast—this might be the fastest pitch he's thrown all day! After pitching this long, he can still throw that kind of heat? Narumiya Mei… what kind of pitcher is he?!"
Mine was genuinely shocked by both Harada's bold call and Narumiya's ability.
The game had already gone on for over three hours—from 1 PM to 4 PM.
"So the consecutive changeups to Isashiki really paid off!"
"Whoosh!"
Pop!
"Ball!"
"Second pitch—a low outside fastball, ball!"
"Another fastball!"
"Third pitch!"
"Whoosh!"
"Hm?"
Ping!
"Foul!"
For a split second, even Tetsu thought it was another fastball.
Only after the ball left the pitcher's hand did he realize—forcing himself to adjust mid-swing and foul off a forkball!
"Alright! He's cornering him!"
"He's timing it!"
"Your timing's right on, Tetsu-san!"
"Leader!!!"
"A fierce clash between the two sides—sparks flying everywhere! Who will prevail? The pride of the ace? Or the will of the cleanup hitter?!"
The commentator whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
"Haa…"
Tetsu took a deep breath.
"Tetsu-san!"
"Yuuki!"
"Narumiya-kun!"
"Mei!"
"Narumiya!"
"Ace!"
"Fourth pitch!!!"
"Whoosh!"
Ping!
"Foul!"
Tetsu swung at another high pitch that was already drifting into ball territory.
That made two straight swings at balls.
"Another foul on the fourth pitch! The cleanup hitter's bat desperately clings on, battling against razor-sharp pitching! The count remains: one ball, two strikes!"
"Tetsu's swinging at balls now… Does that mean Mei's pitches are still that strong?! Does that guy even know how many pitches he's thrown?!"
Miyuki muttered in disbelief from the bench, stunned by Narumiya's tenacity.
Cleanup hitter and ace locked eyes across the field.
"The forkball and high bait pitches have both been read. Narumiya's fastball is clearly still powerful. Honestly, even I'm surprised by his condition. But that alone isn't enough to suppress this batter! To maximize the fastball's effectiveness, there's only one option left…the changeup. But the more pitches you throw, the more likely it is to float up and get crushed. I don't want to throw a changeup to this batter…"
Harada stared at Yuuki, thinking.
He glanced toward the bench.
Coach Kunimoto immediately shook his head—no hesitation. Don't back down.
Harada froze for a moment—then felt Narumiya's presence surge again.
So he'd seen the signal too.
"There's no choice anymore, right, Yasa-san? For moments like this—didn't we train every day, risking everything, so we could handle them even at Koshien?"
Narumiya Mei was like a wolf unleashed, his fighting spirit blazing.
Harada remembered the coach's earlier instructions—and finally understood.
"Even if we get hit… it's fine."
The real key was preventing the four–five combo from scoring.
"As long as the pitch stays low, it becomes a magic pitch—no one can hit it! To throw it now—this is the real deciding pitch! If it doesn't stay low… I'm punching you later. Then we'll have to do exactly what the coach said.…Alright. Come on. This is what you want, right? Then throw me a pitch you can be proud of!"
Seeing Harada's sign, Narumiya smiled faintly.
"Men all have their own worlds. If I had to compare it—it's like a star streaking across the sky…Hit it… Yuuki! Hit it… Yuuki! Yuuki! Yuuki! Yuuki!!!"
"Please—just one hit!"
"Hit it, Tetsu!"
"I'm begging you, leader!!!"
"You can hit it! You can!"
"Mei!"
"Narumiya!"
"Ace!"
"Hah… no need to shout yourselves hoarse—I can hear you just fine. The ace is the one who answers the bench and the stands. And there's still a huge debt waiting to be repaid. We can't fall here—not now!
If we finish this pitch here…we're going to Koshien!
We'll take everyone with us—to Koshien… for revenge!!!"
Thump!
Narumiya poured every ounce of strength into his stride.
"Changeup…?! He still threw it—here of all places?!"
Tetsu reacted instantly!
Thump!
His stride matched it!
"Alright! His form's breaking—timing's off!
Mei's pitch is still… wait—!"
BOOM!
CRACK!
"Ah!" Narumiya cried out in shock.
"Wha—!" Harada gasped.
Whoosh—POP!
The ball shot over the second baseman's head into right field!
Tsubasa could only reach out helplessly—
"AHHH!!!"
The Seidou bench screamed in unison!
The ball landed behind second base.
With the outfield positioned deep to guard against extra-base hits, charging forward was incredibly difficult.
"Ohhh!!!"
"AHHH!!!"
"YAAA!!!"
"URA!!!"
The crowd exploded—especially Azuma, who stood out among them!
"Yes!"
Coach Kataoka quietly pumped his arm.
"YES!!!"
Isashiki, who hadn't even returned to the bench yet, raised his fist and shouted.
Despite all of Inashiro's luck earlier, this was undeniably Tetsu's first hit of the day.
By the time Carlos scooped up the ball with his speed, Tetsu was already standing on second base.
Carlos clenched his teeth less than ten meters away.
"Top of the tenth! The cleanup hitter breaks the deadlock with a hit!!!" The commentator's voice rang out over the chaos.
"And the next batter is—!!!"
"Heh."
Sendo let out a faint sound as he gripped the bat at its midpoint and rose quietly.
A movement so calm—yet it gave everyone the overwhelming sense of a tiger being released from its cage.
"Fifth batter! Center fielder—Sendo!"
"Fifth batter! Center fielder—Sendo!"
Even the PA announcer's voice trembled with gravity.
In that moment, even the normally unshakable Harada and Carlos swallowed hard.
Even knowing the coach's plan—they couldn't help it.
Even Coach Kunimoto himself was drenched in cold sweat.
And that was with full confidence.
It showed just how terrifying Sendo's presence was.
"Inhale… exhale…"
As Sendo drew closer, Harada took a deep breath.
Once his resolve was set, calm returned to his face—
an oddly relaxed expression.
"…!"
"Ohhh!!!"
The instant Sendo stepped into the batter's box—the crowd, which had gone momentarily silent, exploded into thunderous cheers!
His earlier performance had practically converted all neutral spectators.
At that moment, this wasn't Seidou's home field anymore—it was Sendo's.
Before Seidou's own supporters could even react,
nearly the entire outfield section of neutral fans rose to their feet in unison, as if welcoming their king.
Watching the crowd descend into madness,
Ichirou and the others were completely dumbfounded.
Inashiro Industrial got a taste of something usually reserved for professional leagues—a true away-game atmosphere, the suffocating pressure of tens of thousands against you.
"This cheering—!!!"
The commentator wisely went with the flow, fanning the flames even further.
"This is terrifying support!"
Owada said in awe.
"Yeah! It's like he's the darling of professional baseball! In this game, Sendo-kun is the crowd's favorite! That home run last at-bat was simply too shocking! The entire stadium flipped sides the moment he stepped into the box! This has never happened in high school baseball history! A truly dangerous batter can sway the crowd itself! For the next three years, Seidou's opponents may have to endure a pro-league-level away atmosphere!"
Even Mine was shaken.
"I never imagined we'd meet again like this,"
Harada said once the cheers died down.
"It's been a long time, Sendo."
"Oh? So you remembered?"
Sendo raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Same here—I never thought we'd meet again either."
"…You knew already?"
"Nope. I only found out last night. Some annoying old man told me."
"That figures. Same here—thanks to him, I finally remembered.
You should've said something sooner."
Harada sighed.
"Our showdown… it's really been that long."
"Yeah. Six years.
If we get the chance, let's talk properly afterward."
"Sure—though right now, it's still 'kill or be killed.'"
"…!"
Harada was speechless.
Even in Japan, people learned idioms—but this guy casually twisted one on the spot.
No matter what, you win, huh?
Even the head umpire chuckled.
Surprisingly, he didn't stop their conversation—
partly out of curiosity about their connection,
partly to give both sides a bit more time.
"You're awfully confident. You really think you'll win?
This isn't six years ago—we're evenly matched now.
No one knows the outcome."
"I know. But I've never lost since the day I was born."
"…What?"
"Academics, volleyball, basketball, shogi, games—I've never tasted defeat. If you think you can… then try.
Forget team victory—try to defeat me."
Sendo wasn't just declaring his stance—he was inviting Harada to a head-on duel.
Not some nasty, trick-pitch approach.
Even if he knew those tricks wouldn't work on him anyway—it sounded way cooler like this.
Hey, he wasn't past his chuuni phase yet.
"After the game, let's talk."
"Sure."
"Sorry—we're calling time!"
Harada stood up immediately after chatting, requesting a timeout like a total heartbreaker.
"Oh!"
Even the head umpire was stunned.
Just how blessed by the baseball gods was this kid's life?!
They'd talked for quite a while—and he'd completely forgotten to stop them.
Still, by the rules, it wasn't actually a violation.
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