Chapter 288: Stance
After Coach Kunimoto fired up the players,
Narumiya Mei was the first to step out of the dugout. Carrying an emperor-like, domineering aura, he held the knob of the bat in his left hand, rested the barrel on his shoulder, and strode forward arrogantly.
"Bottom of the tenth inning, Inashiro Industrial on offense!
Fifth batter—pitcher, Narumiya!"
"The game has gone into extra innings, bottom of the tenth! The leadoff batter is today's ace with an excellent batting performance—Narumiya! Up next is the sixth batter Yamaoka, who hit today's first home run, followed by the skilled hitter Hirai Tsubasa—an excellent batting order! One run ends it—sayonara!
Can Inashiro Industrial use this powerful lineup to finish the game in one go? Or can Seidou High survive this inning, keep the game alive, and wait for their chance?"
"Pitch carefully! Nori!"
"Take them down one by one!"
"Wipe them all out!"
...
"Narumiya-kun!"
The first cheer for Narumiya Mei came from a female voice….
"Mei!"
"Ace!!!"
"Hit it out!"
"End it right here!"
"Oh? You've still got fighting spirit? That's impressive!"
When he reached home plate, Narumiya Mei casually chatted with Miyuki.
Miyuki glanced at him, then turned his head away again.
That move left the home-plate umpire momentarily stunned.
The umpire couldn't help thinking, "Now this is a championship atmosphere."
They were clearly old acquaintances too—earlier, Sendou and Harada had been chatting endlessly like neighbors.
By comparison, this pair—friends off the field, enemies on it—felt far more fitting for a finals stage.
The umpire also seemed to misunderstand and thought these two were very close.
Naturally, Narumiya Mei probably thought so as well….
Miyuki, however, would never admit it.
"But… the game ends here," Narumiya Mei firmly told himself, finishing the thought in his heart.
He didn't want to drag it out anymore. In the ninth inning, he had even thought they were about to lose and had sunk into despair (even if, on the surface, he looked full of killing intent).
Now that he had the chance, of course he wanted to end it himself.
At the very least, he wanted to be the one to sound the horn of the final offensive push.
"Be careful, Nori!"
Miyuki truly had no spare energy left to chat with Narumiya Mei.
"Yeah!"
Kawakami took a deep breath, preparing to pitch.
"Whoosh!"
"Pop!"
"Ball!"
"The first pitch is a ball outside! That one missed by quite a bit! Was he being too cautious? Or did nerves cause a control error?" the commentator speculated.
As a commentator, he had player data on his desk—professional analyses—so he knew Kawakami was a sidearm pitcher with excellent control but a somewhat timid personality.
"Good! One more—another ball, but a bit closer to the strike zone this time! You can do it, Nori! Even better if you can get the batter to chase!"
From Miyuki's inner thoughts, it was clear that the previous pitch had been intentional.
"Whoosh!"
"Ping!"
"Foul!"
"Another pitch outside, fouled off by the batter!"
However, the commentator didn't know Miyuki's thinking or Coach Kunimoto's last-second instructions, so he couldn't grasp the battle of wits unfolding.
"Yes! He swung at a ball! Next one—here!"
Miyuki also didn't know that "if you think you can reach it, swing decisively even if it's a ball" was an instruction Coach Kunimoto had just given.
Otherwise, he would've said, "Isn't that just what Sendo does all the time?"
Kawakami nodded slowly. In reality, he was already extremely tense.
"Huff!"
He took another deep breath, adjusting his condition.
Given Kawakami's timid nature, it was impossible for him to suddenly become ice-cold under pressure. Becoming clutch overnight was extremely difficult to begin with, so this method of calming himself was the best he had.
"The pitcher and catcher have confirmed the sign! The third pitch—here it comes!"
"Whoosh!"
"Pop!"
"Strike!"
"The third pitch is an inside slider! The break is so sharp that when it enters the glove, it almost looks like it slid behind the batter! (An exaggeration, but the angle can really give that illusion.) The batter doesn't swing! Two strikes—already two strikes!"
Narumiya Mei choked up slightly on the bat and stepped a bit closer to the mound, making the opposite choice from Sendo and Miyuki.
As a pitcher himself, his feel for the ball was excellent—outstanding, even—otherwise he wouldn't be a regular fifth batter.
Even choking up, he could still react instantly and pull back to hit an outside pitch.
"This pitch! A slightly low fastball—the same line as the last one! Finish him here! If you can just hold on—
The chance will definitely come back!"
"Whoosh!"
"It won't come…!"
Seeing it was inside, before he could even confirm whether it was another slider, Narumiya Mei murmured softly, as if he had already guessed Miyuki's intent.
"Ping!"
"So this is your 'chance'," Narumiya Mei said, finishing his sentence as he made contact.
In that instant, terror flashed across Kawakami's face, while disbelief colored Miyuki's expression.
Except for Sendo, everyone on Seidou felt as if the morale they had just built up had been doused with a bucket of cold water.
"Whoosh!"
The moment the ball left the bat, Sendo had already judged the landing point—between left and center field—and moved diagonally backward almost simultaneously.
"It's hit! Will it get through?"
"It's through!"
Narumiya Mei roared as he sprinted the bases—completely unlike his usual self.
(He normally keeps his drama internal, showing only capriciousness, tsundere pride, and arrogance.)
"Bang!"
"It gets through!" the commentator shouted excitedly.
"Yes!"
Narumiya Mei yelled.
"Yes!!!"
The entire Inashiro Industrial dugout followed suit.
This ball was far faster than the one Harada had hit earlier. Sendo could only dive in a desperate gamble.
But the ball was simply too fast.
"You've got to be kidding me!!!"
Jun-san, who arrived afterward and saw Sendo nearly catch up, sprinted desperately after the ball as well.
Sendo was already incredibly fast. From contact to landing took less than two seconds, and he had covered nearly twenty meters—an astonishing reaction and movement speed.
"Yes!"
After sliding into second base, Narumiya Mei raised his left arm high and struck a huge celebratory pose.
Clearly, that earlier air of overwhelming dominance had been an act—just look how excited he was now!
"Yes!"
"Graaah!!!"
Yabe let out another beast-like roar.
"A beautiful hit, Mei!"
"A blow from the ace, Narumiya! The first hit of the bottom of the tenth—a double!!!Seidou High is once again facing a massive crisis. With just one more hit, the game could end in an instant—sayonara!"
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