Chapter 95: Seidou vs Ugumori (2)
"Batting first, shortstop, Kuramochi."
Standing on the mound, Seiichi ground his cleat into the dirt.
This was the very spot… where that guy called Rinichi had just stood.
In his mind, flashes of Rinichi's sharp eyes from the bathroom resurfaced—then shifted to the image of him pitching from the mound.
He had to admit… that guy really was dazzling.
Of all the pitchers he had ever seen… Rinichi was the brightest.
And that was exactly what pissed him off—having to acknowledge something like that.
A glint of madness flickered in Umemiya's eyes.
"Strike!"
The ball dropped lazily into the catcher's mitt.
Kuramochi didn't swing, thinking the pitch would veer off.
"Ball!"
Another slow curveball.
The third pitch, though, was much faster.
Kuramochi grit his teeth.
That speed differential was brutal.
With a crisp crack, the ball shot toward third base.
Relying on his speed, he made it safely to first.
"Safe!"
The second batter, Shirasu, laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Kuramochi to second.
"Nice bunt, Shirasu!"
"Shirasu!"
Rinichi slowly pulled on his black helmet, glancing sideways at the batter's box.
Surprisingly, things had gone smoothly.
Haruichi nearly had a beautiful hit through second, but Seiichi blocked it with his foot.
Seeing that, Rinichi froze for a moment.
"…What a reckless pitcher," he muttered, resting the bat on his shoulder.
Shinji Kanemaru: "…"
Why do you sound like a catcher scolding him?
Rinichi stepped onto the little stair to the batter's box, a confident grin on his face.
His eyes fixed on Ugumori players celebrating two outs.
"No matter what, we have to score this inning."
He let out a cold laugh, eyes sharp:
"An ace and cleanup hitter, huh…?"
"The core of the team…"
"That's not something just anyone can carry."
His arrogant words made the people around him a little uneasy.
Everyone: "…"
They didn't like the matchup—both aces, both cleanup hitters.
So this was what they meant by "like charges repel"?
It wasn't hard to guess what Rinichi was thinking: I'm the ace and cleanup. I'm the team's center. I'll show that guy what a real ace and cleanup looks like.
Different teams or not, Rinichi still had to compete over it.
His overbearing streak was nothing new.
Even Miyuki struggled to rein him in.
Sympathetic glances shifted toward Miyuki.
Miyuki: "…"
"?"
Well, at least the second-years were still around to keep him in check.
But once they moved up to third-years… who could keep Rinichi under control?
The thought alone made them shiver.
"Batting fourth, pitcher, Kamishiro Rinichi."
When Rinichi stepped into the right-handed batter's box, Seiichi froze.
If he remembered correctly, Rinichi was a switch-hitter.
Wouldn't batting left-handed against a right-handed pitcher give him a better look at the pitches?
But Rinichi had hardly ever chosen the left side since stepping into the right box.
Or did he think he didn't even need to see the pitches clearly to handle him?
Filling in the blanks himself, Umemiya smiled wide, though his gaze was icy.
Rinichi—who simply liked batting right, who thought it felt smoother, who wasn't overthinking it— gave his bat a casual twirl to find his rhythm. Feeling ready, he raised it over his head, then slowly drew it back.
Seidou's cheer squad chanted in unison, rhythmically:
"Home run… home run…"
"Ball!"
Rinichi's eyes followed the pitch all the way into the catcher's mitt.
So slow…
And it wasn't even his slow curve.
His gaze lifted to the mound, narrowing at Mamiya.
The next one would be the slow curve.
Even slower.
Not easy to hit cleanly.
He tightened his grip on the bat and swung quickly.
With a loud crack, the ball smashed into the side netting—flying quite far.
"Foul ball!"
Rinichi's swing was so powerful, so full of presence, that Umemiya felt a strong sense of danger and pressure. His smile stiffened.
Even Ugumori's catcher was startled by the sheer speed of that swing.
The second pitch came.
"Foul ball!"
Aside from the first ball, which was outside, the next two had been thrown into the strike zone. Rinichi still found them hard to drive cleanly, but he chose to swing anyway—just to make the pitcher feel the pressure.
A hittable pitch…?
Rinichi thought it over.
Umemiya probably wasn't going to throw anything easy to hit.
In that case… he'd have to choose his pitch.
No matter how much movement a breaking ball had—as long as there was even the slightest opening, he would make contact.
Umemiya's expression soured.
Even with such a huge speed difference, why was Rinichi still able to connect?!
With that frustration in mind, he threw the fourth pitch.
The ball broke away, low and outside!
Rinichi held his breath and swung, in an awkward-looking motion—
Whoosh!
The ball flew into left field, landing just inside the line near the wall, bouncing off the ground and ricocheting against the fence.
A clean double.
"Rinichi!"
"What the—Kamishiro can hit for power?"
"Huh? He can hit extra-base hits?"
"…"
Kuramochi crossed home plate, scoring a run for Seidou.
"Batting fifth, catcher, Miyuki."
Miyuki stepped up to the box with his bat.
Really now… seeing Rinichi, who usually refuses to swing for big hits, crank out a long drive was truly a rare sight.
Well, it was probably because he couldn't get it out of the park—so he settled for an extra-base hit.
If he remembered right, when Rinichi had just entered high school, he couldn't even hit long drives.
Miyuki chuckled to himself.
Our ace is working this hard. If I don't drive him home, he'll be sulking again.
"Foul ball!"
Ah—just barely missed that one.
"Ball!"
Umemiya's frustration deepened.
This guy… why does he feel so much like Kamishiro—
"Foul ball!"
Damn it!
For the fourth pitch, Umemiya threw his signature curveball.
But just remembering that Rinichi could throw it too filled him with disgust.
Sure, their ace might be able to pitch it… but hitting it was another matter entirely!
And yet, Miyuki connected.
The ball zipped past Mamiya's side.
Miyuki's grin widened slightly—last night, he had studied that very pitch more than once.
On second base, Rinichi began sprinting.
The ball dropped into center field.
Another double!
"Safe!"
Rinichi crossed home plate.
"Keep it going, Kenta!" Kuramochi clapped hands with Maezono.
Rinichi did the same, giving him a high five as he said,
"Maezono-senpai, nice hit."
Maezono: "…"
For some reason, when those words came out of Rinichi's mouth, they just sounded strange.
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