Yoshii Akihisa jumped up. "No way, that's gotta be a foul!"
(Yare yare daze, what are they even doing.)
Sakamoto Yuuji clapped his mitt and held it toward the batter's head. "No need to hold back, just throw it."
Yoshii Akihisa shook his head frantically. "That's no good, I'd definitely have to go easy!"
"Hey, Akihisa, don't you dare mess around. I'm watching you two."
Standing nearby supervising was Nishimura Sōichi, the Ironman teacher, who looked at Akihisa and Yuuji and had the distinct feeling these two weren't up to anything good.
"Why am I always the thorn in your side? At a time like this the pitcher should follow the catcher's lead. Sakamoto Yuuji is clearly the mastermind here."
(I didn't expect it to be Sensei actually officiating this match.)
Sakamoto Yuuji bit his finger. [Damn it, with Ironman watching it's going to be hard to pull this off… what should I do…]
(Just play fair and square.)
In the end Sakamoto Yuuji crouched down again and flashed a few more signs to Akihisa.
Yoshii Akihisa noticed Sakamoto Yuuji once more.
Sakamoto Yuuji's signs continued; he ran his hand across his neck, then pointed his thumb downward.
Yoshii Akihisa watched nervously as Sakamoto Yuuji signed. [I'm supposed to take out Ironman right here first…]
The next second Yoshii Akihisa exploded like a startled cat. "Are you kidding me? And if we get caught I'm definitely the one who's going to get yelled at!"
After some back-and-forth the match resumed.
(Yare yare daze, looks like this game is doomed.)
"Bang"
"Bang"
"Bang"
"Good pitch, strike three, out."
Yoshii Akihisa adjusted the cap on his head. "Piece of cake."
[Oh? I didn't expect that. Akihisa's actually pretty good at baseball.]
Saiki, who had thought the match was about to end, saw Akihisa strike out the opposing batter and realized things had turned around.
"Go for it, Akihisa!"
"Go, Yoshii-kun!"
"Go Akihisa!"
"Yuuji, go!"
[Eh?]
Sakamoto Yuuji turned around and saw Kirishima Shouko. "Shouko, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be cheering for your own class? Why are you over here?"
Kirishima Shouko: "Compared to my classmates, I care more about Yuuji. If Yuuji wins today's baseball match, I'll reward you with a date with me."
Sakamoto Yuuji replied with a dead-serious face. "I refuse. That doesn't count as a reward to me at all."
"You can't refuse. I'm just informing you, not asking for your opinion."
Kirishima Shouko calmly picked up a stun gun and waved it in front of Yuuji.
Sakamoto Yuuji panicked. "Okay, okay, put that thing away and stay back."
"Damn it, that cursed Shouko."
"Sigh~"
After sighing, Sakamoto Yuuji announced the next strategy to Akihisa.
Akihisa listened and looked at Yuuji. "Uh… is this really okay?"
The latter nodded. "No problem."
Pitcher change: Sakamoto Yuuji replaces Yoshii Akihisa.
Saiki looked at Sakamoto Yuuji. (No way…)
Standing on the mound, Sakamoto Yuuji looked toward Akihisa and nodded.
The latter met his eyes and nodded back.
Sakamoto Yuuji assumed a very proper stance and threw with force.
The ball was quickly hit away.
"Safe on base."
Then he threw several more times.
"Safe on base."
"Safe on base."
...
Sakamoto Yuuji looked at the score falling behind and gritted his teeth. "Damn it, I didn't expect the opponents to be this strong."
Yoshii Akihisa barely held back the urge to punch Yuuji. "You're the weak one here, Yuuji!"
"All right, all right, Akihisa, don't worry about it. You guys can still turn this around."
"Yeah, Yoshii-kun."
Yoshii Akihisa saw Shimada Minami and Himeji Mizuki consoling him. "Sigh!"
"So what do we do next, Yuuji?"
Sakamoto Yuuji raised his head. "Next up, I'll be the batter. Leave the cleanup to me, relax."
Sakamoto Yuuji stood at the batter's box, extended his bat pointing forward, and struck the classic home-run pose.
"Yuuji, go!"
"Go for it!"
Then.
"Bang"
"Ball one."
...
"Strike three, out."
Sakamoto Yuuji returned to the bench and sat down. "Sorry, I did my best."
Yoshii Akihisa's art style suddenly shifted to pure white as he grabbed Sakamoto Yuuji's shoulder with a serious, earnest expression. "Did you really do your best? Be honest, Yuuji."
Yuuji perfectly matched the shift into white-art-style mode and answered Yoshii Akihisa with utmost seriousness. "Of course it was on purpose. For the sake of my own life, it's better if we lose this match."
Yoshii Akihisa grabbed Yuuji by the neck. "You bastard, it really was on purpose!"
(Yare yare daze, I knew it. Looks like this game is finished after all.)
Saiki had already seen through Sakamoto Yuuji's intentions the moment he looked at him earlier.
...
Yoshii Akihisa stood on the pitcher's mound again. [No good, if this keeps up we're definitely going to lose. I have to find a way to turn it around.]
Sakamoto Yuuji returned to the catcher's position and flashed a few signs to Yoshii Akihisa.
Yoshii Akihisa looked at them. [Do whatever you want now. No matter what method you use, just win.]
Yoshii Akihisa pulled his cap down firmly. "You said it yourself."
He then assumed a pro-level stance and threw with full power. The ball flew in a perfectly straight line through the air at terrifying speed and smashed directly into Sakamoto Yuuji's head.
"Ball."
Yoshii Akihisa sprinted forward and hugged Sakamoto Yuuji. "Someone help! The catcher's hurt! Quick, substitution! Yuuji, hang in there, hang in there!"
Sakamoto Yuuji, barely holding back from passing out, shifted back into white art style, grabbed Akihisa's shirt. "So this was your goal all along."
Akihisa matched the style perfectly. "You said it yourself—any method is fine. Forgive me, Yuuji."
"You…"
Before Sakamoto Yuuji could finish, he fainted.
With Yuuji down, Yoshii Akihisa threw his head back and laughed wildly ||Φ|(|T|Д|T|)|Φ|| "Yuuujiii...…"
[Yare yare daze, I don't want to watch the rest of this match.]
Saiki Kusuo quietly walked away. He felt that if he kept watching, his own standards would drop. The outcome of the match was already clear anyway. Time to go check on the soccer game.
...
He arrived at the soccer field just as the match was about to begin.
Shiraishi and the others came over to greet him.
"Saiki-kun, you're here."
[Yeah, came to cheer you guys on.]
Izumi Yuu: "So how did Yoshii and the others' match go?"
Inuzuka Shu: "Did they win or lose? Hurry up and tell us, Saiki. We're definitely not losing to them."
Saiki thought for a moment. [Well… the way things were going, they definitely won.]
Inuzuka Shu clenched his fist. "Didn't expect that. All right then, we absolutely can't lose either, Izumi, Shiraishi."
"I'll do my best."
[Just give it your all and you'll be fine.]