Standing on the pitcher's mound, Furuya was completely stunned, his pupils trembling.
He never expected the batter to hit his pitch.
Kataoka was also visibly shaken by Rinichi's performance.
Miyuki chuckled with genuine admiration, a bit of sweat on his brow. "He actually did it..."
But wouldn't this be a heavy blow to the pitcher?
"Kamishiro actually hit the rookie monster's pitch!"
"A ho run—unbelievable."
"Isn't that the sa guy who shut out Ichidaisan in the last tournant? And now he's this good at batting too?"
"And he's just a first-year."
"With this lineup, there's no way Seidou doesn't make it to Koshien."
Kataoka smiled slightly. "Furuya passes. Starting tomorrow, join First String training."
"Kamishiro, that's enough. You did well—go take a rest."
"Tanba, you can rest too. If you recover your usual form, you're absolutely capable of competing at the national level. Have more confidence in your pitching."
Rinichi handed back the helt he had borrowed from his senpai and returned to Miyuki.
"That was aweso—a ho run," Miyuki praised.
Rinichi couldn't deny he felt proud.
"Thanks."
To be honest, there was a bit of luck involved.
After all, it was a high-speed fastball. Just making contact would've been impressive—let alone sending it over the fence.
He reached over and snatched his bat bag back from Miyuki.
Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "You're seriously sothing else. With a pitcher that good out there, your first thought is hitting his pitch? Not worrying about how he might threaten your position? There's only one number 1 jersey, you know."
Rinichi zipped up the bat bag and looked up. "Exactly. You worry because there's a threat. If there's no threat, there's no need to worry. I'd rather focus on hitting a fastball."
"You really are fluent with your logic," Miyuki muttered.
"So what, is it that you want to hit a certain soone's pitch? Or just anyone with that kind of speed?"
"Hmm... I just didn't expect Furuya's pitch to be just as fast. If he's willing to practice with , I think I could hor off that guy when we face him."
He said that calmly—but his words were savage.
"You're trying to turn Furuya into your personal pitching machine?"
"No—"
Rinichi was about to explain when there was a commotion in the freshman dugout.
Apparently, soone had just declared himself the pinch-hitter.
The na was Kominato Haruichi.
Kominato?
He must be Kominato-senpai's little brother.
Rinichi thought to himself.
Noticing that Haruichi was holding a wooden bat, Rinichi paused, a little surprised.
"Another interesting guy," Miyuki comnted.
Rinichi glanced sideways at him before fixing his gaze on Haruichi.
First pitch.
Haruichi swung.
Ping.
It sailed toward right field—a clean hit, and within bounds.
A solid double—but with no one on base.
"What the hell was that, damn it?!" ca a loud roar.
Rinichi looked over—it was the upperclassn, and the one yelling was Isashiki-senpai.
"What are you guys doing letting the freshn push you around?! Get out there and crush them!"
Then ca Kuramochi's trademark laugh. "Two hundred runs? That's a bit much, isn't it, Jun-san?"
"This is embarrassing," Ryousuke muttered with a helpless smile.
Isashiki shouted he was going up next but was fortunately stopped by Kuramochi.
If he couldn't play, he'd just have to watch.
"By the way, didn't little Rinichi co to bat today?" Ryousuke asked.
Isashiki imdiately shifted his attention and began scanning the crowd.
It didn't take long to spot Kamishiro.
He strode over in big steps and wrapped an arm around Kamishiro's shoulders. "So, did you get up there?"
"Y-yeah," Rinichi stamred slightly.
Miyuki, grinning, was asked, "So, how'd he do? Did he make us First String guys proud, or just embarrass us?"
Rinichi: "…"
"No way, he hit a ho run, and then Coach didn't let him keep batting," Miyuki said with a grin.
"Impressive," Isashiki Jun praised as he ruffled Rinichi's hair.
Soon after, both Kominato-senpai and Yuuki-senpai also offered Rinichi their complints.
Furuya, watching from a slight distance as Rinichi was surrounded by the upperclassn, was still lost in the mory of that ho run. He lowered his gaze, deep in thought.
Next up to bat was Masuko Tooru.
And his first swing resulted in a ho run as well.
The crack of the ball smashing into the back net made it sound like the fence might tear.
So strong, Rinichi thought in awe.
Isashiki Jun muttered a familiar line, "Looks like that pitcher's confidence is gonna take a hit."
The pitcher on the mound adjusted the brim of his cap and looked down, clearly affected.
Now that Rinichi thought about it, when he hit Furuya's pitch earlier, he hadn't really paid attention to Furuya's reaction afterward.
Furuya... Satoru?
The na felt familiar, like he'd heard it sowhere before.
Rinichi tried to recall it but ca up blank, so he gave up. If it were that important, he figured he would have rembered.
The match ended with an unsurprising result: a victory for the second and third years.
No drama. No upsets.
Rinichi was planning to head back to the dorms—but wasn't let off the hook.
"I heard you've been slacking off during training?" Isashiki's glare was enough to make Rinichi break into a cold sweat.
"..."
"If you don't train properly, it's easy to get injured in a ga."
So, he was imdiately put on extra training duty.
Apparently, the entire team knew about his slacking—except maybe the coach.
Luckily, Isashiki-senpai didn't push him too hard.
...
"Eh? Masuko-senpai is back in the starting lineup?"
Kuramochi said as soon as Rinichi returned.
He gave his usual quirky laugh.
"Congratulations to Masuko-senpai," Rinichi said sincerely.
Kuramochi added, "You're a starter too, right? Even though Coach Kataoka hasn't announced it officially."
If he was nad starting pitcher, that would an Rinichi would get jersey number 1.
"Maybe. After all, Tanba-senpai is still here," Rinichi replied calmly.
"You really don't care about being number 1?"
"That ans being Seidou's ace pitcher."
Rinichi still looked indifferent. "Of course I care. But it's up to Coach Kataoka. If it's not , it's not surprising. If it is , that's also not surprising."
"Besides, even if Tanba-senpai keeps number 1, it doesn't matter. Once he graduates, it'll be mine."
"There's still another strong pitcher in our year. You're that confident you'll be number 1?"
"I hit his pitch. A ho run," Rinichi replied flatly.
"…That's your answer?"
Pitching and batting are two totally different things.
Kuramochi looked at his serious expression and found himself at a loss for words.
------------------
If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.
Visit my patreon: patreon/Shu_21
Reviews
All reviews (0)