Chapter 286: Echoes
"Huh?"
Sendo was completely caught off guard when Harada suddenly called for a timeout, getting thoroughly shown up by the move.
He stepped back two paces, resting one hand on his bat as he stood there watching the pitcher–catcher battery on the mound.
"What are they up to this time?"
An irritated voice came from the field—it was Narumiya Mei.
Then his broken, intermittent shouting followed.
"Are you kidding me?! Why do I have to do something like that?! I can absolutely shut him down!"
"I get it already! Hurry back! I told you—your face is too big, it's scary!"
"So what do you mean by 'too big'?!"
Harada snapped back for once, and the two of them pressed their foreheads together, butting heads like bulls.
"What are those two even talking about?"
Sendo chuckled as he looked toward the mound.
"They look like they're having fun."
The voices came in fragments, making it impossible to tell what they were actually saying.
"I told you, I get it! Hurry back already! Go—go, go!"
Before long, under Narumiya Mei's shooing, Harada returned with an irritated expression.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
After signaling to the home plate umpire, Harada crouched back down.
"Looked interesting," Sendo said casually.
"Yeah… he's really a troublesome guy," Harada sighed. "Narumiya, that is."
"Isn't he kind of cute?"
"Cute?" Harada laughed. "I suppose… but he's annoying too."
Harada chose to deliberately ignore Sendo's lack of formality.
Sometimes admiration and fondness could blind a person—like how beauty exists in the eye of the beholder.
What others saw as Sendo's disrespectful attitude came across to Harada as relaxed, approachable even kind of charming.
If Narumiya Mei ever heard that opinion, he'd probably yell:
"Charming my ass! You didn't see how he pissed me off three days ago!"
....
The umpire had clearly been generous.
Normally, they would've been warned long ago.
Maybe the deafening cheers made the umpire want to give the kids more time to adjust, or maybe it was a reward for such an incredible game. Either way, they'd been given a rare green light.
"Your previous at-bat and that home run definitely had an impact," Harada said.
"But since you're saying that much—then bring it on."
No matter what had happened between them, the ace's condition always took priority.
Tactics were cold and logical—but the people executing them were not.
Players needed to adjust to circumstances, and Coach Kunimoto trusted their judgment.
"Sendo!"
"Mei!"
"Shut him down, Mei!"
"Hit it!"
"First pitch—let's test him with a changeup. A ball is fine."
Harada weighed his thoughts carefully.
Throwing the same pitch that just got crushed takes courage. But if it lands successfully, it'll give Mei confidence.
And Sendo has never swung at a changeup. With his deep stance, waiting for the ball to break, even a bad one with bounce wouldn't get hit.
....
"Changeup, huh… even though Harada said that earlier…"
Narumiya Mei clenched his jaw.
No matter what—absolutely no matter what—I'm taking this team to Koshien!
For Narumiya, the earlier home run had hurt far more than the single just now.
That meant his condition was actually better than Harada had expected.
"After the cleanup hitter just drove one cleanly, now the ace faces another cannon of the same caliber!
Will Seidou take the lead back, or will the ace strike back from the brink?
The highly anticipated first pitch!"
Narumiya took a deep breath and hurled the first pitch with all his strength.
Because a changeup relied on finger control to reduce speed, it required just as much full-body force as a fastball—making it deceptive.
Pop!
"Ball!"
"Didn't move at all!"
If his weakness were still there, that pitch was betting it wouldn't enter the strike zone.
But even if he doesn't want to, his body should start adjusting to the speed by now…
Still, throwing changeups to a left-handed power hitter is scary.
One mistake and it's a perfect pitch to crush.
But Narumiya's obsession with every single pitch… makes him someone you can always trust in clutch moments.
With that, Harada gave another sign.
Narumiya studied it, nodded cautiously, and straightened up.
"Mei!"
"Make him hit it!"
"We'll stop him for sure!"
"Hit it, Sendo!"
"Hit it! Hit it! Hit it!"
Sigh… If his pitches were that easy to hit, we wouldn't be suffering this much, Sendo complained internally.
....
"Second pitch!"
"Ah—!"
Ping!
Foul!
Ping!
Foul!
Ping!
"Foul!"
"That one flew far outside the field, smashing into the fence netting behind third base!"
"So fast—what swing speed!" Yoshizawa stared in disbelief at the net behind him.
Harada acted as if he hadn't even seen the result, immediately signaling the next pitch.
"Swing your arm all the way! And keep it low!" Harada locked his gaze on Narumiya.
Narumiya slid his hand into his glove, preparing.
As long as I suppress him…
....
"Here it comes!"
Narumiya snapped the ball out between two fingers.
After stepping in, Sendo began his swing while waiting to see if the ball would break.
"Forkball!"
The moment it started dropping near the plate, Sendo recognized the pitch.
"He's swinging—!" Harada waited tensely.
The wait felt unbearably long—less than 0.3 seconds stretched into eternity.
Ping
"Ah!" Narumiya cried out the instant contact was made.
"Left field!!!"
"Will it go in?!"
The entire stadium held its breath as Inashiro's outfielder sprinted for his life.
Seidou's faces lit with excitement, while Inashiro's twisted in fear.
Coach Kunimoto felt his heart leap into his throat.
Pop
The ball landed in a spectator's glove in the left-field stands.
But—
"Foul!" shouted the line judge.
"Such a waste!!!" Seidou and most of the stadium cried out.
"So close!!!" came the voices from Inashiro's supporters.
Many Inashiro bench players slumped down in relief.
"Phew…" Kunimoto wiped his face, drenched in sweat.
"Just a few dozen centimeters… just a few dozen centimeters! That scared me to death! If that had been another homer here… for a moment, I really thought our last summer was over!"
That pitch had been that close.
And because of that, Inashiro felt no joy at forcing a two-strike count—only fear.
Seidou, on the other hand, felt nothing but regret.
"He can hit it! He can!" Onii-san shouted first.
"Send it out, Sendo!"
"Ura!"
"Uga!"
Other seniors followed, cheering with all kinds of strange sounds.
....
"Mine-san!" Owada asked in shock.
"…Yeah. If another home run had been hit there, this game would've basically ended," Mine Fujio said, exhaling.
"Even Narumiya Mei would struggle to accept getting homered in back-to-back at-bats."
"Especially with Mei's morale already shaken, facing a clearly red-hot, beyond-peak Sendo…If he got hit again, that would've been truly terrifying."
Even from a neutral standpoint, Mine couldn't help but worry for Inashiro.
"That pitch was a little high…"
Still affected by that single? Or is the home run still lingering?
Harada gave another sign.
Narumiya bit his lip.
Harada didn't waver, staring straight at him.
Despite his conflicted expression and obvious unease, Narumiya slowly nodded.
"Phew…" Seeing that, Harada finally relaxed.
"Man, my luck's pretty good today," Sendo said casually beside him.
"You really are in amazing form today," Harada couldn't help saying.
"Yeah. Like, best condition of my life—total overperformance."
Sendo set his stance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harada move and stand up.
"Wha—"
Just as Sendo was about to ask, 'Don't tell me you're calling another timeout?'—
He saw Harada extend his glove toward first base.
"The catcher stands up—intentional walk?!"
"Inashiro chooses to intentionally walk the batter after forcing him to two strikes?!"
The announcer stared in disbelief.
Even the umpire looked surprised—then understood.
Only by standing here could you feel how overwhelming this batter's pressure was.
"For the sake of victory, sacrifices are sometimes necessary."
Harada thought so.
And choosing this kind of walk would also help Narumiya conserve stamina.
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Four balls!"
Enduring immense humiliation, Narumiya Mei hurled three consecutive balls, burning with rage.
Clatter!
Sendo dropped his bat, gave Narumiya a long, unreadable look, shook his head, and walked to first base.
That single motion pushed Narumiya's anger and humiliation to the brink.
In Narumiya's eyes, Sendo's gaze was filled with endless mockery.
It reminded him of what Sendo had said three days ago:
"Just don't walk me when the time comes."
"Don't walk me…"
Those words echoed endlessly in his ears.
"Who do you think would walk you?! I'll make you cry at the plate!"
He remembered his own response clearly.
Yet what had he done today?
An inside-the-park homer.
A home run.
A single.
Only one strikeout.
And now—he had walked this bastard, enduring his humiliation.
"Shut up!" Narumiya felt like he was going insane.
But thinking of last year's defeat and everything since then, he endured.
In the end, he suppressed his emotions.
Only endless flames burned in his eyes.
....
In truth, Sendo's look hadn't been mocking at all.
If anything, he admired Narumiya—his willingness to make that sacrifice for victory.
If their roles were reversed, Sendo couldn't say for sure he'd make the same choice.
But there would never be an answer.
....
"One out, runners on first and second!
Batter: sixth, Masuko!"
"Masuko-san… I don't know if this intentional walk was good or bad," Sendo thought from first base,
"but if there's an opening—that moment is now."
Harada knew it too.
But he trusted Narumiya.
No—all of Inashiro trusted their ace.
"With that look in his eyes, it'll be fine. Honestly, when Coach told me to walk Sendo, I didn't even know how to convince Mei. But with this… we'll definitely win!"
Harada's expression hardened with resolve.
Still, proper probing was necessary.
"First pitch! Outside! Doesn't need to be a strike!
Swing the arm fully!"
....
The first pitch was hit.
"Yes! First-pitch swing!"
"Go!"
Everyone watched the high fly ball.
"Out!"
Carlos retreated deep near the fence, caught it cleanly, and fired the ball to third to stop Tetsu from advancing.
Though Tetsu wasn't blazing fast, he was still quick.
"Tch… Carlos…" Pudding-senpai muttered, slowing his run.
"So close!!!"
"Two straight at-bats with heart-stopping balls—today's luck really is on Inashiro's side!"
"That kid again!" Owada Akiko said in shock.
She felt like she'd used up years' worth of surprise in one day.
"After a walk, attacking the pitcher's shaky first pitch—that's not a bad approach," Mine Fujio said calmly.
Narumiya Mei, seeing the result, finally settled down.
I can't keep pitching recklessly.
Pitching required calmness—to control the ball, to unleash power.
His condition wasn't bad.
In fact—
It was very good.
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