"Strikeout!"
The umpire blew his whistle, and Shuwa Academy's third batter walked off the plate, face full of frustration.
"Damn it, I was so close."
On that last pitch, his bat had almost nicked the ball.
"Strikeout after strikeout—Aoba's Takashi once again single-handedly shuts out his opponents."
"His legend continues."
"The shadow cast over Koshien Stadium comes from Aoba, from this ace pitcher named Takashi!"
"His fastballs will be the nightmare of every high school batter!"
The male commentator's voice was hoarse with excitement, his spit flying as he shouted.
…
"What do you think?"
In the stands, Horikita Manabu stared straight at Takashi on the mound. It was unclear who he was speaking to.
"All brute force. His pitches are too sweet. He doesn't control tempo. He's only able to bully these second-rate teams," said Nagumo Miyabi with a scoff.
Manabu gave no response.
Even among teams that made it to Koshien, there were still levels of difference.
It's like the Champions League—sure, all 36 teams are in, but would you really put Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich in the same tier as Monaco, PSV, or AC Milan?
In terms of raw power, many teams from Tokyo were strong enough to qualify for Koshien. But the slots were limited—only two teams could go.
"If what we're seeing now is all Takashi's got, then he's nothing to worry about."
Katsuragi Kohei echoed Nagumo's view.
The reason Takashi seemed untouchable now was because no team had studied him yet.
No one knew his top speed. No one knew what breaking pitches he had. No one knew his pitching angles…
Before Koshien began, no one had any data on him, no team had ever prepared for him. That was why he could dominate so easily.
If Takashi had shown up on their radar earlier, if they'd had time to analyze him and prepare targeted strategies, he wouldn't look nearly as terrifying.
Takashi's rise was certainly legendary—but it was destined to be short-lived.
"Sakayanagi, Ichinose, what do you think?"
Horikita Manabu gave a slight nod.
He agreed with them, but he still wanted to hear what Sakayanagi Arisu and Honami Ichinose had to say.
"I'll refrain from commenting."
Sakayanagi Arisu, with her fair skin and lovely features, smiled faintly.
Takashi had only appeared in two games so far. The sample size was too small—she didn't want to make a premature judgment and end up eating her words.
"..."
Ichinose Honami didn't seem to hear Horikita at all.
She just kept staring intently at Takashi as he walked past her.
When Takashi's gaze swept over, she instinctively lowered her head—then quietly lifted it again a moment later.
"Ichinose-san, the president's talking to you."
Nagumo Miyabi noticed that Ichinose Honami had been staring at Takashi as if she'd lost her soul, and felt a twinge of jealousy in his heart.
He had a strong sense of possession and had always seen Ichinose Honami as his.
"Ah, oh… What did you say, President?"
Ichinose Honami snapped back to reality, slightly flustered.
"Nothing."
Horikita Manabu stood up and left.
"You're not going to watch the rest of the game?"
"I've gathered enough information. There are plenty of ways to deal with a pitcher whose only weapon is speed."
Nagumo Miyabi also got up, hands in his pockets, and followed.
Soon, almost the entire group led by Horikita Manabu had left, leaving only Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu in the stands.
"Sakayanagi-san, aren't you leaving?"
Ichinose Honami blinked her clear, deer-like eyes and looked at Sakayanagi Arisu with curiosity.
"Aren't you also staying?"
Sakayanagi Arisu leaned forward slightly, her elbows resting on her thin thighs wrapped in white garter stockings.
She cupped her adorable face in both hands and gazed at the field.
"Is it because of Takashi?"
Ichinose Honami's heart skipped a beat.
"No, no way! What are you saying, Sakayanagi-san? I only met Takashi-kun once during the Aoba entrance exams. We didn't even exchange a word—how could I possibly like him?"
"What does liking someone have to do with how many times you've met?"
Sakayanagi Arisu sounded like she was speaking to Takashi, or perhaps just thinking out loud.
"Some people, you like at first sight. Others, no matter how many times you see them, you'll never like. Isn't that how it is?"
"I really don't like him," Ichinose Honami stressed again.
"Is that so?"
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled softly again and said no more.
"Bases loaded—first, second, and third. One clean hit and Aoba could easily score another run."
"Let's see who's stepping up as the fifth batter… It's Takashi, the genius monster pitcher of Koshien!"
"This will be his first time stepping up as a batter."
"Let's look forward to his performance."
Takashi gripped his bat and walked toward the batter's box, glancing up at the scoreboard.
It was already the third inning, and Aoba was leading Shuwa 6 to 0.
'Four more runs,' Takashi thought to himself.
One run?
Not worth a damn!
What Takashi wanted was all four runs—including himself.
Usually, baseball games don't end early.
But early endings aren't entirely out of the question either.
If a team leads by 10 runs after the 5th inning or by 7 after the 7th, the game can be called early—though that decision still involves consultation with game officials.
Takashi stepped into the batter's box, locking eyes with Shuwa's pitcher. His gaze was calm yet brimming with intensity.
Facing him on the mound, the Shuwa pitcher felt a tremendous pressure emanating from this player named Takashi Takashi.
Above him stretched a sky as blue as the sea.
Beneath him lay the ground of dreams and glory.
He wasn't ready to stop here.
'Shuwa's summer… I'll be the one to protect it.'
Resolve filled the pitcher's eyes.
Takashi licked his dry lips.
Whatever effort Shuwa had put in no longer mattered.
From the moment that school tried to provoke him, Takashi had already decided—they were going on the pillar of shame.
He and Yukino didn't get along, but they shared one trait:
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Any humiliation suffered, Takashi would return in full.
"Ahhhh!!!"
The Shuwa pitcher raised his leg, swung his arm, and let out a roar as he poured his last ounce of strength into the pitch.
"Beep! 151 km/h!"
"This pitch…"
"To hell with your damn baseball dreams!"
Suddenly, Takashi erupted from total stillness into explosive motion, swinging with everything he had.
His bat, like a samurai sword unleashed at lightning speed, sliced through the air so fast it seemed to vanish from sight.
Crack!
The metallic sound of bat meeting ball echoed across the stadium through directional mics.
The ball, now a streak of white light, flew even faster than it had come—soaring past the infield, the outfield, and finally toward the stands, under the stunned, excited, and awestruck gaze of the crowd.
'Am I imagining things? Why does it feel like the ball is getting big—' Thud!
Gotoh Hitori watched the ball grow larger in her vision, and just as she realized something was wrong, it smacked her squarely in the forehead.
Bouncing high, it then struck Ichinose Honami's chest and slid down to her lap.
On the electronic scoreboard, the score changed again.
Aoba: 10.
Shuwa: 0.
"Ahhhhh——"
A brief silence was followed by a stadium-wide explosion, like a tsunami crashing down.
This time, the cheers came not just from Aoba—but from all directions, from every corner of the stands.
"Takashi, you're too cool!"
"That's right, let these country bumpkins see what Tokyo's made of!"
"This is the baseball I wanted to see!"
The long-suppressed passion in the crowd was ignited. Over ten thousand spectators waved anything they could, screaming and shouting in a frenzy.
"A walk-off home run! A walk-off home run!"
"Takashi shows the world with this homer that he's not only the best among pitchers—he's also the best among hitters."
"Pitchers fear his batting, batters fear his pitching—offense and defense in one, dual-wielding, that's Takashi!"
"The demon king of Koshien… has been born!"
"Shuchiin has released a demon with their own hands. And now—wait, wait, where is Takashi going?!"
Before a crowd of over fifty thousand, Takashi slung the metal bat over his shoulder like he was ready for a fight and walked straight toward Shuwa's cheering section.
He stopped, pointed the bat at them, and shouted, "Try barking again, I dare you!"
___
20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___