Volume 7, The Third Question(2/2)
Ancient Literature, Class E, Nakabayashi Hiromi, 105 points.
Vs
Ancient Literature, Class F, Tsuchiya Kouta, 22 points.
“What do we do now, Yuuji? I feel that Muttsurini will die really badly!”
“That's a coincidence for once, Akihisa, I feel this way as well.”
Even if he can hit the ball, with the unique difference in scores, he can't possibly hit the ball far, right?
“But Akihisa, you don't have to worry too much.”
“No, even if you ask me not to worry..”
Is there a way we can think of?
“WE MUST BELIEVE! IF WE BELIEVE, EVEN THE YOUKAIS WILL STAND ON OUR SIDE!”
“AH, NOW WE CAN ONLY PRAY TO THE GODS!”
And we're doing this in such a ridiculous manner.
“Please, killer youkais..”
“Watch out! That guy's using the name of evil spirits!!”
If the prayer really comes true, maybe the evil god would ask for a sacrifice from us?
“OUT!”
As we're talking about this useless thing, Muttsurini hit a rolling ball to the batter and got struck out. Now, it's 2 men out. Next, it's the 3rd batter—ahh, time for me to take the bat.
“Alright, I'll hit a big one!”
“Oh! Akihisa, we'll leave it to you then!”
“Leave it to me!”
Thomp thomp! I beat my chest as I enter the batter's box. No problems. I'll do well!
DONK!!!
“--Hit by Pitch, batter walks.”
'IT HURTS! IT HURTS! MY ORGANS GOT RUPTURED!! OUUUCCCHHHH!!”
The first ball was a hit by pitch on the face. The impact of the ball that hit my summoned beast's face was transferred onto my body. You don't have to go that far!
Facing me, who's rolling on the floor in pain, Nakabayashi-san, who's standing on the pitcher's mound, says seriously,
“FROM THIS MOMENT ON, AS LONG AS YOU'RE THE ONE BATTING, I'LL THROW THE BALL AT YOUR BODY!”
“THAT'S A LOUSY DECLARATION! YOU'RE HATING ME FOR WHAT HAPPENED JUST NOW, RIGHT!?”
Can someone replace me for my next bat?
I drag my body that's in pain to 1st base, Uu..that was just a misunderstanding..
“Alright, now the real powerhouse is here.”
Now, it'll be the 4th batter Yuuji.
Ancient Literature, Class E, Nakabayashi Hiromi, 105 points.
Vs
Ancient Literature, Class F, Sakamoto Yuuji, 196 points.
Like usual, both their scores are displayed to everyone.
Yuuji's scores are so high, has great control over his summoned beast, and he's pretty athletic, so there shouldn't be any problems. Facing off against the opponent from class E, he should be able to take one down.
“Ugh..that's guy's terrifying, but the next batter is 'that' Himeji..better settle it here.”
Nakabayashi-san glared at Yuuji's score and muttered.
If the next batter after Yuuji is just a little prick, maybe Nakabayashi-san would deliberately throw a Base on Balls to avoid the confrontation, but unfortunately, behind Yuuji is the second in our year, Himeji-san. Of course, she doesn't want to deal with Himeji-san when there are baserunners on, so she chose to face off against Yuuji.
“Class F's rep, I'm going!”
With 2 men out and 1 baserunner on, Nakabayashi-san gets ready and pitches the 1st ball at Yuuji. The white ball flies straight at the glove--
“HA!”
KLANG—the sharp sound echoed, and the white ball flew into the air. There's no need to see where it went, this is a real homerun.
Class E 3-2 F Class
Yuuji and I return back to home plate, and we got 2 points. Now we're just 1 point behind class E.
“Damn it..it seems that I need to deal with Sakamoto through hit by pitch..”
““JUST USE A NORMAL BASE ON BALLS!!!””
Yuuji and I shouted out at Nakabayashi-san. We thought that she was a normal girl. Only after we started playing against each other that we realized that Nakabayashi-san's really weird somewhere.
“It's been tough on you, Sakamoto.”
“..That was a nice hit.”
“Good one, Yuuji.”
Once we returned back to the bench, everyone received Yuuji warmly. Isn't anyone concerned about me being hit by the ball?
“Alright, it's time for Himeji to go up. The way I see it, let's use this chance to hit another homerun and even the score.”
“Uu..that's a bit hard for Mizuki, right? Her grades are good, but she's not really good at sports.”
Minami gave a wry smile. Himeji-san's body is already extremely weak, and she doesn't really get the chance to play sports, so this can't be helped.
“I thought that way as well, so I told Himeji just now that she doesn't need to swing the bat.”
“In other words..you want Himeji-san to get Base on Balls?”
“That's right, besides, Himeji's marks can't be underestimated. It's okay if the bases are loaded, but when nobody's on base, I think the opponent won't want to fight it out.”
That's right. Besides Yuuji and Himeji-san, everyone here is of class F level, so with nobody on base, it's best to let her walk and fight it out against someone else.
“Base on balls, batter walks.”
“Ah, okay, thank you very much.”
While we're talking, Himeji-san got base on balls. Right now, it's 2 men out, a baserunner on 1st base, and the next batter is--
“Uu..it's me..”
The 6th batter is Minami, but it seems that she doesn't look confident..
“Eh? Minami, you don't know how to play baseball?”
Minami's pretty good at sports.
“Ah, it's not that I don't know how to play it. It's just that..”
“?”
Minami sighed and walked towards the batter box in a lonely manner. What's wrong?
Ancient Literature, Class E, Nakabayashi Hiromi, 105 points.
Vs
Ancient Literature, Class F, Shimada Minami, 6 points.
“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, TIME TO DEFEND! WE HAVE TO DEFEND WELL!!”
“““WOOOHHH!!!”””
“I HAVEN'T EVEN BATTED YET!”
Minami's shout is ever so hollow. In the blink of an eye, she hit a rolling ball to the 3rd baseman and was immediately thrown out.
Sigh, too bad that the subject for this inning is Ancient Literature. Minami's not good with this subject at all, so this can't be helped.
Anyway, this series of offense is over. After the switch in sides, the 2nd inning is carried out through maths. Alright, time for me to--
“Hold it, Akihisa. You're not the pitcher in this inning.”
“Eh? Not me?”
Just when I was about to step up on the mound, Yuuji suddenly called me to stop me. Now what?
“This round will be conducted with maths. Shimada will be the pitcher.”
“Maths..ah, I see.”
Maths is one of the rare few subjects that Minami's good in, and Yuuji's rather good in maths too, so he should be able to catch Minami's pitches. Looking at this inning, they should be at around class B's level.
“That's the case, Aki, leave this inning to me. I'll do my best to hold them off.”
Minami patted me on my shoulder and I said,
“Mn, then I'll leave it to you then, Minami.”
“Okay, leave it to me.”
PA! Minami and I exchange high fives as I walk off the pitcher's mound. Minami's been through the baptism of the summoning battles and the summoning tournament, and she's already outstanding at sports, so I can leave the pitcher mound to her. If that's the case, I'll defend the second base Minami was defending.
Just when I was thinking this as I walked down the pitcher's mound, I find Himeji-san walking towards where I'm defending as well, staring at me for some reason.
“Hm? Himeji-san, is there something?”
“Ah, yes, that..”
Himeji-san came running over with small steps. What's wrong?
While we talking, Himeji-san raises her hand like she's hailing for a taxi. Eh, so I just need to copy her action?
“Like, like this?”
I followed what she did and raised my hand. Himeji-san immediately revealed a radiant smile--
“Yes!”
Pa, she high-fived with me.
“Let's do our best, Akihisa-kun.”
“Ah, mn, let's do our best, Himeji-san.”
“Okay!”
Himeji-san is smiling as she ran off to the outfield. I don't know what's going on, but she wants to encourage me by clapping hands together? So she's feeling the same as us?
Is that so? Then Himeji-san..
“She really wants to see our precious A-books..”
That's bad. These aren't things that girls should read.
“..What's going on? I feel that there's a severe misunderstanding here..”
Alright, time to wake up and defend. With class E as our opponents and Minami maths marks, they most probably won't be able to perform too well. The ball can't possibly fly into the outfield, right? In other words, I'm more important as an infielder now.
Mathematics, Class E, Oumura Shintarou, 65 points
Vs
Mathematics, Class F, Shimada Minami, 193 points.
The huge difference in points can be expected, the opponent's the 8th batter, so there shouldn't be any problems.
After the 1st and 2nd pitches, the chemistry between the pitcher and catcher makes us not worry for them. But Yuuji missed the 3rd ball, and it landed in his chest. The pitch Minami threw with such a high score was extremely fast, so missing it is to be expected.
Mathematics, Class F, Shimada Minami, 193 points.
&
Mathematics, Class F, Sakamoto Yuuji, 175 points.
Minami and Yuuji's marks are shown in front of us. Up till now, Yuuji's marks have been hovering around the 200 mark, so that slip up caused him to lose 25 points. If even Yuuji's summoned beast can suffer such damage even with those kind of marks, I think it will be bad if it's anyone else, right? If I'm the one catching, the pain would even end up on me, so I have to avoid being the catcher no matter what.
While I'm thinking about this, the match is still ongoing. After that, Yuuji slipped up on another ball, but both of them managed to hold off the 3 batters. Minami's maths is really strong.
“It's been tough on you, Minami. Nice pitching.”
“Thanks, Aki.”
“Your pitching was strong, amazing.”
“Fufu, that was because I didn't managed to do well during batting just now. Of course I have to compensate through defense.”
Minami blinked one eye as she said that to me. Uu, it's cool when she does it--
“ONEE-SAMA! ONEE-SAMA'S THE BEST! SEEING ONEE-SAMA LIKE THIS, MIHARU..MIHARU HAS ALREADY..”
A certain girl from class D was shouting and cheering from the stands.
--Wouldn't girls fall for Minami if she does this?
“It'll be our offense now.”
“It's the 7th batter now, so Sugawa starts.”
“Osu! I'll hit that ball high and far!”
After saying that, Sugawa-san storms towards the batter box with mojo. Unfortunately, he knocked a high fly ball and got tagged out. Though the next batter Fukumura-san managed to get a base hit, Yokomizo-san and Hideyoshi didn't perform, and we ended the 2nd inning without earning a point.
3rd inning, 4th inning. Both us and class E didn't manage to get a point.
It's now the final inning. The subject for this round should be Health Education, so--
“Muttsurini, we'll leave pitching to you then.”
“..Got it.”
Speaking of health education, this will be the guy we first think of. This guy has points that surpasses a health education teacher, and it's now time for him to perform. If this guy's to throw the ball, I don't think anyone can hit it.
“No no, hold on. Muttsulini will be the catcher in this round. I'll be the pitcher.”
But Yuuji dampened my mood.
“Eh? Yuuji's going to be the pitcher? Why?”
Yuuji's health education marks shouldn't be lousy as well, but it's a whole lot less as compared to Muttsurini's. We're only behind by one, so shouldn't Muttsurini be pitching?
“I say..didn't I say it just now? If Muttsurini's to pitch with all he got when Health Education's the subject, the catcher will die if he's hit.”
That's right. It was a similar situation when Minami was on the board.
“That's true..but you just need to catch the ball well. Wouldn't there be no damage if you catch the ball in the glove?”
“In other words, I'll die if I miss one!”
On a side note, the summoned beast that's acting as the catcher in this tournament doesn't have any defensive equipment. In this situation, if Yuuji's hit directly by Muttsurini on the body, even Yuuji's summoned beast will suffer severely.
“Really, Yuuji..you're so spineless. If you're a man, you should bet your life and finish the match.”
“I see, so I'll let you be the catcher and show off your manly side.”
“I'm sorry, I'm really sorry.”
It'll be a joke if my summoned beast is to catch that ball with such low marks. Even if I can catch it well, the damage on me will be tremendous.
“What's wrong, Akihisa? Aren't you good at controlling your summoned beast? Forget about the score difference, I think you should be able to catch Muttsurini's pitches.”
“No, it's not that easy no matter how you say it.”
Having just seen the power of Minami's pitch when it was about 200. The speed was already terrifying. Compared to that, it'll be easier to hit against a pitch that's flying at 130 km/hr. Even if we can't pitch curveballs, it'll be too terrifying to throw pitches with that kind of speed with just summoned beasts. Besides, if the pitch hits me while I'm the catcher, the pain the summoned beast takes will be inflicted on me. This will be way too risky. Even if I'm really used to controlling the summoned beast, I can't take such huge responsibility.
“Besides, the opponent's class E, so I can still hold them off if I pitch. More than defense, right now, we need to worry more about offense. Remember, we're still 1 point behind.”
After Yuuji said that, he turns to walk towards the pitcher's mound. He's right. Even if we can hold off the opponents, we'll lose if we can't score. More important than the defense now is that we have to find a way to score in the bottom half of the inning.
Health Education, Class E, Yumata Hirofumi, 52 points
Vs
Health Education, Class F, Sakamoto Yuuji, 147 points.
The scores of the pitcher and the batter are out. As Yuuji said, there won't be any problems with such a difference in score.
“STRIKE! BATTER OUT! SWITCHOVER!”
In the blink of an eyes, Yuuji already struck all three out, and it's now the bottom half of the inning. Though Muttsurini missed the catches twice, health education's his speciality, so he didn't suffer that much damage, and we managed to end this inning safely.
“Alright, time for us to make a comeback! Who's starting?”
“Me, I guess.”
We've been through exactly 2 rounds of batting, so now it's Hideyoshi up as the 1st batter again. Okay, we're settling this in this round.
“Please, Hideyoshi, you must hit the ball out.”
“There'll be no problems if it's Hideyoshi. Do your best.”
“..I'm looking forward to it.”
“Kinosheeta, no matter what, you must hit the ball out!”
“Show them what you're made of Kinosheeta! All hope is on you!”
“That's right! Do your best! And try to hit the ball out!”
“U, uu, I'll try to hit—”
“““THIS IS FOR THE SAKE OF OUR A-BOOKS!!!”””
“..”
“STRIKEOUT!”
“What's wrong, Hideyoshi? You didn't swing hard at all!”
“Those encouraging words of yours drained strength from me..”
For some reason, Hideyoshi looked really tired. That's weird, even if Hideyoshi's summoned beast is tired or hurt or what, it shouldn't bounce back onto Hideyoshi himself.
“Alright, everyone, don't be disheartened. Muttsurini's next. There will be something good!”
Yuuji said this, seemingly to encourage everyone. That's right, sending Muttsurini in health education, we're really looking forward to it.
“..I'm going up.”
Muttsurini walks into the batter box. His score is--
Health Education, Class E, Furukawa Ayumi, 102 points
Vs
Health Education, Class F, Tsuchiya Kouta, 589 points.
Such a shocking difference. If he can hit the ball, Muttsurini would definitely hit a homerun.
“Tsuchiya-san's amazing. If that's the case, he can hit a homerun.”
“Mn. If he can, it should be a homerun.”
Standing beside me, Himeji-san clenches her fist and makes a little victory pose. It seems that she and I have the same thought. Unfortunately..
“However, I don't think it can happen. Tsuchiya won't be able to hit it.”
Minami said to break Himeji-san's wonderful imagination.
That's right. Muttsurini can't perform now.
“Eh? Why?”
Minami's words made Himeji-san, who still doesn't understand baseball too well, have all sorts of question marks on her face.
“Because there's too much of a difference between both of them. The way I see it, Muttsurini will be forced to walk.”
“Walk—ah, you mean that the opponent will throw a Base on Balls and let Tsuchiya-san on base?”
“Mn, that's the case.”
If they're to face off now, it'll be extremely likely that Muttsurini will hit a homerun. But if they send him on base, they won't lose points if it's just a baserunner. on. The opponent will win if they can keep this point, so they'll try and avoid facing off against Muttsurini.
“Base on Balls. Batter walks.”
“..(Nods head).”
As what we expected, Muttsurini got sent on base. In that case, we can't get a point now.
“The way I see it, class E's plan is to deal with Akihisa and send Yuuji and Himeji on base first before taking on Shimada.”
Seems like the opponent checked through our scores. Of course, they won't take on Yuuji or Himeji-san, but rather attack Minami. If that's the case, even if I bunt, I can only gift the opponent with an out..
“Oh yea, Akihisa, I don't know what's your score?”
“I remember my health ed score is around 23.”
“That's really pathetic.”
“Tha, that's because, because..my reference books (A-books) got confiscated..”
“WHAT WERE YOU READING ALL THIS TIME, IDIOT!”
With such a score, if there's no miracle, I can't possibly hit the ball into the outfield. But if I can get on base, I can get Yuuji or Himeji-san to get one back.
“Don't think too much, Akihisa. Just relax. It'll come to us.”
Though the situation is disadvantageous to us, Yuuji still looked rather casual.
“What do you mean? Have you thought of a plan?”
“No, I don't mean a plan or anything..stop saying so much. Get on board. If you don't get there, the umpire's going to be mad.”
“Ah, okay, I'm going then.”
“Akihisa-kun, do your best.”
“Thank you, Himeji-san.”
With Himeji-san seeing me off, I turn to walk to the batter box. Seeing Yuuji look so confident, I know he's planning something, but I don't know what it is. What does that Yuuji plan to do?
“Yoshii-kun, please hurry up.”
“Ah, okay. Sorry.”
The umpire's staring at me now, and I can only scamper to the designated batter box. Once my summoned beast got ready, the opponent confirms Muttsurini's position before getting into a pitching position.
“Oh ya, Sakamoto, Aki just asked. Is there a plan you prepared?”
“No—just look at the field. You'll understand, we won't lose this match.”
“Won't lose? But the situation's disadvantageous to us.”
“No, you're mistaken. The one in a disadvantage is them. Think, it's now the bottom half of the 5th inning, we're behind by one, and the subject's health education.”
“I know that. But Tsuchiya's already on base..”
“And on base—is that Muttsurini.”
“STEAL!”
A call can be heard from class E.
After confirming that the batter won't throw over to hold him at first base, Muttsurini dashes towards 2nd base. I see! So that's how it is!
The pitcher threw the pitch, and it flew to the catcher's glove. In order to help Muttsurini steal base, I try to swing as wildly as possible. If I can block the catcher's vision, I can increase Muttsurini chances of stealing base greatly.
“Damn it..”
After catching the ball, the catcher immediately throws the ball to second base. Damn it! At this moment, it'll be hard for Muttsurini to steal base--
“..Eh? Hard? That Muttsurini?”
Of course not! This is health education, Muttsurini's unbeatable! If the opponent's class A, it can still be talked off, but when the opponent's only at about 100 points, how can it be tough for Muttsurini?
As I say this--
The moment the catcher throws the ball towards second base, I seem to see a glint in Muttsurini's eyes.
“..Baited.”
Muttsurini's summoned beast suddenly accelerated. That guy was deliberately running slow!
“Fa, fast!”
Muttsurini's summoned beast steps onto 2nd base at a speed the human eye can't catch, and he didn't stop as he dashes towards 3rd base. At this point, the catcher just threw the ball to second base. Muttsurini slowed down to confuse them, causing the catcher to throw to second base and not third base! It's true that if Muttsurini did that, the catcher would have ignored second base and went straight for third base right from the beginning. That's a brilliant plan!
“THIRD BASE!”
“GOT IT!”
The catcher immediately gave the instruction, and the second baseman immediately throws the ball to third base. Will Muttsurini be tagged out?
It's also tough for him to get from second base to third base. Now, what will he..
“..Accelerate.”
At this moment, Muttsurini muttered that code word. This is a special activation command that only summoned beasts with more than 400 points can have. Muttsurini has this unique ability, and like what the term means—it can cause the summoned beast to increase speed.
“HOW IS IT POSSIBLE!?”
Class E just let out a cry of disbelief.
Muttsurini steps onto third base at a speed where only the afterimage is left behind, and the ball is still in mid-air.
“STOP MESSING AROUND!”
The third baseman finally catches the ball and throws the ball back to home plate. However--
“..Final acceleration.”
Muttsurini ran faster than the ball as he steps onto home plate, taking a point in an exciting fashion.
“““BRILLIANT!!!”””
Class F's bench erupted into roars. So now we're 3 all. We're tied!
“Alright! Let's get it back at one go!”
Getting ready for the next pitch, I let my summoned beast raise the bat and get into position. It should be alright if I can use the chance when the opponent's wavering due to what Muttsurini did--
DONK!
“HIT BY PITCH. BATTER WALKS!”
“Why..why is it that I always get hit by pitch..”
If you're affected by what Muttsurini did, just send me a base on balls!
Health Education, Class E, Furukawa Ayumi, 102 points
Vs
Health Education, Class F, Yoshii Akihisa, 0 points.
“Yoshii Akihisa, KIA!”
“Eh? Hold on! The match's still not over! What happens if my health ed drops to 0?”
Does this mean..
“Akihisa, go take the replenishment tests. I'll let Kondou be the pinch baserunner.”
“Damn it! Isn't this way of getting off too lousy!?”
Why is it that I have to take the tests in this rare sports meet? I feel that the summoning system's not right!
“Well, you don't have to worry about the match. As things stand, we'll definitely win.”
“Uu..that's too much..”
I drag my heavy steps to the staff room.
In the end, while I was taking my health education replenishment tests, class F was able to send class E home with a base hit. But for me, who's unable to take part in the match, I'm feeling really uninvolved..