86 Yakushi High Vs. Seido High 2

In the Stadium's Audience.

"Yakushi has definitely improved since Rei transferred there", commented Ryosuke.

Chris nodded agreeing with him. "I wonder why he transferred But nothing can be done now. Oh look, your brother's turn is here". He nudged Ryosuke.

"Let's see how he does", said Ryosuke with his usual smile.

Back in the Field.

Haruichi was in the batter's box ready. He looked at Rei and remembered what he discussed with Sawamura and Furuya last night.

Flashback, to Sawamura's dorm room.

"Do you guys think we can win in the finals?", asked Haruichi sitting on a chair.

Furuya and Sawamura remained silent as they sat in the room with different thoughts going through their minds.

"Do you think you can hit Rei's pitches, Haruichi?", questioned Furuya.

Haruichi remained silent for a while, "I know I have a lot of weaknesses like my small stature, but I will make up for it by improving the speed of my swing and trying my best to hit".

Furuya didn't question him any further and nodded.

"How do you guys feel about facing Rei tomorrow", asked Haruichi suddenly making the atmosphere in the room tense.

"I want to defeat him no matter what it takes", said Furuya with his eyes holding determination and a little frustration which was pretty evident.

"I don't want to fight against master #2", said Sawamura meekly while lying on his bed.

"Why? If we want to go to Koshien we have to beat him. Don't you want to, Sawamura?", asked Furuya frowning.

"It's not that. It just doesn't feel right", said Sawamura.

"I think it's best if you move on like Rei has and focus on our team. I'm disappointed Sawamura, I thought you wanted to be the ace", said Haruichi.

"What are you talking about? I still want to be the ace!", said Sawamura.

"Then let's do our best to win against Yakushi", said Haruichi.

The trio nodded with determination.

Back in the Field, Present Time.

Haruichi exhaled and tried calming down his nervousness as he stood in the batter's box. 'I can do this…' he thought pursing his lips.

The next moment, Rei pitched and Haruichi felt sudden pressure from the ball.

"Strike!", yelled the umpire.

'Why did he let that one go?', thought Miyuki in the dugout.

'No pressure, I should get myself together. I can do this after all the effort I put in practicing batting', thought Haruichi standing in the dugout. His heart dropped when he heard the umpire say it was a strike.

Rei threw the 2nd pitch.

Haruichi hit the ball. Seeing that he hit it he got ready to run to first base. With this, he hoped they could score the first run, but his hopes shattered when he heard what the umpire said.

"Foul!", yelled the umpire.

Raizou sighed a sigh of relief.

Sighing Haruichi got back in his batting position. 'I have to hit it this time for sure'.

Rei threw the last pitch.

Haruichi swung his bat. 'Are…' he thought feeling like he didn't hit the ball right. His instincts were right because he hit the ball with the edge of his bat.

"What are you waiting for? RUN!", yelled the players in Seido's dugout.

Hearing the noises, Haruichi realized he hit a grounder towards the center of the field and ran, dropping his bat. But he was unlucky since the grounder was straight to the pitcher.

Rei reacted quickly sensing the grounder even before Haruichi ran he had already halfway reached the ball. Grabbing the ball, he threw it towards the 1st base. 'Please catch this…'.

Mishima who was on the 1st base was nervous seeing Rei throw the ball towards him, but he instinctively caught the ball. He looked at the mitt which had the ball in it shocked.

"3 Outs! Change!", yelled the umpire.

"OOOOO!", yelled the Yakushi players from the dugout.

In Yakushi's Dugout.

"Can you believe that Mishima actually caught the ball and didn't make a stupid mistake?", said Sanada. He couldn't believe what he just witnessed as well.

"Rei's training worked after all", Raizou sitting on the bench.

All the other players shuddered remembering the training the devil Rei put them through.

Back in the Field.

Haruichi went back to the dugout feeling disappointed in himself. 'I thought I would be able to hit his pitches after improving my swing, but I was wrong'.

In Seido's Dugout.

"Furuya, are you ready?", asked Ochihai coach.

Furuya nodded preparing himself.

"Good, let's go", said Ochihai coach.

Back in the Field.

After a few seconds, Everyone moved to their positions in the field.

The 1st inning, bottom started.

Kazuma came to the batter's box and got in his position.

Furuya pitched.

"Strike!", said the umpire.

Kazuma just let the pitch go. 'After catching Rei's pitches, this pitch doesn't feel like it's that fast anymore', he thought chuckling to himself.

Furuya threw the next pitch.

Kazuma hit the ball toward the left field.

"RUNN!!", yelled Yakushi players in the audience.

"Safe!", said the umpire.

Kazuma safely made it to the 1st base.

In Seido's Dugout.

"They got their runner on the base first. Our defense is lacking a bit", commented Ochihai looking toward Seido's players on the field.

Kataoka nodded. 'I should have trained them more'.

Back to the Field.

Masuda came to bat next. He was struck out.

Mishima came to bat next. 'Are', he thought as he somehow managed to hit the ball towards the center field.

In Yakushi's Dugout.

"That was totally a fluke", said Sanada.

"Definitely", said Raizou agreeing with him.

Back in the Field.

Kazuma made it to the 3rd base, and Mishima reached the 1st base.

"Yakushi has 2 runners on base! And next, we have Todoroki Raichi, Yakushi's best slugger coming to the batter's box", said the announcer.

"Kehahaha…", laughed Raichi as he walked to the batter's box.

Facing Raichi on the mound made Furuya's heart beat faster since there were already 2 runners on base.

'Calm down. Don't get shaken up, Furuya', thought Miyuki.

Taking a deep breath, Furuya threw his first pitch.

A loud noise rang from the bat and the ball clashing each other. This sound made Furuya gasp.

The ball went high and toward the fence.

"Foul!", yelled the umpire.

Fortunately for Seido, It was a foul which gave some life back to Furuya.

Furuya threw his next pitch which Raichi hit it straight to the center back of the field.

Seido's defense ran to get the ball.

Meanwhile, Kazuma made it home, Mishima made it to the 2nd base and Raichi made it to the 1st base.

"Yakushi has scored the first run!", said the announcer.

Hearing the announcement, Rei smirked at the Seido players who were staring at him.

"What a troublesome brat", said Miyuki witnessing the scene.

Rei jumped Kazuma when he came back to the dugout.

"Good job!", said Rei smiling.

"It's weird when you compliment. Anyways, isn't it your turn now", said Kazuma blushing.

"Oh wait…yeah it is", said Rei immediately grabbing his bat and walking out towards the batter's box.

"Hi", said Rei enthusiastically to Miyuki.

Miyuki nodded and signaled Furuya something.

Furuya pitched a slider to the inside.

Rei knew that Miyuki was very aggressive with his calling that's why he wasn't thrown off when he sensed the pitch was a slider.

'What if it's a slider? It can't stop me', thought Rei as he sent the ball toward the back screen on the 1st pitch.