Chapter 29 : VS Osaka Kiryuu II

"BALL! FOUR BALLS!"

"What the hell?! This is the fourth time he gives his opponent a walk just by this inning, right?!"

"Yeah! What a crappy pitcher!"

"Kataoka should change him as soon as possible!"

"I only come here because I think this would be a good match. But it seems I am wrong. Let's go home!"

"Yeah!"

Hiroto whose position was close to the spectator stand sighed helplessly, knowing full well how dissatisfied the supporters were. At first, when Furuya stood on the mound this inning with resolution and determination burned in his eyes, Hiroto thought this would be different. And indeed, this inning was different. Unfortunately, not in the way he or any Seido players hoped for.

Out of the six batters that Furuya had faced this inning, two players were out already due to weak grounders while the four others were given a free walk to the next base. The spectators finally had enough when even in a base-loaded situation, they didn't see any hope for Furuya to recover and for Kataoka to change the situation on the field. It was as if the team threw Furuya onto the fire and let him burn alive.

 "Should we consider changing the pitcher?" Chris on the dugouts whispered at the coach.

"Not yet." Kataoka shook his head. However, after pondering for a second, he added, "Let Sawamura do a warmup with Miyauchi in the bullpen. He will go from the sixth inning." Chris nodded before relying on Kataoka's words to the other first-year pitcher.

"OSH! This Nagano pitcher will be ready anytime the Boss wants!" Sawamura straightened his back. "Miyauchi-senpai, let's go!"

Seeing Sawamura starting to warm up in the bullpen, Miyuki finally had enough and asked for a timeout to the umpire. He walked through the mound and asked Furuya to come closer before saying, "Kataoka-sensei originally planned to let you pitch until the seventh or eighth inning. But it seems he is unwilling to see this result too. What do you think?"

It was a lie, of course. Kataoka had already discussed with him and Chris about the arrangement of the pitcher in this game yesterday, and based on that discussion, the decision had already been taken that no matter how bad Furuya's situation was, he would be staying on the mound until the sixth inning. Miyuki just said that to stimulate Furuya's adrenaline, hoping to see change from the pitcher.

It was unfair, of course, to give Furuya more pressure with the threat of being replaced soon. If this was any random pitcher, hell if this was Tanba or Kawakami, they would crumble the moment Miyuki uttered that nonsense threat. However, if there was one thing he knew about Furuya and Sawamura to some degree, it was the fact that the two freshman pitchers had the nerve of steel. If anything, this would only pump up their motivation.

"Miyuki-senpai," Furuya spoke, catching his attention. It was not often for Furuya to call him that polite. "What should I do to not let gain any more runs?"

Miyuki was stunned, didn't expect Furuya to ask that question. He looked carefully at the pitcher to see if there was anything wrong just to find Furuya's eyes were still blazing with spirit, not willing to give up. Even though there was still a trace of arrogance there, Furuya was willing to bow down and ask for help, which showed a sign of maturity.

"Even though I don't want to admit it, it is true that I am unable to pitch balls with the speed I am supposedly able to achieve." Furuya continued. "But I don't want to get off the mound without doing anything, so please give me some suggestions here."

Miyuki grinned widely, ecstatic to see his guess was confirmed.

'That eyes and that determination… I am right. This guy is just like Sawamura-kun. They both have the same potential to be an ace.'

"Okay, listen up." He started to speak. "When you think of it calmly, all the runs they've gotten was because of your walks. To put it simply, your performance today is disastrous. However, do you know why Tetsu-san, Jun-san, and the other players never came up to encourage you?"

Furuya was stunned, never thinking that far.

"It is because they still trust you, Furuya." Miyuki smiled, patting Furuya's chest with his mitt. Hearing that, Furuya turned around quickly, searching for his senpai to confirm what Miyuki said. What he received was nods of encouragement from everyone, and while there were no words were thrown, it was enough for him. "Dealing with the batters is not only the pitcher's job! So, just pitch and trust the fielders behind you! Don't forget, you are not alone anymore."

Not alone anymore. That was the keyword that Furuya seemed to forget. It wasn't like he was still in middle school where everyone tried their best to hinder his progress. Now, he had an amazing catcher as his partner and the best fielders to cover his back. He was so often doing everything alone he seemed to forget this was not Hokkaido anymore.

'Trust, huh?' Furuya closed his eyes, letting the word sink into his head. 'I see….'

Seeing the expression on Furuya's face, Miyuki grinned, knowing that his words affected the pitcher in a good way. He had a hunch that after this, the new Furuya Satoru would be reborn into something new, something completely different than before.

'It seems I woke up a beast inside him.'

-----------------------------------------------

'Dealing with the batters is not only the pitcher's job, just trust the fielders.' Furuya recalled Miyuki's words while he started to wind up. 'That's right, this place is totally different from all the previous ones I have been to. It is okay to just put my trust into that catcher's mitt and pitch.'

Even though it was a bases-loaded situation where one more hit would make things worse for the team, Furuya didn't feel the same pressure as before. Now, all of his focus was on Miyuki's mitt, ignoring all the distractions coming from outside.

The moment he took a stride forward with his right foot, he gripped the ball tighter as he kept one sentence in mind, 'Believe in that mitt!' And within a second, the ball was released from his hand with a decent speed.

It wasn't Furuya's top speed. No, in fact, it was below his standard. However, the route was tricky and the ball generated heavier power than before, catching the batter off guard.

CLANK!

"Another hit! The runner on the third base had already run! It is over!"

"No, it lands not too far from the center field! Isashiki!"

Like a cheetah, Isashiki dashed forward the moment he knew the ball was going in his direction. Seeing all the runners from Osaka Kiryuu had already run to the next base, he didn't panic at all, knowing one out was enough to end this turn.

'Well, if I have to end it all with one throw, why not make it flashy and prevent the runner from coming back home too? Maybe this will encourage Furuya.'

With that thought in mind, Isashiki scooped the ball gently with his gloves, shifting it to his throwing hand before using his cannon shoulder to send the ball back home to Miyuki.

"DIIIEEEEEE!"

The ball traveled with a high speed, piercing the area between Ryousuke and Kuramochi as it went directly to the home plate where Miyuki was waiting. Everyone held the ball nervously, waiting in tension as they witnessed the race between the runner and the ball. The umpire behind Miyuki was also tense, didn't want to make a mistake. As the ball almost arrived at Miyuki's mitt, the runner dove acrobatically, wanting to reach the home plate first.

Unfortunately, the runner had to face Miyuki, the most talented catcher in the generation. With quick thinking, Miyuki shifted his body slightly inside to cover the plate slightly, not enough for the empire to judge it was a flagrant contact that could lead to a malicious one, yet still enough to hold the runner back.

Seeing that, the runner tried to twist the hand he extended far so that even if the collision happened, he still got the plate first before Miyuki. He wasn't fast enough though, as the ball had already been in Miyuki's mitt as the catcher threw his hand quickly to touch the runner, sending him out on the home plate.

"OUT! THREE OUTS, CHANGE SIDES!"

"YOSSHAAAA!"

"Nice cover, Jun!"

"That's how you should do it! Come on!"

"Senpai, the ball is slightly lower than I expected. What if it bounced to the ground first?"

"Shut up, Miyuki! Just celebrate it while you can!"

Amidst the small celebration as all the Seido players walked through the dugouts, Isashiki turned his attention to Furuya before saying, "You got it now? Don't just play one-man baseball yourself, you idiot!"

Furuya was stunned, especially when he saw the other senpai also nodded in agreement. It seemed this issue had been bothering the senpai too, yet they still trusted him to overcome this situation. For the first time ever, he showed a genuine smile, nodded his head,

"I got it, Senpai. Thank you."

All the players around him had their jaws dropped, didn't expect Furuya could be polite. However, it only took three seconds for Kuramochi to break the silence and awkward atmosphere around them with his trademark laughter.

"Gyahahaha! So, you can be that polite, Brat? If only Sawamura could do that too!" The shortstop grinned, putting his helm on while grabbing his bat, ready for the next inning. "Well, just go get some rest. Let your awesome senpai deal with the rest."

--------------------

"Come one, go lower." Kuramochi licked his lips nervously in the batter's box, waiting for Osaka Kiryuu's pitcher to throw the ball. Based on what Hiroto said, there was a high chance the catcher would ask for another forkball, so he had been preparing himself to greet the ball with his bat.

"Come on, Kuramochi! Hit it far!"

"Yeah! Show them you are our leadoff!"

"Come on, Cheetah-sama!"

Hearing the cheers from the dugouts, Kuramochi grinned, feeling the excitement. This was the third time he was in the box, yet not once he was able to reach the base safely, something he wanted to rectify. He had eye contact with the pitcher for a second before the ball was coming. The moment it sunk down in the middle of its journey, though, his heart jumped for a second.

"As expected from Hiroto, nice observation!"

Clank!

The moment he felt his bat had contact with the ball, Kuramochi threw it away immediately and started to run. Honestly, the hit wasn't that impressive. If it was Seido players who defended the field, Ryousuke would be able to react quickly and turn the hit into a normal grounder.

Fortunately, Osaka Kiryuu didn't have such an impressive second baseman like Ryousuke in their team, and Kuramochi's feet were the fastest among all the Seido players. Within a second, even before the second baseman could throw the ball, he had already reached the base safely, his first successful attempt of this game.

"Oh! Nice!"

"What a speed, Kuramochi!"

"Come on!"

Kuramochi grinned when he saw Ryousuke walk into the box for the next turn. This kind of situation where Kuramochi was the only runner in the base while Ryousuke was in the box with no out was the most dangerous situation for any of Seido's opponents since it had the biggest probability for them to score a run or even more. The moment Ryousuke and the pitcher were ready to have a head-on battle, Kuramochi took a few steps aside, ready to steal the second base.

And a second right before the ball was released, he charged at full speed, catching everyone in Osaka Kiryuu's side off guard.

"STEAL!"

"Shit!"

Osaka Kiryuu's battery didn't expect Kuramochi to steal from the first attempt. It distracted them from the batter they faced, which was a big mistake as Ryousuke saw a weak ball was coming and he slammed it as hard as possible.

CLANK!

"Oh! Nice!"

"Keep running, Kuramochi! Go for the third base!"

"Error! The right fielder makes an error! Go back home, Mochi!"

Seeing Chris who acted as the base coach on the sideline near the third base making a signal to keep running, Kuramochi grinned, knowing what he should do. Without hesitation, he speeded up the moment he reached the third base, aiming for the home plate ambitiously. Seeing the panic on the catcher's face, he knew that he had a big chance to score a run this time, so he increased his speed once again to ensure that happened.

"SAFE!"

"YOSSHAAAA!"

The moment Kuramochi arrived safely at the home plate, everyone jumped and cheered from the dugouts, celebrating the amazing run the shortstop just made.

"Nice run, Brat!"

"Good job, Mochi! As expected of a cheetah!"

"Gyahaha! You should never doubt me in the first place!" Kuramochi laughed happily. "Now, the rest is up to you, Senpai!"

"Don't worry, leave it to us." Tetsu nodded.

"Yeah. Just follow my lead, Tetsu." Isashiki nodded, putting his helm on.

Ryousuke himself arrived safely at the second base, ready for another wave of unstoppable offense from his teammates. It would be hard for Osaka Kiryuu to recover, especially considering the next three batters were Seido's true cannons, Isashiki, Tetsu, and Masuko. They would not let this chance slide that easy, not when they were still chasing the score.

"Come on, Jun! Follow it up!"

Jun walked calmly to the box before bowing politely to the umpire and said, "Yoroshiku Gozaimasu." Before he let out the beast inside him to go crazy. "COME ON, ORAAAA!"

The ferociousness shown brought more pressure to Osaka Kiryuu's battery. Unfortunately, the catcher was too hesitant while the pitcher was too prideful to ask for a timeout to cut off the loss momentum from before, making it easier for Isashiki to break them.

"COME ON!"

Ryousuke followed Kuramochi's move before by trying to steal the base aggressively to distract the pitcher. However, he didn't have to do that since Isashiki was able to hit the ball in the first place.

Clank!

"ORAAAAA!"

The ball the pitcher sent kept getting weaker as time went by, showing the exhaustion and pressure that started to get into him. Isashiki who received such a weak ball didn't hesitate to hit it the first time he saw it and started to run. He blasted the ball into the area protected by the third baseman, yet still too high to be reached with a normal jump. Even though the left fielder was able to recover the ball, Isashiki had already reached the second baseman while sending Ryousuke back home.

"Nice double, Isashiki!"

"Come on!"

"Tetsu, bring me back home, Ora!"

The wave of offense coming from Seido's lineup didn't stop just by that. In fact, it kept getting worse as the executioner himself, the infamous Yuuki Tetsuya was there, standing with eyes blazing fire. The pressure radiated from Seido's captain was enough to intimidate the battery, forcing them to make a decision to give an intentional walk to Tetsu.

"Damn, coward!"

"Don't worry, they cannot keep running forever! Masuko, bring those two back home!"

But the same thing happened as before. It seemed the pressure from the failure this inning was a bit too much for the pitcher to bear. Masuko didn't even have to swing as the ball was not even close to the strike zone, resulting in another walk for Seido.

"Oh! The pitcher cannot do it anymore! Come on!"

"Who is next?"

"It is Hiroto! Damn, can we see a grand slam?"

"Why not?! Come on, Hiroto!"

Seeing Hiroto walk with so much confidence, Osaka Kiryuu's patience finally reached the bottom line as they announced substitution, both pitcher and catcher were replaced by seemingly older players who should be in their last year of high school.

"I don't know about the catcher, but the pitcher is Genji Iwamura. I heard that he was their ace last year before getting a problem outside of the school and getting suspended from the team. This will be his first game in a year, so he might be over-excited. Be careful." Chris warned him while they were still on the sideline, waiting for the new battery to warm up.

"Got it." Hiroto nodded, playing around with his bat while still observing the new pitcher.

This Genji Iwamura had a tall body that could create a sharp angle when the ball was thrown as if it had fallen from a high place. Hiroto didn't know what kind of pitches the pitcher had, yet if the fastball was decent, coupled with his tall body, it would be enough to trouble him.

"Should I wait and observe first?" He muttered.

He glanced at the pitcher who he would face after this and for a second, they had an eye contact before Hiroto turned around to concentrate more. Inwardly though, he suddenly confirmed the information he just got from Chris about that pitcher getting into trouble.

'He is probably the type of person who get offended easily by the random conversation from the people he didn't even know.' Hiroto muttered inwardly.

After a few minutes and everything was ready, the umpire finally called the game to be continued again. Hiroto took a deep breath, narrowing his eyes while raising his bat high with both his hands, ready for the ball. He was surprised though, that there was no sign of nervousness in the pitcher's eyes. If this was the gaze of the player who was out for a year, he shuddered at the thought of the pitcher when he was in his prime.

'No, I cannot wait for too long. Let's swing aggressively before he can get used to the game again.'

With that thought in mind, Hiroto observed every single movement of the pitcher carefully, waiting for the ball. Since he didn't have any information about the pitcher, he waited patiently until the ball was within his reach or it suddenly changed direction like a normal breaking ball.

Fortunately, he waited until the last second and had good eyes, as suddenly, the ball broke sharply without losing too much velocity when it was close to his reach. If it was anyone else who was on the box, they wouldn't be able to touch the ball since it resembled a normal fastball until the end. However, the same couldn't be said for Hiroto.

'A slider? Good!'

CLANK!

With a strong swing, he slammed the ball with his bat as hard as possible, and with the sound of metal having contact with the ball echoed all over the field, all the eyes -or heads to be more exact- were looking up to the sky, locking into the ball until it disappeared from their sight, falling far outside of the field.

Jaws dropped could be seen around the field as even though they had already made a bold guess, they still didn't expect Hiroto to hit a grand slam, let alone on his first try. As the spectators were still in awe of his hit, Hiroto threw his bat calmly, starting to jog around to fulfill his job as a runner.

In the home plate, three runners who he sent back to the home with his hit waited for him, giving him a thumbs up. With a smile on his face, Hiroto clenched his fist, knowing he opened the door for the team to come back in this game.

Osaka Kiryu 1 3 4 1

Seido High 2 0 2 5

-------------------------------------------

Author note :

Hey! I have written a few next chapters of this new story and posted it already on my patreon account. If you want to read it in advance, you can visit patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes .

You can read this story up to chapter 39, and I will try to update it faster. 

You can also read my other fanfiction, Kuroko no Basket: The Sixth man of Seirin Basketball Team up to chapter 177 on that page.

Thank you for your support! I appreciate it! :)

-Zeta Faes-