Sudo Ken pinned Takashi to the ground. But instead of getting angry, Takashi gave him a taunting look, smiling as he said:
"Getting desperate, huh?"
"I know you're in a rush, but just calm down."
"And what's there to rush about anyway? You act like Horikita Suzune actually likes you."
"Don't kid yourself, man. She doesn't care about you."
"You wouldn't even make the shortlist for 'warm guy' of the year."
Hearing Takashi's contempt, and seeing the scorn in his eyes, Sudo Ken's anger reached a boiling point—his mind had only one thought left: punch this condescending bastard in the face.
He raised his fist and swung it toward Takashi's annoying grin—
But before the punch landed, a powerful force shoved him away.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
It was Tanaka Kota.
He'd rushed over the moment he saw Takashi get knocked down.
"You mophead! You want a fight? I'll give you a fight!"
Then the rest of Aoba's players came charging in.
Momodani was the second to arrive.
Without a word, he didn't even wait for Sudo Ken to get up—he threw a punch straight at his face.
More and more Aoba players began to surround Sudo Ken.
"Bench clear! Go, go, go!!"
Amatani Kensuke saw one of his own getting jumped and roared. He hurled his cap to the ground and led the bullpen's benchwarmers in a full-on charge.
There's an unspoken rule in baseball: once a fight breaks out, no one stays seated.
No matter how your relationships usually are, everyone has to back up the team—or your teammates will never respect you again.
Horikita Manabu and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka saw the situation escalating and rushed over too, trying to pull Sudo Ken out of the mess.
On the other side, Advanced Nurturing's coach also brought a flood of bench players charging into the fray.
Soon, over fifty players from both teams were pushing, shoving, and brawling.
"Whoa! It's a fight, it's a fight!"
Suzuki Ichiro's voice was full of excitement.
"Let's go, Aoba! Beat those hillbillies down!"
"Now this is the kind of baseball I came to see!"
"Haven't seen a fight this passionate in forever!"
The crowd was fired up too.
Baseball? Check.
Free fighting match? Also check.
Two shows for the price of one. Total win.
Because in baseball, sometimes… you even get to brawl.
"Where's the ref?! Where the hell are the refs?! What are they doing?!"
The chairman of the Summer High School Baseball Championship was trembling with rage as he saw the teams erupt into a full-on fight.
"This is Koshien, not a damn octagon cage!"
People come here to watch baseball—not UFC!
Dammit!
He was ready to disqualify both schools from entering next year's tournament.
"Chairman, chairman! Online viewers just broke 8 million!"
The staffer suddenly shouted excitedly from backstage.
"What?!"
The chairman froze.
Wait a minute… Why's the viewership going up instead of down?
Weren't people here to watch baseball?
Turns out, this is what they actually love.
You guys could've told me sooner!
"Ref! Ref!!"
Coming to his senses, the chairman immediately spoke through his wireless headset.
The staff looked at their boss with awe. Who would've thought—faced with this surge of traffic, their chairman actually stuck to his principles?
It truly shocked everyone.
"Don't stop them. Let them fight. And get all the cameras on that brawl. Best footage gets extra chicken legs at dinner!"
The staff: "..."
…
The fight between the two schools lasted over twenty minutes, giving the audience more than enough to enjoy.
By the end of it, nearly everyone was injured—except for Takashi . Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took a few heavy blows.
Anyone who's been in a brawl knows—when four or five guys gang up on one person, there's no chance to fight back.
A melee isn't the same as a duel. Takashi might not be afraid of one-on-ones, but this wasn't that. In all directions, there were fists flying.
He might be able to fight—but he's not Ip Man.
He can't take on ten at once.
After separating the two teams, the umpire gave a very "angry" speech and ejected nearly all the bench players and coaching staff from both sides.
Sudo Ken—the spark that started it all—was the first to be thrown out.
But even if he hadn't been, he wouldn't have lasted.
He'd been marked by Aoba's team for special attention—his entire face looked like a pig's head from all the swelling, and there were boot prints all over his body.
He had to be carried off by the team medic.
And as he was taken away on a stretcher, people in the crowd started throwing bananas, popcorn buckets, and cups of soda at him.
"Kitahara, don't you think you went too far?"
Wearing a new pair of sports glasses, Horikita Manabu walked up to Takashi with a cold expression.
He now fully understood why Takashi had confessed to his sister earlier.
His real target was never Horikita Suzune—it was all just a ploy to provoke Sudo Ken into attacking him.
"Who told him to be that dumb? He exploded with just a bit of provocation."
Takashi gave a faint snort, not denying for a second that he had done it all on purpose.
"Is this the only kind of underhanded trick you can pull?"
Kanzaki Ryuji's tone was sharp and icy.
"But it works, doesn't it?"
Takashi shrugged, spreading his hands with a calm smile as he looked at the furious Advanced Nurturing players glaring at him.
"I represent Aoba. For the sake of victory, I'll do whatever it takes."
He didn't care at all what the Advanced Nurturing team thought of him.
As long as he was the winner in the end, that was all that mattered.
By then, everyone would only praise him as a hero.
"I'll stop you."
Horikita Manabu's voice was firm.
"If you can, then go ahead and try."
Takashi turned and walked back to the bullpen.
Standing in for the absent coach, he clapped his hands.
Everyone looked at him.
"I know we've all come a long way and we're exhausted. I'm exhausted too."
Takashi looked at his mud-covered, battered teammates and spoke in a loud, clear voice.
"Though this may sound cruel, please, bear with me just a bit longer."
"What's next is our head-on clash with Advanced Nurturing—it will decide the championship."
"Victory or defeat will be settled in these next five innings."
"The result we want doesn't depend on fate. It depends on you."
With that, Takashi stretched out his hand.
Even Otani Shota immediately understood and reached out to stack his hand on top.
"Let's start with effort and end with victory!"
Takashi looked around at them all and roared, "What time is it now?!"
"Game time!!!"
The Aoba High team shouted in unison, slamming their hands down together.
Helmets on, gloves fastened, bats in hand—the two teams returned to the field.
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