Chapter 69: Aggression
When people sink into negativity far enough, they rebound into positivity.
That's what they call "two negatives make a positive"—
There was only a month left until the Autumn Tournament.
Even though they didn't need to go through the preliminaries, they still had practice games with other high schools on weekends, one per day.
And school had started again.
Now they not only had baseball training, but also couldn't fall behind in their studies.
In the bullpen, Rinichi gripped a ball in his left hand, a vein standing out, his face full of disbelief and displeasure.
"Why the hell am I pitching in the bullpen while everyone else is in the intrasquad scrimmage?!"
On the mound were Furuya and Kawakami.
Miyuki: "…"
Holding his mitt open and shut like a duck's beak, he sighed in exhaustion.
"Hurry up and throw…"
His face carried a trace of sadness, as he muttered bitterly:
"If you were pitching in the scrimmage, who would even be able to hit?"
Everyone's spirit would just be crushed.
This guy really has no self-awareness.
Besides, he was the only catcher who could reliably handle Rinichi's pitches.
If it were anyone else, they'd fail to catch or mishandle the ball, and Rinichi would blow up and refuse to pitch.
It wasn't the first or second time this had happened.
And Rinichi himself had said it—he wouldn't waste his time throwing to a catcher who couldn't handle him.
A little arrogant, but the coach didn't argue. Instead, he allowed Miyuki to take priority whenever it came to Rinichi.
Which led to the current situation.
...
From time to time, the third-years would come watch their training and weekend practice games.
Scoring ability had improved a little…
But Rinichi must be carrying heavy pressure.
That was the impression they had after seeing the new team.
As for the lineup, even though Coach Kataoka had said he would shuffle the starters, in the end it was the same as before. The batting order at the top hadn't even changed.
Rinichi, waiting in vain: "…"
So… my cleanup spot is gone, huh?
....
On the first day of weekend practice games, the coach always had Rinichi pitch a full game alone.
On the second day, Furuya and Kawakami split one.
The hardest hit were the fielders.
Compared to the "second day" games, the "first day" games were far too easy.
The two days formed a sharp contrast, leaving them mentally drained and frustrated.
If you had to describe it, it was like flipping between winter and summer.
Their hitting didn't improve much, though defense was still manageable.
But with the Autumn Tournament looming closer, everyone wanted to improve.
If their defense wasn't reliable, then they had to raise their batting, to ease the pressure on the ace.
Yet the more they thought this way, the harder it was to improve.
Because all the pressure was coming from Rinichi's overwhelming strength.
...
On the second weekend, the second day's starter was once again Furuya, with Kawakami as reliever.
But in the very first inning, Furuya threw four straight balls.
Ochiai stroked his beard.
As a starter, his condition is poor. But as a reliever, he performs much better. He really is more suited to relief.
Before he could finish the first inning, Coach Kataoka pulled him out and replaced him with Kawakami.
The blow to Furuya was undeniable.
Ochiai's eyes flicked toward Rinichi, sitting quietly in the corner.
There's no comparison at all.
Still, with Rinichi and Kawakami, they could reach Koshien in the Autumn Tournament.
But by the fifth inning, Kawakami began to falter.
"Next inning, Rinichi will take the mound. Get warmed up."
Coach Kataoka's words shocked everyone.
Hadn't Rinichi just pitched a complete game yesterday?
And now they were sending him out again?
Rinichi, of course, had no objections:
"Yes, sir!"
In the sixth inning, the change came.
The opposing team froze.
"Didn't they say their ace wasn't going to pitch?"
As they spoke—
"Strike! Batter out!"
The umpire's voice boomed, sharpened as if energized by Rinichi's pitch.
Not only the opponents, but even Seidou's own fielders stood stunned, feeling almost light-headed.
Three quick outs—every batter struck out on three pitches.
Inside, they couldn't help but feel frustrated.
When the bottom of the sixth began, Seidou's batting lineup looked completely transformed.
Suddenly, they were hungry for runs, like wild beasts locking eyes on their prey.
Bit by bit, they started stringing hits together and scoring.
They scraped one run in the sixth, then piled on three more in the seventh.
Even Maezono hit a home run—a difficult feat for him.
In everyone's minds, only two words remained: Score runs.
Whether Rinichi truly didn't understand why, or was just pretending not to know, he tilted his head slightly and said with rare curiosity:
"Feels like everyone's gotten stronger today."
Miyuki: "…"
It must have been all that pressure piling up, finally erupting in a single moment.
Still, Rinichi's pitching today was as flawless as ever.
As for Furuya, Coach Kataoka had ordered him not to pitch at all, only to run laps. No one knew when his ban would be lifted.
With no more practice games left, the Autumn Tournament was fast approaching—and so was the time for the draw.
"How nice…"
"I want to go do the draw too."
Rinichi muttered under his breath.
Miyuki: "…"
Cleanup spot, he wanted it.
Captain's lottery draw, he wanted that too.
Did this guy want both cleanup and captain?
Miyuki grinned.
"How's your luck, anyway?"
Rinichi blinked.
"O-Of course it's amazing!"
"That's why I want to do it, right?"
"Miyuki-senpai, your luck isn't that great, is it?"
Miyuki: "…"
"What? You scared?"
Rinichi waved his hand lightly.
"No."
"Even if the luck's bad, it doesn't matter. No matter who we face, we'll just crush them."
He said it lightly.
But still… as a pitcher, shouldn't he be thinking about how to shut down the opposing lineup?
Instead, he was focused on how to blow them away.
And really, "crushing" an opponent should mean hitting home runs with runners on base. Just solo homers couldn't be called "crushing" at all…
Miyuki didn't argue. His eyes behind the lenses were sharp, serious.
"Yeah… no matter who we face, our goal is the same—victory."
Rinichi was a little surprised to hear those words from him.
Maybe it was because he was captain now. It reminded Rinichi of that speech he gave right after "taking office."
At least, that's how it seemed in Rinichi's eyes.
"I still think it'd be better if you made the most of the scoring opportunities… That's what really matters."
"The run production is still too low."
Rinichi thought for a moment, then shook his head.
Miyuki: "…"
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