บท 47: Maniac

The bottom of the first inning was about to begin, and the top of Hokuto Junior High's batting order was about to get their first chance against Seishin's Ace.

"Hey Captain! Isn't that the...?" - Pitcher Sora Okamoto said as he saw Seishin's pitcher stepping onto the mound.

"Hm, that's Shohei Kaneda! The only player on the Japanese U-15 national team who doesn't play in the senior league. Last year, even as a second-year, he led Seishin to the Kanto tournament semifinals." - Kazuki spoke with a serious expression, it would be incredibly difficult to defeat this guy.

"He's quite famous. They say he's among the top 3 pitchers of our age." - Third-year student Junpei Kondo, the right fielder who was replaced by Shun, added.

"Damn! Don't we have the worst luck, having to face a guy like this so early in the Kanto tournament?" - Even the young samurai Ren spoke with concern. He might have been confident before, but things changed when he started hearing about Shohei's accomplishments.

"This isn't going to be easy, we'll have to watch carefully." - Kenta's confidence was also shaken. After all, these boys' confidence was based on a few practice games against decent teams, they never imagined facing someone from the Japanese U-15 national team.

"You bastard!" - Ren suddenly lunged at Kenta, grabbing his friend by the collar and shaking him.

"You idiot, what are you doing?" - Kenta got angry and quickly retaliated.

"It's your fault, you bastard! You used up all our luck to make Mio Shimizu like you! Not only that, you're also good at baseball and at school! This is karma! We're paying for your sin! You bastard, you dragged all of us into your divine retribution!" - Ren didn't let go of his friend's collar even after being hit back. The boy shouted angrily at Kenta with tears in his eyes, looking like a child crying for being wronged.

"You... you..." - Kenta really wanted to hit his friend, but Ren's words were so ridiculous that he was momentarily at a loss for words. To make matters worse, he felt angry glares from his teammates. It seemed some of them believed in the young samurai's silly theory.

"It's starting!" - Luckily for Kenta, the captain spoke, diverting everyone's attention back to the field. Even Ren let go of his friend and watched attentively.

Unaware of what was happening in the stands, Shohei Kaneda lifted his leg and stepped forward, twisting his body and whipping his arm toward home plate.

PAH

"Strike!"

The batter didn't even move his bat when he saw the insane fastball right down the middle of the zone.

"Holy crap!" - Ren cursed loudly when he saw the pitch.

"What was the speed on that?" - Kenta asked in shock. He had never seen a middle school pitcher throw at such speed.

"A h-hundred... 140 km/h..." - Captain Kazuki stammered, his mouth open in surprise as he looked at the speed gun on the scoreboard. None of the team had ever seen their usually calm and serious captain with such a shocked expression, but at that moment, no one even noticed this detail, as they were all wearing the same expression as they stared at the scoreboard.

PAH

"Ball!"

The batter didn't swing again, fortunately, the pitch was a little high this time.

"Again... another 140 km/h pitch!" - Ren stammered as he looked at the speed gun again.

"This is ridiculous..." - Kenta stared at Shohei on the mound, shocked.

Meanwhile, in the Hokuto Junior High dugout.

"He's really fast. If your plan doesn't work, we won't score any runs, Suga." - The left-handed pitcher Kohei said to his friend, impressed by Shohei's pitches, but for some reason, he didn't seem worried.

"Hehe, don't worry, I'm sure it'll work." - The white-haired boy spoke with a confident smile as he gave a signal to the batter. The batter nodded from the batter's box. Normally, it was the coach's job to give the signals, but it seemed the batter didn't mind taking orders from a teammate, even one younger than him.

"Now? Hehe, the only U-15 national team pitcher who doesn't play in the senior league, what bad luck... that you had to face us!" - The batter smiled as he watched Shohei throw the third pitch of the at-bat.

WOOSH

DONG

"What?" - The catcher nearly shouted in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone to hit Shohei so easily, especially his best pitch on the first time he threw it in the game.

Almost everyone in the stadium felt the same surprise when they saw the first batter reach second base with ease. Some thought it was a lucky hit, others thought the ball slipped, and Shohei accidentally threw an easy pitch. Only a few people knew it was none of these things, and all of them were wearing white uniforms with green details.

"So that's the perfect curveball of the U-15 national team pitcher, huh?" - Kohei watched the field with a smile.

"Haha, let's finish this!" - The white-haired boy, Sugawara, said with a smile as he gave a signal to the second batter.

The second batter nodded and positioned himself in the batter's box.

"Must have been a lucky hit! If I call for a fastball now, Shohei will think there's something wrong with his curveball. I can't let that happen the curveball is the heart of Shohei as a pitcher!" - The catcher simply couldn't believe someone could hit that pitch so easily. He assumed it was a lucky hit and called for another curveball.

"Hm, that's right, that guy hit it by luck. I'll show you how good my curveball is!" - Shohei smiled when he saw his catcher's signal, his curveball was the pitch he trusted the most. He threw it exactly as requested.

WOOSH

DONG

"Impossible..." - The catcher thought, shocked. He watched this pitch closely and knew it was a perfect curveball. But somehow, the second batter hit it just as easily as the first.

The catcher couldn't do anything as he watched the runner from second base reach home plate, opening the score. He looked at the second batter, who had reached second base with ease, then at Shohei on the mound, clearly shaken by what had happened.

"Time!" - The catcher called for a time-out and ran to the mound.

"Shohei, I don't know why, but they can hit your curveball easily. They've probably identified some pattern or difference in your pitching form. Whatever it is, we can't solve it now. They can't touch your fastball, so let's finish this game first!" - As expected of a catcher from an elite school, he knew how to handle a situation like this.

"Hm." - Shohei just nodded to his catcher's words. He understood what needed to be done, but after all, he was only 15 years old. No pitcher could avoid being shaken after having their best pitch destroyed in the first inning.

Meanwhile, the third batter stepped into the batter's box, quickly glancing at Sugawara in the dugout. As soon as the white-haired boy gave the signal, he nodded and prepared himself. The first pitch came.

PAH

"Strike!"

The batter didn't move. The second pitch came.

PAH

"Ball!"

Again, the batter just watched the fastball.

"Shohei Kaneda, 15 years old, the only member of the Japanese U-15 national team who doesn't compete in the senior league. He has a fastball that reaches 140 km/h but can't control it well. That's why he uses an excellent curveball to strike out batters. Too bad your elbow rises a little when you're about to throw your curveball. It's really too bad for you... that I was the first to discover that! Hahahahahahahahaha!!" - The white-haired boy, Yoshinori Sugawara, started laughing maniacally in the dugout.

"He's at it again..." - The left-handed pitcher, Kohei Sasaki, sighed when he saw his friend acting like that. This guy really was a maniac.

* About an hour and a half later *

WOOSH

"Shun Senpai!" - Jiro Fukuoka ran toward Shun, who was taking practice swings outside the stadium.

"Hey Jiro! Is the game over already?" - Shun asked with a smile.

"Yes, Senpai! The game was stopped in the fifth inning after a 12-run lead." - Jiro replied.

"Eh? Twelve runs? Looks like Seishin is pretty strong after all." - Shun was surprised by the result but then remembered they were talking about the elite Seishin school. He recalled a figure with brown hair who wore his glove on his right hand and thought to himself.

"Seems like he wasn't as good as I thought..."

"Ehhh, Senpai... Seishin lost, Hokuto won 12-0." - Jiro realized that his Senpai had no idea what had happened in the game and explained.

"Huh?"