"Strikeout! Three outs, change!"
The first years, with a newfound adrenaline rush, jogged onto the field, making themselves known with their loud voices.
"Pitcher change, Furuya Satoru!" Coach then said.
Furuya walked out of dugout calmly, exuding a blueish aura.
"This is the first time your first time seeing Furuya pitch right?" I asked Miyuki when I got back to the bullpen.
"Yeah, that's right." Miyuki replied.
'Let's have some fun messing with Miyuki for a bit, then.' I thought whilst holding back my laugh as I thought of what I was about to do.
"Want to have a bet?" I asked him with a slight smirk.
"What kind of bet?" Miyuki responded with his own smirk.
"I bet I can tell you exactly how this is going to go with Furuya on the mound, play by play." I replied with an even bigger smirk.
"Go on then, tell me, play by play." He replied.
"Okay, so, Furuya will pitch one pitch, it'll go past the catcher and hit the Coach in the face, and then the Coach will tell Furuya he can start training with the first-string, and then Furuya will walk off the mound." I spoke.
Miyuki looked at me like I was crazy, then giggled when he thought it was a free win.
"Okay, deal! What does the winner get?" He asked
"The winner gets to speak casually with the loser from now on." I replied with a grin.
"But I already speak with you casually." He spoke.
"Hmmm, that's true. How about I buy you a drink from the vending machine?"
"Okay, fine. But only because you're bound to lose anyway. I mean what are you thinking?" He asked.
"Sssshhh! He's about to pitch." I said whilst looking at Furuya after his last warm up pitch.
Miyuki looked over as well.
Furuya then started his wind-up, his blue aura was more prominent now.
He brought his left leg up, planted it back down.
THUUD
Then he swung his arm though and released his pitch.
WHOOOOSH
BAAANG
It went straight past the catcher and hit the coach in the face, making his umpire mask fall off.
The coach was stun locked for a moment, with his head bent backwards slightly.
A couple of the senior players ran over to see if he was alright.
Then the coach gave a smile.
"You pass, Furuya. You can practise with the first string starting tomorrow." He said.
"Hahahah! I didn't think it would actually go like that! Hahahaha!" I started laughing out loud, inwardly chuckling and evil laugh.
'Of course, I knew it was going to go like that! I've read the manga!'
I then turned to Miyuki who had a pale face with his eyes and mouth wide open.
"Well, a bet is a bet. It's a pleasure to be working with you from now on… Kazuya." I said whilst putting my hand on his shoulder.
He snapped his head to me at that. His face didn't change though.
"Hmmm, actually I think I'll just call you Miyuki, Kazuya is too personal, I don't think we're there yet in our relationship." I said to him mockingly, acting as if I was thinking deeply about the situation.
"Pitcher change, Sawamura Eijun!"
"Oh? It looks like I'm up. See you later, Miyuki." I said with a grin, walking away.
It took a couple of seconds for Miyuki to recover, by that point, Furuya had already walked over to him to ask him to catch his pitch.
As soon as Furuya opened his mouth…
"HUUUUUH?!?!?! How did it go exactly as he said! Dammit! Damn you, Sawamura!" Miyuki shouted as he started crumbling to the ground.
Furuya looked a little shocked by Miyuki's outburst.
"Are you okay, Miyuki-senpai." He asked.
"Yes, that's right! Senpai! Furuya, you truly understand your senpai's feelings!" Miyuki said, clutching Furuya's leg.
Furuya didn't know what to do at this point.
***
As soon as I left Miyuki, I went into serious mode.
I instantly started focusing on myself.
'My shoulders are light, and my muscles are warm from the warmup I did with Miyuki. My body is in perfect condition. I'm ready to go.' I thought as walked up to the mound.
My eyes were glowing their golden fire at this point, my strides confident.
Everyone could feel the change in the air as I walked onto the mound.
'This kid!' Tanba thought as he looked at me on the mound as he was crouching on deck with his bat.
I saw that the catcher had changed to Kariba during the switch which I was happy about because he knew my pitches the best out of the first years.
Haruichi had also been subbed on for the second baseman position.
I started my warmup pitches, making sure everything was perfect with my form and grip.
After I had finished, I turned around to look at the field behind me.
I looked at all the players standing there, waiting for me to start the battle.
I nodded at both Kanemaru and Haruichi who both nodded back in acknowledgement.
I then drew a big breath in and held my arms up into a V-shape, still looking at the players of my team.
'I've always wanted to do this.' I thought.
"I'LL BE PITCHING AGGRESSIVELY, SO PLEASE BACK ME UP!!!" I shouted out loud across the field.
*DING*
Suddenly a message popped up from the system.
'Oh? I almost forgot I had a system.' I thought with a chuckle.
[Mission: Perfect Debut.]
Tasks:
>Get three strikeouts (0/3)
>Don't let Masuko get a hit
>Make the Coach put you on the first-string team after 1 inning.
Rewards:
>1 random A-grade physical elixir
>random silver tier pitching skill.
>20 Ace points
[This mission is not optional and has automatically been accepted. Good luck User]
I closed my eyes and drew a big breath.
'Those are some tough missions, but the rewards are amazing. Fuck it! I was planning on sstriking out everyone anyway.' I thought.
There was absolute silence after I had shouted.
Everyone from the field, the dugouts and the crowd were silenced from it.
"One pitch at a time Eijun-kun!" Haruichi shouted back, breaking the silence.
"SHAA! Get them Sawamura!" Kanemaru shouted, fired up.
"We got your back!" Another shouted.
"Let's go!"
"You got this!"
"Let them hit it my way!"
Hearing my team, I turned back around to Homeplate with my eyes still closed.
When I opened them again, the fire in my eyes was raging.
'This is it! The start and debut of Sawamura Eijun's journey. Of my journey.'
"Play!" Coach shouted as the senior batter walked into the batter's box, looking fired up.
"Bring it!" he shouted my way.
I completely ignored him, only focusing on Kariba as he gave a sign for a high inside fastball.
I nodded without hesitation and started my wind up.
I planted my foot on the mound.
THUUD
Then swung my arm through.
WHOOOSH
PAAH
"Strike!" Coach shouted.
Kariba then looked at the batter's face and nearly burst out laughing, it was a face of utter confusion.
'Catching for Sawamura is so fun when there is a batter.' He thought throwing the ball back to the mound.
"Nice pitch, Sawamura!" He shouted.
I caught the ball and got back into position.
Kariba then called for a low and way fastball.
I nodded and started my wind up again.
Planted my foot.
THUUD
And threw.
WHOOOSH
PAAH
"Strike!"
Again, the batter didn't swing.
This confused the players on the senior team.
"What's going on with him?" One of them asked.
"I don't know, those pitches looked pretty normal, but he's just standing there." Another replied.
Tanba too was confused as he thought that last pitch looked like a good one to hit from where he was standing.
Kariba the gave a sign for a fastball low and inside.
I nodded and started windup, plated my foot.
THUUD
And threw.
WHOOOSH
PAAH
"Strikeout!"
The batter went down looking, he didn't swing once in the box.
"YOSH!!" I shouted on the mound.
"Nice pitching Eijun-kun." Haruichi said.
"YEEAAH! Nice Sawamura!" Kanemaru shouted.
"One out!" I shouted to them with a grin whilst holding up a finger.
***
As the batter walked past Tanba, Tanba noticed his distraught face.
"What happened?" Tanba asked.
"I-I don't know… Th-the ball just appeared out of nowhere, it was too fast, I couldn't swing." The batter said.
'Too fast? It looked like it had some decent speed but it didn't look too fast from here though.' Tanba thought.
He then felt a chill down his spine as he looked over at Sawamura who was staring him down.
His eyes were filled with a blazing fire, but his face was cold and calm.
Tanba drew a breath out and stood in the batter's box holding his bat up.
'Okay, let's see what you've got Sawamura Eijun. I'll swing on the first pitch.' He thought, firing himself up.
Sawamura then started his windup.
'Good form, planting his leg down.'
THUUD
'Twist his hips, and then the throwi- '
WHOOOSH
PAAH
The ball landed in the catcher's mitt.
Tanba instantly snapped his head towards the ball with utter confusion.
'W-What just happened? Where did the ball come from? Wait, where was his throwing arm?' Tanba thought.
He then turned to the mound; Sawamura suddenly looked a lot bigger up there.
His eyes blazing but his face was eerily calm, as if he wasn't facing a batter but just throwing to a board of wood.
Tanba squeezed his bat tightly as he got ready for the next pitch.
'I'm swinging at this next one, no matter what, I had a decent rhythm for his pitch when I was on deck, I'll just adapt to the pitch mid-swing.' He thought, thinking of his next actions.
Sawamura nodded and started his wind up, planted his foot.
THUUD
And threw.
Whoosh
Tanba swung his bat a little early to make sure he could adjust to the pitch but then he saw that the ball was still coming.
He swang through air.
Pah
The ball landed in the catcher's mitt perfectly.
'A Change up!' Tanba thought whilst grinding his teeth.
'Dammit, this kid got me!'
Tanba turned back to Sawamura to see his face still calm.
However, his aura was prominent and suffocating
Tanba got slight chills again.
'I was right when I felt it yesterday. This guy is dangerous!' Tanba thought.
'Okay let's not be too hasty with the next swing. I just need to swing faster after I see the ball.'
He then saw Sawamura shake his head.
'He wants a different call. Was it going to be a change up again? Or a fastball?'
Sawamura then nodded at the next call; a small smile appeared on his calm face.
'He smiled? Okay, enough just get ready.' He said to himself.
Sawamura then started his wind up, placed his foot.
THUUD
And then threw.
WHOOSH
'Huh? A meatball? Bad luck kid, I'll be winning this one.' Tanba thought as he swung.
SHWIIIPP
PAH
"Strikeout!" The coach shouted.
"YOSHA!" Sawamura shouted.
There was a silence after that.
Everyone in the crowd was shocked that a first year they had never seen had stuck out twice without the batters touching the ball once.
"Who's that?" Someone asked.
"I don't know but he's good! The batters didn't even touch his pitches." Someone else said.
"Anyone know what that last pitch was, a slider? Cutter?"
"I don't know but it broke really quickly."
The seniors in the dugout started to get a little nervous as they looked at the rookie on the mound.
They had started feeling the pressure after every one of his pitches as their two batter just got out played by him unequivocally.
The first years started shouting and cheering as they watched the spectacle in front of them.
The seniors who had been crushing them so far were no getting shut out and they were loving it.
Tojo looked at the Sawamura on the mound and clentched his fist tightly.
'I'll get better. I need to get better!' He thought.
The one person who had affected the most was Tanba, who was still standing in the batter's box, staring at the ground.
'What was that? The ball disappeared. Where did it go? What was that pitch? I didn't see how it broke. It looked like a meatball though; it should have hit!' He was fighting himself in his own head, constantly looking back at that last pitch.
"Tanba." A voice came from behind him.
He turned and looked at the Coach that had called out to him.
"Rest up for the rest of the game, you've done enough to be back in the first-string. Don't let this game affect you too much. Sawamura is a part of our team and not another's so don't dwell on his pitching like you would and opponent pitcher." The Coach said sincerely.
It was obvious that this duel had affected Tanba, especially that last pitch.
The Coach was even shocked at how well Sawamura was pitching, he knew he was a good pitcher but pitching in a game was different.
Sawamura had adapted to the batters perfectly, using his arsenal perfectly and mixing in a few mind games to further enhance his pitches with their variations and pitching orders.
Tanba looked at the coach for a second and then shook his head, throwing out the thoughts in his head.
He then recovered a bit and replied, "Yes, Coach." And walked back to the dugout.
The coach looked at Sawamura who had that calm expression on his face again as he picked up the rosin bagay.
'Hmmm. One last test, the hardest one yet for the kid.' Coach thought.
He then turned to the senior dugout.
"Switch hitter, Masuko." The coach called.