Chapters 130-139

Chapter 130

The chapter opens with a flashback to the previous night, with Kaname in bed, “chatting” with the General.

The General advises Kaname to avoid conversations during the match, especially in the middle of it, as Teitoku will be a formidable opponent and the pitch count is expected to be high. The General suggests that Kaname lead the team alone tomorrow, as “thinking” at the same time and exchanging ideas back and forth will be mentally taxing. Kaname starts to suggest switching to the General as their chances of winning would be higher, but then stops himself, deciding that he must be the one to win Teitoku.

Back in the match, Kiyomine pitches, and Kozato is unable to swing. This initial pitch is outside the strike zone. Kaname continues to himself, that he has been studying with the General until today, so he must be confident in his own pitch calling.

Kiyomine winds up and pitches, but Kozato hits a foul. Kaname notes that if they throw easy pitches, Kozato will swing, and he doesn’t want Kozato on base. He asks for a ball next, but Kozato is able to tell and doesn’t swing.

Kaname finally calls for a slider. As Kiyomine winds up, Coach Iwasaki comments, “Kotesashi is the real thing. I truly wished I could have played baseball together with them. However…”

Kozato hits the slider and it goes beyond the second base, as he makes his way to first base.

Coach Iwasaki continues, “For Teitoku’s members now, both on the field and in the stands, from the frustration of that devastating defeat at Youmei’s hands, they have bounced back and grown like crazy. So this summer, Teitoku will win!”

Sengoku is now up, as Kozato takes a huge lead from first base. Kiyomine throws to first base, and Kozato makes it safely. He then pitches a strike, which Sengoku doesn’t swing at. Kaname tries to guess if Sengoku will attempt a bunt, given Kozato’s large lead.

Since Kozato is taking such a huge lead, he is essentially announcing his intentions to run. Kaname signals for a fastball to the outside, thinking he’ll be the one to get Kozato out. Kiyomine winds up, and Kozato takes off.

To Kaname’s shock, Sengoku swings and hits the pitch, sending it into center field. While the fielders struggle to catch the ball, Kozato continues running towards third base. Teruya shouts for the ball but Kozato makes safe just in the nick of time.

Kaname realizes that Kozato’s large lead was a ruse to get him to ask for the fastball, allowing Sengoku to hit the pitch with easy. Kaname berates himself for falling for it, just as Coach Iwasaki compliments the two players.

General Kaname watches the match from the sidelines, commenting that simply realizing it immediately is sufficient and makes it a good experience. However, things will get tougher from here on.

It’s now no outs with runners on first and third base. Hinomoto steps up to the plate, greeting Kaname with a huge smile. Behind him, waiting for his turn is Kokuto. Kaname, in cold sweat, returns his greetings.

Chapter 131

It’s the first inning, no outs with runners on first and third base.

Kaname concedes that this is a precarious situation, as a pop fly could potentially drive in a run and give Teitoku an early advantage. He doesn’t want that to happen.

Hinomoto steps up to the plate. Given his ability to hit for power, a hit here would mean three runs. Although he was primarily known as a pitcher last year, he’s transformed into a formidable batter this year. A flashback to Teitoku’s quarterfinals match shows Hinomoto’s impressive batting. Kaname notes that no matter what, they need to stop him here.

Kiyomine winds up and pitches, and Hinomoto swings hard, sending the ball flying… but it’s a foul ball. The crowd erupts in cheers for his impressive display.

Hinomoto tells Kaname that since changing his form, he’s capable of making long hits. Kaname compliments him and continues to himself that now, Hinomoto as a batter is a force to be reckoned with as he can use his height to his advantage and easily reach the outside pitches.

To himself, Kaname thinks that Kiyomine’s fastballs are still floating high and he hasn’t found his groove yet. He then calls for a slider breaking to the inside.

To Kaname’s surprise, Hinomoto bends his arm and hits a liner to the left. Kozato starts running back to third base, but Teruya catches the ball in the air and tags Kozato out, making it a double play.

Hinomoto looks upset, realizing that pitch was supposed to be a ball. However, he looks up and compliments Teruya on that play. Someone in the crowd comments that they seem to be siblings.

Back in the field, Hinomoto apologizes to Kokuto, who assures him that he’s not concerned.

Kaname sighs in relief, knowing that the two outs they gained here are a significant advantage for them.

Kokuto steps up to the plate as the stands cheer for him. Kokuto tells Kaname that he knew this day would come, where he would have a rematch with them again. He continues that it’s a shame they’re both in the same area (West Tokyo), as they won’t be able to go to Koshien together.

Kaname observes Kokuto and notes that he’s grown larger since they first met him. After all, he has been given the cleanup position at the prestigious Teitoku so the amount of pressure he must have experienced is unimaginable. And because of that, he must have trained really hard to get to this point.

Kaname smiles and says to him, “How about you chill a little? After all, it is that Kiyomine Haruka and Kaname Kei standing here before you right now.”

Kokuto replies, “Ah, my apologies … all I can see before me is Youmei.”

Kaname replies, “I see. Well then, I guess we’ll just have to remind you”, and continues to himself, “That we are rivals”.

The chapter ends with a promise from Kokuto that he will hit here.

Chapter 132

Kokuto steps up to the plate. Kaname thinks to himself that if the pitch is easy, he’ll take the first run. So they’ll start with a slider for a first pitch. Kiyomine agrees.

Kaname prays for a really sharp slider as he watches Kiyomine wind up. The pitch was good, but Kokuto makes a big swing, sending the ball flying. Kaname and Kiyomine watch in shock as the ball flies into the right field. Sarukawa starts chasing after it, but it goes into foul territory.

Kaname is sweating bullets, thinking that considering it’s the first pitch, no one would normally try to hit a slider. Not to mention, it had the best trajectory and speed so far. He then realizes that of course, Teitoku must have made preparations for Kiyomine’s slider. They want to aim for Kiyomine’s winning shot right off the bat and crush him.

On the mound, Kiyomine thinks to himself, “So what if they hit the slider. I don’t care. This means I just have to … faster and faster …”

We see a flashback to child Kaname and Kiyomine running scenes from Chapter 29. Child Kaname tells Kiyomine, “Run! Just follow me!!”. Child Kiyomine replies, “Okay!” and chases after Kaname, saying, “Faster!”

The child Kiyomine suddenly sprints forward.

“FASTER!”

Back in the match, Kaname considers what the next pitch should be, since the slider is no longer useful. Initially, he considers asking for a ball just to change things up, but he decides it wouldn’t be advantageous to do so.

He signals for a fastball, but Kiyomine shakes his head. He then signals for a curveball and Kiyomine shakes his head again. He then realizes Kiyomine wants to try the forkball. After a moment of pause, he agrees.

Kaname pitches, and Kokuto, unable to figure out what kind of pitch it is, hits a foul off it. Meanwhile, Kaname is relieved that it was a close call as the pitch was misthrown, and honestly, they shouldn’t be throwing it when Kiyomine hasn’t perfected it yet.

Kokuto is still wondering what it was, if it was a new type of pitch. Kaname thinks to himself that lucky for them, it contributed to Kokuto’s confusion.

On the mound, Kiyomine holds the ball in his hand, thinking, “That feeling just now…”

Kaname signals for a fastball, but Kiyomine is still in his mind and not looking at him. He suddenly snaps out of it and nods in affirmation.

Kaname, now worried, thinks to himself, “Is everything okay? It better be…”

Back on the mount, Kiyomine continues, “Somehow, my mind’s cleared up now.”

As he winds up, we see his child self sprinting forward, smiling.

“FASTER!”

Kokuto swings and misses. Kaname smiles happily, thinking, “Nice pitch. He’s finally in his groove. This is today’s best fastball.” Out loud, Kaname says to Kokuto, “Don’t forget, Kokuto, Kiyomine Haruka is an orthodox power pitcher through-and-through.”

Kokuto berates himself for hesitating and promises to hit it in his next at-bat. With three outs, the inning is now over. Kaname praises Kiyomine on their way back to the dugout, but Kaname finds himself sweating quite a bit. He never expected one inning with Teitoku to be this exhausting.

Kiyomine looks deep in thought, as he thinks to himself, “Just a little more … and I should grasp it … I don’t want to give up on the forkball–!”

Chapter 133

The chapter opens with the General reprimanding Kaname for having Kiyomine pitch a forkball. Kaname responds that he had to because he couldn’t think of anything else to throw at Kokuto, prompting the General to do a facepalm and tell him that he really is stupid.

The General continues that even if there’s no other pitch to throw, a catcher’s role is to make the pitch calls. There was no reason for him to pick the incomplete forkball, which cannot yet break.

Kaname confirms that it’s true they were really lucky that Kokuto didn’t make the hit, but Kiyomine’s performance did improve after that. The General replies that Kiyomine’s performance would improve the more innings they play, so he shouldn’t mix that up with the forkball. He then goes on in a tirade about how throwing the forkball really stresses Kiyomine’s body, and considering that it doesn’t even break, he should never use it again. Meanwhile, Kaname is telling him to stop harping about it, and to shut up because this will tire out his mind.

However, Kaname continues to himself that perhaps Kiyomine was possibly putting extra stress, perhaps on his elbow, and that is causing his forkball to not break…

The bottom of the first inning is about to start, with Hinomoto as pitcher and Noridomi as catcher. Meanwhile, Masumura, Teitoku’s main catcher, is on third base. Someone in the crowds comments that it’s unusual to see a first-year player as catcher for Teitoku, and that he must really have talent.

Coach Iwasaki has a flashback to when he received a DVD from Saga prefecture. It was unusual because it’s an outdated item, but he watches it anyway. It turns out that the DVD was sent by a Noridomi Daizen from Saga prefecture, who was then in his second year of junior high and a member of the Kanzaki Boys’ League. He talks about how he first watched Teitoku play when he was 7 years old and continued to talk about how much he adored Teitoku. After that, he mentions, “Just one thing, Hinomoto should partner with me.”

This catches his attention, as Noridomi continues, “I know this. Hinomoto hasn’t reached his true potential. But if it’s me, I can catch it.”

The more he watched the video, Coach Iwasaki can’t help but feel Noridomi’s overflowing confidence from the video recording. He also notes that Noridomi is a type of player that they don’t have at Teitoku – growing up in the countryside, with a healthy mind and “fresh like a tomato”. Noridomi switches to showing his catching, and Coach Iwasaki notes that the catching sound sounds good.

Back in the game, he admits that he invited Noridomi to join them (because he found him interesting) but he never thought he’d end up using him in the summer tournament.

Noridomi is shouting words of encouragement to Hinomoto as Chihaya comments to himself that while Noridomi is an unknown variable, he won’t let them get an easy out.

Hinomoto winds up and pitches. Chihaya expects it to be on the outside and doesn’t swing, but the umpire announces a strike, surprising him. Kaname exclaims that it was really on the edge, but Noridomi framed it well. The General comments that Noridomi’s pretty good, but Kaname insists that he can do that too.

Chihaya manages to foul the next pitch, followed by a ball. Coach Sako shakes with joy at Chihaya’s performance. The next pitch is a foul, and it’s now a full count.

Noridomi thinks to himself that it seems even for Hinomoto, it’s difficult to take Chihaya out. He signals to Hinomoto for the next pitch, and Hinomoto responds with an affirmation.

Hinomoto pitches, and Coach Iwasaki continues his narration, “Noridomi’s sudden proclamation that ‘Hinomoto should partner with me.’ was correct.”

As the ball reaches the plate, it sharply breaks down to where Noridomi’s glove is positioned.

Coach Iwasaki’s narration continues, “There’s no one else besides Noridomi right now who can catch that.”

Chihaya is now out. Kaname is shocked to find out that Hinomoto has a forkball. Coach Iwasaki comments to himself that there’s no way you can hit it with that crazy break.

Kaname then looks at Kiyomine and exclaims, “Did you see that?” but Kiyomine is smiling to himself and seems to be in his own world. Kaname then realizes Kiyomine is not listening at all. Then Kiyomine says, “Kei… I…”

Once again, we see Child Kiyomine running forward.

“Even more! Further more! I can go further more!!”

He continues out loud, “I can go further more. I want to hurry up and pitch.”

Chapter 134

Kiyomine tells Kaname that he still refuses to give up on the forkball. Despite feeling the General glaring daggers from behind him, Kaname decides not to completely discourage Kiyomine as long as he remains invested in mastering the pitch. Thinking about how Kiyomine’s so invested to figure out the pitch, he thought that maybe Kiyomine might be over straining himself. This leads him to ask Kiyomine to show him his grip when he attempts to throw the forkball. Looking at it, Kaname suggests to try holding it not so deep between his fingers. This way, it would put less strain on his elbow.

He continues that since Hinomoto is really tall, his fingers are longer, making it easier for him to hook the ball. So he suggests that Kiyomine should try holding it shallower. The General watches the scene quietly as Kaname leaves to prepare for his at-bat.

Yamada steps up to the plate. Internally, he thinks that Hinomoto’s last pitch is really something for making such a big drop, and Noridomi’s also really amazing for being able to catch it.

The first pitch is a ball, which Yamada doesn’t swing at. The next two pitches are strikes, leaving Yamada cornered.

We see a flashback to that day at the Base Boy store where Andou-san reprimanded Yamada, telling him that the team did not pick him to be a captain because they need someone to handle “captain duties”. Yamada is someone who is good at baseball and is part of the main force, so he should work hard and play like one!

Back in the game, Yamada makes contact and hits a foul ball. The next pitch is a ball, which he doesn’t swing at. In the dugout, Toudou and Chihaya praise Yamada for growing into a reliable 2nd batter, and it’s their team’s pride that he’s the captain.

Noridomi can’t help but think that Tokyo players are exceptional. Hinomoto takes a moment to relax before his next pitch while Kaname wonders if “that pitch” will be the next one.

Hinomoto pitches, and Kiyomine is watching Hinomoto’s grip really closely, whispering to himself “…shallower”. At the plate, Yamada thinks he won’t waste this at-bat and will get onto first base no matter what.

He swings and misses. Meanwhile, Noridomi comments to himself that he’s made Hinomoto pitch the forkball for two consecutive at-bats.

In the dugout, Satou turns to Kiyomine and exclaims, “That was a crazy pitch huh, Kiyomine-kun?” when he realizes Kiyomine is intensely focused and not listening to anything around him. Yamada returns to the dugout, noticing that Kiyomine seems to be emitting an aura. Unintentionally, it seems his at-bat has helped Kiyomine in some way.

Kiyomine walks to the mount, mumbling to himself, “It’ll work”. He continues to mumble repeatedly, ignoring Kaname’s attempts to get his attention. Kaname comments that although he just gave that earlier as an advice, it seems Kiyomine is raring to go…

Chapter 135

The chapter opens with Noridomi on the plate. Kiyomine pitches a fastball and Noridomi swings and misses it. Noridomi is totally surprised at the speed of that pitch, thinking that this must be the caliber of Tokyo’s pitching.

Noridomi manages to foul off the next pitch, with the onlookers commenting that it’s impressive for a freshman to be batting cleanup for Teitoku.

The scene then shifts to a flashback at Teitoku when Noridomi first joins Teitoku. Sengoku describes Noridomi as a “new type” of person, one who doesn’t fit the typical mold of a Teitoku player. We see Noridomi addressing Kokuto with an unusual level of informality, calling him “Eiichirou-kun”. Kokuto himself does not mind it but his fellow teammates think otherwise.

Noridomi is also very outspoken, praising Kokuto and the rest of the team, acknowledging both the strong and weak players. According to Sengoku, after Teitoku’s defeat at the last summer Koshien, Kokuto had become increasingly distant. But for some reason, Noridomi seems to be able to break through his defenses and eventually, to Sengoku’s dismay, managed to get Kokuto to teach him all his batting techniques. Noridomi’s ability to listen and then apply the techniques he learned also set him apart.

As the flashback concludes, we return to the present, where Noridomi is fully expecting Kiyomine’s high-speed slider. Kaname, meanwhile, is deliberating over what to throw. He is aware that Teitoku has been preparing for Kiyomine’s slider, but that also doesn’t mean that he should avoid asking for it. While Noridomi may be a power hitter, his reach compared to Hinomoto should be shorter and the slider would seem appropriate. Especially since the alternative would be the incomplete forkball that might not break as desired.

Kaname signals for the slider, and Kiyomine hesitates before nodding in response. Kaname notices the hesitation and wonders if things will go as planned.

Kiyomine pitches, and Kaname immediately senses something is amiss. As the ball approaches, Noridomi suddenly puts his feet down to extend his reach. Kokuto, watching from the dugout, remarks that Noridomi’s form looks perfect.

Just as Noridomi swings, the balls makes a sudden drop, right above the plate. Kaname catches it deftly.

The entire stadium is stunned, including the audience, Noridomi, Kokuto, and the General. Even Kaname himself is shocked.

On Kotesashi’s side, everyone is wondering if Kiyomine just mastered his forkball.

Chapter 136

Kiyomine stands on the mount, looking somewhat dazed. Kaname runs up to him and shouts, “Don’t ignore my signs! I can’t believe this! The next time you do that, we’re over!” A moment of pause when Kiyomine suddenly reacts in surprise, shouting back that he didn’t ignore his sign. Kaname follows up that Kiyomine is too loud, and now the whole team has found out that he had ignored Kaname’s signs.

Kaname reprimands him, saying that he thought Kiyomine seemed off so he was wary about the pitch and that was how he was able to catch it, but he really should not ever do that again. Kiyomine apologizes, saying that he didn’t realize what he did and that he won’t do it again. However, Kaname recalls how Noridomi taking a step to extend his reach was also unexpected for him, and that if Kiyomine had thrown the slider, there was a high chance that it would have been hit. So the fact that he didn’t end up throwing the slider turns out to be the right thing.

Kaname comments out loud that Kiyomine will throw that pitch even if he said he wouldn’t, so he reminds Kiyomine to follow his leads. Kiyomine then asks, “Um, what did I just throw?” Kaname angrily tells him that it was the forkball! Kiyomine asks if it dropped, because he doesn’t know. Kaname gives him a big grin, saying, “It dropped like crazy! Totally godlike!” He continues that he’ll praise Kiyomine properly after the inning and that he should make sure to follow his leads, and heads back to his position.

Meanwhile, Hikawa is watching the match on TV, and Makita is complaining about Hinomoto first and now Kiyomine is copying his “Super Rock Ball.” Kirishima corrects him.

Kuga is now on the plate. Kaname decides to call for the forkball. Kiyomine immediately responds with a nod of affirmation. Although he did threw it unconsciously earlier, somehow, now that he’s totally into it and just wants to keep throwing it.

We then see a picture of his child self running forward.

Kuga swings and misses as the ball drops. In his eyes, the ball suddenly disappears. In Teitoku’s dugout, Kokuto wonders if that’s even a forkball, because it’s too fast for one. Coach Sako thinks it might be because Kiyomine hooked his fingers shallower. Kuga is struck out in the next pitch.

Masumura is up next and he can’t make contact with it either. Satou is totally amazed at Kiyomine, saying that given the opportunity, Kiyomine can really throw it just like that. And that Kiyomine is truly the strongest pitcher there is!

The crowd cheers and praises Kiyomine for that super breaking ball. But Chihaya comments, “… actually, there is another person who is amazing here…” Back in the game, we see Kaname deftly catching the ball.

In Teitoku’s dugout, Noridomi is amazed that there’s someone other than him who can catch a ball that would drop that much.

The inning is done. Chihaya continues, “That’s not a ball that can be caught when seeing it for the first time.”

Coach Sako is bashfully happy, commenting that it’s awesome to see the moment when the players blossom, and that they truly are a genius battery.

Standing aside and watching everything, General Kaname remembers Kaname’s words: “I want to defeat the General and surpass myself.” In that flashback, he had responded, “Well, try to surpass me first, master.”

He seems a little upset(?) as he comments, “I would not have caught that pitch if I was seeing it for the first time”.

Chapter 137

The chapter opens inside Kotesashi’s dugout, with Kiyomine telling Kaname that he threw a forkball. Kaname remains expressionless (because he does not understand why Kiyomine is saying it), and after a prolonged stare, he realizes Kiyomine was expecting praise. Kaname obliges, lavishing him with praise.

However, Coach Sako comments that that wasn’t a forkball, but a splitter, and a very particular one at that. It drops too much to be called a splitter, but too fast to be a forkball. He praises them for having arrived at such an amazing pitch after pushing through many trials and errors.

Kiyomine happily leaves the dugout for his at-bat. Chihaya then approaches Kaname to ask him how he managed to catch that pitch. Kaname nonchalantly replies, “Eh? Like normally?” and proceeds to complain about how Kiyomine had ignored his calls. Both Chihaya and Yamada is caught off-guard by his response. Yamada remarks to himself that Kaname has no idea how impressive he was in catching the pitch.

Meanwhile, Toudou stands on the plate, thinking he must do his part as cleanup and get on base.

Hinomoto pitches, and Toudou swings for it, pulling the ball into left field. Unfortunately, Kiyomine is struck out after that. Apparently he totally didn’t see the forkball.

Next up is Teruya, whose family name sparks interest among the crowd. Someone confirms that he is the younger brother of Hinomoto.

The first pitch is a strike, and the crowd continues to chatter about the brothers – how they’ve never heard of a younger brother, likely because the older brother is too famous, and how it must be the classic “younger brother can’t catch up in height” scenario.

For Teruya, his brother has always been amazing since little league. Teruya decided to play baseball because he admired his brother. He joined the same league as his brother and went on by trying out different positions. However, his brother has always remained as pitcher. Because he is a “special” player. Eventually, his brother started to experience growing pains and shot up in height. Teruya himself, never went through it.

On the team, his name became “younger brother”. Because he is Hinomoto Ataru’s younger brother after all. When reporters and journalists came to interview the team, they would always ask questions about his brother, and his brother’s family life. No one was ever interested in him. He felt that he had no other value other than being “Hinomoto Ataru’s younger brother”.

Eventually, his answers to them became, “My brother is my pride”. The fact that he could say that and mean it from the bottom of his heart, was his pride. Because his brother was indeed a good person and he loved his brother. His parents also never favoured one over the other. Sharing the same meals, practicing on the same thing, born of the same parents – he had the best environment and the same genes. He truly is proud and blessed to be his brother’s younger brother.

He had absolutely nothing to be unhappy about. And he had no excuse to be unhappy. So if he was, there must be something wrong on his part then.

One night, he stumbles on an article about a Kiyomine Haruka from Houya Senior League in West Tokyo. This was the first time he heard about Kiyomine and Kaname, a battery made up of two childhood friends.

Despite never meeting them before, he was drawn to them.

Chapter 138

The chapter opens with Teruya making a foul hit. The count is now two balls and two strikes.

As Teruya stands on the plate, we see a flashback to his elementary school days. One evening in bed, he stumbled upon an online article about the Kiyomine-Kaname battery. He notes that although this Kaname Kei person is much smaller than Kiyomine, he was still equally called a “prodigy”. They were also childhood friends, which means they were always together, just like him and his brother.

Teruya asked his parents for permission to join the Houya Senior League in Tokyo when he starts junior high. His parents did not question his decision and gave him their consent. Hinomoto, however, took the news differently and was very shocked.

Although Teruya had to commute all the time, strangely, his heart felt lighten. At Houya, he was not known as Hinomoto Ataru’s “little brother”. And that’s because at Houya, Kiyomine Haruka and Kaname Kei’s presence was absolute.

Teruya paid particular attention to Kaname, observing that his batting and defense skills were so perfect that you have acknowledge that he’s also a “special” player. Teruya watched Kaname practice relentlessly, be it catching, batting, and even getting chewed out by the coach.

One day, Kaname drops some notes nearby and Teruya helps him pick them up. He glances at the notes and wonders what it could be, and Kaname reveals that the notes contain data on the opposing team for their upcoming practice match. Kaname was in the process of memorizing it.

Teruya is surprised that he would go such lengths just for a practice match. However, Kaname replies that this is a practice for him - to see if his data collection method works, in order that he can improve his accuracy for the tournament matches.

Teruya is in shock at his words, thinking, “When was it that I stopped?”.

He has never practiced to such a degree. He never practiced to the point of pushing himself to get better. He unconsciously gave up, thinking he wouldn’t be better than his brother.

“Even though I started baseball because I admired my brother, in the end, I ran away from my brother.”

Hinomoto pitches and it is a ball. In the dugout, Kaname comments that it’s amazing Teruya managed to hold out for a full count, considering this is his first at-bat with Hinomoto. Taki, beside him, comments that this isn’t his first at-bat, surprising Kaname.

On the mount, Hinomoto is thinking how he never expected to fight his brother at a tournament match, let alone in the semifinals. He wonders why Teruya did not choose to come to Teitoku.

Noridomi signals for a forkball. As Hinomoto pitches, he thinks, “Even for my little brother, I will not give Koshien up. We will be the ones to win here!!”

Teruya narrates, “I excused myself by saying that I had not merit nor aptitude. But seeing Kaname-senpai, my views changed: I want to beat aniki!!”

In the past, Teruya has observed his brother practicing his forkball at the wall. He knew that if there was a catcher who could catch it, it would be his brother’s winning shot. As they all prepared for the summer tournament, Teruya kept swinging his bat while imagining his brother’s forkball. He even enlisted Taki’s help by getting him to pitch. He did everything so that he can hit his brother’s forkball.

Back in the match, Taki tells Kaname that after Teruya met Kaname, he stopped giving up and have since been practicing his swing every day to fight with his brother.

As the pitch approaches, Teruya knows that he can hit it, because he has faced his brother over a thousand times in his mind. He swings, and as the pitch is close to reaching his bat, Noridomi is convinced that they’ve got Teruya since this is the point when it starts to drop down.

Just then, Teruya unexpectedly bends his knees, thinking to himself, “It should drop two balls even lower than where one would expect to swing at two balls lower.”

Noridomi had thought they got him, but as Teruya swings, he thinks to himself, “My brother is truly something. He easily surpasses my simulation.”

Teruya makes a big hit and it comes down between right and center. Even Toudou, already running, is giving mad props to Teruya for hitting such a pitch. Chihaya comments that no normal player would ever hit that, while Kiyomine is sweating bullets in amazement. Taki quietly commends Teruya on his accomplishment.

Toudou makes it to home base safely, marking the first run in this game, and it goes to Kotesashi!

Teruya also makes it safely to second base and makes a fist pump.

As he stands there, he narrates, “Kaname-senpai, I … will continue to challenge my brother. I will no longer be complacent!!”

Chapter 139

Although the inning ended with both Suzuki and Sarukawa struck out, Kotesashi is celebrating their first run of the game.

Meanwhile, the Hinomoto parents, who were unable to make it to the game in person, are currently watching the live broadcast of the game at home and sharing in the moment. Hinomoto’s mom is feeling a mix of emotions for the two brothers who have to compete with each other.

Back to the game, it’s now the top of the 3rd inning, and Hidaka steps up to the plate. However, he is unable to even swing at Kiyomine’s pitch. The Teitoku coaches are commenting that Kiyomine’s fastball seems even faster now.

Hidaka manages to foul off the next pitch, and Kaname notes that Hidaka finally swung. Meanwhile, Hidaka tells Kaname that Kiyomine still does not understand what it means to be an “ace”.

The next pitch takes Hidaka out. Kaname responds, “Haru-chan is no longer the same as he was last year”. Hidaka responds that “There’s no way to tell if [he] can keep that up until the bottom of the last inning”.

Hidaka coolly walks back to the dugout before collapsing on the floor frothing from his mouth. Apparently, he’s been holding it and starts disparaging himself for being a “useless piece of shit”. Sengoku comments that Hidaka was so lame, trying to put on airs after getting struck out, while the others chide him for speaking so bluntly.

Kozato steps up next. He is considering how Kiyomine wasn’t supposed to have a forkball yet he suddenly threw one – was his intention to hide it at the beginning? No, Kiyomine must have suddenly decided to try it out … against Teitoku here! Now he is pissed off at Kiyomine’s audacity.

Kiyomine pitches and even though Kozato could follow it, the drop was too unexpected and faster than he had expected. Standing there, he can’t help but be impressed at this pitcher who could produce such a quality pitch for an opening pitch, and his catcher, who fully understands the risk, yet dares to request it for as a first pitch.

Kozato grows angrier by the moment and vows to hit it and make them regret their decision.

Meanwhile, Kaname is very excited because with this makyuu (magic ball), combined with a splitter, completely broadens his pitch calling to any number of combinations. After seeing the splitter, Kozato could not even swing at a fastball.

Kaname signals for another when General Kaname shouts “Hey!” in protest.

Kozato is struck out. The crowd is chatting about Kiyomine having a forkball. However, to himself, Kaname says it’s not a forkball, as it is faster than a forkball, and drops more than a splitter – it is a super S splitter.

General Kaname is now shouting at Kaname, telling him that he’s calling for far too many of it. Suddenly, he realizes that his voice is no longer reaching Kaname.

He wonders if it’s because Kaname’s just too focused right now … or could it be [something else]?