"Strike!" It was an unquestionable strike, beautifully pitched. It slipped beneath the batter's bat and dropped diagonally into the catcher's mitt behind Home Plate.
Well, whatever. I'll only attack fastballs. To make the Changeup more deceptive, he had to mix in fastballs, so Carlos was not worried about failing to get the pitch he wanted.
Bottom of the Sixth Inning, one out, one strike and one ball.
Miyuki flashed the Signals below. After swinging and missing at a Changeup, the batter was likely preparing to be cautious with his swing, waiting for an easy pitch before committing aggressively.
Under these circumstances, they had to pitch very carefully, working the edges and forcing the batter to swing.
Kōshū understood the situation, and mentality and control were precisely his strengths.
After nodding again, Kōshū relaxed every muscle in his body one by one.
Brow.
Shoulders.
Arms.
Thighs.
This sense of ritual did not merely relax his muscles. More importantly, it relaxed the muscles of his mind. It created the feeling that everything was as usual, swiftly returning his emotions to their proper place.
Of course, the very need for such recovery showed that the pitcher was under pressure.
Kōshū lifted his left foot. At this moment, there was no warning pain in his ankle—only when he drove his foot sharply forward.
As power traveled through his ankle into his lower body, that crushing sensation intensified again. The pain was not severe, yet it insistently made its presence known.
Kōshū was not the sort of person who regarded collective honor as above all else. When he had first entered Seido, he had even found Chris's choice very difficult to understand. But now, he had an arrow on the string and was riding a tiger he could not dismount. Since he had chosen to