"Yes, it was a Slider. If I'd kept throwing Fastballs, he might've gotten a piece of one. And I didn't want him to get a piece of one, so I threw a Slider."
As a pitcher, wasn't it perfectly normal for him to have a bit of a temper?
Harada's face immediately stopped looking so dark. Narumiya Mei was far more tsundere than Su Qing, and Harada had put up with him just fine. He only wanted to give Su Qing a small warning. If Su Qing kept doing this, he would get angry too.
"Being competitive is a good thing, but next time, I hope I can be informed beforehand, okay?"
Su Qing nodded frantically.
"We'll talk about breaking balls after this game."
With that, Harada walked off the mound.
So scary. Sure enough, muscular catchers were all hard to deal with. Su Qing suddenly started missing his little Tada.
The next batter didn't cause any trouble. He tried his best to swing, and by the third pitch, Su Qing felt that he had almost made contact.
This kid wasn't bad. By the third pitch, he had nearly caught the timing.
The commentator's voice once again rang through the entire stadium. It was only Three Up, Three Down, yet his throat was nearly hoarse from shouting, as if Su Qing had done something incredible. Narumiya Mei had recorded two Three Up, Three Downs, and the first had ended with three strikeouts. Yet the commentator had only been mildly excited then.
Maybe that was the thrill speed brought.
The moment Su Qing returned to the Rest Area, he saw Narumiya Mei with a towel draped over his head.
"Narumiya?"
Narumiya Mei abruptly raised his head, and Su Qing immediately saw the sulky expression on his face.
Wow, so cute. Like a pitiful little kitten. It hit Su Qing right in his soft spot.
Su Qing sat down directly beside Narumiya Mei.
"Why aren't you icing your shoulder yet?"
Narumiya Mei had been taken out of the game, so there was no way he would pitch again. Why wasn't he icing it?
Narumiya Mei was a little confused too. Wasn't Su Qing here to provoke him?
"Ice it promptly. It can extend your shoulder's lifespan. Believe me, you definitely don't want TJ surgery. The rehab period is insanely long! And it's incredibly painful!"
Su Qing immediately led Narumiya Mei's attention astray.
"You make it sound like you've had it before. And what is TJ surgery?"
"I'll tell you if you ice your shoulder first. Want me to help you?"
Icing alone was pretty troublesome. Back then, his teammates had always helped him with it.
"What's there to help with when it comes to icing? Just wait."
Narumiya Mei stood up, took a blue bag from his backpack, and casually tied it around himself.
"Alright, let's keep talking. What's TJ surgery?"
!!!!!
Su Qing suddenly remembered what the ice packs in Ace of Diamond looked like. When he had watched it, he had complained about them endlessly.
"What's the point of an ice pack like that? Does it even have the slightest cooling effect?!"
"Of course it does. Try it and you'll know. It's really cold, but you only need to wear it for half an hour."
"Half an hour!"
Oh my god, after icing for half an hour, would his arm even still have feeling?! Would his arm still be usable? Would he still be able to pitch in the future?! Even TJ surgery wouldn't be able to save it then!
"From now on, I'll handle your icing. Take off that damned useless ice pack already!"
"What's wrong? How else are you supposed to ice it?"
Su Qing no longer cared about exposing himself. He bought professional icing equipment and several bags of ice from the Time-Space Store.
He assembled everything inside his backpack, then took it out.
Narumiya Mei jumped when he saw Su Qing carrying a bag of ice over.
"What are you doing?"
"Listen to me. Take off that useless ice pack already."
"Su Qing, get ready to bat. Go to the On-deck Circle."
"Got it! Just wait a moment!"
Su Qing forcefully removed the ice pack from Narumiya Mei.
Then he carefully wrapped Narumiya Mei's left shoulder bit by bit with the ice pack he had prepared.
"Hiss—"
Narumiya Mei sucked in a sharp breath. It was freezing! Far colder than that ice pack!
"I'm going to get ready to bat. Remember, ice it for only five or six minutes. Take it off the moment time's up! You absolutely can't keep icing it. Do you hear me?"
Narumiya Mei looked into Su Qing's incomparably serious eyes and nodded blankly. Su Qing was still worried, so he bought an alarm clock and placed it beside Narumiya Mei, telling him to take it off when it rang.
Su Qing hurried toward the equipment area, put on his helmet, grabbed a bat at random from his bag, picked up his leg guard, and ran toward the On-deck Circle.
After putting the leg guard on his right leg in the On-deck Circle, Harada hit a single and ran to second base.
Su Qing then rushed straight to the batter's box. Only then did he remember that he had not applied Pine Tar to his bat yet!
Forget it. Against these kids, it didn't matter whether he used Pine Tar or not.
Su Qing took a step back and swung the bat a few times, only to realize it didn't feel quite right in his hands.
Oh! God, today really was his unlucky day! He had grabbed a bat that didn't suit him very well.
Forget it. The score was already big enough, and they didn't need his offensive support. He would just swing casually. If he got out, he could go back and check on Narumiya Mei's icing.
With that mindset, Su Qing stepped back into the batter's box. But the instant he stood there, he remembered that he had made it to the Major League through his bat and defense. Wouldn't it be terribly embarrassing if he got struck out by a high school kid?
While Su Qing was lost in thought, Shin Kō's pitcher had already thrown the ball. The instant it left his hand, Su Qing's full attention was drawn to it. Judging by the spin, it should be a Fastball. Its velocity and spin rate were both low, and it was down in the zone!
It seemed Japan's high school kids still didn't understand what a fly-ball revolution was! He would give them a proper lesson!
The pitch was so slow that even though Su Qing was a beat late, he could still swing at full force.
"Bang!"
From the sound that came from the bat and the feeling transmitted through his hands, Su Qing knew he had gotten all of it. He casually set the bat beside the batter's box and started running.
It was best not to taunt anyone after hitting a Home Run. What if the pitcher had a bad temper and cleared the benches? He would definitely be the one surrounded at the very center! He had no desire to be pinned beneath dozens of people!
Gasps filled the field. When the baseball first soared high into the air, everyone had thought it was only a Fly Ball. Otherwise, Su Qing would not have hesitated before running the bases.
But the baseball unexpectedly kept flying. Shin Kō's outfielders did not even think of trying to save it, because this towering Home Run sailed far beyond left field.
Shin Kō had already felt that a comeback was hopeless, so they had replaced their ace before this inning began. The player currently in left field was a second-year substitute outfielder who had been brought in to experience the atmosphere.
And so, he experienced despair. Harada's hit just now had also gone toward left field. He had misjudged it at first, and when the ball bounced after landing, it came back toward him, forcing him to chase it for quite a while. Fortunately, Harada was not very fast on the bases, and left field was close to third base, so Harada had ultimately stopped at second.
There was no need to save Su Qing's hit, but he still had to run symbolically. He had to watch the ball fly out first.
Before you continue