Hirai Tsubasa delivered the final RBI hit, sending Yoshizawa and Harada home from the bases.
After Shuichiro saw Hirai Tsubasa hit his pitch, he stood there blankly beside Harada without even turning around to see whether the ball had been caught. In fact, his judgment had been correct. Harada and Yoshizawa crossed home one after the other, bringing the game to an end.
Shuichiro pulled his cap down from his head and covered his face with it. He did not want anyone to see his tears. It had been a long time since he had cried.
"Shuichiro, it's time to line up."
Catcher Furuta carefully ran up to the mound and spoke to Shuichiro in a low voice.
"Inhale..."
"Yeah."
Shuichiro took a deep breath, then used his cap to wipe the tears from his face before running aside. Throughout the postgame bow, he fought to suppress the sorrow in his heart. He refused to cry in front of Masatoshi.
"Thank you for the game!"
After bowing, Shuichiro did not immediately leave the field. Though he had lost, he still had to carry himself with the grace of a loser. He did not care about winning or losing. He really did not care!
As Shuichiro watched Harada walk straight toward him, he had been about to fire off a few sharp remarks and ask whether Harada had come to mock him. Instead, Harada suddenly pulled him into an embrace.
"If you want to cry, then cry. Don't bottle it up."
"You're the one who wants to cry. I'm not going to cry."
Though Shuichiro stubbornly said so, tears were already welling up in his eyes.
"Don't look!"
After they let go, Shuichiro turned his head away and desperately wiped his tears with his uniform. The tears may have dried, but