Chapter 210: The Kominato Brothers' Stage

Haruichi... are you ready?

Kominato Ryosuke silently asked in his heart.

Big Brother...

I'm ready.

Without exchanging a single word, Haruichi answered with a smile.

Let's score our first run at Koshien... together.

As brothers.

Yeah!

Haruichi's heart pounded with excitement.

This was the dream they had shared since they were children.

As the brothers silently exchanged their resolve...

Seiho's pitcher began his delivery.

The instant the ball left his hand—

Haruichi exploded off second base.

"He's running!"

The second baseman shouted.

"I knew it!"

Even the catcher was startled.

But at that exact moment...

Ryosuke slowly opened his eyes.

His calm smile disappeared.

His sharp gaze locked onto the incoming pitch.

This...

...is our stage.

No one gets in our way!

CRACK!!

The metal bat met the baseball squarely.

The ball shot off the bat like a bullet.

Haruichi never looked back.

He simply trusted his brother completely and sprinted toward third.

One brother raced from second to third.

The other charged from home to first.

Running in opposite directions...

Yet moving toward the same dream.

Watching the scene unfold...

Every member of Seido Baseball Club felt a lump rise in their throat.

As Haruichi rounded third, he caught sight of the familiar figure ahead.

The back he had chased ever since he was a little boy.

For years...

His goal had never changed.

To stand beside his brother.

To fight together.

To play baseball together on the greatest stage in Japan.

Now...

That dream had finally become reality.

Meanwhile, Ryosuke sprinted toward first.

Even without turning around...

He could feel Haruichi's determined gaze behind him.

His familiar smile naturally appeared once more.

Haruichi...

This has always been your dream, hasn't it?

Swing without hesitation.

Run the bases without looking back.

Trust me completely.

And stand beside me at Koshien.

You've practiced with a wooden bat since elementary school just for this day.

No one knows better than I do how hard you've worked.

All of it...

...was for this moment.

The baseball skipped past the shortstop's outstretched glove and rolled into center field.

By the time the outfielder recovered it...

Haruichi had already rounded third.

He never slowed.

He charged straight for home.

Sliding feet-first—

"SAFE!"

The home plate umpire spread both arms.

Haruichi was safe.

He leaped to his feet.

"WOOOOOOO!!"

For the first time...

The normally shy Haruichi clenched both fists, drew an imaginary bow, and roared toward the sky.

It was a celebration unlike anything anyone had ever seen from him.

Usually...

Even after collecting a hit, he'd simply smile bashfully.

But today was different.

Because today...

The dream he had chased for years had finally come true.

He had stood on the Koshien stage...

Together with his brother.

Standing on first base, Ryosuke watched quietly.

A proud smile spread across his face.

In the stands...

Their parents could no longer contain themselves.

They stood up together, cheering at the top of their lungs.

Inside Seido's dugout, every player stared in amazement.

"Is... is that really Haruichi?"

The shyest player on the team...

The boy who used to blush just for reaching base...

Was now roaring with all his heart.

Then everyone smiled.

They all understood.

That run meant far more than just another point on the scoreboard.

It was the realization of two brothers' shared dream.

The inning continued.

Isashiki came to the plate next.

Unfortunately, Seido's rally finally came to an end.

Ryosuke was left stranded on base.

Back in the dugout—

Smack!

The Kominato brothers exchanged a loud high-five.

Neither of them held back.

"YOSH!!"

The two shouted in unison.

Watching from nearby, Ushijima couldn't help thinking of another famous pair.

It reminded him of the legendary high-five between Hanamichi Sakuragi and Kaede Rukawa.

The entire Seido bench burst into laughter.

By the end of the second inning, Seiho had already surrendered five runs.

Team12Seiho00Seido05

That explosive inning had nearly broken Seiho's spirit.

Bottom of the Third

Although Ushijima couldn't retire the side in order during the top of the inning, he once again prevented Seiho from scoring.

Then Seido's cleanup hitters returned to the plate.

Yuki Tetsuya stepped in first.

Still rattled after the disastrous second inning, Seiho's pitcher left the first pitch over the plate.

CRACK!

Yuki blasted it deep over the fence.

A solo home run.

The next batter...

Ushijima Wakatoshi.

This time, he picked up a wooden bat.

After watching Yuki go deep...

He answered immediately.

BOOM!!

Another home run.

Back-to-back home runs.

The cleanup duo completely crushed Seiho's remaining fighting spirit.

Seiho was undoubtedly a powerhouse.

But Seido possessed the strongest batting lineup in the country.

Even pitchers like Narumiya Mei couldn't completely silence them.

By the end of the third inning, Seido had added three more runs.

Seiho had already switched pitchers, limiting the damage.

Team123Seiho000Seido053

Top of the Fourth

Sano Shuzo stepped to the plate for his second at-bat.

His first appearance had ended with three straight strikes.

This time...

Ushijima had no intention of letting him reach base either.

First pitch.

A High-Speed Jet Ball clipped the outside edge.

Swing and miss.

Strike one.

Second pitch.

A sinking Sinker started outside before diving away.

Sano chased it.

Strike two.

Third pitch.

A four-seam fastball painted the inside corner.

Sano froze.

"Strike three! Batter out!"

The umpire's emphatic call echoed throughout Koshien.

The crowd fell into stunned silence.

Sano Shuzo...

The batter many had called the strongest slugger in this year's tournament...

Had been struck out again.

No...

Perhaps they had been wrong from the very beginning.

The strongest hitter at Koshien...

Was standing on the mound.

His name was Ushijima Wakatoshi.

The rest of the game quickly slipped away from Seiho.

Ushijima retired the side in order during the fourth inning.

Seido failed to score in the bottom half, with the lower half of the lineup coming up.

Through the fifth and sixth innings, Ushijima continued to dominate, allowing almost no solid contact.

Seiho's relief pitcher also settled down and proved why he was expected to become next season's ace, keeping Seido's offense largely in check.

Top of the Seventh

Sano came to the plate for the third time.

This time, the duel lasted seven pitches.

Everyone knew Sano was waiting for an inside fastball.

Ushijima knew it too.

Even so...

He threw it anyway.

Sano managed only foul balls.

He couldn't square it up.

Finally—

Ushijima unleashed his first forkball of the game.

The ball vanished beneath Sano's bat.

Thwack!

"Strike three!"

"YOSH!!"

Standing atop the mound, Ushijima pumped his fist and let out a triumphant roar.

Three at-bats.

Three strikeouts.

The Seido players simply grinned.

That was Ushijima.

He never ran from a challenge.

If his opponent was considered the best...

He would defeat them head-on.

The spectators from other schools watched in disbelief.

"Is this real?"

"Sano struck out all three times?"

"Ushijima knew Sano was waiting for the inside fastball..."

"And he still threw it."

"He challenged him directly."

"And Sano couldn't do anything except foul it off."

"His pitches are just that dominant."

"Then he finished him with a forkball."

"That was absolute control."

By the end of the seventh inning, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Seiho 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Seido 0 5 3 0 1 2 1 1

Seido had completely overwhelmed one of the tournament favorites, while Ushijima Wakatoshi proved once again why he was the undisputed ace—and perhaps the most dominant player in this year's Summer Koshien.