Chapter 18

Short Summary
Saikawa comes up with four new conditions for Tokuchi’s contract. The Lycaons have a meeting to discuss their next opponents, the Mariners.

Long Summary
Saikawa calls Tokuchi to his office to hammer out the details of his contract. He comes up with four conditions for Tokuchi: Oikawa shouts in his head that this contract is a trap, but Tokuchi accepts all the conditions. Oikawa breaks his silence and tells Tokuchi he’s being set up. Tokuchi asks him whose side he’s on, and tells him he’ll ‘see who’s really being set up by the end of the season.’ He leaves, and Saikawa asks his secretary to summon the manager and ‘get those sports-writers on the phone.’
 * 1) He must always follow instructions from the dugout and must pitch whenever Manager Mihara tells him to. If Tokuchi fails to follow this rule, there will be a fine of 500 million yen.
 * 2) From now on, Tokuchi will have to pay for any run given up while he's on the mound, not just earned runs.
 * 3) The owner can adjust the contract depending on the importance of the game.
 * 4) Tokuchi must not reveal the existence of the contract to anyone. Breaking this will also incur a fine of 500 million yen.

The Lycaons have an emergency meeting to discuss their upcoming match against the Mariners, the strongest team in the country. As usual, Tokuchi doesn’t show up to the meeting. The Mariners have on average scored 6.17 runs per game so far. Three of their batters have the best batting averages of the league. Their best batter, Takami, has especially good motion vision and can hit forkballs. The team feel demoralised.

Saejima, the coach, storms in looking for Tokuchi. He turns the TV on to show an interview with Saikawa. He's telling the media that Tokuchi will be starting in every single game against the Mariners, even though Mihara had planned on giving him a break. The team are shocked.