Chapter 132

Short Summary
The Lycaons finally come to understand the real meaning of teamwork.

Long Summary
By the fourth inning, the Lycaons are losing 9-1. Despite this, the Bugaboos pitcher says he has a ‘bad feeling’. He looks over at the Lycaons players and thinks they all have ‘eyes like Tokuchi’.

The members no longer carry the false idea of teamwork Tokuchi had previously accused them of having. All the members are determined to be the player who makes the team win. The Lycaons tie the game and Imai scores the winning home run. They finish 17-9.

In the follow-up meeting, Tokuchi asks Imai the true meaning of team work. Imai says he’d forgotten about the teamwork talk they’d had and was only focussed on standing out. Sugadaira offers to answer instead, and says that the idea of combining your strength to make something greater is a delusion. Teamwork comes with a feeling of heavy responsibility and others’ mistakes pissing you off. The MVP tickets grabbed his attention since he loves gambling, but while practising he remembered the ‘heroic’ feeling baseball gave him when he was a child. He calls that feeling the best thing about baseball. Not worrying about others and thinking of how you alone can make the team win is the real meaning of teamwork. Tokuchi tells them both their answers are correct and announces he’ll be pitching in the next game so they better show him the best teamwork they can.

Characters

 * Tokuchi Toua
 * Sugadaira
 * Imai