Chapter 113

Short Summary
Kurai pitches against Amami in the final inning of the game against the Fingers.

Long Summary
The final inning sees Kurai up against Amami. Oikawa phones up Tokuchi and calls him an idiot. He asks him why he always makes reckless gambles and says he’s sick of it. Tokuchi questions why he thinks his bet is reckless and claims Amami has ‘already decided the fate of this match.’

Kurai does his tornado windup and pitches a strike. It’s only a 160km/h, and Amami smiles. Saikawa looks excited as it seems Kurai is caving to the pressure. Kurai throws his second pitch and Amami makes contact, but it’s a foul. The speed is back up to 164km/h, an impressive speed to hit.

Kurai throws his third pitch, his fastest yet at 165km/h. Amami hits it. It flies and Saikawa exclaims in excitement, but it doesn’t clear the fence and is caught by the centre-fielder. This makes three outs and the game ends. Amami takes his hat off to Kurai and says he looks forward to their next battle.

After the match, Oikawa asks Tokuchi what he meant on the phone. Tokuchi says Amami ‘has it as well.’ He can immediately discern an opponent’s true strength. Amami tried to draw out Kurai’s ability by shouting at him and fouling easy balls. He wanted to challenge himself against Kurai’s true potential, even if it cost him the game. Tokuchi says the day will come when someone will manage to hit Kurai’s pitch and wonders whether it will be Amami or Takami who beat him first.

Tokuchi and Kurai achieved 25 outs in total and gave up three runs. As batters, the four of them together had 8 outs and 6 runs. With the 20x rate and Tokuchi 2 billion yen bonus, Tokuchi’s salary is 6.066 billion yen.

Characters

 * Tokuchi Toua
 * Oikawa
 * Saikawa
 * Kurai
 * Amami