Chapter 30

Short Summary
The game is temporarily suspended due to the rain, but not cancelled. Tokuchi assures Oikawa he won’t have to pay the Owner for his runs.

Long Summary
Oikawa is thrilled by the Lycaons equalising, and thinks an invalid game is likely now that the Mariners have no reason to rush anymore. Saikawa asks his Secretary to put a call through to the head of Saikyou newspaper.

The pitcher’s mound finally gets maintenanced. The Mariners are displeased as this wastes more time. Manager Imawano again shouts at Tashiro to hurry up and get out there, and Tashiro feels put out that he’s the one being blamed. The rain starts falling even more heavily and Tashiro’s slippery grip makes his first pitch go wide. It goes outside the strike-zone, making it a ‘ball’. The same happens on his second pitch. Seeing his poor ball control, the umpire calls a timeout and sends both teams to their dugouts. The commentators announce the match suspended.

Oikawa is confident the game will soon be over, but the Owner laughs and says things won’t go as Tokuchi planned.

The Mariners players are all annoyed and Brooklyn smashes a bat in anger. Tashiro whispers to Kira that he feels relieved and wants an invalid game. After 15 minutes of rain, the Lycaons feel certain the game will be cancelled. They express their disappointment and Tokuchi scolds them for speaking as though the game’s already over. He tells them not to lose their concentration.

The Umpires gather together to make their decision, and to both team’s shock announce the game will resume. Kira shouts his outrage, but the Umpire says they can’t stop as the sponsor, Saikyou newspaper, insisted the game continue.

Saikawa reveals to Oikawa and the Secretary that the head of Saikyou newspaper is an old friend of his and agreed to his wishes for 50 million yen. He laughs and says Tokuchi will be his ‘dog’.

The Umpire tries to placate the Mariners by telling them the sponsor didn’t specify they must play the whole game, but only make it valid. This requires only one more inning, so the Manager doesn’t argue; Kira protests but Imawano says they must obey the umpire.

Tashiro continues to pitch. Tokuchi gets a phone call from Oikawa, who says his plan has utterly failed, and Tokuchi guesses Saikawa interfered. Oikawa asks him what he plans to do and Tokuchi says it’s obvious; he’ll win the match and make it valid. Oikawa reminds him of the 15 billion yen he’ll owe Saikawa if the game if that happens. Tokuchi laughs and assures him he doesn’t intend on paying him a thing. On top of that, he’ll make Saikawa pay him for the outs he scored this game.

Characters

 * Tokuchi Toua
 * Oikawa
 * Saikawa: Owner of the Lycaons
 * The Secretary
 * Kira
 * Tashiro
 * Manager Imawano