Chapter 26

Short Summary
Tokuchi continues to let in run after run. Takami suspects something is strange about Tokuchi’s pitching and realises what his plan is when he sees a weather report.

Long Summary
Tokuchi gives up his first point in 47 innings to Takami. Saikawa celebrates from his office and the Secretary confirms Tokuchi is now in the red. Oikawa is upset by his dirty tricks.

Takami claims all Tokuchi’s tactics depend on his precise ball control and he’s helpless in his current state. Tomas says he thinks Tokuchi’s been behaving strangely since before the start of the game. While he usually shows up early to observe his opponents, today he’d stayed in the locker room watching TV.

The Secretary asks Saikawa if they should withdraw Tokuchi from the field and stop any chance of a comeback, but the Owner wants him to continue pitching. He admits Tokuchi’s a popular player and he wouldn’t take him off when most people bought tickets to see him play. Saikawa also hopes Tokuchi will rack up his debt by letting another few runs in. With a huge deficit, Saikawa can allow him to pitch however he likes for the rest of the season without worry he’ll get back in the clear, and Saikawa can continue to enjoy the increased ticket sales he brings in.

Tomas and Brooklyn bat and both get hits. Tomas makes its home, scoring a second run against Tokuchi. Tokuchi calls a time out and goes to the dugout. When he comes back, the Mariners coach says he heard Tokuchi simply got a 5 minute massage and watched TV. With runners on first and third, Tokuchi pitches against Hanada and gets a ball. Oikawa worriedly wishes Tokuchi to get ahold of himself. Hanada gets a hit and the third base runner makes it home. Oikawa knows Tokuchi has now lost any chance of making a comeback. Tokuchi's let in another 3 runs by the end of the inning. Takami feels that something doesn’t seem right with this easy win. He glances at Tokuchi as he walks off the pitch to see him smiling and suspects he has something else up his sleeve.

The Lycaons draw out their attack for as long as possible to give Tokuchi a chance to rest, though they still finish the inning scoreless. The Mariners score another four runs in the 2nd inning and five in the 3rd, totalling 14. This makes Tokuchi 10.5 billion yen in debt. The Owner says this’ll make Tokuchi his slave and orders for his best wine to be brought up from the cellar.

The Mariners all celebrate their clear win with the exception of Takami. Brooklyn tells him to take advantage of the easy hits and increase his salary. Takami suddenly stands up and says Tokuchi has yet to throw a foul ball. Tokuchi has only thrown balls, no walks or fouls, almost like he’s avoiding strike-outs.

At the Lycaons dugout, Ideguchi suggests to Tokuchi he sit out the rest of the game and says this is a throw-away match. Tokuchi laughs, calling them all idiots and tells them those who think they can win through skill alone will fail. He points to the Mariners and laughs at them for prematurely celebrating their victory and missing the trap he’s set.

In the fourth inning, Tokuchi calls for another time out to go sit in the dugout. This is his third time out and Takami insists to his team something is suspicious. He noticed Tokuchi always looks at the clock before he calls one, as though he’s more concerned about the time than his fatigue. He recalls that Tokuchi spent the time before the match and during the previous timeout watching TV, and runs to the nearest TV himself.

Back on the field, Tokuchi winds up to pitch when Takami suddenly shouts to the batter to swing. They don’t need anymore points and they need to end the game as soon as they can. The batter, Mikawa, looks puzzled and Takami says there’s a thunderstorm warning for the area. If the game is cancelled before the fifth inning, no one wins and all their runs will be void. It suddenly starts to lightly rain. Watching from his office, Saikawa looks stricken.

Takami supposed Tokuchi must have known all along and has been purposely extending the match. Tokuchi laughs and confirms the last TV report he watched predicted 80 millimetres of rain at 10 o’clock, meaning the Mariners have one hour to get try and get to the fifth inning. He declares this final hour will determine the result of the match.

Characters

 * Tokuchi Toua
 * Ideguchi
 * Saikawa- Owner of the Lycaons
 * The Secretary
 * Oikawa
 * Takami
 * Tomas
 * Brooklyn
 * Coach Awaguchi
 * Hanada
 * Mikawa