Chapter 180: Metamorphosis (2)

Both Yusuke and Hiroki caught up to him on the way back to the bch, smiles adorning their faces. They didn't seem at all upset that they'd had nothing to do for the innings.

"Just a few more of those and we'll be punching our ticket to nationals." Yusuke added, in good spirits.

K's forced out a smile before looking at Shuei's bch, specifically at the lone figure sitting at the d.

"I don't think it will be that easy." He remarked.

Wh they arrived, the coach quickly gathered everyone, looking like he wanted to say something.

"Be careful of that first year pitcher. He seems to be going through a metamorphosis as we speak." Seiji Hanada said with a serious expression.

"Metamorphosis? Like those caterpillars who turn into butterflies." Shiro asked, trying to understand what the coach meant.

"Maybe like a tadpole turning into a frog?" Makoto added, scratching his chin in contemplation.

Coach Hanada paused, trying to keep his cool in front of the two dodo's.

"To put it simply, ever since the last innings he's be refining his pitching form, shedding unnecessary movemts that don't add to his power or accuracy."

K's eyes lit up in understanding instantly. He too had felt as if there was something differt about how Kazuhiro was pitching, but he never would have picked it so easily if the coach didn't point it out.

'As expected of Coach.' K thought, feeling his appreciation bubble to the surface.

Since Seiji had 5 years of assessing and refining professional athletes, it made sse why he was able to come to the heart of the matter so quickly.

However, ev if they knew what Kazuhiro was doing, there was not much that they could do about it. At least that's what K thought.

"I want you all to watch his balls closely. Since he's refining his form, there are bound to be some wayward pitches that will find their way to you. This is wh you'll strike." He said confidtly.

"Yes coach!"

Everyone answered right away, although most probably didn't follow his line of thought.

'That's a good idea… But Hiroki and I could probably hit them without waiting for such a thing.' He thought.

Since he'd be doing image training on the Amateur difficulty, he'd faced plty of pitches at and above Kazuhiro's level. Once he faced a few more, he was confidt that he'd be able to hit them well ough.

As if reading his mind, the Coach gestured for himself and Hiroki to come closer.

"You guys can probably disregard what I said. As long as you think you can hit, swing for the rafters." He said with a smile, placing his hands on their shoulders.

K could only blink a few times, staring blankly at him.

'Is this guy in my head or something?'

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Makoto made his loud trance onto the field, warming up his shoulders on the way to the batters box. He squared up and turned his atttion to the mound, waiting for his momt.

PAH

"Strike."

Makoto's eyes wided for a momt, not expecting such a fast pitch.

He tried to play it cool, letting out a few small coughs and readjusting his gloves.

'I'll get the next one…'

WHOOSH

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PAH

"Strike."

Feeling a little more panicked than before, he once again got into his stance and awaited the next ball.

WHOOSH

PAH

Makoto swung his bat with nearly all of his might, intding to smash it to pieces. Yet only the sound of his bat crashing through the air followed by the ball hitting the catchers glove tered his ears.

"Strikeout!"

"Ahem." The captain cleared his throat, feeling his face redd a little. Yet there was nothing that he could do besides head back to the dugout where Tatsuya was waiting, his face the perfect picture of schadfreude.

"It seems that the coach was right, his pitches have significantly improved." He said matter-of-factly.

"Oho? Captain, it's okay to fail. You don't need to make excus—"

Tatsuya's words were suddly drowned out as he was assaulted by a short and swift punch to the gut from the muscular captain.

The noise alerted the coach who st a cursory glance towards the two on the bch. Seeing the coach looking his way, Makoto managed to respond with a smile, wrapping his arm a Tatsuya's shoulder in a brotherly hug.

Seiji's eyes narrowed for a momt before he turned his atttion back to the game.

Hiroki was now in the batters box, wearing a calm expression. He waited for the pitch with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

Kazuhiro performed his hawk-like wind up and st the ball flying towards him. Hiroki could instantly tell that the pitch was differt, containing a lot more spin and intt than the previous pitches he'd faced.

Without waiting for another pitch, he calculated that he could get a good hold of this one.

WHOOSH

DONG

"Whoa! Hiroki hit it."

"As expected of our home run king!"

Yet it seemed that their words were too hasty.

The ball rocketed into the air and right down the throat of the ctral outfielder, making for an easy catch.

Kazuhiro subconsciously let out his pt up breath. Facing the average looking youth was a lot scarier than he realized.

Hiroki on the other hand looked a little annoyed.

'I was too hasty.' He thought, picking up his bat and heading back to the others.

While he had predicted the course correctly, he had underestimated the spin on the ball. This caused the angle of the hit to be much higher than he had intded.

"Wow, I think that's Hiroki's first out of the tournamt."

"Eh!?" K turned to the location of the soft voice on his left.

Ai was looking through the notebook, as if to make sure she was indeed correct. Only after triple checking did she confirm it, much to K's exasperation.

'What the hell!? 5 matches and that was his first out?' His mind raced for a few momts.

"Just what kind of monster have I created…" he murmured.