On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Seventy-Two

The first innings was a reasonably tight affair, with a lot of our better players acquitting themselves reasonably well against our opposition. Still, we were 3 to 2 behind after the first, and this increased to 5 to 2 by the end of the second innings. We had a bit of a comeback in the third, and it was 6 to 4, with two outs for our team.

“Same pattern as always… bunch of jerks…” Imai-san grumbled beside me, from where we were watching our teammates struggle valiantly against the superior ‘pro’ players. “They always go easy on us for the first few innings so we don’t get discouraged. Come the later ones they’ll turn on the skill and rub our noses in a massive defeat like normal.”

“Yeah man…” another of our team said, eyeing the sorry sight of our batter whiffing at his first swing. “… same old, same old. They make us waste our best players early, then they give their kids a chance to whip us, before finishing strong… I hate getting mocked at the festival every year…”

Our batter missed his second swing, if he missed next ball he would be out and it would be innings four. And then I’ll be on the field…

Glancing over to where the players who were due to take the field next were warming up, I could see Kenji-san still scowling at me. Catching his eye I glared back, until he looked away. He grabbed his bat and started doing practice swings, looking as if he wished he was hitting something else instead of the ball. At least Masaki-san is warming up normally…

“And that’s a strike. Out! Fourth innings next, change players. ‘Pros’ to bat first!” the umpire called, as our batter was outclassed and again flailed wildly at the ball, not making any contact.

“Looks like we are up, Oshiro-san.” Imai-san said, giving me a few hearty slaps on the back. “Now is your time to shine! Even if we can’t beat those smug bastards, at least we can trample on the dignity of a couple of kids, eh?” he winked at me.

“You definitely do have a bad personality.” I joked. “What would your wife say if she heard you?”

“She would forgive me, as she loves me deeply!” Imai-san replied, but before we could continue our team coach came over and chastised us.

“All right, enough you two. On the field with you.” the old man said. He was the owner of the largest bar in town, and so carried a lot of sway. I think his name was… Higuchi-san? He was a bear of a man, big and burly, with a gruff attitude to match. “For now, you go to first base Imai-san, do your thing like usual. And you… Oshiro-san…” he pondered.

Yeah, normally I suck, so he’ll stick me somewhere out of the way to minimise my uselessness…

“Since you have that silly bet, when the two kids come up to bat you can pitch… just try not to give them easy hits, all right? Until then you can hang out in left field. Just don’t be a liability.”

“Ouch, I find your lack of faith disturbing…” I quoted, feeling the sting, but all I got in return was a flat look. Maybe the line was different in the Japanese dub?

“Don’t let it get you down Oshiro-san.” My classmate consoled me. “Just concentrate on beating down those two little punks.”

With that we took our positions, me quite far back behind third base, Imai-san on one of the prime spots for action. Normally I’d have been spacing out now if forced to play, but I was feeling sharp and hungry. Think you can make a move on my sister with that attitude, Kenji-san? Well think again…

Our pitcher was a senior I recognised from school but never had much to do with. His first pitch was good, but the second wasn’t great and the batter, (another kid from our school’s baseball team), made it to second. This pattern continued, and they accumulated three more points with no outs, so it was now 9 to 4. Imai-san was trying to pump up the rest of the team with some crazy antics on base, but me… well, I’d had nothing to do, no balls coming my way.

Looking to the side of the field, I could see my family and friends, Shaeula was looking on with great interest. When she saw me looking she gave me a wave, and I could hear the guy on third base laughing at me. Don’t think I’ll forget that…

Concentrating on the game, the next batter was up, with two runners on first and second base. Our pitcher, who was sweating badly, looking nervous, made the pitch, and it was a bad one. The batter struck, and the ball flew…

Hey, that’s heading my way… finally… the ball was sent skywards over third base. As I concentrated the ball and everyone around me almost seemed to be moving slower, my enhanced and slightly superhuman Alacrity and Precision kicking in. Moving to my side I reached out and snatched the ball from the air, not listening to the cheers of those around me. Turning rapidly, my feet churning up the grass below me, I threw the ball to third, and it streaked out with great accuracy, hammering directly into the stunned hand of the teammate on third base, a few seconds before the runner could make it there.

Cheers erupted around me as the umpire signalled the two outs. Imai-san came running over, as did several others. “Holy hell Oshiro-san, that was awesome.” He crowed, ignoring the glowers of the ‘pro’ team. “I don’t know if it was luck or what, but that throw to third… where did our noodle-armed little nerd go?”

“I think the catch was better….” One said. “He had to cover so much ground… I can tell you’ve been working out, but shit… you have to tell me your programme, if it can get you that good so fast…”

As my teammates congratulated me for my efforts I looked over to where Shaeula and the rest were. She was smiling and clapping, and when my sister and Eri-chan saw me, my sister gave me a thumbs up, while Eri-chan nodded at me shyly. Even from here I could see her face was red. Beside them were the two flashy girls from their class, and both seemed to be looking at me with sparkles in their eyes. Dangerous. I don’t want to show off too much… it could cause issues down the road…

Even as I was thinking that, Imai-san spoke. “Oh well, time to bring your A-game again, my man. Looks like that Kenji kid is up to bat next. So if you strike him out, it’ll be our turn…”

“As per the agreement, you are up to pitch.” Higuchi-san agreed. “I can have a little hope can’t I?”

“Sure thing.” I took the ball from our already tired pitcher and headed over to the makeshift mound. As I approached Kenji-san was there, face cold and angry. He was taking practice swings, wide sweeps that made it clear he was looking to hit me out of the park.

Well, not today. Don’t mess with my family or friends…

Taking up a clumsy stance which drew laughter from the surrounding players I drew back my arm lazily. Here we go…

“Oh god, he isn’t even taking a proper pitching position…” one of the pros laughed. “Kenji-kun is going to murder hi… the hell?”

“That’s strike one.” The umpire declared, as my ball flew past Kenji-san’s wild swing.

“So fast…” Imai-san whispered on first base, my ears still picking it up.

Kenji-san glared at me, his knuckles whitening as he gripped his bat firmly. His teammates cheered him on as he took a batting pose. In response I pitched, and was rewarded by the delightful sound of the umpire declaring “Strike two!”

Kenji-san let out swearwords that his team coach would probably not approve of. Masaki-san shot me a worried look as he walked over to his friend and whispered something to him. Not listening I turned away, planning my final pitch.

When Kenji was ready I took a more proper pose this time, and seeing Kenji-san grit his teeth as he made ready, I smirked at him. Try and hit this if you can…

“And that’s strike three. Three outs, team change!” the umpire declared. Kenji-san threw his bat to the ground in frustration and stomped off, followed by Masaki-san and several of their teammates. I may not have won the bet yet, but I’d say I’m way in front…

Imai-san slammed into me from behind, draping an arm around me. “That last pitch man, how did you do it? That was some major-league shit if ever I saw it.”

Others were agreeing, congratulating me. “First that catch and throw, now this… you really are Oshiro-san and not some imposter right?” another joked.

“Oh come on guys… like I said, I’ve been working out and doing combat sports. It was bound to buff up my reflexes. Besides…” I shot a gaze at the retreating Kenji-san. “… that kid isn’t so hot…”

“Sick burn. He really pissed you off, didn’t he?”

Before I could answer Imai-san the coach came over. “Okay, so when do you want to bat?” he asked me. “Normally I’d stick you at the tail end, but you’ve earned the right to choose.”

“I’ll go third.” I decided. That was the best place to ensure I got a shot at taking on Kenji-san at batting too. With that decided we had a quick drink and then our first batter went up.

He was quickly struck out, their pitcher not even trying to hold back now. I guess we made them mad last innings. They still scored three points, what more do they want…

Second managed to bunt it and get to first, so now I was up. Before their pitcher could take action, Kenji-kun came and took the ball, his face twisted into a snarl. As the umpire signalled, he took a pose and then threw a fierce pitch towards me. Hmm, not bad. I do him a disservice, he’s actually got a few skills… but against the current me…

The meaty sound of bat hitting ball echoed across the still field. Starting to walk slowly around the diamond I watched as the ball fell outside the field. A clean home run.

As I followed my teammate home and bagged us the two points I high-fived everyone, leaving Kenji-san alone and forlorn on the pitching mound. Nah, I won’t feel sorry for him. He dug his own grave on this one…

We managed to get one more point before we were all out, so at the start of innings five, we were trailing 9 to 7.

This time both of the batters ahead of me managed to claw their way to the bases, so as third batter out we had bases one and two loaded. This time Masaki-san was up to pitch. I considered going easy on him and only hitting it so I could make base, but a glance at my rapt family and friends dissuaded me. It feels pretty good my family being proud of me… It isn’t only my sister earning the plaudits this time. For once she can praise me!

My swing was clean, and while I didn’t demolish the ball like I did against Kenji-san it was still good enough for us all to score safely, putting us in the lead at 10 to 9.

“Damn, Oshiro-san, I’ve misjudged you.” Higuchi-san praised. “When you stop by my bar later, drinks are on me. But now they look in danger they’ll stop going easy on us…” he turned to the rest of the team. “Try and score a couple more before we get out. That’ll give us something to defend. If Oshiro-san here can strike out the two kids, then we have a shout at restricting their next inning score…”

I relaxed as our team managed to do better than we expected, scoring three points before we were out, as our rivals were suffering from my unexpected support. At 13 to 9 we had something to defend, and as I stepped up to pitch Masaki-kun was ready, nervously glancing over to the side of the field. Following his gaze I nodded to myself. Oh yeah, Yae-san. He’s probably thinking about losing the bet now… which is a bad idea. It’ll only hurt his performance…

Feeling a bit sorry for him I pitched a relatively kind ball, but he mishit it and it flew back towards me, where I caught it pretty much by reflex. Oops. Oh well…

As Masaki-san trudged off, despondent, Kenji-san stomped out. A few minutes later he was back on the side of the pitch, head in his hands, after a clean three strikes. I think I might be overdoing it a bit here…

Coach wanted me to keep pitching, but I made excuses that I was feeling a bit drained, trying to downplay my skills a bit. He was disappointed, but conceded. Imai-san stepped up, and due to the other team being rattled we managed to get an out by a catch, ending their innings with a shutout.

Innings six was about to begin, and this would settle the bets. Though of course by this point it is pretty much in the bag…