Short Program 25

Short Program, Volume 2, Chapter 25 (pp. 279~282)


<279>
Walk-off game

=It ain't over till it's over.

=That summer—With a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 9th,
=Runners on first and second...

=As the guy whose only trait was having a cannon for an arm, I wore number 15, and went in as a defensive substitute.

=—And, as the the guy whose only trait was having a cannon for an arm, I caught up to the ball, bobbled it...

=And had to go chasing that white pill across the Koshien outfield with my legs, which had clocked in at 13.5 seconds in the 100 meter dash.


<280>
=I knew I had to come up with an excuse, but my mind was completely blank.

=I caught up to the ball right under the 120 mark. The numbers looked faded through my tears. I threw back to home plate—

=The throw traveled like an arrow. Only fitting for the guy whose only trait was having a cannon for an arm.

=By the time the ball had made it into the catcher's mitt, with 2 bounces, and no cut-off...

=The tying runner had keeled over. 3 meters in front of home plate.//With the game-winning runner standing right behind him.

=Not fully grasping the situation,//I was still searching desperately for an excuse, somewhere in my completely blank mind.

=—It's always been that way.


<281>
=Getting into college, getting a job—All those important crossroads of life...

=I'd always emerged victorious after giving up.

=—So when word got out that Eriko was getting married, I stayed put.
[sign]STOP

=My opponent was Miyamoto, my former classmate. The sarcastic asshole who always viewed me as his rival. In everything.

=The wedding is today, at 1:00pm...//I raced my car over to the church.

SCREECH
=I was going to turn the game around at the last second, of course.

=I'm the Dustin Hoffman of defensive substitute outfielders who made it to the Koshien finals.


<282>
[bubble]OH
=Game, Set, and Match!

Freebie

WHACK
=Now that's a sitty shot!

[bubble]PLOP

Walk-off Game (END)