One Outs 5

One Outs, Volume 1, Chapter 5, (pp. 123~145)


<123>
Chapter 5: Conceit
Toua's—//Ultimate pitch?

=What do you think it's gonna be?
OHHHH

=The next
=Payoff pitch

=The one that's going to get Kojima


<124>
Chapter 5: Conceit


<125>
[x2]OHHHHH

=In both matches
=All Toua's thrown so far are fastballs

=But all of them have been in the mid-70s
=He'll never beat Kojima-san with stuff like that
=That's obvious when even the pitches where he missed the strikezone were fouled off easily

=Which means it has to be
=A breaking pitch


<126>
=But a breaking pitch in a game where you can't hide your grip is difficult to pull off
=A bluff like last time won't work anymore... Which means//It must be a pitch with an indistinct grip like the slider...
=Hah—

=You've got no imagination

=You hear ultimate pitch//And you can't think of anything other than a slider or a fastball?

=There's no other possibility besides that!
=A fastball that's quick and heavy//A breaking pitch with a huge break
=Yes there is


<127>
=There's an even greater pitch


<128>
[x?]RRR


<129>
[x?]RRR

Toua's next pitch
What could it be...?

Better than a hard fastball

Better than a sharp breaking pitch


<130>
An even greater pitch...

6th pitch


<131>
Come on!!
[x?]RRR

What's next

Fastball?//Breaking pitch?

It doesn't matter
No matter what it is


<132>
I'll whack it in your face!


<133>
[x?]RRR

Z-ZWUSH


<136>
THUP

=A blooper!?


<137>
OHHHH
=He won—!
=Toua won—!

=A slow blooper smack in the middle...
=But why did Kojima-san...//Let it go by...?

=I mean
=His hands just...
=Why...?


<138>
=Arrogance

=That's the biggest reason why he lost

="There is no way I could lose to an amateur"
="Anyone facing a great player like me would put their best foot forward"


<139>
=His conceit!
=His pride!!//His arrogance!!!

=Toua saw right through those thoughts
=And use them to his advantage

=Used?


<140>
=Just so you guys know
=Toua had perfect control of all of those pitches

=...Perfect
=Control?

=...N...No way!!
=Barely any of them were strikes

=The first one was a total wild pitch//No speed at all. Looked like it slipped right out of his hand


<141>
=Even the next two
=Both wild pitches
=Yeah, but they weren't as bad as the first one

=They were getting faster
=So he was getting warmed up
=That's what he wasted 3 pitches for...

=Wait...
=Was all of that...


<142>
Faking!?

=Yep...
=All Toua's acting

=A trap

Kojima took the bait after seeing the first wild pitch. He assumed Toua was feeling nervous
Better control and increasing velocity with each pitch
He convinced himself that the 6th pitch would really be the one to watch for

Toua's best effort
That was the only thing the oh-so-great Kojima could see coming at that point


<143>
=There's no way for somebody to handle the truly unexpected

=Even if...
=It's just a slow blooper that a snot-faced kid could've hit

=The payoff pitch doesn't always have to be a fastball or a breaking pitch

=That was all Toua needed
=To defeat an arrogant opponent like Kojima


<144>
=This...
=This is crazy!!

=What was that just now!
=A blooper!?

=Fucking bullshit!
=That doesn't count!!

=Mister...
=You told me I was fucking with baseball, right?

=But ya know...
=You're the one


<145>
=Fucking with a gamble