Short Program 19

Short Program, Volume 2, Chapter 19 (pp. 127~150)


<127>
Abase the Ace! (Part 1)

=Listen! The fate of our beloved Seifu Cats hangs in the balance!
=So take this job seriously!

=Atsuki Moritaka, age 10. Sakuraba Elementary 4th grader—

=Do not allow this child to play baseball!
=No matter what!


<128&129>
Abase the Ace!: Part 1


<130>
[sign]Moritaka

=I'm o—ff.

=Hey At-kun//Nice to see you.
GRUCK

=Oh—//Hello, sketchy guy who recently moved next door.

=Hey now,//I'm not a sketchy guy, alright.


<131>
=You wear sunglasses all the time, you never go to work,//And you just came out of a garbage can. I say you're pretty sketchy.

=Well you see, I'm actually a manga scriptwriter.
=I do all my work at night, so I need to wear sunglasses during the day because it's too bright outside.

=And the best ideas are often found in unexpected places like this.
[bubble]HAH-HA
=Wow—

=—So, where are you headed?
=To play in the park with some friends.

=Playing baseball, by any chance?

=Nope, it's soccer.

=Oh, okay.//That's great!//Yeah, totally. Soccer's the sport of the future!
CLAP


<132>
=You might even turn pro if you start early.
=I'm just playing for fun.

=Oh c'mon! Think about it, okay?
=Have fu—n!

=Man,//He really is sketchy.

=Mom, the newspaper's missing the baseball section again.

=How should I know—?
=That's weird. It's been like this every day these past few weeks.

=You already saw the results on TV, didn't you?
=That's not the point.


<133>
=You think maybe Atsuki's collecting them?
=At-kun's into baseball at all.

=No no,//You never know.
=He's my son, after all.

=And I was the semi-semi-semi-semi finalist in the Koshien regionals 18 years ago.//Hah-hah-hah!

=You were the one who played catch with him in preschool and told him he had absolutely no talent.
=No no,//It's been quite a while since then.

=Alright, I'll go buy him a glove tomorrow.

=We'll start up that nice father-son tradition thing again!//Hah-hah-hah!


<134>
BWIP

CCT..

=Steerike yer out!
BWII—SH
WHAP


<135>
=5-0, Hilltop Doors!

=Wow,//Another shutout for Miho-chan.
WA—

=At-ku—n!//Wait up, let's walk home together.

=Hoot hoot—!
=What're you hooting at.

WHOO—SH


<136>
=Come root for me sometime.
=I'm not into baseball.

=Trauma from preschool?

=You told me you went to the hospital when your dad hit you in the face with a baseball.
=Old idiot doesn't know when to go easy.

=Hum, you're such a sissy.//All you did was get hit in the face once.
=It was 3 times.

=Look,//I've got scrapes everywhere.
=See?
THUMP

=That's not something to brag about!//Just 'cause you're a little cuter than the other girls doesn't mean you can do all that and still get a guy to marry you.
=A woman's life doesn't have to be about marriage.


<137>
=Always gettin' dirty and hittin' some cleanup—//—Or not.
[bubble]HICK

=Ah, Mr. Moritaka.//Good evening.

=Oh—//Good evening, sketchy guy who recently moved next door.


<138>
=Speak for yourself.
[bubble]HICK
=What's the matter?

=What've you got in your hand there?

=Ah—//This is a baseball glove, mister.
CLAP
=Ohh—//What a coincidence!

=You see, I just happened to be looking for one to use as material for my new manga script!//I'm in a hurry, but all the stores were closed so I was wondering what I should do!

=Scriptwriters don't draw anything. So you don't actually need to have one in front of you.
[bubble]HICK

=You shouldn't be noticing details like that while you're drunk.
=Please! Sell it to me!


<139?
=Well—I dunno—

=How about for 20,000 yen?
=There!//Sold!

[sign]Moritaka

=I'm ho—me.
BATHUMP

=Oh? Dear,//Didn't you say something about buying a glove for At-kun this morning?
[bubble]HI—CK

=A 9,800 yen glove for 20,000...//TEE-HEE.
=Secret savings.


<140>
AWOO—H

[bubble]CLAP//CLAP

=The premier franchise of Japanese professional baseball. The Seifu Cats—

=The secret behind the team's 10 consecutive Japan Series wins is the presence of a so-called "shadow owner."//This individual has more say in the team's management than anyone else.


<141>
=He goes by the name, Itella Fortune—

=He may have a cheap sounding name,//But his predictions are amazingly accurate.

=Anticipated draft deals.//Recruitment of star players from overseas.//Hugely successful trade decisions.
=—Have all come as a result of this man's foresight.

=And according to him—
=It's coming in 8 years...


<142>
=In 8 years, the emergence of one man will signal an end to the Seifu Cats dynasty!

=Drafted straight out of high school, this pitcher will secure hall of fame credentials in only 8 seasons,
=And continue to break records throughout his career.
[headlines]20 strikeouts//No hitter

=—And no matter how hard we try, this pitcher will never play for the Seifu Cats!

Our only choice then—

=Is to prevent him from becoming serious about baseball until after he enters junior-high!

=That way, he will never fulfill his destiny of becoming an ace pitcher,//And the Seifu Cats will continue to reign supreme!


<143>
=Two and a half years left until he enters junior-high!//Use any means necessary!

=Understood!? Fired pitching coach Kageyama!

=Understood. Fired pitching coach Kageyama will falafel his mission no matter—

=You mean fulfill!
=Why thank you.

[x2]CLAP

[x2]WOOF


<144>
Sakuraba Elementary School

=Now! For today's gym class we're going to use

=Bats and gloves to play—

CLACK


<145>
=What's this!?

[letter]If you don't want your wife to see this picture of you having an affair,//DO NOT PLAY BASEBALL!

=UCK.

=Teacher!
=Ah.

=Bats and gloves to play...

=Some kendo.


<146>
DING-DONG—
CLANG-CLONG—

PLOP

=Moritaka-ku—n, over here!

=You can run over and hand it to me if you don't think you can throw far enough—

=Don't you dare make fun of a man.


<147>
[bubble]AH

HI—

[bubble]YA
SLIP

SPLAT

=Moron,//You're raising the wrong foot.
WHAP


<148>
That's the pitcher who's going to secure hall of fame credentials in only 8 seasons?

=Shaddup!//I got it to you, so don't complain!

=Geez, and he calls himself a man.

=—But, I'm surprised he got it all the way over.
=He was pretty far away.

=Hmm—


<149>
=Heavy bookshelves—//Michio Watanabe—
[bubble]HICK
[bubble]What the heck?

=Is that,//Another baseball glove?

=I'm desperately in need of another one for my script.
=What? No way—

=How about for 25,000—
=There!//Sold!

[sign]Moritaka

=He—y,//Atsuki.


<150>
=Wanna watch the game together?
=No, not really.

=Hey, c'mon now.
CLICK

=Huh?
ZWU—SH
=The baseball channel's the only one that's messed up.

=I have to keep this up for another two and a half years—!?
[bubble]BOOHOO—

Abase the Ace!: Part 1 (END)