Diamond No Ace: Life As Sawamura Eijun

"Whoosh."

"Smack!"

"Strike! Batter's out! Three outs—sides change!!"

"A gritty, determined performance! Standing in place of Seidou's ace, Sawamura, the powerful right-hander Furuya gets the third out with his own unique pitching style, shutting down Inajitsu's offense!"

"Well done, Furuya!"

"That's it! That's the way—no problem at all!"

"Let's go, Seidou High!"

"Don't give up now!"

Top of the sixth inning.

With Furuya striking out Ezaki, Inashiro's offensive surge was finally halted.

And yet… the "2" glowing on the scoreboard was a painful sight.

After Eijun was taken deep for a home run—

Narumiya Mei had stepped up to the plate burning with fury.

He turned that anger into raw power. Furuya, who had just taken the mound, was immediately met with intense pressure.

Narumiya saw through two straight fastballs and, on the third pitch—a fastball on the outside—he launched it with a powerful opposite-field swing.

A long drive into left field.

The Prince reached second base with ease.

Then came consecutive hits from Yabe and Tadano.

Not only did they bring Narumiya home, they also created a dangerous scoring chance with runners on second and third and no outs.

Fortunately, this wasn't the old Furuya anymore.

He had found his place.

He had discovered his true belief in the game of baseball.

Now, he stood on the mound not for himself—but as the embodiment of the entire team.

With composure restored and focus regained, Furuya struck out Ezaki.

Inashiro's rally was shut down at last.

Still, Seidou had surrendered two runs in this inning.

The lead had stretched to a two-run gap.

Even so, it was enough to make the entire Seidou team breathe a sigh of relief.

From the bench to the stands, everyone in blue exhaled the moment that third out was secured.

"Phew, that was close… Thought they were gonna keep scoring again."

"Really glad Furuya held on. If they had piled on more runs here, our chances would've been almost gone."

"But the situation's still bad… No, it's outright dangerous. With our ace forced out and the score gap widened to two runs…"

"Yeah, and Narumiya's pitching has been flawless today. Scoring off him—let alone stringing together hits—seems almost impossible."

"Still, it's better than having zero chance. At least we still have a shot."

"Exactly. But the key now is that Furuya has to hold strong in the remaining innings."

"Right. If we give up any more runs, it'll be fatal."

...

As the sixth inning ended, murmurs filled the crowd.

It was a dramatic turn in what was already a tension-packed final.

Even the general audience was stunned—and the same could be said for professionals: journalists, editors, rival schools.

Yakushi's Raichi Todoroki, Ichidaisan's Amahisa, even Seikou's players—

All of them were taken aback.

Especially at the moment when Eijun stepped off the mound.

Their expressions were deeply complicated.

...

First-base dugout, Inashiro Industrial High:

"No matter what happens on their side, for us, there's only one goal—victory. Don't let me see anyone slacking off. Got it?"

Coach Kunimoto spoke in his usual calm tone, hands folded behind his back.

Just as Narumiya Mei stepped out of the dugout, fully geared up, he paused at the words—

Then gave a firm nod.

There was a sharp gleam in his eyes as he raised his head.

"Tch. I know exactly what I need to do!!!"

...

Third-base dugout, Seidou High:

"Narumiya's getting hotter and hotter out there," Coach Kataoka said, "but his limit is near."

"He definitely won't dare throw his off-speed stuff freely. His changeup and forkball—he won't risk it."

"Take advantage of that. We've got four innings left. Two runs. Let's take them back!!"

"YES, SIR!!!"

Miyuki, Kuramochi, Haruichi, Maezono, and the others responded in unison.

...

Bottom of the sixth. Seidou's turn to bat.

Batting ninth—third baseman, Shoji-kun.

This inning would be the most crucial since the ace was pulled.

Inashiro aimed to seize total control.

Seidou had no intention of letting them do that.

---

Meanwhile, in the dugout's medical room…

Takashima Rei stood in front of Eijun, visibly furious.

Eijun shrank back slightly where he sat.

Yep. She was really angry.

And this wasn't playful anger—this was real.

Ota still looked flustered.

Eijun had removed his uniform top, revealing his left arm—already red and badly swollen.

Dr. Yoshino took one look and immediately had a good idea of the extent of the injury.

"How is it, Dr. Yoshino?"

Takashima asked with a tense expression.

"No bone fractures. Tendons look mostly fine, too," he said after a quick examination. "But he shouldn't throw with that arm for a while. I'd say at least a month off from any pitching."

The doctor nodded—then shook his head.

"Phew… That's a relief."

Takashima's expression visibly relaxed.

Ota also let out a long breath of relief.

"See? Told you. It wasn't anything too serious, so—"

Eijun scratched the back of his head with his right hand, laughing sheepishly.

"Shut up, Sawamura!!"

—He didn't even get to finish his sentence.

Takashima Rei turned toward Eijun, her face filled with fury.

"Do you even understand how serious this is? You got injured and tried to hide it?! What are you, a grade schooler? Huh? Sawamura-kun?! Don't you know you need to take better care of your body?! Sawamura, you—"

"I know,"

Eijun cut in quietly, after a short pause.

"I'm fully aware of the choice I made, Takashima-san."

Her initial outburst had startled him.

He fell silent for a moment before speaking again, his tone calm.

"But Takashima-san… this number on my back isn't something light. I know it was selfish of me, but I don't regret it. Isn't that right? They trusted me—so I wanted to answer that trust."

Eijun suddenly looked up.

In his eyes burned a vivid, unwavering light.

Takashima was momentarily speechless.

"…Sawamura-kun…"

She sighed deeply, then pushed up her glasses.

"But Sawamura-kun, from now on you must listen to the doctor. Rest properly. You know better than anyone what happened to Chris. I absolutely don't want something like that to happen again. I don't want to see another Chris-kun. Do you understand me? Sawamura?"

"…Yes, ma'am."

Eijun stiffened slightly and gave a small, serious nod.

This guy…

Takashima shook her head, half-exasperated, half-resigned.

Or rather—this whole group of guys...

She thought quietly to herself—

These boys… who treat baseball as their second life.

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