Cross Game
	 Volume 14
	  Part Two Chapter 130
	   That's Me, the Idiot

 - Page 169 -

Chapter 130: That's Me, the Idiot

Announcer: Three outs!
	No hits this inning, either,
	for Sena High School!

Sign: Meiji Jingu Stadium
	90th National High School Baseball Tournament, North Tokyo Preliminaries

Announcer: Seishu's ace, Kitamura,
	has kept them hitless through eight!

 - Page 170 -

Coach: M...
	Miki...

Miki: It doesn't count as a no-hitter
	as long as we're still tied.

Announcer: On the other hand,
	Seishu Academy puts runners on in every inning, but home plate has never seemed further away!

SFX: Yahhh
	Yahhh
	Yahhh

PA: Batting seventh, the second baseman, Ehara!

Ehara: {The four of us second-years have made 12 outs so far.}

 - Page 171 -

Guys: {And every single time when we could have scored.
	Damn.
	Don't forget,
	there's someone on the team even more frustrated than we are...}

SFX: Yahhh
	Clangg

Junpei: He's gettin' into this at-bat.

Aoba: Life would be easy if you could hit depending on how you felt.

 - Page 172 -

SFX: Clang

Aoba: Get through there!

SFX: Rahhh

Aoba: Yessss!
	God counts the number of times you swing a bat everyday.

Junpei: Of course he does.

Announcer: The number eight hitter, Hama, sacrifices to move the runner to second!

SFX: tonk

Aoba: Yeaaahhh!!

 - Page 173 -

Aoba: Keep it going, Yashiro!

Koh: Sounds like we got one noisy fan up there.

PA: Batting ninth, the left fielder, Yashiro!

SFX: Yahhh
	Yahhh

Aoba: {Good going, Yashiro.
	Sounds like the battle for left fielder was a tough one.}

Yashiro: Tsukishimaaa!

SFX: Zwooosh

 - Page 174 -

Junpei: He's putting TOO much into it.

SFX: thwap

Announcer: What's this?!
	Must have grazed his uniform!
	That's a dead ball! Runner takes first base!
	There's a mistake that could hurt Miki!
	Runners on first and second with one out!

SFX: Yahhh

Senda: Good work, second-years!
	Leave the rest up to the great Senda!

 - Page 175 -

Umpire: Strike three!

Azuma: The exact kind of batter Miki loves most.

Akaishi: Right.

PA: Batting second, the center fielder, Mitani!

SFX: Yahhh

Mitani: ...ugh,
	...tch.
	...ugh,
	...tch.

Koh: What was he muttering under his breath?

Nakanishi: I heard it.

Senda: Two outs, huh?
	We should try to set the record for most runners left on base!

SFX: Bwap

 - Page 176 -

Nakanishi: Swing through...

Mitani: ...the first pitch!

SFX: Rahhh

 - Page 177 -

SFX: kshh

Nakanishi: ...That's all.

 - Page 178 -

SFX: RAHHHHHH

Sign: Victory for Seishu Academy

SFX: Yahhh
	Yahhh
	Yahhh

Junpei: The sheer willpower of those second-years did it.

 - Page 179 -

Aoba: If willpower was all it took to hit a home run,
	nobody would bother with practice.

SFX: Yahhh

Junpei: Good point.
	I ain't God, so I ain't been countin'...
	But I'd say that since I took over coaching them,
	he's swung the bat the most.

SFX: Yahhh
	Yahhh

Mitani: Tsukishima!

Player: Back on the bench!
	The game's not over yet.

Koh: Was it a bad pitch?

Azuma: Based on the result... sure.

 - Page 180 -

SFX: Yahhh
	Yahhh

Azuma: Don't relax.
	This team isn't dead yet.

Koh: Nope...

 - Page 181 -

[However,]

Scoreboard: Sn
	    Ss

[Three runs was too big.]
[With the perfect condition I was in,]
[I couldn't imagine surrendering a single hit.]

 - Page 182 -

[Until the final batter.]

 - Page 183 -

SFX: VRRRRRRRRRRRR

Scoreboard: Sn
	    Ss

 - Page 184 -

Azuma: Was it a bad pitch?

Koh: Based on the result... sure.

Azuma: That's how baseball can be scary.

Koh: And entertaining.

Girl: Excuse me.

Oikawa: Yes! Right here. [heart]
	Need an autograph?

Girl: Where's Mr. Mishima?

Oikawa: He left already.

 - Page 185 -

Sign: Seishu Dorm

Team: Banzaaai!
	Banzaaai!

[With the great work of the second-years,]
[the team was in an uproar,]

SFX: Badoom badoom

[and the Seishu Nine were tighter-knit than ever before.]
[Of course,]

Sign: Restroom

[No one dared chastise the pitcher who lost even his shutout, on the verge of tossing a no-hitter.]

 - Page 186 -

Aoba: Geez!
	Honestly!
	What an idiot you are!

Koh: (whizzz)

[...Except for one.]

Koh: (whizz)

[And,]
[only because she was there...]

Koh: That's me, the idiot.

[Cross Game Part Two - "Seasons of Aoba" - The End]

 - Chapter 130 End -

 - Volume 14 End -