Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute

Beep. 162 km/h. One strike.

The umpire's crisp call echoed across the stadium.

"This guy's a freaking monster!" Chukyo's third batter cursed.

Good news: Takashi's velocity had dropped.

Bad news: He still couldn't hit the damn ball.

"Did I imagine that just now? Did his arm dislocate mid-pitch?"

"I saw it too."

"Is this a bug or something?"

"His pitching motion changed."

"Looks just like the Beast Titan throwing rocks, doesn't it?"

In the stands, the crowd buzzed with chatter.

No one cared that Takashi's velocity had dropped.

To maintain a 162 km/h fastball with a dislocated shoulder? 

People were starting to wonder if Takashi was even human.

This time, everyone's eyes were focused on that whip-like right arm of his.

On the big screen, the slow-motion replay showed it clearly—Takashi's arm popped out mid-throw, then snapped itself back into place.

If it weren't for the replay, many would've thought they were seeing things.

"Senior Suzuki, did Takashi's arm really just dislocate?" Sakurajima Mai asked, puzzled.

"No doubt about it," said Suzuki Ichiro, the former pro athlete.

All the cameras focused solely on Takashi now, giving him an uninterrupted 360-degree close-up.

From the face-cam on the big screen, Suzuki saw the boy on the mound pale as a corpse.

Sweat the size of beans clung to his furrowed brow, twisted in pain.

And yet what never changed—was that unyielding, upright posture, and those eyes burning with hunger for victory.

The last time Suzuki saw eyes like that was on a bald basketball genius, a helicopter crash victim, and a steely-eyed soccer legend.

"Takashi's movement here has a technical term in throwing sports: 'kinetic chain overdrive.'"

"It's a motion that creates reverse joints during certain phases and uses elastic rebound from bones and ligaments in addition to muscle strength, sequentially accelerating from the proximal to distal ends of the limb—producing a whip-like effect at the end."

Suzuki patiently explained it to Sakurajima Mai—and to the viewers.

"That must hurt like hell, right?" Mai asked, wincing at the contorted pain on Takashi's face.

"Of course it does. It's like slicing open your muscles with a small knife—inch by inch."

Suzuki never went this far himself.

But shoulder injuries are common for pitchers, so he could empathize.

That's why pitcher careers have such a high failure rate.

"For pros, the chance of developing chronic injuries is basically one thousand percent."

Mai blinked in confusion. "Ten injuries per person?"

"That's right."

Suzuki nodded solemnly.

"A pro athlete from debut to retirement will pick up at least a dozen different occupational injuries."

"Their careers are short. They're trading long-term health for maximum returns."

Suzuki revealed a truth about pro sports rarely talked about.

Behind the glamor were lonely nights battling injuries, endless hospital visits, and unending rehab cycles.

"Is it worth it?" Mai's eyes flickered with uncertainty, unable to understand Takashi's willingness to keep pushing through pain.

"This is just a regular high school game."

She couldn't understand why he'd risk everything like this.

A pitcher lives by their arm.

If Takashi kept this up, he might be throwing away his pro career.

He had already proven his strength by carrying the team to the semifinals.

Even if he left now and joined the draft after graduation, he'd still have fame, money, honor—everything.

Was winning this Koshien championship really that important?

"Isn't this what makes competitive sports so captivating?" Suzuki said.

He wouldn't have done what Takashi did—but he understood him.

"I just hope he learns to take better care of himself."

Mai watched the boy on the mound, his baseball cap pulled low.

Suzuki glanced at her.

In her eyes was the same kind of devotion fans showed her—the look of someone worshipping their idol.

…

"Strikeout. Batter's out!"

The umpire chopped his hand through the air.

"Damn it!"

Katsuta Musashi cursed himself, disappointed by his own performance, then trudged back to the bullpen.

"Looks like we're going into extra innings," said Hitomi, arms crossed, her finger tapping against her arm in irritation.

In baseball, if the score is tied after nine innings, the game goes into extra innings—two more halves, and whoever scores more wins. 

If still tied, the game continues until there's a victor. It's like overtime in basketball.

Right now, Aoba and Chukyo were still tied 0–0.

Neither had given up a single run.

"Takashi…"

Narii said nothing. She just stared anxiously at Takashi, who had pulled a towel over his face to hide his expression.

…

"Takashi… sorry, I…" Katsuta Musashi bowed his head in shame, not daring to look Takashi in the eyes.

"If nine innings weren't enough, then we'll make it ten."

Takashi tore the towel from his face and flung it to the ground, his gaze fierce.

"If ten doesn't cut it, we'll go to eleven! I'll bet this whole damn arm—I will take them down!"

His arm was screaming in agony—but Takashi didn't believe Chukyo's three pitchers were in much better shape.

Yes.

Chukyo University had three substitute pitchers in the rotation, but they had been pitching one game after another since the first match of the preliminaries.

By now, they had already thrown over two hundred pitches.

But Takashi's starting point was Koshien itself.

That was Takashi's advantage.

Most importantly, the opponent had already brought in their third pitcher by the sixth inning.

There's no limit to the number of substitutions in baseball, but once a player is off the field, they can't return.

In other words, it was now a head-to-head between Takashi and Kabe Keita.

Three and a half innings had already passed—it was just a matter of who would give out first.

You had to understand, everyone has different physical endurance.

Some people's bodies are like gold ships—sturdy and healthy until retirement.

Others have glass physiques—they shatter with the slightest touch.

Takashi was betting that Kabe Keita would collapse before he did.

And why?

Because the other guy had suffered a shoulder injury in the previous Koshien.

…

"I'm sorry, everyone."

In Chukyo University's bullpen, the coach deeply bowed to the gasping, silent players.

"This was my misjudgment."

Bringing in their third-year ace too early was the biggest mistake of his coaching career.

He had noticed early on that Takashi's arm might not hold out, so he tried to conserve strength by switching to Kabe Keita.

When he saw Takashi's shoulder dislocate, he even felt a bit proud of his decision.

When Takashi stood up again, he didn't think much of it—just assumed it was his last gasp.

When he saw Takashi still holding on in the ninth inning, he began to panic.

Kabe Keita said nothing.

Not because he didn't want to, but because he was just too exhausted.

Chukyo did indeed have three aces, but the freshmen, Furusu Ryota and Shiyo Koya, were still too inexperienced.

They were the future—not the present.

In the end, it still had to be him, the veteran captain, to shoulder the load.

From the first game of the preliminaries until now, among the three, he had pitched the most and was the most exhausted.

"Guys, I didn't think we'd make it to extra innings. We're out of tactics."

The coach of Chukyo University had never imagined they'd get this far.

He truly had nothing left to strategize.

"For all the effort we've put in so far—let's give it everything!"

The coach raised his aged, trembling right fist and shouted.

Chukyo's players, eyes red and breathing heavily, stared into Aoba's bullpen with fierce resolve.

No one said a word.

But at that moment, every single one of them had the same thought—defeat them.

"Beep, beep, beep—!"

The referee blew the whistle, and the Chukyo players stomped onto the field with determination.

No matter who the opponent is, as long as we keep pushing and fight in our own style—

Then the opportunity will surely come!!!

___

20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics

Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!

Don't forget to leave a review too~

Check out the other translations too

___