Believing She Has Been Reincarnated into a Baseball Game, My Little Sister Is Aiming for the Koshien, While I Give It My All to Keep Her from Finding out That It’s Actually an Ntr Game

The game’s progression thereafter can be summed up in one word: a pitcher’s duel.

Indeed, as expected from a powerhouse school. A month’s special training wasn’t enough to easily break them down.

First off, the opposing team had four pitchers who could throw over 140 km/h. Each pitcher’s spin rate was average, but they could control multiple types of breaking balls at a competitive level, and their control was top-notch in high school baseball. Aside from the starting right-hander, the others could have been aces anywhere else.

In the end, Netora Academy’s baseball team managed only one more run after my lead-off home run, up until the eighth inning.

After the starter was still unsettled in the third with two outs, I reached base on a walk. Then Nomo hit a ball that broke through right-center, and I managed to make it home for the additional run. That was it.

In the fourth and fifth innings, the top national ace seemed to regain his composure, quickly retiring us in order. From the sixth inning on, we were nearly perfectly shut down by the left-handed double ace.

During my fourth at-bat in the eighth, I got overly aggressive and struck out on a pitch out of the zone. Damn it.

In the ninth, where it wasn’t my turn to bat, I doubted any runs would be scored.

My personal stats: one home run, two walks, one strikeout.

Netora Academy’s team hitting up to the eighth: three hits (all extra-base hits), three walks, thirteen strikeouts. Well, that’s what we’re at right now. On the other hand, scoring two runs with just three hits might just prove my strategy was right.

Besides, two runs were enough. At least for today’s me.

I outdid the opposing pitchers with a flawless pitching performance.

Up to the eighth inning, I had fifteen strikeouts, allowed one walk, and only one hit—a safety bunt to third. The only run I allowed was due to a stolen base followed by a routine grounder that the shortstop overthrew.

Meaning, with one inning left, we were leading 2-1. Just three outs away from victory.

And to me right now, those three outs were far too easy a prey. Although my body must be tired, my mind, my heart, feels none of it. Almighty and invincible. Like Mario with a star. Right now, I’m the brightest shining man in the universe.

Because, because I have…!

“How about that, Maika? Wasn’t I cool? Huh? You’re soaked, aren’t you? Huh?”

“That’s going too far. It’s seriously tough being hugged by a guy who was my brother until recently and hearing him ask if I’m soaked. It’s too much. You’ll definitely remember this later and want to die from embarrassment. Yes, I’m soaked.”

Seems like I pushed too hard. Later, she’ll remember and want to die from embarrassment. Tehe.

But it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt. Because I’m invincible. Even if she says such things, I know she really loves me deep down—“Hey, I love you, Kyugo. All of me will always belong to you.”—because I know that. When she says such things, it’s proof that she’s embarrassed to death recalling the first time.

She’s so cute. Her blushing face is just too adorable. She says she’s soaked.

“Seriously, you…”

With a sigh that seemed like a cover for her embarrassment, Maika continued,

“You threw too many pitches. 118 pitches up to the eighth inning with only one hit allowed, and practically full power on every pitch.”

“Can’t help it. I was aiming for all strikeouts.”

As a result, I minimized the walks.

Eighty percent of my pitches, the four-seams, were focused solely on hitting the high strike zone. Unthinkable in my previous life, I wasn’t really aiming for the corners.

Even if it’s straight down the middle, as long as it’s high, the bat will miss under the ball. Even if it’s a high ball, the abnormal rise fools the batter’s brain into swinging.

Without sweating the details, I powered through with rough control, occasionally using a sweeper for the swings and misses. That resulted in the pitch count and strikeout numbers you see.

“With only you and Nomo-kun as decent pitchers here, and he can’t be overused either since he’s just a freshman.”

She’s even thinking about the future of this school and its baseball team. Always too obsessed with high school baseball. When did she start getting so into it?

“Anyway, up to the no-seed schools in the prefecture, it’ll only be Nomo who can manage. I’ll start and complete four out of the six games in the prefectural qualifiers. It’s not a big deal. Not like I’m pitching twenty or thirty games a year like the pros.”

“But that’s not what I’m saying.”

“Ah, well. I’ll keep pitching and winning at Koshien too.”

“That’s not what I mean. It doesn’t end this year, right?”

“It does. I’m a third-year.”

At my immediate response, Maika frowned, clearly displeased, and looked up at me sharply.

“Really, is that okay?”

Well, I get what Maika is trying to say.

But,

“It’s fine. You should think about it calmly. This trick pitching wouldn’t last on the pro stage; it’d only be a matter of time before it got exposed. This body of mine, being natural, wouldn’t directly fail any doping tests, but it would definitely be under suspicion. I’d be subjected to various detailed examinations, and it would become a major topic among baseball fans. It might be proven natural over time, but what would I tell Riko?”

That I’m a character from a baseball game? That excuse wouldn’t fly since none of my game rivals have this physique. Only I and my school’s baseball team members have it. It might be suspected that this academy is part of another genre, focused on testosterone production.

“Riko again… Wait, do you still have a thing with her?”

“Of course. I’m aiming for Koshien because of a promise with Riko.”

“…”

“Even if I ruin my elbows or shoulders, even if I can’t play baseball for life, if it means I can keep my promise with Riko, I’d gladly give up my baseball life.”

As my words continued, the cutest face in the world grew cloudier—I could see that. After all, we were hugging, looking into each other’s eyes. Even a fool like me could see her eyes shimmering.

But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t lie.

No matter what, I’ll take Riko to Koshien.

Even if it means breaking my body and making my beloved cry, I couldn’t give that up.

“Fine. Then, let it be.”

But Maika, contrary to my worries, dismissed it quite nonchalantly.

Huh? Was that it? It wasn’t going to make her cry? Was it just my conceit…?

“Kyugo’s true love is the adorable Riko, huh? Okay, I knew it. I’m just a fling, a convenient hole.”

“Uh…”

Maika was pouting. She slipped out from my arms and sulked with an uptight face.

Eh… I mean, she’s cute, but…

“Maika, that’s not it. You know it. Now that we’ve come to be like this, it’s troublesome if you sulk over Riko now.”

“Sure, sure, it’s troublesome for Kyugo. If you couldn’t kiss me, it would be a problem, right? Okay, fine. It’s just my unrequited love, so I wouldn’t want to trouble Kyugo. Right, that’s it. If you just let me kiss you, you’d be satisfied. Then I’d be discarded. Go ahead, have your way with me. Soon enough, you’ll forget about a kiss as easy and convenient as one with me. I’ll remember every single kiss for life, but you just forget them all and think about other women.”

“Don’t say such sad long lines with tears in your eyes. It hurts.”

“Ahaha, sorry. What a troublesome girlfriend.”

Her dry laugh struck my heart.

“No, it’s not like that. The one making you this way is all me, right?”

“…”

Maika didn’t answer, but it was clear.

Because Maika was making it so obvious… Despite saying it doesn’t matter, she desperately wanted me to notice…

Yeah, so it is. I guess that’s it. There’s one kiss I’ve forgotten that’s making her this insecure. And based on this conversation, perhaps… it has something to do with Riko?

I don’t know that much yet, but certainly. It was entirely my fault to make her make such a face.

I need to fix this.

“Hey, Maika. Won’t you tell me everything I’ve forgotten?”

And all the feelings you’ve been forced to hold because of that.

“It’s okay, really. You don’t need to know.”

“Not okay. It’s far from okay if I’m making you cry.”

“I’m not crying. Really, it’s fine. It’s bad for Riko too. I don’t need to be the most important.”

“Hmm, sorry. It’s seriously too troublesome. Super troublesome. What’s with this girlfriend, super annoying. Just spit it out. If there’s a problem, I’ll solve it all.”

I messed up her hair roughly, thinking any tender touch might make things complicated again.

“…Ugh… Onii-chan, stop it…”

It seemed Maika got the message, reverting to a sulky little sister mode.

I recall, when she was little, she was quite clingy. Always grabbing the hem of my shirt and tagging along. At some point, our roles reversed… Wait? When did it become like this…?

“That’s what I hate, being treated like a little sister…”

“Eh?”

As I nostalgically recalled our days as siblings, the sister in question looked at me with eyes that seemed to resent the distant past and peered into the depths of my eyes,

“Hey, Kyugo. Don’t regret listening, okay?”

“Maika…?”

Then, as always, she lightly grabbed the hem of my uniform…

“That promise about Koshien you made with Riko—that you’d take her to Koshien—it was actually a promise you made to me.”

“Huh…?”

…she made a confession I never expected, in a trembling voice, to her foolish brother.

Eh…