I do not own the characters of Big Windup
"C'mon! Just one more out to go!" Tajima exclaimed from his place at third. "We can win this, Mihashi!" The blonde on the mound flinched when his name was called, and he smiled when he looked over to his hyperactive friend. Yeah, we can win this!
It was the bottom of the ninth, two outs with a runner on second base, and the Nishiura team was leading five to three. Their opponents' cleanup hitter was at bat, currently with a 1-1 count, and Abe's heart raced with the end of the game a mere few minutes away. Mihashi was pitching perfectly, and the catcher anticipated a solid victory.
However, even the calculating Abe Takaya couldn't predict what happened when Mihashi threw a fastball for a second strike.
The cleanup made solid contact with the ball, but the angle in which the ball flew was not one the team expected. Straight towards Mihashi it sped, and with great force it made contact right between the pitcher's eyes before he had time to block. As the force knocked him back, it sent a series of bright colors flying out of Mihashi's head, which was a strange sight in and of itself. The bright flash of light blinded both players and spectators for a moment before everyone's vision cleared. The cleanup hitter was already running to first base, and as Abe looked to Mihashi, time seemed to slow down.
The pitch that had been launched into the air after striking the pitcher's head came down into Mihashi's glove, and the blonde, acting as if the hit to the head didn't even affect him, quickly threw to first without hesitation. The cleanup was out before he stepped onto the base for the last out of the game, and the team celebrated with the realization that they had won. But as they began to cheer, Mihashi fell to the ground, unconscious as he should have been the moment the ball bounced off his head.
A rush of panic immediately filled the field as his teammates ran to him to see if he was okay. A blow to the head like that was sure to have done some damage. Though none of the Nishiura players anticipated the kind of 'damage' it had dealt to their pitcher.
Mihashi was taken directly to the hospital from the field, since it was mandatory to make sure that he hadn't suffered any internal bleeding in his skull; and once that was cleared, tests had to be done to make sure no other damage was dealt onto the pitcher's brain. The results that came out were normal, much to the team's relief, but they could tell that something wasn't right with Mihashi from the moment he woke up. There was little to no emotion or expression on the pitcher's face, and he barely responded to his teammates when they spoke to him. When told about the flashing light when the ball hit his head, the doctor believed that he understood what was wrong.
"The force from the hit," he said, "and I know this sounds highly improbable, but perhaps it somehow knocked all emotions and dispositions from Mihashi's head. Granted his body functions properly, even better than normal actually, but he displays no emotion or personality whatsoever. I've never seen anything like this, so there's nothing I can really diagnose."
"A diagnosis isn't needed, doctor; his head is just empty." A voice came from behind the team that stood in Mihashi's hospital room. "And an empty head needs to be filled, don't you agree?" Behind the group stood Mihashi of all people, but not only was he in different clothes, he smiled when the team looked at him. "And I think I can help you with that. I'm Responsible, after all."