Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 210: Things Are Getting Interesting

At the moment when Sendo felt a chill down his spine, Sawamura was practicing in the bullpen with senior Chris, along with the fully geared-up Kanemaru.

Speaking of Kanemaru!

Should we call him unlucky, or simply acknowledge his strong dedication to the team? Ever since he willingly helped Sawamura with his studies, Kanemaru had been making contributions to the team in his own way.

And today, believe it or not, it was Kanemaru himself who volunteered to be Sawamura's training partner.

With seven left-handed batters in Akikawa's lineup, Kanemaru believed there was a good chance Sawamura, known as a formidable foe for left-handed hitters, might be brought onto the mound.

For the sake of the team's victory, even the slightest possibility was worth a try.

"Come on, Sawamura! Your pitches don't scare me at all!"

"I'm coming! An inside pitch—ah! Watch out!"

Thwack! — an accident occurred again.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

"Sorry!"

"Yikes, that looks painful!" Sendo shot a sympathetic glance at poor Kanemaru, completely unaware that he himself was the one most in need of sympathy.

Meanwhile, Kuramochi and Ryousuke were practicing bunting as per the coach's instructions from the previous day.

"A pitcher like You Shunshin shouldn't be allowed to throw comfortably," they muttered as they continued their drills.

Sendo resumed his own batting practice.

He especially wanted to face You Shunshin. Ideally, he wished he had been reborn in his home country, but if that had happened, he wouldn't have met Sawamura, that fool, or found himself standing here today.

It all seemed like fate.

Thud!

Just then, Miyuki dragged the lazy Furuya back from his hiding spot.

But after just a few pitches, Furuya was drenched in sweat and had to be stopped by Miyuki.

"Already tired? But your pitches are still powerful!" Miyuki remarked. "By the way, it's really hot today. I wish I could have some ice cream!"

As someone who should've remembered Furuya's quirks, even Miyuki had forgotten about these minor details.

Sawamura was still pushing himself hard. His slowly accumulated stamina was no joke.

"Sendo-chan, coach says you can take a break now!" Masuko called after needing the batting cage.

"Got it! It's all yours!" Sendo cleaned up the batting area and left politely.

Since he had nothing to do, Sendo wandered into the bullpen.

"What's up with Furuya?" he whispered to Miyuki, noticing that the reporters' attention.

"It's a bit troublesome," Miyuki explained quietly. "Furuya is originally from Hokkaido, so you know how mild the summers are there compared to Tokyo."

"Ah, I see. He's not used to the heat, huh? But that sweating is ridiculous! You need to let that sunglasses-wearing coach know."

"I'll bring it up tonight."

"Let him throw more pitches tonight to make up for it. Maybe gradually increase his exposure to the heat every day."

"Got it. By the way, you're surprisingly knowledgeable about this stuff!" Miyuki chuckled as he patted Seidou's shoulder.

"I have a bad feeling about this. Are you scheming something again?" Sendo's instincts were sharp when it came to such things.

"Haha, don't be so suspicious. I'm just curious." Miyuki brushed off Sendo's wary gaze.

If it had been Sawamura instead, he probably would've blown the seniors' entire prank plan.

"This guy is really observant, just like Kuramochi, but on a completely different intellectual level. I'll have to be careful," Miyuki thought to himself.

Sendo didn't respond. He walked over to the ice chest and pulled out a bottle of cola.

"Sendo, you should drink less of that stuff. It messes with your nutritional balance. Wait—why is there cola here in the first place?"

"Shh! I had Fumino sneak it in."

"Wow, Furuhashi-san really spoils you! She even does things like this for you! Are you two really not dating?"

"Since when did you care about stuff like that? Looking for a girlfriend?"

"No way! Right now, I just want to enjoy baseball!" Miyuki sat down next to Sendo.

Sendo confirmed in his mind that there was indeed nothing romantic between him and Furuhashi, at least from his perspective.

"As expected. You've got plenty of fans, both in and out of school. Finding someone to date would be easy for you, and they're all cute too."

"Ahaha, you're one to talk!"

"Enjoying yourself, huh?" Sendo sighed.

"Why? Aren't you enjoying the games? Don't tell me you're completely uninterested in baseball?" Miyuki's tone was questioning but skeptical. He couldn't believe Seidou had no feelings for baseball.

"I'm enjoying it—when I'm batting."

"Whoa, slow down!" Miyuki exclaimed as Sendo downed the entire cola in one go.

Burp!

"Haha! See? I told you not to drink it so fast!"

The two continued chatting, seemingly not looking at each other much, but anyone could tell they were enjoying the conversation.

Even if the topics were meaningless, simply sitting and chatting together like this was something to be happy about.

The day passed smoothly. The seniors kept their lips sealed, easing Sendo's earlier uneasiness. He relaxed, convinced that Sawamura hadn't spilled anything.

...

The next day,

Sendo felt that all his thoughts from yesterday had been nothing but illusions. As soon as practice began today, a large group of people surrounded him in the middle, ready to interrogate him.

"Sendo! What's this about you playing for the Wildcat Little League team in elementary school as their ace and cleanup hitter?" Jun immediately questioned, wasting no time.

Sendo's eyelid twitched. Judging by the expressions of the other seniors, this was clearly just an excuse for what they were planning to do next. Jun had taken on the role of the bad cop, which suited his appearance perfectly.

"Chris-senpai, I never imagined you'd be that kind of senior!" Sendo couldn't help but complain inwardly.

"That was years ago. It's not like I intended to hide it, but I also didn't see a need to mention it specifically," Sendo replied casually, in line with his laid-back nature. He wasn't the type to boast.

"Such an arrogant junior! Do you know how much suffering we endured at the hands of the Wildcat team back then?" Jun roughly locked Sendo's neck in a headlock.

"How is that arrogant?" Sendo was confused but kept his mouth shut to protect his neck.

"And we were thoroughly defeated too! Back then, you guys were like monsters, working together with perfect synergy! I never thought our junior would turn out to be the strongest player from the team that ruled Kanto for twenty years!" Jun sighed, loosening his grip on Sendo's arm a bit.

"So, can you let me go now?"

"No way! We've got a rare 'amazing~' pitcher right here. How could we pass up the chance for a showdown?" Jun deliberately dragged out the word "amazing" in a playful tone.

"So you're just bullying me, right?"

"Bullying? No, no! This is a friendly exchange between seniors and juniors!"

"So?"

"We don't need you to take us on seriously. We heard from Sawamura that you can replicate You Shunshin's control, right? Just be our batting practice pitcher today!" Jun finally revealed their true intentions.

"How many pitches—uh, never mind."

"How dare you negotiate terms with your seniors? Pitch until we're satisfied." Jun was unmatched when it came to being unreasonable. Neither Miyuki nor Sendo could argue with him.

No matter how obvious the setup was and it was clear as day, especially with Yuuki , it made no difference.

Sendo mentally added another strike to the list of grudges he was holding against Sawamura.

"Achoo! Achoo!" Sawamura sneezed twice in succession.

"Fine..." Sendo reluctantly agreed.

"Now that's the right attitude!" Jun said triumphantly, glancing smugly at the others.

Sendo knew he had no choice but to comply. He couldn't expect Coach Kataoka to step in.

After all, if Coach Kataoka could tolerate Sendo's frequent acts of defiance, he definitely wouldn't interfere with the occasional whim of the seniors. Besides, he knew they had Chris keeping things in check.

Soon, the group arrived at the field.

"Ha! Sendo is my find, so I'm going first! Even though there's a difference between left-handed and right-handed pitching, this will still be great practice! Prepare yourself, Sendo! I'm going to pay back every beating the Wildcats gave me!" shouted the fox-like senior as they entered the field.

"Jun-san, your true nature is showing!" Sendo grumbled inwardly.

"Hm? What's going on?" Coach Kataoka asked Tanba after hearing Isashiki's voice.

Rei-chan was also there.

"Oh, that? Sawamura said Sendo can pitch with control similar to You Shunshin without using full power, so Isashiki and the others decided to have him as their batting practice pitcher. They figured there were too many reporters yesterday, so they planned this surprise attack today. Sendo probably isn't too happy about it," Tanba explained, teasing his close friend Sendo.

"I see. Coach Nakani mentioned that Sendo's control seemed innate. It's natural that less force would result in better control," Rei-chan commented softly, showing interest as she headed over to watch.

Coach Kataoka said nothing further and ended the conversation.

On the field, Sendo was troubled after hearing Jun-san's words. He didn't have a pitcher's glove.

"Here, Sendo! Use mine!"

Sawamura, somehow managing to produce a glove, offered it eagerly, clearly desperate to remind Sendo of his betrayal.

"No need! Furuya, you're not pitching today, right? Let me borrow your glove."

"Huh?" Furuya was stunned. It wasn't that he didn't want to lend it; how could he refuse a request from someone he admired? The problem was...

"Hey, Sendo! You're a lefty, remember? Furuya's glove is for a right-handed thrower!" Jun voiced the concern for Furuya.

"Aren't you asking me to simulate You Shunshin's pitching? He's right-handed! With that speed, I can pitch ambidextrously," Sendo declared.

For some reason, as he stood on the mound, his words carried an air of arrogance, looking down upon the others with slight disdain. It was unclear whether this disdain was directed at You Shunshin's speed or something else.

His tone had been completely calm, but his presence seemed to have shifted, creating an illusion for the others.

"Is he for real?" Jun murmured in disbelief, dropping his aggressive facade.

"Boom!" Yuuki made his presence known.

"Sounds fun! I should be able to catch this guy's pitches, right?" Miyuki said with a familiar grin.

It was the same grin he'd had last year when he first watched Sawamura pitch.

The difference now was that Miyuki had come prepared—he was already fully geared up.

"Do as you like," Jun said.

Miyuki looked at Sendo.

"I don't care," Sendo replied.

Hearing this, Miyuki grinned even wider and happily jogged to the mound, completely ignoring Sendo's look of disdain as he prepared to discuss the signs.

"Since things are like this, why don't we make it a real practice game? Follow the batting order," Kuramochi suggested, seizing the opportunity.

"Fine. If you're free, help out with fielding!" Jun shouted to the bench players.

The originally planned batting practice had turned into a full-fledged simulation game.

...

On another part of the field:

"What do you think? Interested in making this more exciting? The seniors are clearly planning to get back at you for all the times the Wildcats beat them," Miyuki said, clearly enjoying himself.

"And?"

"How about a serious showdown with them?"

"No way. You should know better than anyone what those guys are like, especially Captain and Jun-san! With this kind of speed, just controlling straight pitches isn't going to cut it. And don't expect me to throw You Shunshin's breaking balls!"

"Relax. I'm not trying to beat them for real. But imagining ourselves as the battery for Akikawa and taking on the seniors seriously sounds like better training, doesn't it?"

"This is just your twisted hobby, isn't it? Who's your real target? Never mind, I don't want to know. Just give me the signs, and I'll pitch."

"Got it, got it! Hehehe!" Miyuki's mischievous grin was barely hidden by his glove.

Seeing Miyuki's expression, Sendo couldn't help but laugh.

The two then began discussing their signals.

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