Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 188: Wrath of the Dragon

"You're pushing yourself too hard again! Be careful not to overdo it! If you get injured, it'll be even harder to snatch the ace number from that Furuya kid!" Sendo smirked as he responded to Sawamura's question.

"But that guy's already pitching in official games!"

"Don't rush. That guy is different from you—his talent is straightforward and simple. You, on the other hand, need to take your time."

"What did you just say?" Sawamura's face instantly turned red.

"Huh?"

"You're basically admitting I have talent too, huh? Hahaha!"

"Yes, always."

"What?!!" Sawamura was genuinely shocked. Even he wasn't confident in his own words, so Sendo's acknowledgment caught him completely off guard.

"Keep it up, Eijun!" Sendo patted Sawamura's shoulder and started walking away.

"Sendo, you...!" Sawamura's expression softened, looking visibly touched.

"So, behave yourself and don't rush things, alright? If you get injured, it's over!" Sendo turned back after a few steps to emphasize his point.

"I got it!" Sawamura muttered softly.

Although Sendo didn't catch what Sawamura said, the look on his face told him everything. Smiling, Sendo turned and walked away quickly.

"Huh?" Sawamura suddenly snapped out of it.

"Hey! Wait for me, Sendo!" he yelled, quickly running to catch up.

Seeing Sawamura rushing to his side, Sendo smirked.

"Oh, by the way, if you want to practice pitching, you can come find me. I've still got my old catcher's mitt from last year, and I brought it with me."

"Really?" Sawamura's eyes sparkled with joy.

"But I won't let you pitch too much!"

"Just being able to pitch is enough! Thank you!!!"

"Idiot!" Sendo laughed, placing his left hand on Sawamura's head affectionately.

Ever since entering high school, Sendo's teasing of Sawamura had significantly decreased, replaced instead by a subtle sense of doting.

...

"Sawamura! Tojou!!! What the hell are you two doing out there?"

"Can't even cover a base as a pitcher? What kind of baseball did you play in middle school? Don't underestimate baseball!"

The assistant coach's voice echoed from Field B as Sawamura scrambled to cover the wrong base.

"Not there!!! When the ball is thrown to home, you're supposed to cover home plate!"

...

"Stop daydreaming!!!"

"Pay attention, you idiot! If your brain's not working, then you need to work harder!"

In short, Sawamura was having a rough time on the Second String.

...

"What kind of baseball did you even play in middle school? I heard from Rei-chan that your team was considered a strong team in Nagano. How did that happen?" Miyuki asked, jabbing Sendo in the ribs and repeating his question like an interrogation.

"Amateur baseball," Sendo replied nonchalantly, clearly in a good mood.

"Huh?" Miyuki was confused.

"That guy has talent, but we didn't have any professional guidance in our area. To ensure he didn't pick up bad habits or injure himself in ways that might affect his future, I didn't let him practice any specific techniques. Instead, I had him focus on running and lower-body balance training every day. So, essentially, he's almost like a beginner." Sendo explained simply.

"Ah, I see now! No wonder his peculiar pitches weren't something middle school batters could handle!" Miyuki nodded, finally understanding.

"Exactly."

"By the way, you seem to be in a good mood today. Something good happen?"

"Secret."

"Does it involve a girl?"

"Stop guessing!" Sendo was surprised Miyuki hit the nail on the head.

The night before, Ozawa had messaged him on LINE, telling him she'd be starting as a pitcher in her next game.

Sendo couldn't help but feel happy for this girl who was so dedicated to her baseball career.

...

"Hey, you two slackers! How long are you planning to loaf around? Get back to training!" The brief conversation during their break was cut short as they got scolded for being a few seconds late.

First String training was relatively relaxed for most players, except for Furuya, who had a lot to learn and was swamped with daily drills.

Sendo, too, had his workload increased with more batting practice, leading to him, Furuya, and Miyuki becoming something of a trio.

Their training consisted of Furuya pitching, Miyuki catching, and Sendo batting in head-to-head matchups.

While Furuya and Miyuki had it tougher since they faced First String batters regularly, Sendo, still adjusting to high school pitching, became a frequent opponent for the two.

Despite the grueling sessions, none of them felt burdened—Miyuki enjoyed catching, Sendo loved batting, and Furuya relished pitching.

They were almost like a three-man team.

Standing at home plate during these mock games, Miyuki began to understand what opponents must feel when facing Sendo.

His stance seemed ordinary, even underwhelming, due to his lack of a leg lift, which made him appear like a contact hitter focusing on precision.

But when he swung, the sound of the wind cutting through the air was deafening.

Once the game began, Miyuki found it nearly impossible to catch Sendo's hits, except for the first few pitches.

Ping!

"Man, I wonder if we'll ever recover all the balls today," Miyuki muttered as yet another ball flew over the fence.

"What are you complaining about?" Sendo retorted.

"Look at your swing! Every time the ball flies over the fence, you're just creating more work for the first-years retrieving them. And we keep losing balls because of you!" Miyuki started grumbling.

"By the way, how many balls did that chubby senior lose during his third year?"

"Who knows?!"

"Then why not just raise the fence higher?"

"..."

Miyuki was speechless.

"Well, whatever! Let's call it a day!" Miyuki eventually declared after a few moments of thought.

"Sure!" Sendo agreed without hesitation.

Furuya, too, didn't object, looking completely dazed after being thoroughly battered during the session.

...

Later, Miyuki invited Sendo, "I'm heading over to check out Rei-chan's score sheets from yesterday. Want to come?"

"Yeah, I'll tag along. I could use a break and a chat with Rei-chan."

"What exactly do you two have in common to talk about?"

"Well... it's hard to say, really."

"If you don't want to answer, forget it!"

"It's not that. I guess we just get along well."

"Got it." Miyuki didn't press further as the two headed to the observation room, leaving Furuya behind.

Furuya, realizing he couldn't get a word in, watched them leave in silence.

...

"Rei-chan! I want to take a look at yesterday's score sheet!" Miyuki pushed open the door to the observation room and froze at the scene before him.

Sendo, noticing Miyuki's hesitation, shoved him inside.

What they saw made them stop in their tracks: Rei-chan was seated in a chair, and Sawamura was kneeling before her.

Both of them turned toward the newcomers, their faces flushed with embarrassment, creating an awkward and misleading image.

The four of them stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Don't look! Don't look at me like this!" Sawamura panicked, burying his head in his hands as he lay face-down on the ground.

"Hahaha! You're the best, Sawamura!" Miyuki couldn't hold back his laughter anymore.

"Did I make a mistake in assigning them? It seems like this kid and Chris-kun aren't getting along well," Rei added, joining the conversation.

Instead of laughing, Sendo stood silently, deep in thought.

To be honest, he had forgotten about this scene from his past, but that wasn't the point now.

When Sawamura shouted those words, Sendo's mind wandered elsewhere entirely.

"The posture, the tone!" Sendo muttered, rubbing his chin as an image of Fumino popped into his mind.

This scene was strikingly similar to how Fumino would act whenever she felt embarrassed—whether it was a bad grade in math or a failed cooking attempt.

She would turn her back to Sendo, bury her head in her hands, and shout, "Don't look! Don't look at such a pathetic me!" while muttering self-deprecating remarks in an unusually self-conscious way.

"Is this why Sawamura respects Fumino so much? Pfft!" Sendo chuckled internally. He was confident Sawamura had no idea about this side of Fumino.

...

Miyuki's voice brought Sendo back to reality. "Not many people can get along with him now," Miyuki said, referring to Chris.

"Sawamura-kun might not realize it, but Chris is the one who understands baseball the most in this team and has a keen eye for judging a player's potential," Rei explained.

Although Rei was right, because Sendo hadn't interfered much in this timeline, Sawamura harbored the same resentment toward Chris as he did in the previous one.

Sendo had purposely played dumb about Chris, knowing only his name and not revealing anything else.

"But that guy has no enthusiasm, does he? He left early today!" Sawamura, unable to hold back, voiced his frustration.

"Hey, hey! That's because—" Miyuki started to explain but was immediately cut off by Sawamura.

Despite Miyuki's usual sarcastic demeanor, he was someone who valued listening and respect.

"I… I want you to catch my pitches! When I first came to this school, I couldn't forget the feeling and sound of that glove! Even during the last game, I pitched based on that memory!"

"You don't need to rush. Follow his lead, and you'll grow for sure," Miyuki said, patting Sawamura on the shoulder to comfort him.

However, Miyuki overlooked one crucial point—Sawamura didn't understand Chris at all. Nor did Miyuki realize the extent of Sawamura's misconceptions about Chris.

"No!!! I don't want to be with someone who has no drive. Why is he even here? If he doesn't want to play, he should quit already!" Sawamura blurted out words he might regret for the rest of his life.

To Sawamura, Chris and Sendo were worlds apart.

He saw Chris as someone who didn't care about baseball, merely going through the motions, while Sendo was someone who had wanted to quit but stayed for the team's sake.

Hearing this, Miyuki lost his composure. He scolded Sawamura harshly, grabbed the scorebook, and stormed out.

"Wait!" Sendo finally intervened.

Miyuki's actions, along with the despair on Sawamura's face, made Sendo angry.

As someone protective of his "cubs," he couldn't tolerate this behavior.

All eyes turned to Sendo, who had remained silent until now.

"I wanted to ask this last time, but Rei-chan seemed upset, so I let it go. But now I have to ask: Chris—is it Takigawa's Chris? The one they called a bakemono? Why is he on the Second String? Don't tell me he's so weak he can't even make the First String."

"Even I've heard stories about him. Given his personality, it's not likely due to form or skill. So… is he injured?"

Sendo's words struck like a thunderclap, snapping everyone back to reality.

Sawamura finally understood Chris's despondency.

Rei realized that avoiding the issue wasn't helping; it needed to be addressed head-on.

Miyuki came to his senses, recalling the explanation he had intended to give—that Chris was, indeed, like what Sawamura described now.

The three of them fell silent, unsure of what to say next.

"…"

"Rei-chan! I'm taking the score sheet!" Miyuki was the first to recover, quickly making his escape.

The room became even more awkward.

"Alright, Sawamura, I'll take you to meet Chris," Rei sighed.

"Got it. I'll head out too," Sendo said, excusing himself.

Normally, he might have been interested in meeting Chris, but Miyuki's earlier actions left him in a foul mood, so he had no desire to stick around.

If Chris was Miyuki's reverse scale, then Sawamura, Fumino, and a few others were Sendo's. And just like Miyuki storming off, Sendo had no choice but to bottle up his frustration.

...

Leaving the observation room, Sendo headed to the field, where he borrowed a ball cage from the seniors.

That afternoon, Sendo practiced over a hundred swings—a rare occurrence for him.

Fueled by frustration, each swing sent the ball flying farther than the last.

Unbeknownst to him, his swing was becoming more fluid and powerful.

"Ah, much better now!" Sendo muttered sarcastically as he stepped out of the cage.

His odd tone puzzled the seniors.

Usually approachable and warm, Sendo now exuded an intimidating aura that made them shiver just by looking at him.

Perhaps it was leftover intensity from batting, or maybe something else entirely.

Sendo himself noticed the change and took a deep breath to rein it in, calming his "presence."

The seniors sighed in relief. For a moment, he had looked just like Chris before his injury.

They couldn't help but be thankful that, at his core, Sendo was still the lazy, easygoing Sendo they knew.

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