Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 194: Summer Training Camp (2)

"What's wrong? You usually eat so much—why haven't you touched your food?" Miyuki's annoying voice rang in Sendo's ears again during lunch.

"I feel like I'm about to throw up! Give me a break!"

"Hahaha! You've got a long way to go!" Miyuki's loud laughter was sometimes truly headache-inducing.

"Everyone has moments like this! I bet last year you weren't even as good as me!" Sendo shot back confidently.

"...!"

"When I was a first-year, I was way better than you!"

"I'm more concerned about that brief pause of yours!"

"Don't sweat the details!"

"But knowing you, even if you couldn't finish, you'd probably sneak off and dump the rest, right?"

"You guessed right! This guy dumped his leftover rice into Maezono's bowl!" Just as Miyuki was about to deny it, his best friend exposed him mercilessly.

Seeing Sendo's "figures" expression, Miyuki felt his thick skin had finally reached its limit. Awkwardly, he took a bite of tempura.

"Hey!"

"Where are you going?" Miyuki asked when he saw Sendo sigh and get up.

"Don't bother me! I'm getting some juice or something to stimulate my appetite!"

"That guy… he's really not like those other idiots, huh?"

"Huh?" Kuramochi, overhearing the comment, found it rather insulting. It sounded like only those who figured out ways to eat when they lost their appetite weren't idiots.

Miyuki had dumped his food into Maezono's bowl, Sendo used drinks to stimulate his appetite, but the rest of the team just forced themselves to eat! Hey!

"You're taking two bottles?"

"Yeah! The first one's to stimulate my appetite."

"And the second?"

"... To stimulate my appetite too!"

"..." Miyuki nearly choked.

"Just kidding! The second one's for when I finish the first and lose my appetite again!"

"I see!"

"Though, two bottles might not be enough."

"...!"

"What?" Sendo asked, noticing Miyuki staring at him.

"Nothing!"

"I know what you're thinking. But do you even know how much I have to eat per meal? Idiot!"

Miyuki swore this was the first time he'd ever been called an idiot, but he had no way to refute it!

He finally understood what Sendo meant by the "first bottle to stimulate appetite" when the guy chugged the entire bottle in one go. Then, with a satisfied nod, he licked his lips and began eating.

Like clockwork, every sip of juice seemed to genuinely restore Sendo's appetite. The meat on his tray disappeared at an astonishing speed.

"Is this for real?!"

…

By the end of the meal, Sendo had gone through four bottles of juice. Afterward, he casually munched on the banana Fumino handed him, their unspoken understanding making Kuramochi burn with jealousy.

Kuramochi could swear that the moment Sendo finished his drink, Fumino placed a banana in front of him.

Without even glancing at her, Sendo seamlessly grabbed it with his right hand while lowering the bottle with his left, peeling it and taking a bite—all in one smooth, natural motion.

That one bite felt like it shattered Kuramochi's heart. It wasn't that he had feelings for Fumino, but their mutual understanding was something he deeply envied.

Kuramochi made a bitter decision to take out his frustration on…

Sawamura.

For no particular reason, Sawamura became the scapegoat of Kuramochi's silent, fiery grudge.

Just because Sawamura went to the same school as Sendo, had a "girlfriend," and refused to share Wakana's contact info… Kuramochi was a master at finding excuses!

"Childhood friends are the worst! … Ugh, but it's so nice to have one! I'm so jealous I could die!" Kuramochi silently declared.

After finishing his meal, Sendo left with Fumino for a walk, oblivious to the envious stares of the single guys behind him. How dare he flaunt his closeness with the academy's prettiest and sweetest girl?

But if Sendo knew what they were thinking, he would have said, "I'm single too! Fumino is just my sister!"

Of course, if he actually said that, he probably wouldn't live to see the next day. But the craziest part? It was the truth.

...

That afternoon, Sendo braced himself for training, fully prepared to collapse.

From the start of this grueling camp, he'd resolved to give it his all, no matter what, until he dropped.

His reasoning was simple: with his poor stamina, exhaustion was inevitable.

Once he reached his limit, the coach wouldn't push him further, minimizing his chances of injury.

But instead of a draining, soul-crushing workout, Coach Kataoka sent Sendo to the batting area to face Shinbara-senpai's pitches.

Shinbara was part of the outfield trio and a fan of Yuuki.

The arrangement made sense.

Coach Kataoka understood Sendo's limits and chose to let him practice hitting while recovering his strength. It was better to preserve him for the evening training session, where he could truly give it his all.

Having observed the coach for two months, Sendo had a solid grasp of Kataoka's personality and thought process.

And just as Sendo suspected, Kataoka prioritized his development, letting him hone his batting against live pitches during this critical adjustment period.

"Ping!"

On his first swing, Sendo sent the ball soaring over the fence. Shinbara turned to watch, a mix of helplessness and pride on his face.

"This kid… Still as impressive as ever."

"Senpai!" Sendo gave him a concerned look.

"Idiot! If you've got the energy to worry about me, then focus on hitting more out of the park!"

"That's right! We'll back you up, so just keep sending them flying during the summer qualifiers too!" Kuwata added enthusiastically.

"Then please throw even trickier pitches!" Sendo was genuinely touched, rubbing his nose to hide it.

"Strict, aren't you? Didn't Captain say the same thing to me this morning?! You little punk!" Shinbara's face darkened as Sendo grinned mischievously. He was doing it on purpose to avoid tearing up.

"Ping!"

"Ping!"

"Ping!"

One after another, Sendo's hits were clean and satisfying.

"Exactly! Keep going! Just keep smashing them out of the park!" The more he hit, the more fired up the seniors became.

Sendo Akira—this underclassman they had come to respect—would soon take on the summer tournament as a first-year starter.

For the seniors, there was a bittersweet mix of disappointment at not making the lineup and hope for a bright future.

Knowing Sendo's preference for low pitches, Shinbara focused on throwing them.

The more Sendo crushed, the happier they all felt.

...

"Strange! I've suddenly become sentimental recently. When did this start? Ah, it must have been when Coach announced the final First-String roster!" Sendo thought to himself as he observed the ever-growing determination of his seniors.

While it might not be obvious to others, Sendo's naturally scattered attention—a trait that annoyed countless people—had become something he was deeply grateful for at moments like this.

It allowed him to absorb information from all directions and analyze it comprehensively.

"These seniors... Back in middle school, they were the aces of their teams, the cleanup hitters, sometimes both at once. For three whole years, they've trained diligently every single day, only to not even make it to one official high school game in the end. And yet, they place their hopes on the younger players, generation after generation."

Sendo reflected on Seidou High's long drought from Koshien and how Coach Sakaki had built the school into a powerhouse.

The legacy passed down through the generations carried with it a heavy weight of both pride and tragedy.

Inwardly, Sendo summed up the brutal, bittersweet nature of elite baseball: "This is the harsh reality of being part of a powerhouse program."

"Damn it! Stop being so emotional! This isn't like you at all!" Sendo scolded himself as he continued to focus on hitting.

...

"Whoosh!"

"Uh-oh, that pitch is way too high!" Shinbara, the pitcher, realized he'd missed his mark as soon as the ball left his hand.

Unlike his usual pitches that skimmed the lower edge of the strike zone, this one was floating well above it, several centimeters too high. "Well, at least it'll be interesting to see him miss for once."

"Ping!"

Before anyone could react, the sound of bat meeting ball echoed sharply.

The white ball streaked past Shinbara's head like a laser, vanishing in an instant. His eyes widened in disbelief.

Around him, the other seniors who had volunteered to monitor (and make sure Sendo didn't slack off) stood frozen in place, their faces blank.

The ball had been hit with such a bizarrely awkward swing that it seemed impossible.

Yet, it flew in a clean, straight trajectory, rising along a sharp diagonal until it cleared the fence—a fence nearly ten meters high.

Normally, Sendo could hit high pitches for home runs, but they rarely went more than five meters above the ground, let alone clearing a fence like this.

More shocking was the quality of the hit.

Shinbara was convinced it was the cleanest, most powerful shot Sendo had ever made—not just today but since joining the team.

And it wasn't luck. Shinbara had been throwing low pitches all day because he knew Sendo preferred them.

The awkward swing wasn't a mistake; it was an intentional adjustment mid-swing.

At first, Sendo had started with his usual stance for hitting low balls, but as soon as he noticed the pitch's trajectory, he quickly shifted. His bat leveled parallel to the ground, at a height near his neck.

The result was a strange and almost unbalanced stance that left him nearly tripping after the swing—but it worked.

The seniors watching couldn't contain their shock. In that brief moment, they saw a glimpse of Yuuki's shadow in Sendo.

No, it wasn't just a resemblance. It was something stronger, something from another dimension entirely.

Even Sendo himself was surprised by the result. He scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "That felt pretty good."

"Se... Sendo, that just now… what was that?!" Shinbara stammered, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind. Even some third-years gathered around, eager to hear his explanation.

"I don't know!" Sendo replied bluntly, still deep in thought.

"What do you mean, you don't know?!" The seniors collectively groaned. That one swing had raised Sendo's level by several notches, like a grade-schooler suddenly playing at a high school level. It was unforgettable.

"Think carefully—what were you doing right before that swing?" A calm voice broke through the chaos. It was Chris, who had coincidentally witnessed the entire thing.

Though shocked himself, he maintained his composure and tried to guide Sendo.

What could have caused such a leap in skill? This thought occupied the minds of every senior. They needed answers.

"I wasn't really thinking about anything. Honestly, I might've been zoning out a little…" Sendo confessed.

The group fell silent, their heads filled with collective frustration. This guy zones out during practice?! Seriously?!

"It's not exactly zoning out. I just remembered something for a moment," Sendo clarified, avoiding mentioning his earlier reflections about his seniors' struggles. He didn't want to hurt their feelings.

"That's still zoning out, you idiot!" Except for Chris, the other seniors couldn't help but shout internally.

But despite their irritation, no one dared interrupt Sendo's train of thought. Inspiration often struck in fleeting moments, after all.

"Anyway, I'm sure it has nothing to do with that. By the time I realized what was happening, Shinbara-senpai's pitch had already been thrown. I wasn't thinking at all—my body just moved on its own."

"Are you a beast or something?!" the seniors thought, once again exasperated by Sendo's answer.

"But you've relied on instinct to hit before," Chris pointed out, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. Sendo's knack for reacting instinctively wasn't new, but this particular swing defied comprehension.

"I don't know if it was just my imagination, but for a split second, it felt like the ball slowed down," Sendo added thoughtfully.

"The ball… slowed down?" Chris echoed, his expression shifting as though he'd grasped something but couldn't quite put it into words.

"At the very least, it's clear that you were completely focused in that moment," Chris analyzed calmly.

"Yeah," Sendo nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't look like you'll be able to replicate that feeling anytime soon," Chris concluded with a wry smile.

The other seniors reluctantly nodded. They all knew that getting Sendo to focus like that was about as likely as winning the lottery.

But still… still!!!

They couldn't help but feel frustrated. They wanted to see it again. They wanted to understand what had just happened. They wanted more.

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