Chapter 305: Interview
"Senpai, what are you guys doing? If it's something good, take us with you too!"
Seeing Isashiki, Tetsu, and the Pudding-senpai all gathered together, Sawamura asked curiously.
Furuya beside him also looked interested.
"Look over there!" Isashiki pointed in Rei's and Sendo's direction.
....
"If you hadn't chased down that ball just now, it would've been a walk-off hit. At that moment, did you ever think you might lose?"
The reporter asked out of pure curiosity—it wasn't a tricky question. They knew where the line was.
After all, high school baseball wasn't like the NBA, a fully commercial league. There was no obligation to accept interviews. If the team said no, that was the end of it. To protect the players, reporters avoided asking truly sharp or malicious questions.
"Throughout the entire game, I never once had the impression that we would lose."
"Oh? Was that because you believed you would win?"
"Belief is one thing," Sendo replied.
"But baseball has too many exceptions. No one knows what will happen."
"But…?"
"But I don't have the time to think about those things," he said calmly.
"If even a single thought about losing slips in, your reaction slows down. Someone who hesitates can't perform at their true level—and that hesitation might be what causes the loss."
"Will we lose? Will we win? You'll know once the game ends."
"That's impressive. Saying it and actually doing it are two completely different things."
"Sendo's handling the interview pretty well," Isashiki muttered, copying Tetsu by rubbing his chin.
"He's not awkward at all."
Sendo naturally couldn't hear him, but at that moment, he smiled faintly.
That smile made Miyuki shiver.
"What is it, Miyuki-senpai?" Furuya asked immediately.
"Nothing… Sendo's about to say something dark again."
....
"Thank you very much," Sendo said, responding to the reporter's praise.
"So, what kind of people are your teammates at Seidou?"
The reporter noticed how easygoing Sendo was and shifted into a more casual, chat-like tone.
Nearby, the senpai and classmates all pricked up their ears.
"The senpai are all very reliable—and very cool," Sendo said.
"Except for the scheming glasses guy."
Direct hit.
Miyuki was instantly struck down.
"Scheming glasses? You mean Miyuki-kun?"
"Yes."
"Hahaha! Sounds like you're very close."
"Yeah."
"Is Miyuki-kun really that scheming?"
"On the field, when he's on defense, you can trust him completely," Sendo said.
"But the more reliable he is there, the more unreliable he is in daily life."
He carefully avoided mentioning 'bases loaded = god, no runners = disaster'—that counted as inside information.
"What about the others?"
"Tetsu-san is reliable in any situation…"
At that, Isashiki elbowed Tetsu.
Tetsu looked at him with a head full of question marks. (Very Tetsu.)
"But he's a bit… natural."
"He said it out loud," Furuya muttered blankly.
"He really said it," Rei said, holding her forehead.
Tetsu, meanwhile, still didn't react much.
"Masuko-san is very dependable on defense.
Jun-san—he's really handsome."
Isashiki's eyes sparkled the moment Sendo praised him.
"Though it doesn't really match his looks," Sendo continued,
"He always looks scary on the outside, but he's actually very gentle inside."
That one made Jun hesitate.
Should he beat Sendo up later… or let it go?
"Being gentle also means he's easily swayed by emotions."
As he said that, Sendo raised his left hand to his mouth.
"In the game just now, Jun-san cried…"
He held up four fingers.
"Four times."
He pretended to whisper—but his voice was just loud enough for the senpai to hear.
And he even counted—incorrectly.
Miyuki knew it.
This was absolutely on purpose.
"It was three times, you idiot!" Isashiki snapped back instinctively—then realized he'd slipped.
Everyone stared at him in confusion, and Isashiki's face instantly turned red.
"Huh? Wh—!"
A few seconds later, it hit him.
"That bastard! He ruined my image in front of the reporters!"
"We're still in the middle of an interview," Furuya said, instinctively grabbing one of Jun's arms.
"Hahahahaha!"
The reporters laughed good-naturedly.
Jun, meanwhile, wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole.
....
"What do you think of today's opponents?"
The small talk ended, and the reporters moved to more serious questions.
"Honestly, they were incredibly strong," Sendo said.
"There were several moments where it wouldn't have been strange for us to lose outright."
"Narumiya-san is the strongest opponent I've ever faced."
"Oh?"
The reporters' interest clearly rose.
They already knew this was a mature, rational kid.
"Even so, Sendo-kun, you completely overwhelmed Narumiya-kun today."
"That's only because my condition was unusually good," Sendo replied calmly.
"It was the first time I'd ever felt a state like that."
"The at-bats where I struck out—that's closer to my real level. Even though the results were still good, a lot of it was luck."
He showed no sign of being intoxicated by today's batting stats.
This only strengthened the reporters' impression that Sendo was rational, mature, and witty.
"That makes sense. But still, Narumiya Mei's condition today was also unprecedented."
"Judging purely by today's performance,"
"I'd say Narumiya-kun was the best pitcher in the nation, and Sendo-kun, you could be called the best batter in the nation as well."
The one who said this was Mine Fujio, who had just arrived.
"Thank you very much for the compliment," Sendo replied politely.
"That concludes today's interview. Thank you very much!"
The reporters wrapped things up.
They'd originally planned only to get some impressions and familiarity, but Sendo turned out to be far more interesting than expected, so the conversation ran longer.
Mine Fujio, meanwhile, focused on interviewing Coach Kataoka.
As Seidou's long-time reporter—someone who had followed their long-awaited revival—he found them endlessly newsworthy.
Other teams would be reported on as well, of course, but Seidou remained his main focus.
After all, he could visit Seidou anytime.
Coach Kataoka's interview ended quickly.
He straightforwardly stated that before the game, he'd judged the strength comparison as six-to-four in Inashiro's favor, and that today's victory was thanks entirely to the players' performance.
"What's wrong? Why's everyone gone?"
With the coach still nearby, Isashiki had to suppress his urge to smack Sendo with all his might.
Meanwhile, Sendo chatted with his teammates as if nothing had happened.
"Sendo-san…" Furuya said quietly, a little worried.
"You played really well today. But… when we get back, we're probably still having a reflection meeting."
"With runners on base and with no one on base, you're basically two completely different people!"
Sendo knew exactly what Furuya was about to say, so he deliberately changed the subject.
"Yeah! I got it!"
The naturally airheaded Furuya immediately forgot what he'd been about to say and nodded obediently.
After all, in his mind, there was nothing that could really trouble Sendo.
Then, carrying the championship banner, the Seidou players walked out of the stadium.
"They're coming out!"
Waiting at the entrance were fans who still hadn't left.
"Sendo!"
"Congratulations!"
"Tetsu-san!"
"Isashiki!"
"We'll go to Koshien to cheer for you too!"
"Go make a huge splash!"
"Go conquer the nation!"
With so many people around, Isashiki could only keep holding it in…
At the corner ahead, Harada Masanori was standing there alone.
"Go on."
At moments like this, Tetsu wasn't dense at all—he immediately realized Harada was there for Sendo.
But before Sendo could even step out of the group, Harada walked over.
"Don't forget to add me!"
That was the very first thing he said, pointing his finger.
"Harada-san…"
Sendo muttered helplessly.
"Hm?"
"Let's add each other now."
Sendo raised his left hand—there was a phone in it.
"Huh?"
Only then did Harada realize.
It wasn't that he was slow—he'd just been stuck thinking about one thing, so his brain hadn't quite turned.
So, right in front of the Seidou players, the two of them exchanged LINE contacts.
"And—congratulations to you guys! …Go take the very top. If it's you, I believe you can do it. From the bottom of my heart, I hope you keep winning."
If it were Tetsu, he would've simply replied with a firm "Yeah."
But Sendo… no one ever knew whether his next words would be inspiring—or ominous.
"Well, who can really say?"
The moment he opened his mouth, the senpai all tensed up.
Don't say anything unlucky in front of outsiders!
"But after beating you guys," Sendo continued with a smile, "if we were to lose carelessly after that, I'd have no face left to ever see you again—Yasan."
He deliberately changed how he addressed Harada.
Harada didn't feel any discomfort at all.
"That's good enough. I'll be heading back then. See you."
"Yeah. See you."
"Let's go. The coach is still waiting for us," Tetsu said, leading the team back to the bus.
....
Once they reached the bus, Sendo cleverly got on last, then took a seat near the front—close to Rei—and deliberately made the scheming glasses guy take the window seat.
Sendo trusted that Isashiki-senpai wouldn't beat him up at a time like this.
By coincidence, Sawamura ended up sitting right behind him.
…
By evening, the bus finally returned to school.
"Ahh, I'm gonna go loosen up a bit. Eijun! I'll leave my luggage to you—and wash the clothes inside too!"
The moment the bus stopped, Sendo cracked his joints and said casually.
"Huh?"
Miyuki, Rei, and Sawamura behind him all looked confused.
"Why do I have to—…oh. Right."
Sawamura suddenly remembered the bet he'd lost during the game—he'd agreed to wash Sendo's clothes for a month.
Since Sendo often just washed them himself and only asked him to hang them up, Sawamura hadn't reacted right away.
Rei was still puzzled. After such a long game, why wasn't he going to rest, but instead talking about "loosening up"?
The one who should've been the most exhausted was this guy.
Sendo didn't explain.
The moment the bus doors opened, he jumped off.
And ran.
The next second, no one was confused anymore.
"Sendo! You bastard—prepare to die!"
Isashiki had already rushed to the bus door with a bat in hand, but the target was long gone.
"Get back here, you jerk!"
Bat still in hand, Isashiki took off after him, the two of them sprinting across the field.
"Hmph. Letting that kid run a bit is good conditioning too."
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