Chapter 309: The Super Diamond Generation
After chewing the two pitchers out, Miyuki followed the plan and took Sawamura and Furuya to the indoor cage for twenty pitches each just to tune their form.
As it turned out, just like Sendo had said, Sawamura was still a bit short of being able to throw reliably to the outside corner.
….
"Super Diamond Generation, huh? When you think about it that way, it's not wrong at all," Miyuki muttered once the two pitchers and Kuramochi had left.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what'? It's from today's new issue of Baseball Kingdom!" Miyuki said, eyes wide.
"...!"
"Look at you. Even when you say something convincing, it doesn't sound convincing at all. It sounds like sarcasm," Miyuki sighed helplessly.
"Now that you mention it, I guess that's true," Sendo said, touching his chin. He had never considered it before.
"You have a pitcher's glove?" Miyuki suddenly asked.
"I do. Why?"
"Huh? How do you have one? You don't even like pitching or catching."
"It's from middle school. I was one of Eijun's backup pitchers… one of them, anyway. Why?"
"In that case, let's go. It's late—no one's around."
"...!" The two stared at each other for several seconds, blinking repeatedly.
"…What are you scheming?" Sendo asked.
"You said yesterday that if you won, you'd let me catch your pitches. Ten balls!" Miyuki crossed both index fingers in a little gesture.
"Did I say that?" Sendo remembered clearly, but feigned confusion as if nothing ever happened. His expression screamed don't fool with me.
It was frighteningly convincing. If he wanted to fool others, he had to fool himself first—the tone and expression were so complete he was basically fooling even himself.
"Don't tell me you forgot! You said it yesterday!" Miyuki was close to breaking down. He knew full well: if he wanted this guy to do anything, Sendo had to agree by choice—otherwise it was impossible.
"No memory of that. And even if I said it, I probably didn't mean it. I definitely remember saying I'd change my hairstyle if I lost, but this? No impression at all."
"..."
Miyuki's expression looked as if his will to live had just evaporated.
"But! I'm free anyway today, and it's been a while since I pitched seriously. It's not a match, and it's only ten balls. No one's around—fine, I'll play with you."
He said it casually—too casually—and used "also" way too many times.
So tsundere of him.
"Seriously?! You won't forget this time, right? I'll go with you to get your glove!"
"Baka! Did Eijun infect you? We have to get Miyauchi-senpai out of the way first."
"How?"
"Hm… follow me."
This time Sendo led Miyuki back to his room.
"Wait here—and watch carefully," Sendo said at the doorway.
He entered the dorm.
"Hmph! Back late, aren't you?" Miyauchi snorted.
"Yeah. Got caught up talking with this guy."
"I see. You two are always together lately."
"Oh, right! I almost forgot—Miyauchi-san!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"When we were coming in, I think I heard Tanba-san say he was looking for you near the cafeteria. Not sure if I heard it wrong—could you go check?"
"Really? Then I should take a look just in case. And you are…?" Miyauchi glanced at Sendo gathering baseball gear.
"Oh, just taking things out to clean. Even if I don't use them, it's better to maintain them."
"I see. You really treat your equipment well. I'll head out then."
With that, Miyauchi left.
"Done." Sendo tossed a glove to Miyuki and gave an OK sign.
"Uh..." Miyuki stared, speech darkened.
"Is tricking senpai like that really okay?"
"You have no right to say that."
"...Fair enough," Miyuki admitted. He remembered how many victims, especially the two pitchers, he himself had tricked.
"But honestly, if you didn't know the truth, you'd never suspect anything. We literally just came from there—there wasn't even a ghost near the cafeteria. But even then, Miyauchi-senpai probably thought you just misheard or misremembered. Poor guy…"
Miyuki reflected on his own pathetic trickery and realized he had much to learn.
"Didn't you want to catch? If not, I'm going to bed."
"Wait wait wait! My bad! Let's go!"
And so the two slipped out of the dorm.
…
"No one but us now."
"You really came prepared, huh? You even got the key to the indoor cage," Sendo complained.
"Want to warm up with some catch first?"
"No need."
"Come on, you'll get hurt otherwise. Catch."
Smack!
"You really do love this position," Sendo remarked.
"Of course. You get to catch all kinds of pitchers, think up tactics, and command the whole field. What's not fun about that?"
They chatted as they played light catch.
…
"Alright! Let's begin. Full power. I won't laugh even if you miss badly," Miyuki said, holding his glove over the inside corner—opposite batter's chest height.
"Huh? Why the sudden gentleness?"
"Heh. Even if I argue, I can't beat you anyway," Miyuki replied with a grin.
"I see. Then…" Sendo raised both hands above his head.
His motion, though technically a slanted shoulder delivery, was quite different from Furuya's. It allowed Sendo to make use of his explosive power while preventing runners from stealing.
It was a pitching form Coach Nakanishi designed specifically for Sendo back in elementary school.
Whoosh!
Sendo's stride was much longer than an average pitcher's, and with his long legs it looked even more exaggerated.
A long stride made balance harder, but it allowed full explosive output—boosting both velocity and life on the ball.
Pitching was essentially the art of unleashing all the body's power in a single instant.
Sendo's entire body bent and coiled like a spring—almost beautiful in its violence.
Shhhh!
At such speed, even the sound of the ball cutting through air became sharp.
BOOM!!
A deafening crash echoed throughout the indoor cage.
"So this… is Sendo's full-power pitch," Miyuki muttered, unable to suppress the tremor of excitement.
"It's different from Furuya—less raw, but even heavier. Like a drill boring straight through. My hand hurts… what absurd firepower. But this pain feels… exhilarating. And the precision… Everything about this… No wonder Harada-san wanted to chase him all the way to Seido just to form a battery with him…"
Miyuki's mouth slowly pulled open into an excited grin.
"Hey. That expression's kinda cool, you know. Want me to take a picture?" Sendo teased.
"No thanks! I don't have time for that," Miyuki snapped, still unable to close his mouth.
He set the glove at the outside low corner—Sawamura's problem spot. The farthest pitch from the hitter, lowest in the zone—perfect as a finishing pitch.
"You're in a good mood too, huh?" Miyuki laughed.
"Well… pitching is the act of unloading your entire body's power in one burst.
And it's been a while since I let loose. Feels… cathartic."
"Then why not become a pitcher full-time? I'd bet on you."
"Don't be stupid. That spot is exhausting. I'm not touching it. And it's only fun because I haven't pitched in a while."
Sendo didn't know that his words struck certain people currently hiding and spying on them.
whoosh—BOOM!
"Such a waste… With just that fastball and that control, no one in high school would be able to hit it."
"Maybe."
BOOM!
"Strike!"
The third pitch was high and tight to a lefty. The fourth was low and away to a lefty.
He could tell — at this velocity, he could barely manage a four-square target. A nine-square would be impossible.
"No wonder he can hit all nine squares when he slows down. These are basically two different modes. He can't exactly use the speed difference to disrupt hitters… but even the slower mode isn't easy to hit unless you guess right. And at full power… four-square precision? In high school? No one touches that."
"You really are in a good mood today. Inside corner again!"
"More or less."
BOOM!
"One more! Down the middle!" Miyuki called.
"Not thinking about how sweet that is for a hitter? That's a happy pitcher's spot," Sendo admitted.
BOOM!
"Nice! Twenty more!" Miyuki shouted, trying to ride the momentum.
"If he's in a good mood, he'll just go along with it," Miyuki calculated.
"…."
And then—perfect silence.
"You… trying to imitate that white-haired guy? Don't. You look like an idiot," Sendo finally deadpanned.
"Uh… if I said it was roleplay because I think Narumiya is cute, would you believe me…?" Miyuki had no idea why his mouth betrayed him like that.
Sendo stared at him like he was watching an especially pitiful idiot.
"I wanna die…" Miyuki thought. Operation Boost-Morale—utter failure. He was absolutely not the type who could act cute or tsundere.
"Uh… we still have four left, so… finish those first?" Miyuki asked weakly.
He looked like a kid afraid someone would steal his favorite toy.
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