Where's My Cola?

"Don't make me repeat myself over and over!"

"Don't catch it with your glove! Keep your feet moving as much as possible!"

"Takada, move up a little! You're backing off too much!"

"The pitches are way faster now," Takada muttered.

"What are you muttering about? Lower your center of gravity and field it head-on. You were already slow to begin with. Do you need me to make you a weight-loss plan?"

"That won't be necessary!" However, Takada clearly did not dare let Sendou hear that, so he could only mutter to himself.

"Next, a 6-4-3 double play! Take this one slowly. I won't demand that you do it too fast, but you absolutely need to learn this basic double play!"

"Yes!" Everyone in the infield, Wakaba included, answered in unison.

"Good, another ball! This one, a little faster!"

"Smack!"

"Another one!"

"All right, next, center fielder!"

"Left field!"

"Right field!"

"All right, today's bunt practice will be a little harder! In a moment, I'll set the Pitching Machine to random pitches. You can only bunt strikes!"

"Let's begin!"

"A Shin, did you get anything out of the earlier practice? I can't directly teach you how to call plays in an actual game, but you should be able to learn a lot just by watching defensive practice!"

"I've learned a little about what kinds of balls need to be fielded by which positions!"

"That's right. Since I don't know the usual coverage range of every defensive position very well, a lot of the balls have been sent to fairly tricky spots. But that actually lets you learn a lot.

"For example, when a ball lands in one of those special areas where either player could field it—or neither of them necessarily has to—you can direct your teammates based on our usual practice. That can greatly reduce mistakes.

"What do you think? Pretty great, right? I just thought of it today!"

"Sorry, Sen-chan! We can't help with anything, and we've left all the training to you alone!"

"Don't worry about it. You guys can keep practicing under Tokyo's summer heat until you've reached this level. I'm the one who truly admires you! You're all amazing!"

"Um, Sen-chan!"

"Yeah?"

"Did something happen? It feels like you're especially fired up today!"

"How could that be? I've got terminal laziness. There's no saving me anymore!"

"Terminal laziness? What's that? Is it a serious illness? It's cancer! Are you okay?" It was not just A Shin—everyone else, including Fumino, who had come to watch their practice, looked concerned.

"..."

"Japan doesn't have the term 'terminal laziness'? All right, then!" Sendou thought.

"Haha, you guys are really interesting! It's not what you think. How should I put it? Terminal laziness means I'm so lazy that it's like an incurable disease. I can't change it!"

"...×N!"

"What the heck! You made us worry for nothing!"

"All right, get back to practice! Honestly, how could there really be such a terminal illness in this world?"

"And you, A Shin. You interrupted me so badly that I've already forgotten what I was about to say, so go back and train with them too!" But that was not what Sendou was thinking at all!

I'd already asked and said everything I needed to. If I put it that way, you'll all feel guilty, right? Hehehe!!!

If everyone could hear what he was really thinking, they would probably call him terrible or the absolute worst.

All right, everyone's happily practicing under the blazing sun—getting roasted, really. I'll happily go drink an ice-cold cola too! Sendou thought.

In fact, he had made thorough preparations against the sun. Not only had he applied plenty of sunscreen, but he also wore a sun hat. He had even set up parasols over the batting area for everyone! (He really was terrible!)

...-_-||

With that, Sendou walked over to the cooler beside them.

He opened it...

"They're gone!!!" Sendou screamed!

"Why? I'm sure there were some left! Did I forget to put them in here? Are they still in the refrigerator!?"

As he spoke, Sendou jogged back indoors and opened the refrigerator...

"..."

"⊙▽⊙!" There was not a single bottle of cola in the refrigerator—there was not even a single drink left!

Dazed, Sendou walked over and sat on the sofa, contemplating life!

"My memory can't be wrong, so why are they gone? Who drank them?..." Sendou sank into deep thought!

"Sa!!! Wa!!! Mu!!! Ra!!!" A moment later, an ear-splitting shout echoed through the entire villa!

A lightning-fast figure shot out of the villa and charged toward the field!

"Sa! Wa! Mu! Ra! You bastard, you drank my cola, didn't you!?"

"What are you talking about?" Sawamura asked with a calm yet puzzled expression.

"My cola! The cola!"

"Who drank it?" He kept the exact same tone.

"You did, obviously! Who else could it have been!?" Sendou pointed at Sawamura, looking as agitated as could be! (He was acting! But he genuinely did think Sawamura had drunk it!)

"Um!..." At that moment, an ill-timed voice spoke up. Everyone looked over and saw Fumino standing nearby.

"If you're talking about the cola in the cooler, I drank it!"

Sendou looked at her. "..."

Sawamura looked at her. "..."

"..." Everyone else!

"You! I mean, you!" Sendou shouted, trying to conceal his endless embarrassment!

"But I remember there should have been two bottles left!" Having covered up his embarrassment, Sendou immediately returned to normal.

"I drank two bottles."

"..."

"All right, we're almost out of drinks anyway. We should buy some more, since summer has only just begun! Come on, everyone, we're going to buy drinks. Fumino and I will ride bikes, and you guys will run!"

"Huh?!!!"

"That's it!!!?" Sawamura's distinctive booming voice rang out!

"You were just yelling at me so loudly! This is that thing, that... that... that thing!!!" The last "that thing" was practically shouted.

"That's favoritism, idiot," Wakaba muttered quietly.

"Favoritism? Right!!! Favoritism!!!

"Look, everyone! He yelled at me so!!! loudly just now, then spoke to Furuhashi-san so!!! gently! Right!?" Sawamura said dramatically.

But the others all took a perfectly synchronized step backward at once!

"Huh?" Sawamura watched their movement, those two syllables slipping from his mouth. Then he suddenly began to break out in a cold sweat as a devilish whisper sounded beside his ear.

"Eijun, what did you just say?"

"Whoa!!! Mmph mmph mmph!" The moment he opened his mouth and tried to run, Sendou, who had already closed in, instantly caught him and pinched his mouth shut with two fingers of his right hand.

"Was this mouth talking just now?"

"Sowwy!"

"Oh? I couldn't quite hear what you said."

"Showwy!" As Sendou's fingers tightened, Sawamura's words became more and more unclear.

"Do you know you were wrong?"

"Yesh!" Sawamura desperately wanted to say yes!

"Pwease wet me go!"

Apparently deciding he had taught him enough of a lesson, Sendou released him!

"Ah!!!" Freed at last, Sawamura greedily gulped down air!

"All right, hurry up and run after us! We won't wait for you!" Sendou casually grabbed a bicycle!

"Yeah!!!"

What I said yesterday about being moved to tears by my own writing was fake. How many of you actually believed it????? (Devil.) I really was moved, but not by those great achievements. It was the part about the coach saying he had returned to his starting point and found where he belonged, as well as the part about cherishing youth, friendship, and the experiences shared with his companions. There was a lot of transliteration in this chapter, so I wrote a few hundred extra words. Be grateful that I didn't cut the part where Fumino confessed to drinking the cola, as well as Sawamura courting disaster and getting taught a lesson, and move it to tomorrow's chapter! (Evil grin.) Finally, if you liked this chapter, hand over all your recommendation votes!