This Was Fine

"No way!!!"

"Is that for real?"

"It actually went in!?"

"Yeah! Unbelievable!"

"Amazing! Amazing, Sen-chan! You hit that incredible Fastball!"

"Ah, ah, ah...! Is this really Sendou, the guy who does nothing but laze around and sleep all day? That Sendou?" Sawamura stood there dumbfounded, stumbling over his words.

While everyone else cheered and made a fuss, Coach Nakanishi shook off his stunned expression and smiled, shaking his head. "Seriously? That kid hit a 150-kilometer pitch!"

As for swinging early, even the best high school hitters had to start their swings a little early against a pitch like that. Otherwise, why would a 150-kilometer Fastball be so difficult to hit?

Then he looked at Sendou and found him with his chin slightly raised, giving him the same mocking look. He knew it was only Sendou's way of looking down on him for messing around earlier, not genuine mockery or delight, but it still made him shake his head with a laugh. Then he shrugged at Sendou, showing his helplessness.

"Then I'm going to the bathroom." Sendou tossed down his bat as he spoke.

As for his earlier thought of hitting a few more balls, he had already gotten such a perfect result. He would have to be crazy to keep asking. What if he hit a bunch of Ground Balls, Infield Hits, Long Hits, or even swung and missed afterward?!

"Did you see that, Fumino? That was amazing! He hit such a fast pitch, and it was even a Home Run! But he didn't look happy at all. He was way too calm about it!" Wakaba said excitedly to Furuhashi Fumino.

"It's better not to say it." Seeing everyone as happy as if they themselves had hit a Home Run, Fumino decided to keep what she had seen earlier to herself.

"Coach, how fast was that pitch?" one of the Wildcats players finally asked.

"150 kilometers! I didn't expect it to really get hit!" Coach Nakanishi said with a smile.

"1... 150 kilometers? Amazing!" The little kids looked toward the restroom with even brighter stars in their eyes.

"Did you hear that? 150 kilometers! That's insane. We can barely hit 120-kilometer pitches. The gap is huge. No wonder Sen-chan became this team's cleanup hitter after only a month!" After hearing Coach Nakanishi, Ono shared his shock with his friends.

"Yeah! That startled me!"

"I was shocked too!"

"That scared me. I didn't expect to actually hit it, and it was right in the sweet spot too. My hands hurt so much, but lucky!" While everyone discussed it excitedly, someone hiding in the restroom said the same thing.

The discussion quickly ended, and everyone began batting seriously, but...

"Huff! Huff! Ah, huff! So this is 150 kilometers? It really is hard. That Sendou guy is pretty good if he can hit it!"

"No, that was a 100-kilometer pitch, senpai..." Tanaka Ryouta, who was only watching from the side, retorted.

"Don't mind him! He's always like this! He just refuses to admit defeat, and his brain is a little slow too!" Someone said, placing a hand on Tanaka's shoulder.

"Sendou-san!" Tanaka turned around, saw the cheerful first-year Sendou, and said excitedly.

Sendou said nothing. He gave him a gentle smile, then walked over and sat among his teammates to watch.

"Sendou-san really is so kind," a player beside him remarked.

"Yeah."

"Enough already!" After putting up with Sawamura's antics for a while, Sendou grabbed him with one hand and hauled him back.

"Are you trying to tell us baseball kept you from becoming a comedian? Idiot!"

"Huh?" Sawamura looked at Sendou blankly, not quite understanding what he meant.

"Hahaha!"

"Huh?" Even as nearly everyone burst into laughter, Sawamura still did not quite understand.

A few minutes later, nearly all the teammates had finished batting, so they prepared to go out and help train the Wildcats players.

"Wait a second, Sendou! Who are you calling an idiot?"

"What kind of divine delayed reaction is that?" Sendou muttered to himself.

"But that kid is cute!" Fumino chimed in.

"You heard that? Fine, you're right."

"Listen up. Everyone from Akagi will stand in the Batter's Box and be on base to put pressure on you! They're beginners, so imagine they're formidable opponents while you train. Got it?"

"Yes!!!"

"Everyone from Akagi, don't be nervous either. You can swing or even bunt. Just treat it like a real game!"

"Thanks for your guidance!" Everyone from Akagi returned the bow awkwardly.

"Then let's begin!"

"Runners on first, no outs!"

Smack!

"Ball!" Ono in the Batter's Box saw that pitch clearly.

"Oomura, don't just stand there. Put some pressure on them while you're on base. Think for yourself about when to start running!" Sendou shouted at Oomura on the base.

"Got it!"

Second pitch.

Smack!

"Strike!" He watched that one go by.

"Oomura, if you think it's a strike, you can swing or bunt! Otherwise, how am I supposed to know whether you judged it correctly?"

"Got it!"

"Don't worry. Every time you swing, after making the normal call, I'll tell you whether your judgment was correct," the coach acting as umpire told Ono.

"Thank you!"

Naturally, practice did not consist of only this one group. The relief pitchers were throwing warm-up pitches in the Bullpen.

There were also teammates standing in the Batter's Box, though they could not swing. After every pitch, they would tell the catcher whether it was a strike or a ball, and the catcher would tell them whether their judgment was correct.

This kind of group training made the most efficient use of everyone. Only one person kept miserably running laps. In Sendou's words, he only needed to build up his lower body and improve his stability.

After watching for a while, Sendou felt the training was on track, so he began teaching Fumino.

"Akila!"

"Hm? What is it?"

"How did it feel, getting that result after getting serious?"

"You saw it? I thought I kept it pretty well hidden.

I was a little happy, I guess.

After all, I celebrated without even realizing it!" Sendou knew what Fumino meant, so he admitted it openly.

"Isn't this pretty good too? Do you want to play baseball with them?"

"No!" Sendou refused firmly.

"I see. Well, this is fine too! Let's just leave it like this!"

"That sounds a little like a tongue twister."

"..."

"Pfft!" The two looked at each other for a while, then laughed at the same time.

Yeah. This was fine. Sendou looked up at the sky and thought.

Lastly, the usual request for votes and bookmarks! No idea what was up today, but I got sleepy at eight!