Inhuman Talent

"Play!"

"Please take care of us!" The two teams began training on time the next day.

Sendou made his classic sideways eye-roll, put on the protective gear, and walked over to the head umpire's position. There was no reason not to make use of free labor. Coach Nakanishi would not stand on ceremony; he needed to coach pitching and catching practice today, so he had dragged Sendou in.

"Smack!"

"Ball!"

"Correct!"

"Strike!"

"Yikes, that was a ball!"

"Ball! But it felt like that pitch could have gone either way. This is the kind of pitch Coach Nakanishi meant by watching the umpire's strike zone, right?"

"More or less. But umpires can also be affected by the actual situation and change their standards, so don't trust your own judgment too easily. Be cautious!"

"Yeah, I got it!"

"This is so boring. When is that old man coming back?"

"Haha, Sen-chan, it's only just started!"

"Shut up! I know!"

Sendou complained all the while as he sent one batter after another away.

After who knew how long, Coach Nakanishi finally returned. Just as Sendou was about to switch with him, he was told it was break time.

"Yo, still mad?" While everyone was eating the lunches they had brought, Coach Nakanishi came over to chat with Sendou again.

"I'm not mad!"

"All right, I couldn't tell anyway! You really don't show much emotional change, kid."

"What do you want?"

"The ace on your team can really run! That's good. At his age, fundamentals are very important. But I'm curious—which one is your number two pitcher?"

"Number Two?"

"Didn't you know? Below high school level, there are generally consecutive-pitching restrictions. Either innings limits or pitch-count limits every day, to prevent overwork injuries."

"But what does that have to do with a number two pitcher? Wait... are you saying middle school tournaments might have consecutive pitching like Koshien?"

"And you call yourself a coach? You don't even know the tournament format?"

Sendou genuinely had not known that. Most of what he knew came from anime in his previous life, but those usually covered Regional Tournaments and rarely mentioned consecutive pitching.

"Looks like you really didn't know. Once you win a few rounds in middle school tournaments, you might have two games in one day! If you advance in the morning, you play the next round in the afternoon. Then the consecutive-pitching restrictions take effect. Without a number two pitcher...!"

"You lose by default!..." Sendou was somewhat speechless. It was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

"Well, don't worry. These guys will probably suffer a First Battle Defeat anyway! It's fine." Sendou immediately came up with a random excuse, looking as though he wanted to change the subject.

"All right! I heard the pitcher from your team used to just play around by himself? I've got a good way to strengthen his balance!"

"What way?"

"Find a One Foot Wide Wooden Board, have him stand on it on one foot, then raise and lower the other leg to train his balance!"

"I~ see~!" Sendou drawled.

I feel like I've heard of or seen that method somewhere before, he thought.

By the time they finished talking, they had also finished eating. Since the others were still resting, Coach Nakanishi continued chatting with Sendou.

"Akila, do you know your current Physical Examination results?"

"No. I've never taken one!"

"Then..."

"I refuse! It's too troublesome!"

"..."

"Then there's a simple one. Stand up first!"

"Why?"

"Don't ask, just stand up first!"

Sendou stood up as instructed.

"Put just the tips of both feet on the ground!"

...Sendou did as he said.

Then Coach Nakanishi somehow produced a ruler from nowhere, rolled up Sendou's pant leg, and began measuring.

"What exactly are you doing? What does measuring that have to do with a Physical Examination?"

"Just as I thought! I always thought your explosiveness was astonishing when you were little. No wonder!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your Achilles tendon! Achilles tendon! You really are a genuine ba ke mo no—a monster. Even someone as experienced as me has to wonder whether you're actually human."

"I'm unquestionably human! But I don't really understand what you mean!"

**"Akila, do you know?

The longest Achilles Tendons in ordinary people are around fifteen centimeters, and plenty are ten centimeters. But many people can reach twenty centimeters.

Yours is already over thirty centimeters. Some of that might be because your past stretching exercises lengthened it slightly, but this is something that changes very little after birth. And you still have more than three months before you turn thirteen, which means you haven't even finished growing.

Before your body has even finished growing, your Achilles tendon is already more than twice as long as an ordinary person's."**

"Huh? No way? Is that okay? I don't feel uncomfortable or anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Isn't disproportionate body structure usually an illness? And couldn't it leave aftereffects?" Sendou knew nothing about this. He had only heard a few rumors from who knew where.

"No, your tone doesn't make it sound like a bad thing!" Sendou realized.

"Of course not. I'm talking about your talent, your talent!"

"Oh, you scared me! So what's this thing good for?"

"..." Coach Nakanishi was rendered speechless by the rapid shift.

"All right. Achilles tendons affect athletic ability, explosiveness, and jumping ability. The longer your Achilles tendon, the more your jumping power and explosiveness will surpass people with the same build." Coach Nakanishi reorganized his words.

"Oh! I~ see~! And then?"

**"Needless to say, your jumping ability has a ceiling far beyond ordinary people's. As for explosiveness, it means both your instantaneous bursts and sustained explosive power will be incredible. That's why your hundred-meter speed and acceleration were so absurd a few years ago. I suspected back then that your Achilles Tendons must be very long, but I never expected them to be this exaggerated. Accurately measuring Achilles Tendons requires medical equipment, but with you, I only wanted an approximate number.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your sprinting speed now! You're definitely an inhuman being beyond anything I could imagine, so..."**

"Don't even think about it!" Sendou mercilessly cut Coach Nakanishi off.

(According to the timeline, Sendou was in his first year of middle school in 2004. The basis is that when the little angel became ace during the Summer Preliminaries of his second year of high school, it was the 90th tournament, while the 100th was in 2018. So in 2004, Bolt had just become a national sprinter and was beginning to stand out among youth athletes in the 200 meters! No one had yet discovered his forty-two-centimeter Achilles tendon.)

Having had his thoughts seen through, Coach Nakanishi could only retreat once more. This was a long-term battle. Whether it was the number two pitcher or all kinds of information, it was all probing and hinting—a reminder slipped in while Sendou was unaware. He had not expected much effect, but he had to try.

I need to stay away from that old man! He's always trying to make me do those boring tests! Sendou thought.

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