<122> The Events Before the Practice Match

Chapter 122: The Events Before the Practice Match

"..."

Outside the door, Sendo was deeply conflicted.

He had just made someone cry and then saw something he absolutely shouldn't have.

This was definitely a disaster waiting to happen!

"Running is out of the question! So, I guess I'll just have to wait it out!" He finally resolved to stay put and wait for Ozawa to come out.

Unbeknownst to Sendo, inside the locker room, Ozawa was battling her own inner turmoil.

It was about ten minutes later when she finally opened the door and stepped out.

When Sendo saw Ozawa's serious expression, he didn't know what to say, but he had no choice but to muster up his courage and speak.

"Um…"

"Let's pretend nothing happened today!" Ozawa cut him off before he could finish.

"Huh?" Sendo froze, not quite registering her words.

"Forget everything that happened today. Forget it all, understand? Or else, I'll kill you!"

"Y-Yes! Got it!" Seeing Ozawa's murderous glare, Sendo gave up resisting and obediently raised his right hand like a scolded schoolboy.

"Aren't you supposed to change? Go!" she ordered, leaving no room for argument.

"Oh!" Sendo replied robotically, turning toward the locker room like a machine following a command.

But as he reached for the door handle, he suddenly stopped and turned around.

"If I told you my mind went blank earlier and I didn't see anything, would you believe me?" he asked, lowering his voice in a mix of apology and desperation.

Ozawa, who had been watching his every move, stared him down with an icy glare.

"Shut up! Get in!"

"Okay!" Sendo gave up and went inside, closing the door behind him.

Even he didn't know how he managed to say something so unbelievable.

Once inside, he sighed, realizing there was nothing more he could do.

If she wasn't going to pursue the matter, there was no way he could apologize properly.

With no other options, he began changing.

When he finished and came back out, he found Ozawa waiting for him, clearly still wanting to talk.

Sure enough, the moment she saw him, she spoke up.

"Don't think about compensating me for what happened. It was just an accident. Also, no slacking off during practice," she said firmly, concluding the matter with an air of finality.

Sendo had no choice but to comply.

"Okay, so as long as I don't hold back, right?" he asked, immediately focusing on her last point.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, normal competition is already easy for me, so…" Sendo paused, sneaking a glance at Ozawa, whose eyes were already showing signs of anger.

"Don't get me wrong! I mean, I want to try something new. That's giving it my all too, right?" he quickly explained.

"What new things?"

"Like practicing directional hitting, for example!" Sendo hastily made up an excuse.

It was technically a way of holding back, but it sounded legitimate.

"Hmm."

"By the way, where are you heading now, Ozawa-san?" Sendo asked, relieved.

"Back to the dorm. Do you need something?"

"Nope!" Sendo shook his head immediately.

Without another word, Ozawa left.

Sendo watched her retreating figure and sighed again.

This was something he'd have to take one step at a time.

Deciding to clear his head, he headed to the tennis courts to let off some steam.

Later, he briefly explained things to his teammates but skipped the fielding practice afterward.

No one objected except Sawamura, but even he didn't push too hard.

Wakana noticed something unusual in Sendo's behavior, but when she tried to check on him, she found he had already gone back to his room.

Left with no choice, she gave up, trusting that Sendo would recover soon enough.

After this incident, Sendo stayed true to his word.

He began focusing on directional hitting rather than simply aiming for high and far home runs.

While Ozawa still struggled during their matchups, she no longer felt the despair of being hit with continuous home runs.

She noticed that Sendo had softened, but she couldn't do much about it and could only demand that he not hold back.

What she didn't know was that Sendo never again skipped practice or arrived late after their training sessions.

Around Ozawa, he also became more well-behaved, something the other players found odd.

Meanwhile, Coach Sakaki, the head coach of Hosei University, continued to watch Sendo's practices daily, occasionally chatting with him.

However, he refrained from interfering with Coach Nakani's training methods for Sendo, recognizing the coach's expertise in blending Japanese and American baseball techniques.

Sakaki didn't want to inadvertently disrupt the careful development plan.

As time passed, Sendo gradually entered game mode, achieving the desired adjustments.

Simultaneously, the Wildcats youth team completed its reorganization.

Under Wakana's guidance, they engaged in a week-long joint training with the Sakura Girls.

Freed from pitching during batting practice, Sendo finally got some rest.

After years of a leisurely lifestyle, he wasn't quite used to such a hectic schedule.

During morning matchups, Coach Mitani stepped back from catching, letting the team's primary catcher take over.

This allowed Mitani to evaluate the catcher's progress and make necessary corrections.

Sendo, on the other hand, began making up for his previous strikeouts.

His overall batting average climbed to an impressive .720, partly because he had faced Ozawa's pitches so many times that he'd grown accustomed to them.

Ozawa herself showed remarkable improvement during this time, increasing her pitch speed by 5 km/h.

By now, half of the summer vacation had passed. Coach Mitani decided to pause the training sessions.

Sakura's team was preparing for a series of away games, followed by multiple practice matches against Akagi over three days.

The Wildcats, having finished reorganizing, also began scheduling away matches.

Coach Nakani, however, hadn't forgotten his star pupil.

He arranged for Akagi to play against five schools, including their old rival Seiwa Middle School, all of which were still in training over the summer.

This series of matches, spaced three days apart, aimed to help Akagi's players fine-tune their teamwork after summer training.

According to Coach Nakani, Akagi had made significant progress in both offense and defense.

Even without Sendo, the team was now capable of holding its own against Seiwa, which had risen into the ranks of Tokyo's top teams this year.

Though Akagi's overall strength was slightly weaker, the gap wasn't insurmountable.

Sendo had no real concept of how strong Seiwa had become, given their rapid improvement since last year. Ultimately, everything would be decided on the field.

It could be said that Akagi's summer training camp had achieved its goals, leaving only minor areas for improvement.

One notable detail was that Sawamura spent the entire summer running laps—and surprisingly, without a single complaint.

With practice matches on the horizon, Sendo used the first game as an opportunity to evaluate the team's overall capabilities.

For two days straight, he fully participated in training, silencing even Sawamura's usual grumbles.

The simplest way to gauge a team's ability? Simulated games, of course.

Sendo's approach involved testing the offense by pitching himself and facing the batting lineup.

For defense, he ran full-field drills, gradually increasing the difficulty.

This way, everyone's abilities naturally became clear.

...

The past two days have been brutal.

"Takada, faster! Use your body to block the ball properly!"

"Shin, don't focus on perfect direct throws. Accuracy and low trajectory are key. Lofting the ball wastes too much time—even if it bounces once, it's still faster than a high arc!"

"Yes, that's the way!"

Sendo constantly found balls that were just barely within reach for his teammates, pushing them to expand their defensive range while also assessing their skills.

After a short break, they moved on to batting practice. Sendo didn't reveal the pitch types during these matchups, making them fiercely competitive.

Thanks to these intense evaluations, Sendo quickly reacquainted himself with everyone's current abilities.

While their top lineup lacked the explosive power of Tokugawa's team from last year, their overall cohesion and ability to string plays together weren't far behind.

Their small-ball strategies, especially base-running tactics, were nearing completion, looking like a polished product.

During this time, Sendo and Ozawa, despite their earlier awkward encounter, started chatting more frequently on LINE.

Ozawa initiated casual conversations, though her baseball-centric world meant their chats were mostly about the sport.

She shared results from their practice matches and asked how their training was going.

Sendo learned that the Sakura girls' team had been winning their practice matches decisively.

When Ozawa pitched, she often achieved shutouts, including a perfect game with no hits or runners allowed—a masterpiece of a performance.

After enduring Sendo's grueling training, Ozawa had few equals in her collegiate league.

Coach Sakaki often sought out Sendo for heart-to-heart talks, though he was beginning to accept the reality that Sendo wouldn't join his team.

Sendo had even considered recommending Sawamura to Sakaki, but he dismissed the idea.

In Sendo's opinion, Sawamura's rapid growth was due to Seidou providing him with abundant playing opportunities.

Performing well at a prestigious school also increased Sawamura's chances in future pro drafts.

Unless some butterfly effect caused Takashima Rei to miss Sawamura's games and prevent him from joining Seidou, Sendo resolved not to interfere.

He decided to adapt to the situation as it unfolded.

...

"I'm so exhausted! Finally, it's over!" Sendo groaned as he stretched after two days of grueling training, preparing for a bath before bed.

"You haven't been catching my pitches lately!" Sawamura suddenly appeared behind him, complaining in a pitiful tone.

"Don't worry, I won't miss your throws! Just give it your all!"

"Don't you want to catch my newly evolved pitches?" Sawamura persisted.

"I'm going to bathe and sleep! We have a match tomorrow, so save your strength for that. Otherwise, you'll tire yourself out!"

"Tire myself out? What does that even mean?"

Sendo ignored him entirely.

"What kind of team are we facing tomorrow?" Ohno quickly changed the topic, seeing Sawamura being brushed off.

"Nice save, Ohno! That's exactly what you should do!" Sendo joked internally.

"Relax. Tokyo is a competitive region, but we won't encounter any freakishly strong players here. This area is more like a regional youth league stronghold. The real elites are off playing youth baseball leagues!

Just play your game, and that'll be enough!"

"Got it! We'll give it our all!"

"Then hurry up, take a bath, and get some sleep!"

...

However...

"I can't sleep! Let's do something!" Sawamura suggested.

"There's nothing to do!" Aoki replied.

"How about a pillow fight?" Akio proposed.

"I'm not interested," Kondou declined.

"So, what should we do?" Ohno asked.

The boys were clearly not in the mood for sleep.

Sendo watched silently as they brainstormed, then quietly slipped out of the circle, picking up a pillow.

"How about a card game? Poker…"

Thwack!

Just as Ohno made his suggestion, a pillow hit him square in the face, startling everyone and scattering the group.

"Sen-chan! You jerk!" Ohno shouted, hurling the pillow back, only for it to hit Kondou instead.

Kondou, who had just said he didn't want to join a pillow fight, immediately grabbed two pillows and jumped into the fray.

Ohno, being a nimble shortstop, dodged skillfully, causing the pillows to hit Aoki's glasses and Omura.

Chaos erupted.

Sendo, the instigator, gracefully retreated to the hallway and sat there, observing the madness unfold.

Inside, the boys hurled pillows back and forth. A bewildered Sawamura suddenly found himself hit in the face.

"You idiots! Regret provoking me, your ace pitcher!" Sawamura declared dramatically, grabbing a pillow. However, his poor positioning left him defenseless, and he was pummeled repeatedly.

"You morons!"

In frustration, Sawamura lifted a blanket to shield himself, but the group immediately focused their attacks on him, bringing him down.

"This is exactly like last year! And who was it that said they didn't want to play?" Sendo thought, glancing at Kondou, who was now enthusiastically in the thick of the fight.

"Classic," Sendo chuckled inwardly, giving Kondou a mental thumbs-up.

Hearing the commotion, two girls from the next room came over and joined Sendo in watching the spectacle. All they needed now were snacks and drinks to complete the scene.

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