Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 156: A Misunderstanding of Misfortunes

Sendo quickly realized that Fumino's reaction was far bigger than his own—almost as if she was the one who had been exposed.

This became evident when, as Sendo hurriedly covered himself with the towel, Fumino's face turned beet red at a visible speed.

"Ah!!! I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!" she shouted suddenly, flailing her arms wildly in an almost delayed response.

Although it felt long, from the moment Sendo opened the door to Fumino's outburst, only about five seconds had passed.

However, nobody was keeping track of time at this moment.

Sendo, still holding the towel with one hand, lunged forward and clamped his other hand over Fumino's mouth.

In doing so, he instinctively used one arm to pull her into a hug.

Since Fumino had been sitting on the bed waiting for him, they both fell onto it as a result, with Sendo losing his grip on both the towel and her mouth.

The towel was flung aside during the fall, leaving Sendo completely exposed once again.

Fumino ended up lying on top of Sendo, who was now entirely naked.

Their position on the bed was… difficult to describe.

If not for Fumino being fully clothed, the scene could easily have been mistaken as the aftermath of something far more inappropriate.

"Ouch!" Sendo groaned, clutching his head as he adjusted his position.

He quickly noticed the compromising situation they were in and, before Fumino could react further, placed his hand over her mouth again.

"Shh! Don't make a sound! If anyone sees us like this, we're doomed!" Sendo whispered urgently.

Fumino, startled by his quick reaction and decisive tone, snapped out of her panic slightly.

Otherwise, she likely would have started flailing her arms and shouting all over again.

But as the situation sank in, she couldn't help but notice their position.

"I'm lying in the arms of a naked man… lying in the arms of a naked man!"

Fumino's face turned so red that she felt faint.

Seeing that Fumino had calmed down, Sendo let out a long sigh of relief.

"Although this misunderstanding is pretty serious and will be a headache to deal with later, at least it didn't escalate. If someone had seen—"

Before he could finish his thought, the sound of a door opening cut him off.

"Click."

"I thought I heard something… and Fumino shouting. What happened in here?" Sendo's grandmother asked as she opened the door.

Sendo had instinctively shut the door earlier, but it hadn't been locked.

...

"I want to die. There's no way out of this now," Sendo thought in despair.

Fumino, panicked again, started flailing her arms wildly.

Sendo, however, held her tightly with one arm, keeping his hand over her mouth to prevent her from speaking.

He couldn't risk letting her say anything in her current state of mind—who knew what kind of nonsense she might blurt out?

Meanwhile, Sendo's brain was working overtime, desperately trying to come up with an explanation.

"You're still middle schoolers! We all support you two being together, but isn't this a little too soon? You need to wait a few years! And Sendo, you better not be forcing Fumino into anything!" his grandmother said, her words striking like thunder.

"Wait—" Sendo tried to interject, but she cut him off again.

"Look how much she's struggling! You're way too impatient, stripping down like this. You're not kids taking a bath together anymore!"

Sendo's grandmother continued, leaving him with no room to explain.

Fumino's face turned even redder, and to make matters worse, she started to wonder if Sendo really had some inappropriate intentions.

Although she didn't have the courage to fight back, the thought alone left her dazed.

If Sendo knew what she was thinking, he'd probably throttle her

"Wait a second, Grandma! This is all a misunderstanding!" Sendo finally shouted.

"What kind of misunderstanding involves you coming out of the bath, dropping your towel, and pinning Fumino to the bed?"

"Uh…" Sendo was at a loss for words.

His grandmother shook her head. "I've been young and in love, so you don't need to be shy. But it's too early for this. Wait a few more years. Getting married right after high school wouldn't be so bad. You've finally figured out your feelings, and Fumino has liked you since you were kids. But you've always been so dense…"

With that, she shook her head again, closed the door, and left, leaving Sendo completely stunned.

He was so shocked that he didn't even register the part about getting married after high school.

...

Sendo finally let go of Fumino, stood up, and used his arm to lift her off the bed effortlessly.

He then quickly jumped off the bed, grabbed the towel, and wrapped it around himself as he ran out of the room to chase after his grandmother.

Unlike the previous incident with Ozawa, this time there was a witness—and a very vocal one at that.

As Sendo rushed out, hastily wrapping the towel around himself, Fumino accidentally caught a glimpse of his pale backside.

But she was too overwhelmed by his grandmother's comments about marriage to dwell on it.

Strangely, seeing Sendo naked wasn't as terrifying as she had imagined it would be.

...

Thanks to Sendo's efforts, the disastrous misunderstanding was finally cleared up.

While his grandmother didn't fully believe his explanation, she at least agreed to keep it a secret and not tell anyone.

This gave Sendo a small sense of relief.

He hadn't even considered that his grandmother would never gossip about such things to begin with.

But by making her promise, he ensured there wouldn't be any casual remarks to her friends about her grandson being overly eager in middle school.

...

"Bang!"

Back in his room, Sendo closed the door and collapsed onto the floor, utterly drained.

He had used every ounce of energy to clear up the misunderstanding.

While today's events felt almost like a done deal, the sheer exhaustion left him with no strength to dwell on it.

"That… that…" Fumino suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?" Sendo replied weakly, too tired to care. Despite just taking a bath, he felt like he needed another one.

"Um… you weren't really planning to…"

"Of course not!!!" Sendo interrupted, his voice rising in exasperation before she could finish her sentence.

He had reached his limit for the day.

Today had been far more chaotic than any middle schooler should ever have to endure.

After shouting, Sendo leaned back against the door, letting his head fall with a dull thud. "I'm so done," he thought, closing his eyes.

...

Neither Sendo nor Fumino said a word for a while. Fumino didn't know what to say, and Sendo was too exhausted to speak.

After a few minutes, Sendo finally regained his composure. He stood up and, under Fumino's nervous gaze, walked closer to her.

Fumino, lost in her wild thoughts, assumed Sendo had finally reached his limit and began debating whether or not she should resist.

"Fumino! Why are you even here? Don't you have school today? What's going on?" Sendo said, grabbing Fumino's cheeks with both hands and squishing her adorable face as he spoke.

"I came to cheer you on! Tomorrow is the semifinals, and the day after is the final, right?"

"Why didn't you call me ahead of time?" Sendo asked, not letting go of her face.

"Sorry!"

"What am I supposed to do now?!" Sendo sighed, his grip on her cheeks tightening slightly.

"Then… why don't we just start dating for real?" Fumino suggested, her voice muffled by Sendo's hands.

"I refuse! This isn't the time for jokes!" Sendo immediately shot down her "joke" without even pausing to consider it.

"Well, then you decide what we should do! I'll do whatever you say," Fumino replied, not bothering to correct Sendo's dense misunderstanding.

"If I knew what to do, I wouldn't be here lecturing you!" Sendo retorted, giving her cheeks another firm squeeze before finally letting go and sitting down beside her.

"Why does stuff like this keep happening to me?!" Sendo lamented.

"Stuff like this? Twice?" Fumino's ears perked up at the mention of a second incident.

But Sendo had no intention of elaborating.

"Explain! What do you mean by 'twice'?" Fumino demanded, suddenly finding the energy to push Sendo onto the bed.

"???" Sendo stared at her in confusion.

"I'm complaining about my bad luck—why are you reacting so strongly?" he asked, his expression full of bewilderment.

"You… idiot!" Fumino huffed and stormed out of the room.

"I'm going to take a bath!" she shouted, leaving Sendo to process what just happened.

"Seriously?" Sendo muttered to himself, watching her retreating figure.

...

Unfortunately, Fumino's unannounced arrival caused another issue: Sendo's grandmother, unaware of her visit, had washed all the bedding.

When they heard the news that evening, both Sendo and Fumino were stunned.

"How are we supposed to sleep tonight?!"

Though it was summer, the nights were still a bit chilly.

Sendo initially offered to let Fumino use the only blanket, but after he sneezed once, Fumino refused.

"You two can just sleep together! You're already acting like lovebirds anyway. But don't do anything inappropriate!" Sendo's grandmother teased with a mischievous grin.

"Grandma!!!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just joking. But seriously, there's no need to argue about it," she said before leaving the room.

...

Sendo and Fumino exchanged awkward glances, the tension in the air growing thicker.

"This is so awkward… What should I say?" Sendo thought, struggling to break the silence.

"Achoo!" He sneezed again, breaking his train of thought.

"Well, we should just go to bed," Fumino suggested, trying to sound casual.

"Uh…" Sendo's expression became even more complicated.

"Look, you have an important match tomorrow. If you get sick, what will happen to the team?" Fumino explained hurriedly, clearly flustered.

"...Fine," Sendo relented, though his face betrayed his unease.

They settled into the bed, lying back to back under the blanket.

"This feels so weird," Sendo thought, trying to calm his racing heart.

Fumino's natural fragrance, sweet and intoxicating, filled the air.

Despite using the same soap and shampoo, her scent was uniquely hers, driving Sendo to the brink of insanity.

For the first time, Sendo began to see Fumino not as a sister or a child but as a teenage girl.

On the other side, Fumino wasn't faring much better.

"Sharing a blanket with a boy?! Even though we're not touching, I can feel his warmth. He's so warm! Aw!"

Both were too overwhelmed to move. When their backs accidentally touched, they jolted as if struck by lightning, freezing in place and unable to figure out what to do.

...

Sendo tried to steady his breathing, taking deep breaths to calm down. His eyes drifted toward the window, where the stars sparkled brightly in the night sky.

"Fumino," he called softly.

"Y-yes?" she replied, her voice trembling.

"Look at the stars outside. Aren't they beautiful?"

Grateful for the distraction, Fumino sat up slowly and gazed out the window. Her flushed cheeks reflected her awe at the stunning view.

The awkward tension between them eased as Fumino began explaining the constellations.

"That's Alpha Centauri, and over there is the Big Dipper…"

Sendo, always quick to learn, followed her explanations, storing the information in his mind to keep the conversation going.

Fumino's passion for stars was evident as she shared not only their names but also fascinating stories about them.

Sendo, while not as obsessed with stargazing, had always supported her dreams, helping her with math and science instead of steering her toward the humanities, where he excelled.

"Fumino, never give up on your dreams. You're amazing just the way you are, and I'll always support you," Sendo said earnestly.

"Mm!" Fumino replied with a bright, happy smile.

The two continued chatting about stars and dreams until they eventually drifted off to sleep, side by side under the same blanket.

--------------

If you want to read 20 chapters advanced.

Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Shu_21