Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 162: The Daily Teasing of Sawamura

"If you want to face Kawakami-kun, that's fine too!" Rei Takashima suggested, not realizing that her earlier judgment and assumptions about Sendo were slightly off.

She mistakenly thought that Sendo disliked pitching machines and preferred facing real opponents.

This misunderstanding wasn't uncommon, as most people barely knew anything about Sendo.

Rei herself had only met him the day before and couldn't possibly understand his full personality.

And Sendo's personality? It was elusive and complex, to say the least.

Sendo didn't immediately respond to Rei's suggestion.

Instead, he turned his head toward the bullpen where Kawakami was practicing.

Except for the moments when Azuma and Sawamura faced off, Kawakami had been diligently training whenever he could, even while Sawamura was warming up and changing clothes.

As Sendo looked at Kawakami, he couldn't help but recall the earlier scene when Azuma had hit the ball out of the park.

Kawakami's near-breakdown expression and exhaustion flashed through his mind.

"No. He'll lose his confidence. Is it okay to crush him like that?" Sendo finally said.

He tilted his head slightly and glanced at Rei, his gaze carrying a sharpness that reminded one of a hawk looking down from above.

"If I'm not mistaken, that senior is an important pitcher for your team, isn't he? That's why that big senior earlier pushed him so hard," Sendo added, his tone cutting straight to the point.

While some might interpret his words as arrogant, Sendo didn't care how others perceived him.

It wasn't that he didn't know how to be tactful; he just didn't feel the need to be.

Whether he joined Seidou or not, time would prove everything.

As long as he kept playing baseball and nothing unexpected happened, his brilliance would shine through, requiring no extra words from him.

In the future, those present today might look back on this moment and feel nothing but relief that they met him.

…

Some Seidou players, however, had already labeled Sendo as an arrogant brat in their minds.

Rei, on the other hand, was momentarily stunned.

As a mature and level-headed adult, she wasn't one to jump to conclusions about people.

After talking with Sendo the previous night, she had found that while his words could be sharp, he didn't seem like an arrogant person.

However, her habitual thinking led her to remain skeptical of Sendo's claims.

She resolved to learn more about him if both Sendo and Sawamura decided to join Seidou.

Not because she was intrigued by him, of course!

She also made a mental note to consult Coach Nakani for more details about Sendo.

Sendo, meanwhile, casually replied, "I've already told you, I'm not that interested in baseball. I just don't like it all that much."

Though his reply seemed slow in her mind, it came in less than a second after Rei's question.

"Hey, Eijun! Let's go! The two of us!" Sendo suddenly called out, walking away without giving the Seidou players a chance to stop him.

"Huh? Oh!" Sawamura, still processing, quickly followed.

Unlike in his previous life, Sawamura now realized, thanks to Sendo's words, that the chubby senior (Azuma) wasn't the person he thought he was.

But the realization left him feeling incredibly awkward—like barging into a situation, yelling at someone, only to find out later he was completely mistaken.

By the time he figured it out, he was already walking out with Sendo, too late to go back and apologize.

…

"Hey, Sendo! You knew all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me? That was so embarrassing!" Sawamura began to complain as soon as they left the field.

"No, I was busy with something else," Sendo replied without hesitation, his expression unchanging as he spouted a completely fabricated excuse.

"What could be so important? I made a fool of myself!"

"Hmm…" Sendo paused, brainstorming how to deflect. He couldn't very well admit he'd been busy filming Sawamura's blackmail material.

"Should I tell him I was counting ants on the ground? No, he'd flip out. Should I say I was teasing Rei-chan? … Nope, that won't work either. Alright, let's go with this!"

"I was asking a senior about their training methods. It might help us with our team's future training," Sendo lied smoothly, coming up with the excuse in less than a second. It was even a reasonable one Sawamura couldn't argue against!

"Oh, I see. Well, whatever," Sawamura believed him without question.

If it had been someone like Miyuki, who was harder to fool, he might have said, "I'm curious about that pause—what were you really thinking?"

But this was Sawamura.

There was no need to think up a follow-up lie.

In any case, Sendo had no intention of revealing the truth unless he decided not to release Sawamura's blackmail material.

But how likely was that? This footage was a treasure Sendo planned to use for a lifetime of teasing.

Just as their conversation ended, Rei caught up with them. She was wearing heels, after all.

She escorted them to Tokyo Station and then returned to the school—a one-on-two special service, no less.

Truly VIP treatment.

"Tokyo is a highly competitive battleground filled with strong teams. No matter how hard you work, there's no guarantee of success. Even so, if you want to challenge yourself and join our high school, contact me. The decision is yours," Rei said as they parted, intentionally directing her words at both of them.

Rei still held a slight grudge over Sendo's earlier attitude. If he claimed to be "just tagging along," she'd treat him like a bonus item.

Sendo, noticing Rei's thoughts, maintained an indifferent expression while internally smirking at himself.

Watching the emotionally drained Sawamura, Sendo knew things were already set in motion.

There was no need to intervene further. Everything was unfolding just as it should.

...

By the time Sendo and Sawamura returned to Nagano, it was already evening.

Considering Sawamura's enrollment process in the original story, it's likely they left in the morning and didn't reach the dorm until nighttime.

Even accounting for several hours of procedures, it's still unusually late.

The Shinkansen from Nagano to Tokyo takes only 1.5 to 2 hours, so let's not calculate too precisely, alright?

Sendo, as always, went about his business without a care.

Meanwhile, Sawamura, as in the original story, had fallen head over heels for Miyuki, that infuriating guy.

It couldn't be helped—Miyuki's line about pitching being a collaborative art between pitcher and catcher was just too compelling, especially for someone unaware of Miyuki's flawed personality.

It was incredibly enticing.

Everything about Sawamura, except his pitch speed, was the same as it had been the year before, so events unfolded almost identically to the original.

From the first time his pitch was hit far, to his first realization that the ball created by a pitcher and catcher was a "work of art," nothing had changed.

Sendo, however, wasn't really in a position to comment.

If it had been him instead of Sawamura, Miyuki's baiting with familiar pitch types and dramatic turnarounds would have revealed Miyuki's true personality.

But still, the one involved was Sawamura!

That idiot, when faced with someone like Miyuki or Sendo, was destined to be bullied.

The only difference was that Miyuki would never use brute force on Sawamura, while Sendo's approach combined Miyuki's cunning with the physical dominance of a big brother like Kuramochi—intellectual and physical oppression in one package.

...

The next day, Monday, Sawamura arrived at school to find himself surrounded by classmates congratulating him.

As expected, when Sendo and Sawamura went to Tokyo, Sawamura grandpa had already bragged to every household in the neighborhood about his opportunity.

What they didn't know was that Sendo had also been invited, nor did they understand why Sendo hadn't mentioned it.

Everyone deliberately avoided asking Sendo about it, leaving the topic untouched.

Sendo, true to his personality, didn't offer any explanations, and Sawamura, in his cluelessness, assumed Sendo had stayed behind to lead their team together.

Thus, no one brought up the fact that Sendo had also visited Seidou.

Sawamura remained oblivious to Sendo's activities the previous day; otherwise, the mental image alone would've been too much to handle.

That evening, around 10 PM, Sendo's front door was knocked on.

Having forgotten about the events of the day, Sendo was surprised to see a sweaty and disheveled Sawamura standing at his door.

"I'm really sorry! I've decided to go to Seidou… so please slap me!" Sawamura bowed deeply and mechanically uttered this strange line.

Sendo's face twisted into a wicked smile.

Apologizing to others was one thing, but apologizing to him?

Sawamura knew very well that Sendo's stance was to follow him and support him as a batter.

Yet, the idiot had clearly forgotten this in the moment.

Without hesitation—

"Smack!" Sendo delivered a hard slap to Sawamura's face.

"Is that enough?" Sendo asked with a straight face after landing the hit.

"Ah! I feel much better now! That's it—I'm heading home!" Sawamura replied earnestly.

"Oh?" Sendo, realizing Sawamura had visited everyone else that night, suddenly recalled something important about this evening's events.

Mimicking Miyuki's actions from the day before, he draped an arm around Sawamura's shoulder and whispered, "Did you visit everyone's house?"

"What's it to you? Yeah, I did!" Sawamura replied, slightly annoyed.

"So, what was everyone up to when you visited?" Sendo continued, subtly leading the conversation.

"There's no need to tell you about the others! But I'm curious—what do girls usually do at this hour? For example, wouldn't Fumino be reading a book right now?" Sendo asked, pretending to gossip.

Let's be honest—he's naturally nosy.

"Wakana? Um…" Sawamura thought hard before suddenly remembering something, his face turning red as his movements became frantic.

When Sawamura had gone to Wakana's house, he hadn't thought much of it at the time.

But Sendo's probing reminded him—he had accidentally barged into the bathroom while Wakana was taking a bath, seeing her completely naked.

In his panic, all Sawamura could think about was apologizing and asking Wakana to slap him, completely ignoring everything else.

In the original timeline, Sawamura might have remained oblivious to this event.

But this time, he had the misfortune of running into the ever-scheming Sendo, who had intentionally guided him into this realization.

"Now it all makes sense," Sendo thought to himself, pleased as he observed Sawamura's increasingly flustered expression.

"Hey, why's your face so red? Did you… do something to Wakana?" Sendo teased, slowly closing the trap.

"Wha—?! What nonsense are you spouting? I-I didn't do anything to her!" Sawamura stammered, but his tone and expression betrayed him completely.

"Let me guess… Wakana was taking a bath when you got there, wasn't she?" Sendo dragged out his words, watching Sawamura's reaction carefully.

"Uh…" Sawamura's face grew even redder, his panic reaching new heights.

"And you, being the idiot you are, were so focused on apologizing that you barged into the bathroom, didn't you?" Sendo continued, his grin widening as Sawamura's breathing quickened and he looked like a deer in headlights.

Sendo had cornered Sawamura perfectly, leaving him with no escape.

"Hey, was Wakana's figure good? Is she… well-endowed?" Sendo pressed on, feigning curiosity while secretly delighting in Sawamura's adorably flustered reactions.

"I-I wasn't paying attention! I just wanted to apologize!" Sawamura, his mind completely blank, blurted out the truth without thinking.

"Ah, what a shame! Wakana has such a great figure!" Sendo said dramatically, barely suppressing his laughter.

Even Wakana herself would've known Sendo was teasing Sawamura on purpose.

In his normal state, Sawamura might've caught on to Sendo's exaggerated tone, but in his current state, he could only lie down and accept the teasing.

"Wait, Sendo! Do you… like Wakana? I'm sorry!" Sawamura suddenly exclaimed, misunderstanding the situation entirely.

Little did he know, he was Sendo's target all along.

"No, I'm just a normal teenage boy with a natural interest in girls. Isn't that what every boy our age thinks about?" Sendo replied, throwing out another provocation to see how much more entertaining Sawamura could get.

"Normal?! There's nothing normal about that! Sendo, I can't believe you're that kind of guy! I thought you liked Wakana, so I apologized! You're a scumbag! Trash!" Sawamura finally snapped, struggling furiously as if to teach Sendo a lesson.

"Pfft! Hahaha! My stomach hurts!" Sendo finally let go, doubling over with laughter.

Sawamura's reaction had exceeded Sendo's expectations—he was completely, utterly satisfied.

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