Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 115: Fluctuating Form

The defeated Akagi players returned home in silence, each of them throwing themselves onto their beds, lost in their grief.

Only Sawamura, Wakana, and Sendo seemed to be exceptions.

Even the usually carefree Sawamura found it impossible to cheer up.

It was perhaps the most painful Sunday they'd ever experienced.

...

Evening

"Whoo!" Sendo, drenched in sweat, sat down on the wooden board just outside his window to take a break.

(In Japan, it's common to have a wooden plank just outside a sliding glass door, functioning like a seat.)

Just then, his phone chimed.

"Fumino? Is she stuck on something again? She's been working really hard lately," Sendo muttered as he opened the LINE message.

"Tired yet?" read the short message on his screen.

"Huh?" Sendo stared at it, puzzled, then began typing a reply.

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you practicing your swings right now?"

"..."

"How do you even know that? Did you bribe my grandpa to install cameras in my house?" Sendo replied exaggeratedly, genuinely curious about how she knew.

"Of course not! Who do you think grew up with you? You can't hide anything from me!"

"So, you're just guessing?" Sendo responded immediately.

"No! It's based on my understanding of you!" Fumino insisted.

"Alright then, why do you think that? Did I do something to make you believe it?" Sendo still doubted her intuition.

"Nope, just a hunch! If it's you, I think you'd do that."

"Fine. Just keep it a secret from the others, okay?"

"Why? Everyone's feeling down. Telling them might boost morale."

"No need. They'll bounce back. I believe in them. I'm not aiming to win an official game this fall. Next year, we'll settle the score. Every single point. Double it back if we have to."

"I see. "

"Wait..." Sendo sensed something off. Just as Fumino understood Sendo, Sendo could also read her.

"Um… Well, I may have hinted to Wakana that you might be practicing for a match…"

"...Fine. The cleanup is on you!"

"Got it! "

"By the way, do you have something you need help with?"

"Yep! (A description of two cats rubbing against each other, but it's an emoji!)"

"Let me shower first, then we'll talk."

"Sure! I'll chat with Wakana in the meantime."

"Honestly, you're so different from how you usually are. Where do you even find all these emojis?"

"That's a secret!"

"I can't deal with you." Sendo sighed, feeling like a father dealing with a mischievous daughter.

If Fumino knew what Sendo was thinking, she'd probably blow up.

...

The Next Day

"Morning!"

"Morning!"

"Yo, Sendo! Yesterday's game was a shame, huh?" Sendo had barely stepped into class when a group of classmates surrounded him.

"It's fine," he replied.

"Hey, are you sure? Ohno and the others looked pretty down this morning," one classmate pointed out.

"They'll be fine. They just need some time," Sendo reassured them.

The first day after their loss was a quiet one for the baseball team members.

After school, Sendo simply greeted everyone and let them go straight home.

Only Sawamura stayed outside, running laps alone.

Watching Sawamura running by himself, Sendo smiled faintly and headed home.

...

It didn't take long for the others to follow Sawamura's example.

By the third day, they began joining him for runs.

However, noticing their low spirits, Sendo forbade them from training just yet.

Time flew by, and a week passed quickly.

...

Saturday

Sendo led the team to watch Tokugawa Junior High's quarterfinal match.

The game was fast-paced and completely one-sided, with Tokugawa utterly dominating their opponents.

After their victory the previous week, Tokugawa's morale was clearly sky-high.

"Still feeling down? Look at that. We're actually pretty strong too," Sendo said to the team as the game neared its end.

"But we still lost, and it was so close!" Aoki replied, his voice tinged with pain.

Even a week later, thinking about that game caused Aoki's heart to ache. Everyone had believed they were on the verge of victory, only for a single hit from a weak batter to shatter their dreams.

"Maybe. But playing like we did last week was just luck. There's still a huge gap between us and them. It just so happened that we were all in great form that day. As athletes, it's normal for our performance to fluctuate. We lost because we were the weaker team, plain and simple," Sendo said, gesturing towards the field.

Hearing this, many of his teammates lowered their heads.

"That game was a gamble. Winning would've been hitting the jackpot, and losing didn't cost us much. Baseball games don't start until there are two outs in the final inning. Any advantage means nothing until the game ends."

"We returned to our normal level, and that's why we lost. At that point, we couldn't suppress their batting lineup any longer."

"What we need to pursue is true strength. Not relying on luck or fleeting good form, but the ability to face them head-on with just our normal abilities."

"True strength?"

"Exactly. We're only in our second year. We've got next year. Mark my words: next year, we'll settle this score. Remember that feeling of frustration from last week!"

"Yeah!" Determination returned to their eyes.

"Just wait. Next year, we'll take it all back!!!" Sawamura suddenly shouted loudly.

With Sawamura's booming voice, everyone at the venue heard him.

"You idiot! Shut up! Everyone heard that!"

Sendo, who had previously been calm and composed, now panicked as he tried to cover Sawamura's mouth.

The sheer cringe of Sawamura's over-the-top declaration made Sendo wish he could dig a hole and disappear.

The others, however, found their spirits noticeably lifted.

"Haha! That was loud! Those are the Akagi Junior High kids, right? Looks like they've bounced back."

"Good luck, Akagi! Next year, we'll be rooting for you!"

To Sendo's surprise, no one mocked them. Instead, the crowd recognized them and cheered sincerely.

"Thank you!" Sendo replied mechanically, his mind numb with embarrassment. He desperately wanted to disappear.

Unbeknownst to them, Sawamura's booming voice also reached Tokugawa Junior High's players, who had just secured their victory.

While they didn't say anything, a few second-years clenched their fists silently, as if silently vowing to face Akagi again next year.

Neither the spectators nor Tokugawa's team saw Akagi as overconfident.

After all, the fierce battle from a week ago still felt fresh in everyone's minds.

It was true that Akagi was currently weaker than Tokugawa, whose core players—ace pitchers and power hitters—were second-years.

However, Akagi's rapid growth was undeniable.

Just a year ago, they looked like a team of amateurs who barely understood baseball rules.

This year, they had come so far.

And with their entire roster consisting of second-years, they would return even stronger next year, while other teams would have to rebuild and integrate new players.

While it was just speculation, many believed that Akagi's incredible growth might even tip the scales in their favor next year.

This alone earned Akagi respect from everyone watching.

...

The commotion ended when Sendo dragged Sawamura away, but the most important outcome was the team shaking off their gloom.

Although Sendo expected their slump to last a while, they had time.

Fall tournaments weren't as critical, serving more as testing grounds for lineups and strategies. The real stage would come next summer.

After returning from the field, Sendo announced that training would resume the next day and dismissed everyone. Wakana, however, smiled at Sendo before leaving.

...

The Next Day

As Sendo predicted, the team was far from their best.

There were moments when players hesitated to catch the ball, leading to delayed reactions and reduced defensive range.

Sendo did his best to encourage them, gradually helping them regain their rhythm through training.

The fall tournament games followed a weekly schedule.

Sendo meticulously planned their time, taking the team to watch matches and recording them for review.

Tokugawa advanced effortlessly to claim the championship, which helped soothe Akagi's spirits a bit.

...

At Night

Alone in his yard, Sendo stood in a batter's stance, eyes closed, visualizing Kanda's breaking pitch.

"Whoosh!" The bat sliced through the air as he swung hard.

"Whoosh!" He reset and swung again.

Every night for weeks, after completing his daily training, Sendo practiced his swing. He knew better than to wait for a real game to figure out how to handle breaking balls.

"Not bad! Let's do 20 more!" he muttered.

The sound of his bat cutting through the air echoed in the yard. Sendo swung about 200 times every night, keeping his form sharp and his mental state steady.

Despite his focus, Sendo hadn't told Coach Nakanii that he planned to officially join the team.

If the coach found out, he'd probably make a special trip just to check on him.

"Getting a bit bored. I should find some videos of other breaking pitches," Sendo mused after finishing his practice.

He contacted Coach Nakani, requesting video materials, but framed it as preparation for the team's visualization exercises before summer training.

...

After the summer tournament ended, Sendo arranged practice games with lower-tier teams to help the team regain their form.

However, they avoided matches against teams with strong records to prevent misunderstandings about Akagi "bullying weaker opponents."

This careful approach led to rumors within Nagano's schools that Akagi had been so crushed by their game against Tokugawa that they had become a shadow of their former selves.

While Akagi remained unaware of these whispers, they likely wouldn't have cared even if they knew.

After all, their current slump was real, but temporary.

In their practice games, Akagi performed inconsistently.

They easily defeated lower-tier teams but struggled against slightly stronger ones, often due to errors and hesitations.

Still, there was progress.

Sendo observed that his teammates weren't suffering from serious mental blocks—just stiffness in their movements, likely from overthinking that pivotal match.

After gauging the team's condition, Sendo paused the practice games, focusing on daily drills like defense, bunting, base running, and simulated at-bats.

They also held occasional weekend camping trips to relax and reset their mental states.

These activities yielded positive results.

The nightmares that had plagued some players became less frequent, and the memories of their loss started fueling their motivation instead of dragging them down.

By July, Akagi had fully emerged from their difficult period, just in time for summer training.

...

Summer Training

Once the team's spirits were fully restored, Sendo resumed planning practice matches. This year, they would face Sakura Girl's University.

Coach Mitani, hearing that Sendo had decided to officially join the baseball team, lit up with excitement.

He proposed holding a three-day series at Sakura University's campus in Tokyo, allowing the team to stay there and train before heading back to Nagano.

Hearing that they'd be staying at the same location as the female players, Sendo couldn't help but blush.

And so, the summer quietly crept in.

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