Chapter 249: Late-Night Conversation
In recent years, Sendo's parents' company back in Japan had expanded into many industries.
When they heard that their beloved son had made it all the way to the regional finals, and since it was summer, they decided to take a group of their company's actresses who were on vacation and come watch.
If Seidou won, they planned to stay until the tournament ended—and then take everyone on holiday.
For some reason, however, Sendo himself hadn't heard a word about it.
And it wasn't just his parents—many familiar faces would be in the stands tomorrow.
But Sendo, being who he was, didn't particularly care about any of that.
All he could see in his mind was tomorrow's battle against Narumiya Mei.
He had left Miyuki's room early, but found himself unable to sleep no matter how many times he turned over.
"I'm going out for a bit," he said, and left just like that.
"Hey! It's midnight already!" someone called after him.
Though for high school baseball players, that wasn't terribly late, it was still supposed to be bedtime.
Especially for the person Sendo was about to go find.
Before long, he was knocking on Miyuki's door.
And of course, Miyuki himself answered.
"What's up? Weren't you already in bed?" Miyuki asked, puzzled.
The moment the door opened and Sendo saw him, he didn't say a word—he simply reached out, grabbed the sleep mask off Miyuki's head, and yanked it away.
"I can't sleep! I'm borrowing this!"
Miyuki blinked in confusion, listening to the fading footsteps. Any trace of sleepiness vanished.
Still, it didn't bother him much—if there was one thing Miyuki had plenty of, it was sleep masks.
The guy practically had a collection—different styles, patterns, characters—you name it.
He stood there silently for a while, then muttered, "That guy… could he be nervous?
No, that idiot doesn't even know what nervous means.
So he's just too excited to sleep, huh?
Ah, youth…"
He paused, then frowned. "But seriously—he took my Pikachu one…"
"Ah, whatever, I'm sleepy again."
With a sigh, he closed the door and—mysteriously—pulled out another sleep mask to wear.
Of course, Sendo wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep that night.
Coach Kataoka, Rei, and Manager Ota were awake as well.
So were Inashiro's Coach Kunitomo and their manager Hayashida—famous among the girls for always being someone they could talk to about their problems.
And then there was Inashiro's ace, the top left-handed pitcher in Kanto—Narumiya Mei.
Narumiya wasn't worrying about the match or plotting revenge against that annoying first-year.
Instead, his mind kept replaying last year's defeat, pitch after pitch.
.....
Sendo, meanwhile, didn't return to his room right away.
Instead, he wandered alone to the baseball field.
Even in the deep summer night, under the brilliant starlight, the field was bright and calm.
Not fond of carrying things, he wore the stolen sleep mask like a headband—with the yellow Pikachu face perched on his forehead.
The sight was ridiculous.
"What are you doing out there so late?"
The voice came from Coach Kataoka, calling from the dark manager's room beside the field.
Sendo turned toward him.
The room lights were off, but the window was open, and the coach's face was visible in the moonlight.
The moment Kataoka saw him, he nearly burst out laughing.
Normally, Sendo's calm and mature image made everyone—including Kataoka—treat him like an adult or even a peer.
After all, the very reason Seidou had recruited Ochiai early was because both Rei and Kataoka valued Sendo's judgment.
But under the moonlight, his boyish face stood out—
and below his spiky hair were two glowing Pikachu eyes staring back at the coach.
Because of his hairstyle, the sleep mask sat like a cute headband.
Kataoka's hands twitched slightly against the windowsill, but he managed to keep a straight face.
"Oh, I couldn't sleep, so I borrowed this.
I heard moving around a bit before bed helps you fall asleep," Sendo said, pointing to his head when he said "borrowed."
He still hadn't realized the mask he'd taken was a Pikachu one.
He'd simply seen Miyuki open the door wearing something on his head, grabbed it, and walked off.
"Well, since you're not sleepy, come keep me company for a while," the coach said with a small smile.
"Sure thing!" Sendo agreed immediately.
Only Chris and Sendo could speak to Coach Kataoka that casually.
Everyone else treated him with near-reverence—
like that time the third-years accidentally walked into the bathhouse and saw Kataoka and Yuuki soaking together.
Their faces had turned pale, and even the usually Yuuki had gone stiff before sinking under the water.
Sendo, though, could talk to him as easily as an old friend.
...
"Can't sleep because you're too excited?" Kataoka asked. He knew Sendo well enough to rule out fear.
"Yeah. It's the first time I've faced an opponent I feel like I can't beat. I'm too excited to sleep."
"I see. But I don't think the current you will lose to Narumiya. I've seen how much you've improved in the last few games."
"???"
Improvement was something people rarely noticed in themselves—like someone only realizing they've gained weight once their body changes shape, or a pitcher only realizing his fastball now exceeds 150 km/h when he sees it written in a report.
Sendo felt that apart from adjusting his batting approach, he wasn't much different from the summer training camp.
"You're strong, you know. Right now, I believe you can hit Narumiya Mei's pitches."
"Clack."
"Hm?"
The door to the manager's room opened mid-conversation.
"I knew you'd be here! Sendo, you too, huh?"
It was Rei and Manager Ota. Ota had spoken.
"Yeah, I was out for a walk and got called in," Sendo replied.
The two of them finally noticed his ridiculous headband—and struggled to keep straight faces.
"Coach, Sendo—you both should probably rest now," Rei said softly, pressing her lips together to stifle a laugh.
What a terrible line, Sendo thought inwardly.
"For tomorrow's game—what do you think our chances are?" Kataoka suddenly asked.
"If we say fifty-fifty, are we underestimating them?"
He didn't hold back just because Sendo was there.
That alone showed how much trust he had in the boy's maturity.
He'd never talk like that in front of someone like Miyuki—negative words could easily rattle a younger player's confidence.
"No way! Our team will definitely—" Ota began, then glanced at Sendo, concerned about his state of mind.
He was a kind man, after all.
"True," Rei interrupted.
"To be honest, I'd say it's 60-40—in their favor.
I'm looking forward to it, of course, but getting many runs off Narumiya will be tough. The key will be our pitching staff. How much can we keep Inashiro's batting lineup under control?"
Kataoka wasn't the only one who saw Sendo as an equal—Rei did too.
"Not in our favor?" Ota murmured, surprised. It was the first time he'd really thought about that possibility.
"Furuya pitches five innings, Tanba closes—that's the safest plan," Rei continued.
"Of course, I expect we'll need Kawakami or Sawamura to step in at some point."
"Hmm… What do you think, Sendo?" Kataoka asked.
Ota understood Rei's reasoning—it was logical, but not the mindset of a commander.
"Sendo? Saying things like that in front of him is—" Ota began, realizing only then that Sendo was still in the room.
"It's fine, Manager," Sendo said with a calm smile.
"Baseball isn't that simple, Uncle Shades."
"If you don't give up runs, you don't lose. If you don't score, you don't win. Sure, that's true—but that only applies when there's a massive difference in ability.
Baseball isn't like chess. A player's condition, the flow of the game, psychological swings, sudden changes— any of these can decide victory or defeat. If you believe you're at a disadvantage before the game even starts, then you really are at a disadvantage. You can't know the outcome until you play the game!"
"We always have trouble with Inashiro's batting lineup—and Narumiya Mei's pitching too. But what about them? From their point of view, we have four pitchers.
Each of them has weaknesses, sure—but that also means each one will be targeted. Still, the pressure on them is just as heavy. Because we have enough pitchers, they'll have to break through our rotation quickly. Batting is unpredictable—you never know when a lineup might suddenly explode. The same goes for them. In the end, games are won by scoring runs. The key is which side's lineup gets into rhythm faster—that's the real path to victory. So they're just as anxious as we are. A fifty-fifty chance is actually a fair estimate. And don't forget—there's also such a thing as fate and compatibility! Water and fire—they're both terrifying forces. Water can extinguish fire, but fire can also evaporate water. They restrain each other. Just like how a cat can easily defeat a snake—natural enemies. The true decider of victory…"
Sendo clenched his fist and pointed to his chest.
"…is right here!"
With that Pikachu headband on, the sight looked… well, let's just say it didn't quite match the mood.
Still, his words had an earth-shattering effect on the three adults in the room.
It practically overturned their understanding of baseball theory.
"Uncle Shades, ever heard of 'armchair strategy'?" Sendo said.
"Words on paper are cold and unchanging. But the world—reality—is constantly shifting. In China, there's a book called The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It describes all kinds of tactics and examples of warfare—like the analyses you were just talking about. But the line that left the deepest impression on me was this one:
—'All warfare is based on deception.'
In other words, when it comes down to deciding victory, as long as we don't have obvious flaws,
we should attack the opponent in ways they'd never expect. Seen from another angle, it's also about which side can make the right judgment in the shortest possible time, and whose soldiers can execute it most precisely."
Sendo went on and on—even he felt a little dizzy by the end—but what he said was absolutely true.
Baseball and warfare were really alike.
"Leaving luck aside," Coach Kataoka murmured,
"what determines victory is the strength of one's heart… and the decision-making of the commander… huh? And avoiding obvious weaknesses that can be exploited."
What Sendo didn't know was that his casual remarks made Kataoka quietly adjust the entire game plan he'd finalized in his head.
When it came to overall awareness and strategic sense, even if Rei and Kataoka put their heads together, they couldn't match Sendo.
In many ways, he was a natural-born leader.
Rei was looking at Sendo now with an unreadable expression.
Her eyes were full of meanings he couldn't quite grasp—though he did notice she kept glancing at his forehead.
Curious, Sendo turned toward the mirror.
The moment he saw his reflection, he wanted to die.
Completely lifeless eyes.
Why am I even alive…
"From here on, we'll see which side the goddess of victory smiles upon," Kataoka said, emotion rising in his voice.
"Whether it's a lucky win or a hard-fought one—it doesn't matter. I just want to take those kids… to Koshien!"
While Sendo was dying inside of embarrassment, the coach finished revising tomorrow's plan.
If Sendo had been in a clearer state of mind, he probably would've blurted out something like,
"Hey, I'm still here! Don't call them 'those kids'!"
But at the moment, he was too busy trying to figure out how to survive the situation with dignity.
Even with his excellent control over his expressions, no one could tell what he was thinking.
"C-Coach!" Manager Ota said, moved nearly to tears.
"Your feelings will definitely reach them, Coach!
I believe those kids will…" Rei said softly.
"For the sake of tomorrow's quick decision-making, Uncle Shades, you should probably get some sleep," Sendo said calmly—wearing a perfectly straight face, as if he had never noticed the ridiculous Pikachu mask on his forehead.
"You're right," Kataoka replied warmly. "And you too—go take a walk, then rest early."
"No, I'm done walking."
"Hmm? Didn't you say exercise before bed helps you sleep?" the coach asked, puzzled, though there was a small, relaxed smile at his lips.
"I'm already sleepy. Looks like I don't even need this eye mask anymore. I'm heading back to bed!"
"Wait, Sendo—your eye mask…!"
Manager Ota, who had been silently listening until now, suddenly noticed the absurd sight before him—finally realizing just how ridiculous Sendo looked.
"What about it? Forget it! I'm tired—sayonara!"
And with that, Sendo executed a flawless escape—
a divine-level retreat with zero awkwardness.
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