Chapter 306: Admissions Office
"Yuuki! Go call those two over here," Coach Kataoka said after everyone had gotten off the bus.
"Wait for me, damn it! You've completely ruined my lifelong reputation! I'm definitely going to kill you!"
Isashiki was still chasing Sendo like a madman, bat in hand.
"Only an idiot would wait! I'd die!"
Sendo ran like the wind. And with Isashiki carrying a bat, there was no way he could catch up anyway.
Tetsu glanced at the two running around the field, then jogged over.
"They're still running?" Miyuki commented.
Before long, both of them were brought back. Under the coach's watchful eye, Jun finally gave up.
There was absolutely no way he'd admit it was because Sendo was just too fast.
Sendo had clearly slowed down on purpose and even had time to turn around and talk to him—yet Jun still couldn't catch him.
Once over a hundred players, five managers, plus Ohta and Rei had all gathered, Coach Kataoka began to speak—at least, that's what everyone thought.
"Today's… today's… result doesn't belong only to the players who took the field…"
"..."
By his second sentence, Coach Kataoka finally couldn't hold it back anymore.
He broke down in tears right in front of everyone.
"The other players… and the managers' behind-the-scenes support—assisting with practice, filming… video analysis, organizing data… cheering…
Your support was all crucial…This victory… was won by everyone here… together...Thank you."
When the iron man Coach Kataoka cried like this in front of everyone, there wasn't a single person who wasn't moved.
In this timeline, defeating Inashiro so painfully had caused his emotions to explode half a year earlier than before.
Even Sendo—who had enjoyed the entire game—felt something well up in his eyes.
He immediately closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and took a deep breath.
"Seriously… don't say such sentimental things, Sunglasses Uncle," Sendo complained silently in his head.
After calming himself, he lowered his head again.
The others weren't so composed. Even Tetsu's eyes were moist.
Only Chris-senpai wore a gentle smile.
After all, not being an active player gave him a bit more emotional leeway.
And like Sendo, Chris was especially sensitive to people's emotions—and more resistant to being overwhelmed by them.
"Alright then—let's do it! Lift the coach up!"
Jun wiped his tears and raised his voice, shifting from gentle to loud.
At a moment like this, scolding Sendo or worrying about dignity didn't matter anymore.
They had won!
They had returned to this field with joy—no, with tears of happiness and excitement.
They hadn't quite managed to "come back smiling," but the result was the same.
Jun charged forward first.
This time, unlike before—when only the regulars and third-years were involved—Coach Kataoka was facing over a hundred members of the baseball club.
Except for Miyuki, Sendo, Chris, Sawamura, Furuya, and a few others who didn't join in, everyone rushed in.
"Ohhh!!!"
The roar of over a hundred voices shook the air.
Coach Kataoka stared at the crowd surrounding him, completely stunned.
"H-Hey—wait—"
No one knew whether he was afraid of heights or just panicking, but he was clearly flustered.
"At least prepare yourself mentally ten times over, Coach!"
Jun said, pressing both hands against Kataoka and
pushing him down—several people behind him caught him immediately.
"Hey, isn't ten times too few?" Onii-san remarked.
"I'll say 'ready' and we start, okay? Ready!"
Tanba-senpai was fired up as always, timing be damned.
"What's the Guinness record for this?"
Everyone knew who said that without needing to guess—Tetsu, aura fully unleashed.
"Hahaha! How many times are you planning to lift him, Tetsu?"
"Ugga!"
"Yahaha! I'm joining too!"
Seeing the third-years jump in, Kuramochi squeezed in at the edge, looking for a spot.
"Let's give it everything!"
"That's right! We've got numbers—we can lift him tons of times!"
"Move the coach to the center!"
"Haha! Coach, don't resist! Resistance is futile!"
"Ready? Everyone together—everyone!"
"Ugga!"
"Hmph!" Miyauchi-senpai snorted again.
"Let's go!"
Sawamura, never one to shy away from chaos, couldn't get in, so he raised his hands outside and shouted instead.
A professional cheerleader.
Sendo had anticipated all of this. During the lineup earlier, he'd quietly pulled out his aibi (iPad).
To keep it steady, he squatted in the second row, poking it out between the senpai.
How could he not record such a heartwarming (legendary) scene?
And it was also priceless blackmail material—Coach's panicked expressions.
As everyone surged forward, Rei immediately noticed Sendo secretly filming.
She could only shake her head, already planning to ask him for a copy later.
Everyone else completely ignored Sendo as well.
His willfulness wasn't new.
Even the coach had long since accepted his antics.
They were used to it.
Besides… they wanted to see it too.
"Ready!"
"Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi!"
It was joyful for the players—but not so comfortable for Coach Kataoka.
No one knew how long they tossed him around before finally setting him down.
Dizzy, Coach Kataoka announced dismissal: one day of rest, then recovery training would begin.
After a four-hour game, the main players needed rest.
Koshien was still a week away, and there were hospital visits to schedule for Onii-san and Tetsu, plus Rei needed to arrange hotels and other logistics.
After six years, Seidou was back at Koshien. The school certainly wouldn't be stingy with funding.
Before leaving, Rei reminded Sendo to rest properly. His stamina was the weakest, and he'd been maintaining his performance purely on willpower in the later innings.
Honestly, if he were a pitcher, he'd have been completely drained by now.
Most importantly—she wanted him to send her the video.
After all, it was an incredibly warm moment: the hard-nosed coach crying, the players lifting him in joy.
Whether for memories or recruitment publicity, it was invaluable.
Even Sendo's interview had already been turned into a brand-new piece of recruitment propaganda—ahem, recruitment material—by Seidou's admissions director, Mine Fujiro.
Of course, the players wouldn't see it until the next day.
When Sendo finally read it, he was utterly stunned.
Last year's article had already "lured in" two pitchers—no, three, counting himself.
For a moment, Sendo seriously thought that article was balance-breaking.
In the end, he realized it would've been even more lethal in autumn.
As a result, Seidou's recruitment pamphlet the following year included that article again—
And when Sendo and the others became third-years, it produced unprecedented results.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Seidou's future glory owed a medal of honor to Mine Fujiro.
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