Diamond No Ace: The Strongest Hitter

Chapter 18: This Is What It Means to Be a Genius Everyone Envies

"Frustration... huh? Since I was born, I've never experienced such an emotion."

"Of course, I haven't faced any setbacks in my life. Whether it's academics or sports, I never had to work hard, and I've always had everything. I've forgotten what it feels like to be frustrated."

"I've never thought about how a loser feels, nor have I ever needed to consider what it takes to win."

"It turns out, these past twelve years have been so empty. Everything has come too easily, leaving me with a life that feels unreal."

"Before I knew it, I'm already twelve. But time has passed so fast that I barely noticed."

"This emptiness... it's as if I've experienced nothing during these twelve years."

"Being a genius is a burden, too! When nothing stirs any feeling, no excitement, no challenge—it's all so normal."

"When everything is done without effort, and there are no worthy rivals, you lose interest quickly. Life becomes bland. This is the so-called 'genius' that everyone envies!!!"

"If talent is the most unreasonable thing in the world, then geniuses are the most unreasonable people."

"But under such overwhelming strength, who can even sense the loneliness within? The simpler something is, the less interest it holds."

"Being a coach... huh? Sounds interesting! Let's give it a try!" Sendo muttered to himself, staring at the moon in the sky after everyone had left, lost in thought.

[Message received!]

Sendo's phone lit up with a notification.

He picked it up and glanced at the message.

"Turns out, I really want to study science. I'm definitely going to major in astronomy at university!"

Reading the message, Sendo replied, "Ah, I envy you!"

"╰_╯ Are you mocking me?" came the swift reply, accompanied by an imagined dangerous smile, or so Sendo pictured.

"What do you think?"

"You're not usually this sarcastic. But what's going on? Something feels off. It's like you're in a bad mood."

"You're sharp as always. No wonder they call you... what was it again? Your nickname?"

"Please forget that nickname already!"

"I've already forgotten."

"Who are you trying to fool? So, what's bothering you? You're not the type to struggle with anything, right?"

"Hmm... it's just, life doesn't feel real. You wouldn't understand. Being called a genius is a tough burden to carry."

"But you're different. You love literature, and you're a genius at it! Even if your math skills are terrible, you'll never feel what I'm feeling."

"⊙_⊙!"

"Anyway, enough about that. What's up with you today?"

"Hey, hey, help me! I'm dying"

...

For five consecutive days, Sendo spent his time poring over his old notes, watching recordings of previous Koshien tournaments, as well as MLB highlight reels and little league baseball games that Coach Nakani had provided, along with his audio commentary.

On Saturday night, the sixth day at 10 p.m., Sendo picked up another game disc, saving it to his computer as he watched.

Initially, nothing stood out to him, but then a series of stolen base plays by one team suddenly caught his eye.

"I found it! Haha!" Sendo let out a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.

Over the past week, he'd been sifting through Nakani's notes, hoping to spark some inspiration.

He knew Akagi Junior High had two more years, and with that time, they needed to find a fast-track method for improvement.

"Alright..." Sendo muttered to himself as he began searching through the saved recordings on his computer.

"Where is it? Ah, there it is!" he exclaimed as he pulled up footage of the Wildcats' recent games.

After watching for two hours, he finally came to a decision.

"This is it—the future of Akagi Junior High's baseball team," Sendo thought to himself.

"Man, I'm so tired. Time to sleep."

He grabbed his phone and sent a group message: "Meet at my house tomorrow at 1 p.m." Then he went to bed, clearly planning to sleep in.

Every day after school at 3 p.m., Sendo had been watching recordings and getting bombarded with math questions from a certain someone.

It was a heavy workload, but this was the Japanese way of education—students were expected to think about what they wanted to do, figure out how to achieve it, and lean on the support of those around them. The entire process was student-led.

Sendo's self-reliance stemmed from his previous life, where he had always lived in a way where he made all the decisions himself.

Sendo was a naturally lazy person, and as this life turned out to be so easy for him, his interest in various activities started to decline, further fueling his lazy habits.

However, the coaching job had reignited his passion.

The deeper he delved into it, the more fascinating it became, keeping him fully engaged.

By the time Sendo woke up, it was already noon. His grandparents were nowhere to be found—perhaps they had gone to tend to the fields. Sendo wasn't quite sure.

He quickly washed up, then opened the fridge to grab some ingredients and started cooking.

As a complete food lover, he spared no effort when it came to making food. In fact, cooking was the one thing that consistently held his interest.

Thanks to the recipes and secret techniques his father had collected from other countries and sent to him, Sendo had always been striving to improve his culinary skills.

Today, he just made something simple: some fried potato chips and a few small snacks. Well, in Sendo's eyes, "simple" meant four large dishes and a basket full of chips...

Afterward, he returned to his room. While watching a baseball game on the large screen mounted on his wall, he snacked on the food and sipped drinks.

"Excuse us!"

At that moment, Sawamura and Wakana arrived at Sendo's house. Following proper manners, they greeted from the entryway, although there was no way Sendo would hear them. Without hesitation, they headed upstairs.

Sawamura, ever the impulsive one, barged into Sendo's room, catching him mid-bite with a chip in his mouth and a drink in hand, his eyes glued to the screen.

"You jerk! You just tell us to come over in the afternoon, and here you are, all comfy and enjoying your food. So jealous!" Sawamura said, kneeling in front of the table in two swift steps and grabbing some snacks, immediately devouring them.

"Hey! Don't eat so fast, you idiot! Did you even wash your hands? I'll kill you!" Sendo, clearly startled by Sawamura's sudden move, shouted protectively over his food.

"I'd rather die than stop eating!"

"Idiot, go wash your hands!"

"No need, I washed them before coming!"

Sendo didn't respond but joined Sawamura in the food battle. He was completely thrown off by Sawamura's behavior, losing his usual composure.

They both forgot that they couldn't possibly finish all that food, and that it was meant to last Sendo for several days.

Meanwhile, Wakana stood there, speechless, watching the scene unfold. She couldn't believe it. The usually mature, composed, intelligent Sendo, who always seemed to have everything under control and was indifferent to most things, was now acting like this.

Sawamura often ate Sendo's food, but this was the first time he showed such intensity, triggering Sendo's protective instinct over his food and making him so flustered that he lost his usual composure.

Sendou had been a bit tired lately, and his judgment seemed to have slipped.

The commotion ended quickly, as eating this way only made them eat less than usual.

"Hahaha!" Sendo leaned back on the sofa, chuckling softly.

"What are you laughing about?" Sawamura asked, his tone now noticeably calmer.

"Hahaha! Nothing really, it's just that this situation is oddly funny. It made me happy for some reason, and I just felt like laughing."

"I don't get you, but I do feel a lot better now," Sawamura admitted.

"Wakana, you should eat some too. Even if you put all these guys together, there's still plenty left. I can't believe I was actually intimidated by this guy's presence just now."

"Yeah, Wakana, Sendo's cooking is really good!" Sawamura chimed in.

"Alright, but I'll go wash my hands first. Where's the bathroom?" Wakana asked.

"It's downstairs, easy to find!" Sawamura replied.

"Hey!" Sendo protested, as if criticizing his casual response.

"Oh, and Wakana, if you see anyone else coming in, make sure they wash their hands before coming up," Sendo added.

"Got it!" Wakana nodded and headed downstairs.

Just as Wakana reached the bottom, she happened to see a few others arriving at the entrance. Following Sendo's instructions, she had them wash their hands as well.

Before long, everyone had arrived, but with all the food in front of them, they naturally ate first before getting to business.

By around 1:30 p.m., everyone had pretty much satisfied their hunger.

Sendo then pulled up the game he had watched the previous night, ready to show it to everyone.

"We'll watch this game first, and then we'll talk about the rest. This match represents the future direction I see for Akagi Junior High's baseball team. Make sure to watch carefully, and afterward, I'll explain our training plan and what comes next!"

With that, he started the DVD and began the playback.

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