Diamond No Ace: Echoes Of The Ace

Chapter 16: The Senior's Idea

With Sawamura's mother's special rice seasonings as a bond, Eijun's relationship with his seniors improved significantly.

Sometimes, Masuko even joined Haruichi and Eijun for training.

Having two different batters to face during practice greatly boosted Eijun's progress.

His control improved noticeably, and even his pitch power seemed to increase as he worked harder to suppress Masuko.

However, the downside of this training method gradually became apparent.

Eijun's pitches were being hit more frequently, and he couldn't find a way to suppress both batters effectively.

Although he didn't show it, internally, he was growing increasingly frustrated.

Meanwhile, Miyuki, who had always kept a close eye on the pitchers, became more intrigued by Eijun, who was steadily following his own pace.

One day, during a meal, Miyuki deliberately sat beside Eijun, smiling mischievously as he commented,

"Every time I see you eat so much, I'm amazed. But you don't grow taller, nor do you gain weight. Where does all that food go?"

Eijun glanced at the grinning Miyuki and subtly shifted his tray away.

Though he wasn't sure why, he had a bad feeling about Miyuki's intentions.

"Of course, it's all burned off in training! I train a lot, and I'm still growing. I'll get taller, you know!"

"Ah, I see~~. Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask: that time you said you'd only throw straight fastballs, why did you end up throwing a breaking ball instead?"

This question had puzzled Miyuki for a long time.

Although Eijun had nodded at his signal, he didn't follow through.

If Azuma hadn't hit that pitch, Miyuki might have missed it—it had such an unpredictable trajectory.

"Huh? What are you talking about? I've always relied on straight fastballs to decide the outcome!" Eijun's face was suddenly covered in sweat, his eyes narrowing defensively like a cat's.

'No way I'm telling him that I couldn't even throw a straight fastball back then!'

Miyuki could instantly tell Eijun was lying—it was way too obvious.

But Eijun's flustered reaction was so amusing that Miyuki couldn't resist teasing him further.

"Really? But you clearly didn't follow my call. Don't tell me you chickened out because you were afraid of Azuma-senpai!"

"I did not!" Eijun jumped up as if his fur had been ruffled, bristling at the accusation.

"Are you sure? That pitch trajectory screamed avoidance." Seeing Eijun's reaction play out exactly as he predicted, Miyuki couldn't help but laugh.

But Eijun, still fuming, caught him smirking.

Glaring at the mischievous glasses-wearing catcher in front of him, Eijun gritted his teeth.

"Just you wait! One day, I'll beat you and prove I wasn't avoiding anything!"

After throwing out that defiant declaration, Eijun stormed off with his tray.

"Hey, wait a sec!" Miyuki called after him, feeling a bit regretful.

He hadn't gotten an answer to his question and had clearly annoyed Eijun. 'Great, now I've upset him. That's not good.'

In the following days, Miyuki tried to talk to Eijun, but Eijun avoided him entirely.

Watching Miyuki fail repeatedly to engage with Eijun gave his first-team teammates an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

"Serves you right for being so annoying," they thought.

Meanwhile, Eijun, who was also avoiding Miyuki, found himself stuck in a mental rut.

Already anxious about his performance, Miyuki's teasing had only made things worse.

He even skipped his evening batting practice, something entirely out of character.

When Masuko returned to the dorm after practice, he found Eijun staring blankly at his video game console.

It was rare to see Eijun back early, and Masuko grew concerned. 'Could it be that the stress of being a new player has finally caught up to Sawamura?'

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Masuko placed a note he had written earlier in front of Eijun.

Startled by the sudden appearance of the paper, Eijun flinched and realized Masuko had already returned.

Seeing Eijun's gloomy expression, Masuko gritted his teeth and reluctantly pulled out a hidden pudding to offer him.

Eijun opened it, took a bite, and sighed.

Watching Eijun frown while eating pudding—a gesture Masuko thought was disrespectful to the dessert—only deepened his concern.

Unwilling to admit he was stuck, Eijun hesitated before cautiously asking,

"Masuko-senpai, if you were up against an opponent you just couldn't beat, no matter what, what would you do?"

Not understanding Eijun's cryptic question at all, Masuko-senpai crumpled the paper in his hand. "What's Sawamura worried about? Did he meet someone? But he hasn't even been to a game yet, so it's unlikely he's encountered an opponent."

As he pondered, his eyes fell on a video game disc near Eijun's feet.

Like a lightbulb going off, he realized, "Oh, he's stuck in a game! Thank goodness it's not training fatigue."

"If you can't do it alone, just add another person," Masuko said, sitting down next to Eijun.

With one hand holding a controller and the other patting the seat beside him, he silently offered his help.

Looking at the note Masuko had written, Eijun thought, "One person, two people… That's it! A pitcher and catcher are a team. If I can't handle it alone, I should get help from a catcher!"

Feeling as if a weight had been lifted, Eijun was suddenly overcome with fatigue.

"Thank you, Masuko-senpai. I understand now. I'll go to bed first. Goodnight." Without waiting for a response, he darted up to his bunk, leaving Masuko utterly confused.

When Kuramochi returned to the dorm after visiting someone, he saw Masuko sitting by the game console and teased him.

"Yahaha, senpai, you're taking a break from training to game? Haven't seen you play much recently. Let's have a match!"

And so, Masuko, who had initially just wanted to help his junior, was inexplicably roped into gaming with Kuramochi until midnight.

Having resolved a major issue, Eijun finally got a good night's sleep and headed to training the next day full of energy.

During the warm-up run, he deliberately positioned himself at the back of the group with a purpose in mind.

However, to his surprise, while the number of first-years wasn't as overwhelming as the cafeteria crowd, there were still over twenty of them.

Since he hadn't paid much attention during the introductions due to a mishap, it was hard to pinpoint the person he was looking for among so many.

Staring intently at the first-years ahead, Eijun hoped to spot something.

But his behavior made the others increasingly uneasy, as if they were being pricked by needles.

"Why's that guy staring over here? Is he glaring at us?"

"Isn't he usually at the front of the group?"

"Did he catch us slacking? Is he monitoring us for running too slowly?"

"Did the seniors ask him to keep an eye on us during training?"

"Is he the seniors' watchdog or something?"

"Don't say that—it's terrifying! I don't want to be a sheep!"

"Run faster! He's looking again!"

Oblivious to how strange he appeared, Eijun focused entirely on finding the catcher.

His sharp gaze unnerved everyone.

Yet even after three laps of intense observation, he found nothing and, in frustration, suddenly sprinted past the group.

"Argh, so annoying!"

The bewildered first-years watched him go.

"Is he disappointed in us? Thinks we're too slow?"

Meanwhile, Haruichi, Kanemaru, Tojou, and Takatsu didn't overthink the situation—they simply picked up their pace.

None of them wanted to lag behind without doing anything about it.

The chaotic training ended with the first-years noticeably improving their speed due to Eijun's unintended motivation.

During lunch, several of them clutched their stomachs, feeling they might throw up at any moment.

Meanwhile, Eijun, preoccupied with his thoughts, sat down at a random table and began eating, oblivious to the strange looks he was receiving.

Miyuki didn't expect that the person who had been avoiding him so much would walk straight into his grasp.

"Oh, Sawamura, no appetite today? Have high school training sessions defeated you?"

Hearing Miyuki's voice, Eijun finally realized he had sat beside him.

Glancing at the packed seats around them, he saw no chance to leave.

Ignoring Miyuki would be rude, so he begrudgingly replied,

"Oh, it's Miyuki-senpai." His flat tone made it clear he didn't want to engage.

"Hey, I'm your senpai, you know."

"Huh? I'm addressing you properly as senpai."

"There's absolutely no respect in your tone," Miyuki thought to himself.

Still, he didn't dwell on it. Hierarchical relationships weren't something he cared much about, and he even found Eijun's attitude refreshing.

If Eijun had been overly obedient, Miyuki might've felt bad about teasing him.

Instead, he repeated his earlier question.

"No, I just have a problem to solve." Thinking of his unresolved issue, Eijun sighed again.

Since Miyuki was technically his senior, he decided to ask for advice, albeit reluctantly.

"Hey, Miyuki-senpai, how can I find a catcher among the first-years?"

Miyuki, surprised that Eijun was actually talking to him, instinctively replied,

"Check with Rei-chan. She has all the first-years' files."

Then he paused, realizing what he'd just been asked.

"Wait, why are you looking for a catcher?"

"There's something I need to work on," Eijun replied earnestly and resumed eating.

"Huh? Something to work on?" Miyuki's interest piqued as he recalled the pitch Eijun had thrown during his tour of Seidou. With a sly smile, he said,

"Why look for someone else when you could ask me? I could—"

"I'm full. Thanks for the meal. Goodbye, Miyuki-senpai."

Miyuki's outstretched hand, poised to pat Eijun on the shoulder, froze awkwardly in mid-air.

Watching Eijun walk away with his tray, Miyuki's face was a picture of dejection.

Kuramochi, who had been observing the scene, burst out laughing so loudly that even Eijun, already out the door, could hear it.

Masuko, meanwhile, clenched his fist in solidarity, giving Miyuki a look that said, "I get you."

Hit with a double whammy, Miyuki was left thoroughly confused.

"What on earth are you trying to say, Masuko-senpai?"

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