Chapter 23: You Can’t Play Baseball with a Self-Spanking Butt-Bat Machine

"Damn… such a stoic masochist…"

"A self-inflicted butt-bat genius…?!"

...I see. So she’s joining the family too. Well, given how extreme she is, it makes sense. Actually, looking back, why did I ever think she wouldn’t join? She’s so over-the-top it’s baffling…

"The baseball team’s Iku is a stoic hard worker… She finds joy in tough, painful things."

"So she is a masochist…!"

"No… but wanting a butt-bat also comes from insecurity… When I saw Eiai-senpai in the hallway, it hit me again… Everyone here is so pretty or cute. I keep wondering if someone like me even deserves to be included… I mean… I’m not very… girly…"

"Pretty…!"

"Cute…!"

"KYUN…!!"

"What are you saying, Iku?! You’re cool, boyish, and totally charming!"

"Hey, I used to be a guy too… Just being a full-fledged girl already gives you an advantage!"

Boyish? Pfft, I used to be a full-on boy. No way she out-boys me. Not that we’re competing or anything. But now that I think about it… she does seem more guy-like. Maybe even more than back when I was a guy. Ugh, kinda feels like I lost…

"Iku-sama, the pleasure is ours."

"[Do you have a favorite book?]"

"What kind of food do you like…?"

But yeah, with so many new faces, today’s gonna be an Iku interrogation…

"What color are your panties?"

Hold up, Hahari-san, that’s way too far…!! You can’t just ask that, first meeting or not!

"Hahari-san, stay, STAY—"

"Mother…!!"

"Eek-bleh-bleh…!"

Seriously, Hahari’s always been unhinged, but this is too much. If someone important saw this—wait, no, she’s the most important person at this school. But still, if this keeps up… Iku might end up a victim. …Alright.

"Hahari-san, Hahari-san, c’mere a sec."

"What is it? Unless you’re telling me Kawaru-chan’s panty col—"

"…Black. T-There. I told you… so… p-please stop the rampage, okay?"

"…………Lovely color, Kawaru-chan."

"Hahari-sama… YOUR NOSE…!!"

Hahari’s gushing a fountain of blood from her nose while giving a thumbs-up. She looks so… serene. I figured out how to stop her, but damn… this is mortifying…!!

"By the way, what was that self-spanking butt-bat thing…?"

"I admit, I’m… very curious about that."

"Well, uh… the first time I swung a metal bat… y’know how it is… I ended up smacking my own butt and faceplanting."

"Are you stupid?"

"Anatomically, hitting your own back is impossible…"

"The bat slipped, spun around, and WHAM—right on my ass…"

Yeah. Total idiot move. Nowadays I can swing properly, but back then? Thought I was gonna die. Used up all my strength lifting the bat, it slipped mid-swing, spun like a propeller, and crushed my butt from above. Pathetic.

"Pulling off a self-inflicted butt-bat is amazing…!!"

"The fact that this is genuine praise hurts…"

"You are biologically unsuited for sports…"

"Why even swing it in the first place…?!"

"I wanted to train…!"

"Anyway… I actually wanted to ask… Would you all like to play baseball with me?"

"Understood."

"It’s not an order, okay?"

"Baseball…?"

"Here’s the thing…"

Ah, I get it. The baseball club’s about to be disbanded… To save it, they have to win the upcoming practice match.

Hahari could probably pull strings, but she refuses. Apparently, other clubs have been disbanded before, and she won’t play favorites—not after seeing how heartbroken those students were.

"There isn’t one student here who deserves to have their feelings trampled on…!"

"Hahari-san…!!"

"[A true educator’s ideal…!!]"

"As expected of Hahari-sama…!!"

Tears welled up. Hahari-san…!! You really are incredible, even as an educator…

"Besides… if my reckless behavior tarnishes the school’s reputation, it’ll hurt all of your futures…"

"…Hahari-san?"

Wait, hold on. What did she just say? Reckless behavior? If word got out about half the stuff she’s done, "tarnished reputation" would be the least of her worries. I mean… asking a near-stranger about their panties isn’t just "reckless," it’s—?!

"It’s okay…! I wasn’t going to ask anything unreasonable of Hahari-san—"

"Hahari… think about Kusuri and the others…!"

…Ah. Right. What Hahari wants to protect is our futures… Ugh…

"Hahari-san, I’m sorry I doubted you… I had no idea you were thinking that far ahead…!!"

"It’s alright, Kawaru-chan… Everyone makes mistakes…"

"Kawaru-senpai’s getting smoothly manipulated…!"

"No, she’s not being smooth at all?! Kawaru’s just too easy!!"

"Isn’t the one making mistakes you, Mother?"

.

.

.

"So… will you all play baseball with me? No pressure, of course… and I’ll support you every step of the way!"

Hm? Everyone’s expressions shifted at once—except me and Iku. What’s this? Are they worried about the running? Baseball is intense exercise, and they’d get to spend time with Rentarou… Oh. That’s it.

"We’ll do it…!!"

"Let’s go!!"

"[Count me in.]"

"More people means higher efficiency."

"We’re in!"

Since the goal is to bring everyone closer to Iku, it’s not a bad plan… Got it. But baseball? Baseball?! This is gonna be rough… My stamina’s not up for this…!!

"W-We might not play in the actual match, but we’ll practice…!"

"I shall stand with Hahari-sama…"

"I’m in too… post-workout meals taste amazing…"

"Of course!"

One by one, they’re all fired up. But baseball… There’s no way I can handle a sport that demanding for so long…! But I want to… I want to help Iku…!!

"I want to… but can my stamina even keep up…?"

"None of us are in sports clubs, you know…? Can we really win like this?"

"Don’t worry…! The heart of sports is teamwork… bonds… in other words, LOVE!! And in that department, we’re unstoppable…!!"

"KYUN…!!"

"THE AIJOU FAMILY’S GONNA WIN—!!"

""""""""""HELL YEAH!!""""""""""

And so practice began. Since Rentarou couldn't participate directly in the game, he became the coach. The uniform suited him, and his keen observational skills would prove useful. Impressive thinking, Iku. Having the universally loved Rentarou as coach would naturally boost everyone's motivation - quite the strategic move.

But what's Kusuri-senpai doing with two gloves? It does look cool, but that's against the rules. It does look cool though.

Currently, everyone's practicing in pairs, and well... it's complete chaos.

On one side, Karane keeps getting furious at Hahari-san's bouncing chest with each catch, leading her to throw harder pitches which make Hahari-san's chest bounce more, creating some mysterious infinite combo.

On another side, Kusuri-senpai is making exaggerated wind-up motions while Nano returns pitches with perfectly efficient glove movements - more like a pitching machine really. Kusuri-senpai's commentary is spot-on though. Her movements look more like a machine throwing than a human.

Hakari's catching balls with her chest, and Nuts... why are you holding the ball in your mouth?! Oh right, you must be imagining it's chocolate shaped like a baseball. I'll buy you some later.

Shizuka can barely throw and is trembling. Cute. In a way, she might be even less athletic than me. Maybe out of consideration, Mei is rolling grounders to her. Wait, that's not helpful for practice at all!

As for me and Iku...

"Here goes, Kawaru!""Got it! I'll catch it properly... Ack, oh crap... guh?!"

...Total failure. Can't even criticize Shizuka now. Wait no... stamina isn't the issue since it's early in practice. So that means... I'm just plain bad at this. Yeah.

I tried to catch it properly, but somehow ended up falling and missing completely. Then when we tried tossing it up, I immediately lost sight of the ball, stepped on it, and smacked the back of my head. Oww.

"That looked really painful both times..."Iku... what's with that face? You look genuinely concerned but also kinda jealous? Well, I guess for someone who likes pain, my constitution must seem enviable. First time anyone's ever envied this though.

"Alright everyone, let's move on to batting practice!"

But man... yeah. I'm... exhausted. Can't do this.

"Sorry... Ren... huff... huff... tarou... need... huff... a break..."

"Take it at your own pace! Don't push yourself too hard!"

Moving away from the others to the bench. Yeah, no way I can handle this. Might not even last one inning at this rate. This is bad... what should I do on game day? Even just standing still in the field would drain my stamina. No way I can last nine innings! Might be useful as a pinch hitter, but even though I can swing now... Wait.

Maybe I can do it. If it's just for a short time, just a few swings. As a pinch hitter... I might manage. Thanks Rentarou. You mentioning love helped me remember. This might be perfect for this situation. Can't waste time... need to ask Karane to write something for me later.

That said, I really need to train properly. Who knows what'll happen if we keep this up until night... but still.

Everyone else is working hard, so I need to too.

"Kusuri-senpai, you can't use three bats in a game!""But it looks so cool..."

Swish swish swish swish..."Nuts, bats aren't chocolate bats!"

"Karane, a bat isn't an iron rod!"

"Huh?"

"Shizuka-chan's using centrifugal force...!"

"Angel power angel power!"

"Mother?!"

"Hahari-sama... To show such consideration for Shizuka-sama...!"

Thud "Guh... How many times is this now...? My ass is fractured...! Yep, I'm officially a self-powered ass-batting machine...!"

"Indeed, Seibetsu Kawaru is not a creature suited for athletics."

"Even I...! Huff...! ❤️"

"sutou Iku, why are you copying that?"

...

That's right. Everything we've built up until now wasn't for nothing. As long as we don't stop moving forward...! The path... will continue...!

"I won't stop, y'know—as long as you guys don't stop, I'll be right there with you...!"

"So don't you dare stop now...!"

"Kawaru⁉︎ Kawaru—!!"

"her heart... has stopped...!"

"No, it did not!!"

In the end, love somehow brought me back.