This batting center's equipment is decent, but the owner is too irresponsible, isn't he?"
Narumiya Mei grumbled as he inserted coins into the automatic changer, then held out his right hand to catch the tokens dispensed by the machine.
Since he walked in, he hadn't seen a single living soul, as if the owner didn't care about the batting center's operations and had run off somewhere.
But this was just a simple complaint; his purpose for being here wasn't to chat with the owner.
Despite his words, his actions never stopped.
He picked up a bat and walked into the batting area.
The others were accustomed to Narumiya's childish complaints, so they just smiled briefly before picking up their own bats and joining the queue.
To get used to the speed of high school pitchers in advance, they all chose to hit balls at 130 km/h.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of bats colliding with white balls echoed through the batting area.
Among the five, Yamaoka was undoubtedly the best hitter.
With his swing already ingrained in his body, each of his swings was naturally extended.
Unlike his burly physique, his body had excellent flexibility; he didn't rely purely on brute force for each hit but skillfully struck the ball.
Yamaoka was quite satisfied with his performance.
Out of ten balls, he hit eight into the safe hit zone, and five of those reached the very top of the home run area.
For someone just getting used to the 130 km/h speed, this was already a very good result.
After hitting ten balls, he put away his bat and went to the side to register his score in a notebook.
He had his eye on the socks offered as a home run prize.
Although the socks provided by batting centers were usually of poor quality and wouldn't last long, they were better than nothing.
For a training fanatic like him, wearing out several pairs of socks a month was commonplace.
The batting center's scoring was also divided by age group, ensuring that prizes weren't monopolized by adults and giving the younger players a chance to win.
Yamaoka picked up a pen and registered his score, casually scanning the results of other players in his U16 bracket to see who had scores close to his.
He still believed that in this somewhat out-of-the-way batting center, his score should comfortably secure first place.
"Kiri… Kiriyama… Ren."
Yamaoka noticed a name with particularly striking results.
Upon seeing his score, it wasn't that he was close to Yamaoka, but rather that Yamaoka's score was close to his.
Seven home runs out of ten balls currently placed him first for the week.
This made Yamaoka, who initially thought he had done well, feel a bit embarrassed.
They were in the same age group, yet this person hit even better than him.
This was a point he found difficult to accept.
It wasn't merely about the prize changing from three pairs of socks to one pair.
The competitive spirit within him even made him want to see what kind of batting stance the other person had.
"So, not first place, huh? That's a shame." Narumiya Mei interjected at an inopportune moment, teasing him.
Yamaoka replied in a low voice, "If he's in the same age group as us, then we'll always have a chance to meet him.
Hitting live pitches isn't the same as hitting from a pitching machine."
The others neither confirmed nor denied Yamaoka's statement.
They just smiled slightly before inserting their second coin into the machine, preparing for their second round of hitting.
Those initial ten balls were merely their warm-up.
Perhaps Yamaoka was too fixated on the score of the person named Kiriyama Ren, as his subsequent performance was not as brilliant as his first.
His home run count couldn't even catch up to his initial score, let alone the opponent, who had two more.
After about an hour of hitting, everyone had worked up a sweat, and it was almost time to leave.
The only one who felt a lingering sense of dissatisfaction was Yamaoka.
He secretly resolved to visit this batting center more often in the future; he was determined to see how that person his age actually hit.
"Ren! Another round of batting!"
"Yes!"
Before they left, a gruff voice of a middle-aged man caught their attention.
It was because the name he uttered was identical to the name on the U16 home run leaderboard.
"Why don't we go take a look?"
Narumiya Mei suggested.
He had his own little plan.
Since this person could make Yamaoka care, he wanted to see for himself if he was truly worthy of such praise.
If he hadn't yet committed to a school, he could invite him to Inashiro, as there could never be too many strong hitters.
Yamaoka was naturally the first to nod, and the others, driven by curiosity, also agreed to go see.
They walked to the source of the sound, which wasn't their usual batting cage, but a very spacious area enclosed by green netting.
Inside, a middle-aged man and a young boy were practicing batting.
The middle-aged man continuously pitched balls towards the boy, who kept hitting them out.
He lifted his hips and straightened his waist, creating a good point of power for his body.
After swinging the bat, he maintained a long follow-through.
The bat and the white ball continuously collided, and each extended hit produced the sound of a long drive.
It wasn't just raw power; catching the sweet spot of the ball was also the result of long hours of training.
"Truly impressive…" Yamaoka judged from the batting stance that this Ren was the same Kiriyama Ren from the batting leaderboard.
The middle-aged man pitching the balls was also very skilled, delivering each pitch to an easily hittable location, keeping Ren's batting rhythm consistently good, without him needing to force adjustments to his stance to chase difficult pitches.
The more Narumiya Mei watched, the more interested he became, mentally resolving to invite him after his training was complete.
Yamaoka felt the same; he wanted to compete properly with this batter.
The other three didn't feel much, but seeing the two of them so enthusiastic, they could only accompany them and wait.
The sound of the aluminum bat hitting the ball continuously echoed, and after listening for a long time, they also had the feeling that someone like this would be best as a teammate.
The sound of batting continued for about ten minutes, finally stopping.
Just as Narumiya Mei was about to approach, it seemed their training hadn't ended.
The middle-aged man pulled back the netting, moved the pitching machine to the pitcher's mound, and told Ren their next training task.
"Next, it's time to practice your catcher skills."
The word "catcher" almost made Narumiya Mei's eyes light up.
He stopped his already impatient steps, watching to see if this person would give him another unexpected surprise.
Perhaps the catcher he had always wanted had just been found by him at this very moment.