Emerging Talent

"It's so hot."

"So—hot."

"Hot."

"Whew—" They finally found a cold drinks shop and sat down. The moment they opened the door, the cool air raised goosebumps all over them, and they all shivered.

Shen Qing looked at Lang Zhi in surprise. "Lang Zhi, you actually didn't complain about the heat."

"That's just how it is when you play baseball. Though it really is hot. With an undershirt, playing baseball isn't too bad."

"Ah—when I checked a few days ago, the temperature wasn't this high." Shen Qing flipped through the menu. "Since we're here, let's get something..."

Then she spotted Vanilla Ice Cream among the ice creams. Perhaps because of the weather, her mouth moved faster than her brain. "Takano still likes Vanilla Ice Cream, after all..." She quickly realized how natural that had sounded, glanced at Takano, and changed it into a question. "Do you still like Vanilla Ice Cream?"

Kōshū found his mother's question rather amusing and replied with a smile, "I'm the same as before."

"Mm, okay. But there are other flavors too. You can look at the menu in a moment. I'll just get a shaved ice." As she spoke, she turned the menu around and pushed it toward Kōshū across from her.

"No need. I'll still have Vanilla Ice Cream." Kōshū casually passed the menu to Lang Zhi on his left.

Lang Zhi's eyes lit up, and he ordered several items in one go. Mr. Sasaki did not stop him, but he still warned, "Hey, do you usually eat sweets like this when you're out? Come by the clinic later. I'll take an X-ray of your teeth."

"Huh??" With an obviously unwilling expression on Lang Zhi's face, Mr. Sasaki ordered himself a lemonade.

"Watch out for diabetes, everyone," he added.

Which earned him a reproachful look from his wife.

The group spent two hours in the cold drinks shop. Mr. Sasaki seemed especially interested in Lang Zhi's recent life in the Baseball Club and asked question after question, nearly making Lang Zhi break out in a cold sweat. Only with Kōshū's guidance did the conversation slowly shift elsewhere. Somehow, they eventually decided to play baseball at this tourist attraction.

After asking for the location of the Batting Cage, Lang Zhi fell behind on the way there and gave Kōshū a suspicious look.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't have the time to tell people your secrets."

"Then what was that just now? I almost thought he knew."

"Mm—who knows? Maybe Mr. Sasaki isn't the kind of person you imagine him to be. Maybe he does pay attention to his children."

"Ah—why did I have to run into something like this?" Lang Zhi shook Kōshū in despair.

"Tch, hot." Kōshū narrowed his eyes and looked down at the guy shaking him, unsure what to say. Lately, he seemed to have gotten used to having a noisy guy around him. That was terrifying.

After a short walk, Kōshū arrived at a Batting Cage for the first time in his life. He weighed the bat in his hand while Lang Zhi dampened the mood from behind with comments like, "Don't get scared by the ball." Kōshū curled his lip.

There was no one in front of the batter's box. Only he faced the image on the screen: a person standing on the Pitcher's Mound. Behind him, he could feel people watching.

Did you know? A person's gaze left no trace, yet it seemed to carry weight. Sensitive people could unconsciously sense when others were watching them. And sometimes, those gazes were light; sometimes, heavy. Before a match, they were like morning dew clinging to the body. The body was burning hot, but the gazes were calm. When he lost, the gazes became heavy. The referee announced his defeat, and every gaze bore witness to that fact. Each one carried the certainty that he was not the winner, hanging over his heart like locks. But when he won, those gazes became feathers, layering one upon another, making his steps so light that he felt ready to fly.

Here and now, the gazes behind him made him feel as though he had returned to the sprinting track, as though this at-bat were a real contest. For the first time since coming to Japan several months ago, his mind suddenly sharpened into focus.

At the lowest speed, the ball came. Like waiting for the starting gun in a sprint, Kōshū waited until the ball reached him, then hit it away in one swing. Lang Zhi shut his mouth, only to say a moment later, "That ball's way too slow. A pitcher like that on the field would just get smashed."

Kōshū was not provoked by the comments behind him. All he saw now was the incoming baseball. He hit more than ten balls at the lowest speed and became certain he had mastered that velocity, so he asked them to increase the speed.

In the look the boy gave when he turned around, Mr. Sasaki saw intense concentration and passion hidden beneath it. Incredible. It looked like this kid was going to fall in love with baseball. Every boy who loved baseball really did have the same thing in his eyes.

The other three watched Kōshū bat for twenty minutes behind the Batting Cage. It was not that they did not want to play; they wanted to see just how far Kōshū, as a beginner, could go.

"Thirty-two balls. He's hit thirty-two in a row already." Lang Zhi counted silently. Even after reaching the high-speed pitches, aside from the initial adjustment period, Kōshū had been able to hit them cleanly.

"He's never played baseball before?" Mr. Sasaki asked Shen Qing.

"No. Baseball is practically Japan's national sport, but in China it's completely niche. Many cities don't even have baseball fields." Shen Qing's expression gradually filled with enthusiasm. Once again, she remembered the sight of her son competing at sports meets, and she could not help boasting, "Takano once broke his school's sprinting record. He was even invited to join the provincial team."

But then her voice lowered. "Back then, his biological father's family thought sports wasn't a viable career, so he never got to go."

"That happened?" Seeing the father and son across from her both look surprised, Shen Qing felt for once that perhaps leaving had been good for both her and the child.

One hundred and forty was the highest pitch speed in the facility. Kōshū had gone from hurriedly swinging at the start to displaying a clear ease in his swings now.

"This kid only learned the basic motions, yet he already has such bold power in his hitting!" Mr. Sasaki grew excited too.

Inside the Batting Cage, Kōshū was still focused intently on the next ball. His palms were numb from the vibrations, and he was a little out of breath, but sports really did make the blood boil! He could not stop at all!

"Take a break." Unexpectedly, in this exciting scene, the only calm person was the youngest child, Lang Zhi. "You've already hit so many balls. You have to let your body rest."

"That's right, that's right. Takano, hurry and take a break."

Kōshū was pulled out of his intense focus, and mental exhaustion surged over him like a tide.

"Ah, I hit so many balls without realizing it." Kōshū came out with his hand trembling, then looked strangely at the shorter boy. "Lang Zhi, what are you doing?"

Lang Zhi felt his stepbrother's arms, waist, and thighs. Damn it, his arms were so solid. He seemed to have Abdominal Muscles too, and his thighs were so strong. Lang Zhi realized that his stepbrother's usual loose clothes had been deliberately deceiving him. At Kōshū's question, he gritted his teeth and snapped, "Are you really only one year older than me?"

Kōshū placed a hand on the shorter boy's head and said pointedly, "Child."

"Tch! I'm going to practice batting too. As the Regular shortstop, the team relies heavily on my bat." So he bounced around in the Batting Cage, his whole body screaming, Look at me, look at me, hurry up and look at me. Then, because the pitching machine was still set to its highest speed, he unexpectedly performed badly. "Damn Kōshū."

While Lang Zhi performed up front, Mr. Sasaki suggested, "Takano, do you want to try pitching later? There seems to be a pitching practice area over there."

"Huh, this place is that big? Sure, but I don't know how to pitch."

"That's okay. I can still teach you the basic Four-Seam Fastball."

"What's a Four-Seam Fastball?"

"Haha, a Four-Seam Fastball is the most basic of all pitches. It's the fastest ball a person can throw. When it spins quickly, the baseball's seams look like four lines to the batter, so it's called a Four-Seam Fastball. I'll get a baseball and show you the grip..."

When Lang Zhi turned around again, he saw that only his stepmother was politely applauding. His heart warmed, but then he saw his father showing Kōshū how to grip the ball. Damn Kōshū, what were they talking about now? I want in too. So he forgot that the next ball was about to come and nearly got hit.

"You're going to pitch?" Lang Zhi asked through the netting.

"Yeah. With Takano's height, wouldn't he be perfect as a pitcher?"

"I'm going too."

Compared with batting, Shen Qing wanted even more to see her son pitch. All four of them moved to the pitching practice area. The spacious practice room was divided by hanging iron chains into several pitching lanes, each exactly eighteen meters across.

"You really want to pitch? I might hit you."

"It's fine. I borrowed protective gear. Just throw it into my glove. Be careful not to let your form fall apart."

"I'll watch from over here," Lang Zhi shouted.

"Okay, then pitch, Takano."

"Whew—" Why were these people more excited than he was? Sigh, he had put too much effort into batting just now, and now he could not quite focus. Still, throwing a ball at a person felt a little uncomfortable.

Thump— Mr. Sasaki barely had to move his glove to catch the ball easily. Its speed was around 110. He shouted excitedly, "NICE BALL! Takano, do it again! Four-Seam Fastball!"

"Hey, hey, no way. How did you throw it in there?" Lang Zhi was the first to object, jumping even more wildly than before.

"Mm—it just felt right." Another pitch. The unmoving glove caught the ball smoothly.

"Ah, ah, maybe it's because of basketball? I remember Takano was very accurate when shooting too," Shen Qing said to the indignant Lang Zhi. "Come to think of it, he's accurate when throwing darts too, and when throwing out trash, he also..."

"Ahhh, Mom, stop saying that," Lang Zhi complained without thinking, then muttered under his breath, "I already regret it. I don't want to play baseball with him..." What was he supposed to do? If they played baseball together, people would definitely compare him to Kōshū once they found out they were brothers. Then he would have to explain that they were not biologically related, and then accept the enlightened looks saying, I see, no wonder you're so short. Damn Takano.

The boy muttered complaints to himself, but he did not notice that the woman beside him froze at his words.

Forgive me for giving the protagonist a buff. He was simply a thirteen-year-old who had grown to 1.8 meters, with excellent physical abilities, great explosive power, and a very accurate feel.