Several years later, in winter.
Sendou would be starting fourth grade in elementary school the following spring. His father had rare free time and took the whole family out. In his parents' eyes, Sendou was far more composed than children his age.
Moreover, Japan's educational environment gave Sendou enough independence to refuse certain things, such as the children's amusement facilities other kids loved.
Clang!
A sudden metallic impact caught Sendou's attention.
"Akila—the pronunciation Sendou heard was inaccurate, but he liked it, so this would be used from now on. Just know that Akira was the correct pronunciation. That's the baseball batting center. Basically, it's a sport where you use a bat to hit balls."
Seeing where his son was looking, Sendou's father explained.
This truly piqued Sendou's curiosity. Although he had watched plenty of anime and read plenty of manga about this in his previous life, he had never seen it in person.
There was no need to say anything. Seeing the curiosity in Sendou's eyes, his father led the family into the batting center.
There were not many people inside, since it was winter, but the booming sounds still rang out endlessly.
"Want to give it a try?" Seeing that his son, who was usually interested in nothing, had finally become curious about something, his father began encouraging him.
"Yeah!"
Sendou was indeed stirred by curiosity and nodded.
"Alright, I'll take you somewhere suitable for children."
Afterward, Sendou's father brought him to an area with ball speeds suitable for kids.
Unlike the area near the entrance, this place had many parents playing with their children.
There were also some children practicing there.
After receiving a simple explanation from a staff member and learning how to operate the machine, Sendou entered the Pitching Machine area.
He walked into a room marked 100 km/h–120 km/h by himself, while his parents watched from outside.
After casually swinging the bat a few times to get used to its weight, he inserted a token into the machine and stood in the left-handed Batter's Box.
Clunk, clunk, whoosh! Smack!
After the machine made a series of chaotic noises, it sent out a ball that slammed heavily into the board beside him, startling Sendou.
More accurately, it was the sound that startled him. The nearby children and parents also turned to look.
"You're here for the first time, aren't you? Your son is so young; he shouldn't be in an area with balls that fast."
A helpful bystander explained this to Sendou's parents, who did not really understand baseball.
They had no idea what speed a child Sendou's age should be hitting. They had only wanted their son to experience it.
"I see. Thank you. I really don't know much about this. My son saw this for the first time and just wanted to satisfy his curiosity," Sendou's mother quickly said in thanks.
The intervals between pitches were not short, so there was plenty of time in between. Sendou had been startled by the first ball.
However, he quickly adjusted and realized that he needed to hit the ball.
Suddenly, he felt that trying something like this for the first time was quite fun. He was eager to give it a shot.
So Sendou seriously picked up the bat. He did not know whether his grip was correct, but it felt comfortable and well suited for generating power.
Whoosh!
Smack!
After another burst of clanking noises, the second ball was launched and struck the board behind him. Sendou had no intention of swinging at this one.
The first ball had startled him, so he wanted to properly observe this ball's speed.
Sendou's parents were even amused by the sight of their little son observing so seriously like an adult.
Clunk, clunk, whoosh!
Clang!
The distinctive sound of a Metal Bat striking a ball suddenly rang out.
Sendou began his swing in a way that professionals would consider terrible and difficult to generate power with.
Yet once he swung, the bat moved at a top-tier speed. With a completely uncoordinated motion, he sent the ball flying high into the air.
By elementary school field standards, it could barely count as a Long Hit trajectory.
The parents who saw this looked somewhat astonished.
But Sendou paid no attention to them at all. His eyes lit up as the sensation of the bat striking the ball gave him an indescribably wonderful feeling.
He immediately assumed his stance again, completely ignoring the cries of "Amazing!" from the parents outside.
After that, Sendou hit almost every ball, and every hit connected. As he adapted to the bat's weight, the balls flew farther and farther. On only his fifth swing, he hit a center field Home Run.
This was against 100 km/h pitches. Even for a middle school student swinging at a Pitching Machine for the first time, hitting a Home Run would be a sign of exceptional talent. Let alone one to the farthest part of center field.
More and more parents gathered to watch Sendou.
After finishing one token's worth of pitches, Sendou walked over to the Pitching Machine's coin slot. After fiddling with it for a while and successfully inserting another token, he returned to the Batter's Box.
Whoosh!
Smack!
Sendou did not swing at the first pitch, but the onlookers clearly noticed that the ball was faster. Who would fail to realize that this kid had not had enough? He had just been figuring out how to make the Pitching Machine throw faster!
Whoosh!
Bang! He connected on the second pitch again. From the sound, he had clearly not hit the sweet spot, but the ball was fast and barely made it through the infield.
"That's amazing!"
"Is this really his first time batting? That ball was clearly going 120 kilometers an hour, and he's so young. Is he a monster?"
The people nearby erupted in commotion.
By then, Sendou was completely immersed in it. He could not hear anyone else.
Whoosh!
Clang!
This time, he hit the sweet spot dead on. The white ball shot backward, bounced after landing, and followed another Long Hit trajectory.
"What a monster. He's practically a Long Hit machine."
Listening to the praise around them, Sendou's parents did not know much about baseball, but they understood that their son must be very good.
That day, Sendou fully enjoyed himself. He did not feel that the fastballs everyone talked about were particularly fast at all.
The powerful vibration from the instant the bat collided with the ball made it impossible for him to stop. He kept batting happily for a long time.
Only when his parents called for him to leave did he let out a deep breath and walk outside. The praise from the people around him made him a little embarrassed.
"Akila, do you want to try playing baseball? You'll be in fourth grade soon. I just heard someone nearby say that Little League teams happen to be for fourth through sixth graders. If you want to, I can send you somewhere to properly learn baseball. Fourth grade is about the time you should consider playing some sports, and your school holds sports festivals too, right?"
Sendou froze when he heard that. Although he had loved the feeling of batting just now, he had never considered learning baseball.
But hearing his father say that, he also realized that he could not stay at home all the time. His dream of becoming a shut-in member of the Going-Home Club was impossible after all.
Still, compared with running wild with children his age, learning baseball with a proper youth team did not sound bad.
"Next year, I want to join a team. Help me find a good one! But if I'm going to play, I want to join a strong team! Please, Dad!"
"Alright! Leave it to me! I'll find you a good team. Now, let's go home and eat!" Sendou's father said with a smile, rubbing Sendou's head.
This chapter was the opportunity for the protagonist to first come into contact with baseball. Sendou, who dreamed of being a happy shut-in and a member of the Going-Home Club, ultimately could not escape his fate.
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