In addition to those who were originally going to participate in club activities, there are many other students here today.
In the baseball club, the benches usually used for resting and watching training sessions were already full.
As for other people who failed to grab a seat, they either stood on the edge of the training ground fence to watch, or sat on the lawn slope outside the guardrail to watch.
In addition, even the members of the photography club, who are usually more interested in girls' groups than boys, appeared here today armed with long guns and short cannons.
On the third floor of the teaching building, a room on the west side.
The girl with golden twin tails was holding her hands by the window, her blue eyes staring in the direction of the playground, her eyes slightly lost in thought.
On the easel behind her, there was a half-painted painting, as if waiting for someone to finish it.
However, its owner obviously was not in such a mood at this time. On the contrary, listening to the almost one-sided cheering sound coming from outside, the girl frowned in dissatisfaction.
So I turned on my phone and entered a paragraph in the email.
"Don't lose to that person, please be serious!"
But after hesitating for a moment, she deleted this paragraph word for word, and put away her phone a little irritably, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Why do I have to do such a thing? It's obviously his own fault." Ying Lili complained in a low voice, and cursed an idiot under her breath.
Back on the training ground, Ishikawa, who had put on a white baseball uniform, was looking at Yusuke Kato sideways and said.
"I have to say, although I don't like you as a person, you are still worthy of praise for being able to keep your appointment on time."
After a pause, he continued.
"Of course, even if you don't come today, the consequences won't be much better. After all, in order to prevent you from running away, I made a special trip to the photography department and promised them an interview opportunity."
"So if you really do that, the student union election will be out of the question. Just be happy now, because you will experience despair next."
Having said this, Ishikawa spread his fingers and made a boom gesture to Kato Yusuke.
Facing this scene, the boy just asked directly: "Compared with that, I just want to know when the game can start?"
Ishikawa smiled and said: "Before that, I want to ask first, do you want to have a one-on-one duel with me, or do you want to play like a formal game?"
After a brief thought, Kato Yusuke looked up at the opponent and said: "I choose the former, but the victory will not be calculated based on points, but until the other side voluntarily admits defeat."
"You actually said it doesn't count? Do you really know what you are talking about?" Ishikawa sneered.
Yusuke nodded, "Ah, I understand very well."
Staring at the face opposite him, there was a chill in the young man's eyes.
Seeing this, Ishikawa narrowed his eyes, and then said in a deep voice:
"In that case, let's do it. You are the first to defend with a limit of nine balls, and then we will exchange offense and defense until one of the parties admits defeat. Do you think there is a problem?"
(ps. The reason for the nine-ball game is that as long as three batters are eliminated, the offensive side loses the half of the game.)
Kato Yusuke shook his head and said no.
◇
After a while of preparation, the two of them soon stood in the offensive and defensive positions.
Yusuke Kato stood on the mound as the pitcher, and Ishikawa stood in the batter's box next to home plate as the batter.
For the sake of viewing, Ishikawa also specially arranged a fully armed catcher and an umpire. The former squatted behind home plate to catch the ball, and the latter stood behind the former to observe good and bad balls.
When Ishikawa put on his helmet and took his bat, there was a burst of cheers from the audience, and many girls cheered for him by shouting his name.
And he himself waved to the crowd in response.
In comparison, Kato Yusuke standing on the pitching base looks a bit shabby.
Not only do they not have special uniforms, even the baseball gloves they wear are sponsored by Yamaguchi.
The boy wearing a short-sleeved shirt stood there, with strong forearms extending from the cuffs, and his skin was very fair.
Off the field, Yamaguchi, Takei, Yoshiko, and even the foursome from the baseball club were putting their hands to their mouths like loudspeakers, shouting something to them.
But he was drowned in the support from his opponents, so much so that he couldn't hear their voices at all. He could only tell through his expressions that they seemed to be cheering for him.
The girl with a single ponytail sat quietly next to Kako, staring with a pair of black eyes, like a lake in autumn.
Further to the side, Kato Yusuke also saw Shiyu-senpai, whom he had only met during lunch break. She was looking over here with her hands folded on her chest and her legs crossed.
Occasionally, I would say something to Hui who was standing next to me.
After noticing his gaze, Shiyu smiled and waved.
Kato Yusuke's eyes couldn't help but move, and then he nodded to them.
"Come on when you're ready." Ishikawa swung the bat in a circle and moved his body.
The catchers and referees were also ready.
The place fell silent for a moment.
So Yusuke withdrew his gaze.
Holding the hard baseball made of cowhide in his hand, he raised his hand and threw the ball toward home plate while recalling the rules of baseball in his mind.
Ishikawa didn't swing.
"Bang!" the ball fell into the catcher's mitt.
A brief silence.
"A bad ball!" the referee shouted.
Thinking about Kato Yusuke's actions just now, Ishikawa couldn't help but laugh.
The opponent's posture is not so much that he is throwing the ball, but rather that he is simply throwing the ball.
You can tell at a glance that he is an amateur.
The baseball coach who came specially to act as a referee couldn't help but shake his head.
Although the ball was caught by the catcher, it did not pass through the strike zone, but passed the batter's chest and reached the shoulder level.
Therefore, it was called a bad ball and Ishikawa scored one point.
Because the step of running the bases was omitted, the two people only directly calculated the score in a crude way. Without fouls, Ishikawa scored if the hit was hit, and Kato Yusuke scored if the hit was missed.
There was a burst of cheers from the audience.
"Ishikawa-senpai Saigao~~!!"
"Come on~~!!"
The excitement was even a bit like a school festival.
"Hey, let me tell you." Takei pushed Yamaguchi aside, "Kato, are you sure it's okay?"
Yamaguchi touched the opponent's leg with his leg a little irritably and replied that he didn't know.
Even the four-man baseball team, who had been quite impressive just now, now lowered their voices.
A breeze blew from the fan-shaped training ground, carrying the flavor of July.
The young man looked up at the blue sky, and then whispered to himself: "Is it a little worse?"
Even though he said this, there was no trace of any nervousness on his face, only calmness.
Seeing this scene, the referee behind the catcher nodded secretly.
"The psychological quality is pretty good." - the man couldn't help but think.
In the midst of many confused eyes, the boy caught the ball thrown by the catcher and began to prepare for the second pitch.