Thinking of this, the girl quietly called out to Atong.
[Ball Sense: You will adjust the most suitable baseball-hitting motion based on your body's feel. As long as you practice hard, you can become stronger. After extreme training, you will receive a significant boost in the next game, but the effect will gradually diminish afterward.]
This was the only entry she could afford for Kiyono that was truly useful, and she had always wanted to test its effect.
Moreover, baseball is arguably the most popular sport in Japan—evidenced by the endless stream of manga about it. There are many reasons: it's both a team sport and a one-on-one confrontation, making it highly watchable; and it easily breeds miracles. Even when far behind, a single pitch can flip the game, thrilling both players and spectators.
Yanami didn't want Kiyono to become a professional athlete—seeing the boy's cool side in sports from time to time was enough.
Kiyono, fully equipped, stood in the batting cage and inserted a token.
The ball speed was set to 100 km/h, relatively low in the normal lane—but already a difficult challenge for a beginner.
Under the girl's gaze, Kiyono raised the bat and stared intently at the pitching machine.
—Buzz.
The first ball was a miss.
Kiyono didn't swing; he was just observing speed and trajectory. The cage's pitches were fixed-speed—once he memorized it, hitting would come easier.
On the second and third balls, he began to lift the bat—still missing—but the timing was right; only his posture was off. His right arm might need to bend a little more.
With that thought, the bat connected cleanly with the fourth ball, sending it into the side net.
The feel was still a little off; the height needed adjusting again.
Clang, bang, bang.
After that, he didn't miss a single 100 km/h pitch.
"Could it be… I'm a hidden baseball genius?!"
Kiyono stared at his hands, dazed. The sensation of improving with every move made him a bit overconfident.
Yanami showed a gentle smile.
He moved on to the 110 km/h cage, and still only whiffed the first two intentional no-swings.
—Clang.
With the last swing, the ball shot straight upward.
"That was so cool! That hit went straight to my heart!"
Sunset streamed through the wire fence, and the blue-haired girl—like a sweet little girlfriend—called out softly from behind, drawing others' attention and making Kiyono a little shy.
The orange-red glow of sunset spilled into the art classroom through the window, dyeing Eriri's dazzling blonde hair a honey-like hue. The quiet girl held a paintbrush in her fair hands, painting her own world onto the canvas before her.
It was a scene perfectly aligned with a young man's vision of youth and beautiful girls—if one ignored the extremely revealing female protagonist on the paper.
After sketching the last line, Eriri stretched contentedly and began tidying up her tools and notebooks. But something puzzled her…
"Why does it feel like one or two pages are missing?"
The blonde girl frowned. This was her private classroom, and the door was usually locked. Logically, no one would dare enter, so she felt safe keeping her notebooks here. Yet now, a strange feeling welled up.
Stolen? But her notebooks weren't worth much—you could buy as many as you wanted at a comic convention for a thousand yen. Who would bother stealing them?
More than losing her things, she feared her identity as a doujin artist being exposed! If someone blackmailed her with a "You wouldn't want this to get out…," what would she do!?
Just as Eriri was sinking into worry, another depressing message arrived.
[Eriri, club time! We're all waiting for you!]
Sawamura Eriri sighed. Things really had turned out this way.
Her childhood friend had only asked her twice. Although she acted angry and aloof on the surface, after a lot of rambling, she "reluctantly" agreed—just like always.
Perhaps she had always looked forward to spending time with him, and was only angry that he was working so hard for another girl.
Working on a game with Aki Tomoya was fun—she'd even started drawing because of him. But for some reason, lately she felt a faint anxiety.
She couldn't meld into that youthful, inspirational atmosphere.
Eriri dimly perceived the reason—staying in her childhood friend's game club would require huge time and energy, yet from an artist's perspective she couldn't grow.
Originally, she didn't care; she drew for fun. However, after years of practice in this world—and after fighting alongside Kiyono—her level had risen even higher than before. Now, participating in a GALGAME project organized by total beginners left her completely unexcited.
These two opposing feelings clashed, making Eriri even more frustrated.
5:30 p.m.
Multimedia audio-visual classroom.
Three girls were already seated.
The scriptwriter, Kasumigaoka Utaha, a rising author from Dengeki Bunko.
The main artist, Kashiwagi Eri, highly acclaimed in the underground scene.
Aki Tomoya, standing at the podium, felt inexplicably moved by the scene. Next, as long as he recruited the heroine, the four of them would surely create the strongest, heart-fluttering beautiful-girl game!
However… Eriri seemed a bit off?
Aki Tomoya looked at his childhood friend by the window, seemingly lost in thought, and frowned. The old Eriri rarely looked like this.
She must be conceptualizing a character design, right?
With that judgment, his gaze shifted—trying to find the heroine. After scanning twice, he finally spotted the legendary heroine, Katou Megumi, in a corner.
…Phew. I'm used to this. Today, I will get you to join, Katou.
"Let me introduce you, Katou. This is Sawamura Eriri, our club's art ace, and our best scriptwriter, Utaha-senpai… We'll work together to make you the most dazzling two-dimensional heroine!
"So please join us! This project was made for you!"
After arranging his pitch, Aki Tomoya walked closer and passionately explained why she absolutely had to join, painting a bright future. The other two girls didn't interrupt—for now.
Then Miss Katou spoke.
"Ah, um, I'm sorry to interrupt, Aki, but if it's alright, may I decline?"
Her voice was light as a cloud, yet it instantly hushed the room.
The three stared, surprised. They hadn't expected this seemingly easygoing, gentle girl to respond that way.
"Wait—"
Aki pushed up his glasses, unyielding. He hadn't expected a one-shot success. Whether it was Eriri or Utaha-senpai, he'd tried everything to recruit them. His enthusiasm would only burn brighter for the heroine.
But just as he was about to continue, Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly cut in.
"As the protagonist of a beautiful-girl game, the correct option here is to listen to the girl's opinion first, Tomoya-kun."
The literary girl moved gracefully and sat opposite Katou Megumi.
Kasumigaoka observed her for a moment. She looked like an ordinary, cute girl.
Pushing aside stray thoughts, she asked curiously, "Junior, may I ask your reason for declining?"
In truth, she didn't want Katou to join. A girl's selfishness wanted to be the only one beside the person she liked—and Katou didn't seem eager anyway…
Nearby, Eriri was also watching.
Her feelings were complicated.
If she'd been offered the heroine's role, she would have been thrilled to pour herself into the game!
Under their gaze, Katou Megumi looked troubled—like the girl next door.
"There are many reasons, you know? For example, I don't want the title of 'heroine,' or I want to study hard, and so on…"
Her tone made one feel both close and somehow distant.
"However, the most important reason is that I have other goals, I think?"
Miss Katou's voice carried a faint ripple, like a tranquil cloud meeting a gentle breeze.
"So, I'm truly sorry."
She clasped her hands, offered a sincere apology, and then—like a ghost—silently slipped away.
"Wait! Katou! Today I'm going to discuss this properly with you—huh? Where is she?"
The three looked around, confused.
After Katou Megumi left, the classroom atmosphere turned odd.
Utaha-senpai, lazy as ever, said nothing more and left. She'd been in a half-asleep haze all day.
Only two remained.
Eriri stomped, feeling complicated. The heroine role she yearned for had been rejected by an ordinary girl… But that was fine too—she would give this idiot another chance!
She took a deep breath, walked to the podium, looked at Aki Tomoya, and crossed her arms.
"Hey, glasses otaku, your game project seems stillborn."
She spoke playfully.
"So, I can reluctantly help you out. As long as you kneel and lick my feet, shouting 'Eriri-sama, please!' three times, I'll reluctantly become the heroine. A beautiful-girl game featuring the childhood friend—how about it?"
"…No."
Huh? Eriri's eyes widened.
Aki's gaze sharpened, his tone decisive and unquestionable: "The heroine of this project can only be Katou!"
That point was non-negotiable.
"Only that fated encounter—only Katou—made my creativity erupt like a volcano! No one else will do! Besides, Eriri, your character setting is already complete, isn't it? Developing it as a side story would be great—"
"Heh. Heh-heh…"
Eriri's face twisted like an evil spirit. She delivered a thirty-hit twin-tail whip lashing.
"Sorry for being a side character, huh!"
she growled through gritted teeth.
Aki realized she was angry, but he would stick to this point against anyone. His tone merely softened a touch. "Eriri, you—"
"Please don't call me that so intimately, Aki Tomoya!"
Eriri left with a cold expression—the door slammed hard. Only when he could no longer see her did she lower her head, a surge of grievance rising—the pain of effort earning nothing.
Yet, unexpectedly, she didn't feel as disappointed as she'd imagined…
She had planned to tell Aki Tomoya about today's unease and ask for help. Now, even if a blond jock threatened her, she wouldn't reveal a single word to this otaku!
—
The peaceful sky was tinged with twilight; clouds drifted like sheep. A warm orange glow wrapped the campus. Students without club activities walked briskly toward the gate; those with clubs headed off with friends, full of energy.
The names of the students on duty were written in the bottom-right corner of the blackboard—Kiyono at the very bottom.
The boy deftly cleaned up trash between desks and chairs. Students left in batches; the classroom emptied. Gradually, only a few cleaners remained.
After returning with the emptied trash can, Kiyono picked up a wet rag and wiped the windows. Just then, the conversation of the other two girls on duty caught his ear.
"Have you seen the anonymous forum lately? I heard someone supposedly saw Eriri at a comic convention."
"Don't mistake any random blonde for Sawamura! How could she possibly go to a place like that!"
Actually, she not only went—she was selling doujinshi. Looks like Eriri's disguise still isn't good enough.
Kiyono finished a window and, done with his tasks, drew out his phone and—curious—logged into the school's anonymous forum.
"Sawamura is really cute—like a two-dimensional heroine. I feel like dialogue boxes would pop up if you talked to her."
"Long black hair and a high-class beauty are the true classics!"
Most threads were variations on that. Occasionally, he spotted his own name in Roman letters—but instead of the ideal "Kiyono is so cool! I'm smitten!", someone had posted, "Apparently he used to be a delinquent and violent," which felt… odd.
"Does anyone know what Miss Sawamura usually draws in her private art room? If there are any lost drawings, I'll pay 10,000 yen apiece!"