As the trio stepped through the glass garage door they were met with a lot of batting cages, ranging from softball to baseball at various speeds.
"Damn this place is huge..." Star mumbled while Stiles nodded.
"From what I remember when I was little, the batting cages are lined up easy to hard. You can find the speed and type of pitch listed up there." Rei pointed to the first cage they walked up to a cage labeled 'Softball Slow-pitch.'
"As you can see, this is where little girls gather, sometimes old men who play in adult slow-pitch leagues also hit here"
A bunch of little girls were lined up for the particular cage as parents were standing nearby, like them other people also skip the first day of school on occasions.
"There's also a fast-pitch softball machine."
"Then there's us, the baseball speeds start at 50 miles an hour, then 60 mph, 70 mph. Then in increments of five, 75 mph, 80 mph, 85 mph, 90 mph, 95 mph, and 100 mph." he continued to explain as he took the two along the cages, pointing out the difference between each one.
"The faster you want, the less you have to wait. Not everyone wants to waste a token on something they can't even hit."
"This is the first time we've heard him talk so much..." Star whispered to Stiles.
"Shh~ you'll scare him away, he's like a deer." Stiles silently joked.
"I can hear you." Rei interrupted them as he rolled his eyes.
The two pretended as if they didn't say anything.
"Where do you want to start?" Stiles asked shifting the topic and causing Rei to chuckle.
He walked towards the 50 mph and got in line.
"Seriously? That's for little kids man." Star groaned as they followed.
Rei shrugged his shoulders, "We just played a few games, a few hours ago, and we didn't cool down properly, so it's just warming up my body, you guys can go hit at the other cages." Rei replied with a smile.
The two peered over at a further cage, then looked back at him. "Okay, we'll be going to the 80's and 85's cages. There's not much of a line there so just join us when you're done." the Stiles replied as Rei handed them their respective tokens, before heading into the cages.
He waited patiently behind a couple of kids, younger than him.
The twelve pitches for each token made things go by quickly, and it wasn't long before it was his turn. He took a few practice swings once he stepped into the cage, a helmet wasn't required but people always wore one.
Then he put his first token in.
He stepped into the righty's box and got set, feet apart, knees slightly bent, elbow back, shoulders loose.
- woosh~
The first pitch came, as a light 'whiir' sound came from the machine.
Seemingly slow, but he waited and then perfectly hit the ball, sending it back toward the machine.
Each pitch was hit back perfectly back to the machine before the twelve pitches were used, as he inserted another token and switched to the left box.
Since he had a lot of free time as a kid, and spent a lot of time in the cages at his house it was only natural he could switch it, as it made things fun, his dad only hit from the right, while both he and his sister were switch hitters.
He didn't switch hit in the games earlier as he figured there was no point.
Each pitch was a repeat of the right box, hit perfectly to the machine.
After the twelve pitches, he left the cage and got in line for the next speed, 60mph.
It only took a few minutes to get to his turn, as he put in his third token and got in the righty's box first once more.
Twelve pitches turned into twelve perfect hits straight up the middle.
The fourth token let him match his perfect right with a perfect lefty performance.
Very smooth, and very fluid.
He always felt a sense of satisfaction, which always calmed his mind.
After doing the same on the left side he skipped the rest to find the other two, his body was already warm, and his muscles were nice and loose, after a few seconds he saw them in the 80s as Stiles just came out the cages.
"Rei, how was it? You already warmed up?" Stiles asked as he saw Rei heading their way.
"Yeah, I'm good now, how are you guys doing?" he asked.
"Decent so far, we'll probably stop at the 85s, as it'll be a waste to hit the 90s when we'll probably only hit half. How many tokens do you have?" Star replied this time.
"6 Tokens, and you guys?"
"Damn, man you wasted 4 tokens on slow pitches? We have 8 each."
Rei shrugged, "Mind if I go?"
"Go for it man, we want to see the famous varsity player hit once more." Stiles joked.
Rei chuckled as he entered the cages, inserted a token, and got into the right box.
First pitch, he sent it down the middle.
"Lucky hit!"
"Pish posh!"
The two hollered, as he chuckled and continued hitting it back to the machine every time perfectly, by the twelfth pitch the two were silent.
"Rei we knew you were good, not this good, I bet not even college students can hit it perfectly down the middle every time," Stiles mumbled.
He chuckled at their reactions as he was about to put another token in.
"Rei let's go to 85s!" Star hollered with a bright smile.
Rei looked at them as a mischievous smile appeared on his face, making him look like an actual fox.
He inserted the token, as Star groaned, while Stiles watched with interest.
Under the surprised gazes of the duo, Rei stepped into the lefty's box.
Perfect.
Perfect.
...
...
...
A perfect twelve for twelve once more.
Rei exited the cage, and he stared at the shocked expressions of the two.
"Rei, you're a switch hitter?" Stiles regained awareness first.
"That's amazing!" Star followed, after overcoming his shock.
"What do you expect when your dad is an MLB player, with batting cages in the backyard." he shrugged.
"Why didn't you do it at the game?" Stiles asked.
"Was it necessary? I don't think it would have mattered, it wouldn't have changed the outcome."
The two nodded, as Star glanced at the cage near them as the line got shorter.
"Rei since you did both sides, let's go to the 85s, one of these days we have to bring the team here and hustle them out of their money!" Star got excited as he thought about how funny it would be to hustle an entire team, that he didn't see where he was going.
"Star!" Stiles called out but it was too late.
- Bump~
"What the hell?" A tall and athletic guy turned to face them.
He glared at the three of them, "Watch where you're going."
Rei raised a brow hearing his harsh tone.
"Our bad, but chill out it was only a slight bump no need to exaggerate." This time it was Stiles who spoke out, a slightly scrunched-up expression lingering on his face.
He sent the three another glare and walked towards a few guys at a nearby bench, seemingly ignoring the three.
"What the hell is his problem," Star grumbled.
"Well you did bump into him, but I agree there was no reason to act that way." Stiles joined in as he shrugged.
The three dismissed it and Rei entered the cage once more.
He slid in a token and stepped into the righty box, his eyes focused on the machine. As the machine whirred to life, the baseballs came quickly, but he seemed to ignore the high speed as he started his motion.
He swung his bat with precision, hitting the first three balls down the middle.
The rest of the nine pitches followed their ancestor, going down the middle back to the machine. Rei's eyes never left the machine, his body in perfect sync with the rhythm of the pitches. He moved with grace and agility, his bat slicing through the air with each swing, and the cracking of the bat created a beautiful symphony. His feet moved in perfect harmony, his body shifting with each pitch.
As the last pitch flew back to the machine, Rei turned back to look at Star and Stiles, but his cold eyes turned colder.
The two felt a shiver down their spine, as Rei looked at them but soon noticed it wasn't at them but behind them, they looked and found four guys standing behind them with a familiar guy with them.