“Care to tell me why? Or do you expect me to take a guess?” Coach Yoshida asked, still staring at his glasses.
Ken hesitated for a moment. He had thought of many excuses that may possibly get him his desired result, however he could not predict what kind of reaction the coach would have. So he just went for the most simple one.
“My right shoulder is injured.” He said simply, his facial expression remaining neutral.
The Coach jumped a little at these words, almost dropping his glasses which he was in the middle of cleaning. The vein on his forehead suddenly disappeared and he looked up at Ken with shock and concern.
“What!? How did you get injured? Have you been to a doctor?” He fired off rapid questions one after the other, yet the fact remained that he was asking out of care.
“My Doctor has told me that I cannot pitch for a year. He said that if I don’t give my shoulder enough time to heal and grow, I may be stuck with a debilitating injury for the rest of my life.”
These words had some truth mixed in with them. While he had not been to a doctor yet in this life, he had seen one in high school after being injured. The doctor said that his growing body and muscles could not keep up with his harsh pitching form.
Every time he pitched, he was whittling away at his muscles and tendons which were in the midst of growing due to his age.
Coach Yoshida frowned at the words, yet he did not seem angry, only a little disappointed. Yet in the next moment he smiled.
“You did well to let me know Ken. Judging by your character, I would have thought you’d hide this from me and forced yourself to pitch.”
Ken felt bitter at those words. He was actually considering doing that until he was forced to accept the quest from the system.
He nodded, “So I was thinking, maybe you can move me to first base? I wouldn’t need to throw the ball much, if not at all.”
The Coach scoffed aloud, almost breaking out into a chuckle. “Look Ken. While you are a great pitcher, you have many other detriments that I cannot overlook now. Unless you can suddenly become an excellent batter, there’s no way we can put you at first. It’s not fair to the others.”
“Mmm.” Ken nodded, he thought that would be the response. However, he was not disheartened.
“Okay thanks Coach. Give me a few weeks and I’ll work on my batting.” He said, a smile creeping onto his face.
Before the coach could answer, Ken turned around and headed out of the faculty office with a spring in his step, leaving Souta Yoshida to stare blankly at his back.
“A few weeks? Bah, kids these days.” Coach Yoshida shook his head, lamenting the unfounded confidence of this generations youth. Yet a smile formed on his lips a moment later.
Ken left the office and headed out to the main entrance of the school, intending to get home early so he could start working on his mission tasks. The running was the exercise he was least looking forward to.
However, as he walked out of the main entrance, he suddenly caught Daichi walking around the outside of the building. He frowned, unsure of what business his friend would have in such a place.
Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Ken tailed his friend, poking his head around the corner.
“Pepsi? I asked for Cola, what the hell do you think this is huh?”
“T-That was all they had left in the vending machine.”
“Did you hear that? Baby face is talking back to me.”
Thud! Bang!
Daichi was hunched over with his hands covering his head as two boys threw punches and kicks at his defenseless body. He didn’t cry out when the blows landed, choosing to take the punishment silently.
Ken’s eyes widened at the sight, before a rush of fury spread through his body. Without thinking, he ran at full speed towards the two who were raining blows on Daichi.
He bashed his shoulder into the back of the closest bully, causing his neck to jerk backwards before he was sent tumbling to the ground in pain.
The other bully turned his body, only to see a fist flying towards his face from out of nowhere.
Crunch!
The boy fell onto his behind, feeling a shooting pain from his now broken nose.
“Y-You broke by dose” (You broke my nose)
“I’ll break your balls if you don’t piss of right now” Ken spat out, making a stomping action with his foot.
“E-Eeeek!” The boy screamed out like a girl, before grabbing his friend and running off.
“I better not see you bullying my friend otherwise I’ll break your nose again!” Ken shouted at the two escaping bullies.
Daichi who had been in the defensive turtle position was helped up by Ken, his face filled with a mixture of emotions.
“W-Why did you help me?” He asked. He looked on the brink of tears.
Ken merely smiled and put his arm around the broad shoulders of Daichi. “What kind of person would sit back and watch his best friend get beaten up by some thugs?”
“B-Best friend?” Daichi stammered, before the damn suddenly broke. Tears began to flood from his eyes as he cried out all of his grievances.
“I’m sowwy Ken.” He sniffled, trying to compose himself. “I didn’t mean to be rude to you. It’s just every friend I have always suffers from bullying wherever I go. I didn’t want you to go through the same thing that I have to go through.”
Ken frowned. He had never heard of Daichi being bullied before, especially during middle school. Is that why he moved from Fukushima? Because of bullying?
However, he was not given a chance to think any further as he heard a deep voice call out to him.
“You two. Come with me to the principals office.”
“Ah damn.”
