In a dark room, there were flickers of light from the projector which was currently showing a baseball match. In particular, the video was focused on a tall individual upon the mound with foreign features.
His face was handsome and his wild brown eyes gave him a fierce disposition.
As he stared down from the mound, one could feel the determination and fighting spirit of the individual. If that wasn’t enough, the sound of the roaring fastball entered everyone’s ears, adding to the sense of danger.
“As you know, we will be facing Yokohama later today. From my assessment, this guy will be the one we need to beat if we want a shot at winning the game.”
Coach Narukami pointed his laser towards the figure on the board before turning his gaze to everyone in the room.
There were around 25 students, all wearing the training clothes for Osaka Toin. Since they were staying at their facility, they were in the best position to practice and keep focused while they competed in Nationals.
“Daichi, I know he’s your brother, but do you know of any weaknesses that you can share with us?” Coach Narukami asked, turning his attention to a youth with wide shoulders and a baby face.
“Eh?”
“Daichi’s brother? They don’t even look alike.”
“I thought they just had the same last name.”
The room broke into whispers at the revelation that Daichi had a brother that just so happened to be one of the best high school pitchers in the country.
Apart from a few like Kouichi who already knew this, he hadn’t gone around telling others.
Daichi shook his head, “No coach. To be honest, I’ve never caught Ken’s right-armed pitches before.”
“EH!?”
Another round of confusion took place.
At first they had only just found out Daichi had a brother, next was that he’d never caught his right-armed pitches before. What did such a thing even mean?
“Why did you have to specify right-armed pitches? Did he used to be a southpaw?”
Yatsuo who was nearby quickly spoke up, his interest piqued.
Daichi let out a small sigh before coming clean.
“My brother had an injured shoulder and couldn’t pitch with his right arm for over a year. He still wanted to throw so he took up pitching with his left arm in the meantime.”
“He switched to southpaw?”
“Who does that?”
A few of the players spoke out in shock at the seemingly impossible feat.
“But now his injury is healed.” Coach Narukami interjected, pulling the conversation back in his direction.
“The fact he pitched with his left is irrelevant. Since Daichi has no insider knowledge for us, we can only use the information that is currently available to us.”
The team seemed to have regained its composure, turning their attention back to the coach, waiting for him to continue.
Coach Narukami nodded in satisfaction.
“Currently, Ken’s weakness is in his limited pitches. He only throws 2 kinds of balls; Fastballs and Forkballs.”
“Out of the almost 500 balls he’s thrown in the tournament so far, he’s thrown 437 fastballs and only 63 forkballs. Not only that…
The coach used the remote and fast-forwarded the video before stopping it.
“Take a look here.”
He shined the laser pointer to the spot, a grin forming on his face. In the next moment he pressed play, beginning the video.
Daichi was the first person who let out a small gasp as he watched the tape with his full focus. A small smile appeared on his face, yet it was bittersweet.
‘Sorry bro, but we’ll be moving onto the finals.’
***
The Yokohama team arrived at the arena an hour before the game. Since there was only 2 matches being played that day, the organizers had allowed a larger gap between games.
This meant that the teams would be able to arrive earlier into the locker rooms to get ready.
As they made their way into the stadium, they heard the crowd erupt into cheers, chanting a name over and over.
“KORYU!”
“KORYU!”
“KORYU!”
In the next moment, a voice echoed over the cheers, drowning them out.
“Congratulations to Koryu for winning the match and qualifying for the finals.”
Ken looked around at his teammates who seemed to be nervous. No one was surprised that Koryu had won their match as they had been one of the favorites since the tournament began.
“They’ll be announcing our name soon enough guys, don’t you worry.”
Makoto spoke up in the middle of everyone, his muscular figure as stalwart as always. His expression was so serious that Ken could almost see flames in his eyes.
“Heh, the Captain’s right. Let’s just focus on the game in front of us first.” Yuta piped up.
For some reason he seemed to be in a really cheerful mood this morning, causing others to speculate. Even Yuko seemed different, her skin and cheeks glowing in the midday sun.
Speculations aside, the team roared out in agreement. They would not lack confidence going against any team, particularly with their potent offense and Iron defense.
“Alright guys, let’s quickly get changed and get onto the field. It’s time to change gears.”
Coach Hanada spoke out. He was at the very front of the pack, looking like a mother duckling as he took charge of his flock and directed them where to go.
Ken could see that he was excited, anxious even.
Yet that just meant that he valued this opportunity as much or even more so than everyone here.
A few minutes later they arrived in the locker room and began to get changed. The smell of Icy hot seeped into everyone’s nostrils, the menthol working wonders for any blocked nasal passages.
Ken approached Yuta who was wearing a dumb smile, unlike his usual smiling Buddha expression.
“Oi, Yuta.” Ken clicked his fingers in front of the guys face, trying to get his attention.
Yuta almost jumped out of fright, however noticing that it was Ken he let out a sigh of relief, reverting back to his happy atmosphere.
While I never played baseball, I played Basketball and Rugby growing up. Whenever I smell Deep Heat (Icy Hot), I get a massive bout of nostalgia lol.
Yuta is acting weird… Can the Ace pull him out of his euphoria?
Also what was it that Osaka have figured out about Ken?
Still at #9 GT rankings, keep up the good work team!
Mass release count: 23 chaps
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