Daichi didn’t answer for a while, but he soon nodded and turned around to follow Ken. He didn’t say another word to his mother who was still silently seated where he had left her.
The two walked out of the house and onto the streets. Ken gazed at Daichi and saw the bruises and swelling on his face, inwardly cringing at the injuries.
“A-Are you okay?” Ken asked, not knowing what else to say in this situation.
“Yeah…” Daichi replied, finally feeling the pain settling in after the rush of adrenaline.
The two walked in silence for a while before they had almost arrived at Ken’s house. Daichi stopped abruptly in the middle of the street, his fists clenched tightly.
Ken walked a few more steps before noticing, and turned around to face him with a questioning gaze.
Before he could ask what was wrong, Daichi bowed at 90 degrees and began to speak.
“I’m sorry for keeping this a secret Ken. In the future I won’t hold anything back from you. You are my best friend in the world. You and your family have made me feel love and affection that I never knew existed.”
Tears began to fall on the pavement as Ken watched on in shock. What love and affection? Isn’t that how families are supposed to be? He felt a sour feeling crawl up his throat as he looked at his dear friend.
Ken quickly moved forward and helped his friend up, he couldn’t accept such a bow.
“There’s no need to thank us man, you’re my best friend, of course we would treat you well.” Ken stated, trying to calm him down.
Daichi lifted his face which was covered in tears and bruises, yet he was wearing a stern expression.
“Then if I’m your best friend, then why are you acting like this?”
“Huh? Acting like what?” Ken was perplexed, not understanding what he was talking about.
Daichi continued, his eyes staring directly into Ken’s.
“That smile at practice today after you failed miserably. Being overly happy about my performance and keeping your frustrations to yourself, it’s just as bad as lying. Best friends don’t lie to each other.”
Ken’s eyes widened in response. He didn’t think that a teenager at Daichi’s age would be so sharp that he could detect such a thing when he had tried so hard to hide it.
Yet Ken got a little angry, feeling as if he had done nothing wrong.
“So what if I’m happy for you? Isn’t that what friends do? I don’t want you to feel bad because I had a crappy showing, that would just ruin your success!”
“Do you really think that such a thing would affect my success? Friends confide in each other and experience ups and downs together. If you’re not willing to be honest with me, then do you even consider me as your best friend?” Daichi countered.
Ken was taken aback and instantly went on the defensive. Perhaps it was his teenage hormones, or the fact that he felt attacked, but his response was not what he really wanted to say.
“Oh yeah? I could ask you the same question about keeping your mothers abuse a secret.”
The moment the words came out of his mouth, Ken instantly regretted it. He could see the light from Daichi’s eyes pale a little and his fists clench as he stood in silence for a while.
“I-I’m sorry Daichi, I should not have said something so insensitive. I had a suspicion that things weren’t okay at home, but I didn’t pry because you didn’t want to talk about it.” Ken admitted, feeling his anger dissipate quickly.
“I forgive you.” Daichi said simply. He could understand that they were both youth’s and would be prone to an outburst every now and then.
“Tell me why you stepped down as the Ace Pitcher of the team.” Daichi asked, however his expression made it apparent that he already had a guess.
Ken nodded. He had already resolved himself to come clean seeing as both of them were exposed.
“I have a shoulder injury. If I continue to pitch then I will destroy it for good.” He admitted, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.
Daichi held his gaze for a while before he finally seemed satisfied. Without warning, he walked forward and pulled Ken into a hug, almost squashing him with his powerful grasp.
“Thank you best friend.” He said softly.
Ken was startled for a moment before he finally hugged back.
For the whole time that he had known Daichi in his past life, he had never known as much about him until now. The abuse from his mother and his struggles with bullying, or how compassionate he could be.
If he were to be honest, just achieving these things during his second chance made him feel as if he had already achieved much more than his previous life, filling him with happiness.
“Once your shoulder heals, let’s aim to become pro together.” Daichi declared, stepping back from the hug and holding him at arms length.
Ken’s eyes widened before a smile formed on his face. That’s right, he wanted to live his life without regrets. This meant fulfilling his baseball dreams as well.
He nodded, “Yeah it’s a promise. Let’s get to the NPB and then the Majors!”
“Hahahaha”
The two laughed in the middle of the street like a couple of old men.
