“Hah! I told you not to underestimate him.” Ai said, pointing at the TV and yelling as if the hosts could hear her words.
By now, Rie was accustomed to Ai’s outbursts. The moment Ken was on TV or even mentioned by the commentators, she knew that there was no point in trying to get her attention.
Yet she wasn’t too upset, especially since she’d found a piece of eye candy to look at.
Her eyes were glued onto a figure that was walking back to the dugout from 1st base, ogling the muscles through his tight National Team uniform.
“Achoo!”
Hiroki sneezed loudly before feeling a shudder run up his spine. He looked around in question, feeling as if he was being spied upon.
“Dude, cover your damn face when you sneeze.” Aki complained, grabbing a nearby towel and wiping himself down.
“He’s right Hiroki, that’s very unsanitary.”
After being scolded by Kuro, Hiroki quickly apologized before finding a place to sit on the bench. Only after he sat down did the feeling of being watched intently disappear from his body.
BUZZ BUZZ
In another part of the stadium, Tetsuhiro retrieved his phone from his pocket and saw the caller ID.
“Please excuse me for a moment.”
He quickly left the corporate box and answered the call, his actions obviously impatient.
“What did you find?” He asked.
Unperturbed by his eagerness, the female on the other line calmly answered.
“This Daichi was adopted by the former NPB Foreign Advisor, Chris Takagi. His biological mother is Sachiko Koga and biological father… Tatsuhiro Suzuki”
Upon hearing these words, Tetsuhiro dropped to his knees, tears instantly falling down his face. He felt a mixture of emotions, each clashing against each other painfully.
“Boss…”
“Boss?”
He took a few moments to sort out his feelings before slowly getting to his feet and straightening his suit. Then, he put the phone to his ear and spoke.
“Track down that woman. I don’t care how long it takes…”
“Understood.”
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Tetsuhiro was silent for a while, as if he was taking in all of this new information. He was thankful that no one had seen him in his earlier vulnerable state since men of his position were never to show such weakness.
The last time he had broken down like this was when his Brother and Grandfather died, leaving him all alone to manage the family business.
“I’ve finally found your son Tatsu… Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him for you.” Tetsuhiro muttered these words as he looked upwards towards the ceiling. His gaze seemed to look past the confines and into heaven itself.
“Mr. Suzuki, dinner will be served shortly.”
A voice came from the door, one of the stadium’s staff members who was in charge of the corporate areas. He seemed a little reluctant to call out, but the guests had already asked for the man’s whereabouts.
Tetsuhiro let out a small sigh, his back turned to the staff member. He quickly fixed his tie before turning around with no evidence remaining from his earlier emotional state.
“Thank you.” He said, walking through the opened door.
His eyes looked around the room briefly before tracking down the President of the WBSC, Richard Fresco. He was currently snacking on some of the food brought out and chatting merrily to the others in attendance.
Tetsuhiro curled his lip in distaste, but he quickly composed himself.
“Richard, may I have a word?” He asked politely.
“Ah, of course. What can I help you with?” Richard replied, quickly using a napkin to remove some of the sauce left on his lips.
“Who will be presenting the awards tonight?”
“Uhh, that would be myself.”
Tetsuhiro frowned, not bothering to hide his displeasure.
“Don’t you believe that my family have made a solid contribution to the running of this event?” He asked, causing the others within earshot to be slightly taken aback.
“W-Well o-of course Mr. Suzuki. We wouldn’t have been able to fund this event without your family’s assistance in the matter.” Richard replied, stammering a little.
“Mmm, as I thought. Do you think perhaps that I could represent my family and give my home team their awards tonight?” Tetsuhiro asked, his tone slightly softening.
He was well versed in business, having run his family business for many years. As long as he showed his displeasure initially, the other party would scramble to satisfy him in order to not offend.
Richard frowned for a few moments, yet upon seeing the expression on the man’s face, he knew that he was left with little choice.
While generally it was his job to hand out the awards, it wasn’t uncommon for sponsors to stand beside the President during the award ceremony.
Yet from the information he received from Martin, Tetsuhiro was not fond of baseball. There were even talks that he would send his son as a proxy member of the family to attend today.
‘Why the sudden change of heart?’ He thought.
Of course he would not ask the man directly. The last thing he wanted to do was question a man in Tetsuhiro’s position.
“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. It will also be good for the Japanese team since there will be no language barrier.” Richard said eventually.
Tetsuhiro’s face lit up, his stern expression disappearing as if it were never there in the first place.
“Excellent! Let’s watch the game.” He replied, smacking the large gentleman on the back a couple of times softly.
“Ha haha, sure thing. Can I get you anything to drink?” Richard let out a sigh of relief seeing that everything had worked out fine. He couldn’t afford to offend the rich man in front of him, otherwise his job may be forfeit.
The two engaged in more conversation surrounding the game as Richard got him up to speed on what had happened. He explained some of the terminology and happenings as if his counterpart was a newbie.
Despite knowing mostly everything about baseball, Tetsuhiro nodded along, allowing the other man to feel comfortable.
The plot thickens…
Mass release: 28/30
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