With thousands in attendance, and millions tuning in all over the world, the final game of the World Series was about to get underway. All those who Ken had played with in this life were watching, waiting for him to step onto the biggest stage.
Former teammates, coaches, even scouts who had missed out on the chance to recruit him in the past.
Ken's indomitable will had carried him this far, enduring everything that the system had to throw at him. While he had not achieved perfection, at least he could say that he tried his best.
Walking out from the dugout, Ken felt a serene calm settle over him. No matter what happened tonight, his system would no longer be with him after this game.
Either he would win the game and complete the final mission, retaining the abilities he was given by the system. Or he would lose the game, reverting to the talent he had prior to regressing.
Ken's eyes scanned the opposing dugout and found the person he was looking for. Placing his hands in his pockets, his tall figure sauntered over to a certain player near the end of the bench.
This player had already seen him coming over since Ken left the dugout, but he still seemed surprised by the visit.
It was at this point that Ken realized he had never really spoken to Ryan directly. The realization caused him to freeze on the spot, his calmness vanishing completely.
'Have I really never spoken to Ryan before?' He thought with utter disbelief.
They had spoken to each other through after-game interviews, but it was not directly. They had also shared looks while facing each other, yet they'd never spoken.
Suddenly, his mind went crazy. Had his rivalry been completely one-sided? What did Ryan actually think of him?
Now filled with some doubt, whatever confidence he'd mustered earlier had turned to dust. Yet either fortunately or unfortunately, Ken was wearing his poker face, his eyes still glued to Ryan.
"What's up with this guy?" One of the Miami players muttered.
So while Ken was having a mental crisis, Ryan began to look uncomfortable.
"Can I help you, young Ken?" An older man, likely one of the assistant coach's for Miami approached politely.
"Hmm? I just wanted to talk with him." Ken said, pointing at Ryan at the end of the bench.
The atmosphere seemed to shift as the finger was pointed. From an outsiders perspective, these two rivals were about to throwdown, perhaps indulging in some trash talk before the game.
At this, the older assistant coach frowned and stepped between them. "What is there to talk about? You can talk through your baseball skills on the field." He said, taking a stance.
Ken raised his eyebrow, not understanding why the old man was so tense. "I just want him to sign this ball…" he said, pulling out a baseball from his pocket.
"Huh?"
All of the Miami players and staff in the surroundings went absolutely silent, unsure if they heard him right. Even Ryan looked utterly confused.
Seeing everyone stare at him, Ken felt even more awkward. He wasn't sure why it had become such a big deal. But since he'd come so far, he decided to persist.
"Can you sign this please?" Ken looked past the older man and asked Ryan directly.
"Sure…" Ryan got up and collected the ball and a black marker from Ken.
"Please make it out to Derek."
At these words, all the Miami players seemed to have understood the scenario. They had initially thought Ken was asking for a signature personally, but hearing the additional request cleared up things.
Ryan too seemed to relax a little after hearing this.
A few moments later, Ryan tossed the ball and marker back to him. Feeling relieved he had got what he came for, Ken wanted to just swiftly leave the area before the awkwardness seeped into his bones.
But it was too rude to leave right away after requesting something.
"Good luck today… May the best team win." Ken said before swiftly turning on his heel and making his way back to his dugout.
'What the hell was that…?' Ken complained inwardly at his awkward actions, realizing that he had probably made a fool of himself.
'Is this what the kids mean when they say someone lost aura?'
"Oh, you got the signature already?" Daichi asked his brother who was gripping the ball in his hand, his face red.
"Y—Yeah… Piece of cake." Ken replied, letting out a nervous laugh. "I'm going to go deliver this to Charles." He said, walking right past his brother.
Once he'd made it safely into the locker room, Ken sat down and let out a deep sigh. It seems that no matter how much the system changed him, he was still awkward deep down.
The absurdity of the situation left him chuckling dryly.
"I should probably get this to Charles so I can warm-up." Ken muttered to himself.
After walking back down the tunnels, he finally bumped into the security guard he was looking for.
"Catch." He called out, tossing the signed baseball over.
Charles caught it with one hand, his eyes lighting up. "Oh, thank you Ken. You didn't have to do that…"
"It was easy, don't worry about it." Ken lied, waving it off.
"Hey, do you mind signing one for him as well?" Charles asked, pulling out a new baseball seemingly out of nowhere.
"Ah, sure. But didn't you say that Ryan was his favorite pitcher?" Ken asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah well he's only 5, so he's prone to changing his mind. If you become his favorite player one day, it would be too depressing not to have something signed by you." Charles explained, his expression looking a little pained.
Ken laughed in good humor. He was right, if Derek only received Ryan's signed ball and Ken ended up becoming his favorite player, the ball would be an ironic reminder of what he missed out on.