Hiroki was essentially the best all-round player on the team and he was only in his second year of high school. Just imagining what kind of monster would be unleashed if his potential was unlocked gave him goosebumps.
Now that he thought about it, Hiroki never made it to the professional league in his previous life either.
Ken's thoughts were broken by the coach who looked like he was about to speak.
"We've been training hard for the past month, and now is the time to test out how far we've come." Coach Hanada said, looking over all his players.
"In the 3 month lead up to Koshien we'll be playing other schools almost every weekend."
He continued, "We'll talk about our opponents later, but I wanted to announce the first team for the friendly matches."
A wave of excitement fell upon the players, or at least those who were not already in the first squad. Shiro subconsciously gravitated towards Ken, gripping onto his arm and showing his anxiety.
"If I call your name, step forward…"
"Catcher: Yuta Saito. Infield: Naoki Itō, Hiroki Kondo, Yasushi Tsuchida, Makoto Watanabe. Outfield: Tatsuya Aoyama, Jun Aoyama, Yuki Yamada."
Ken nodded, these were the standard first squad members. He wasn't surprised that the coach was keeping the same line up in this situation.
"Pitcher… Akira Matsui. Relief pitchers: Ken Takagi, Shogo Morikawa."
The coach's next words caused every player on the field to look around with confusion. There were even some players such as Makoto who audibly let out their shock.
However, Akira was the most shocked out of everyone. He knew that Ken was better than him, which was why he had been working so hard to improve himself in the last month.
'So the coach hasn't given up on me just yet.'
Tears began to form at the corner of his eyes as he was filled with gratitude. He inwardly vowed to change his ways, thanking the coach for his belief in him.
Coach Hanada's gaze fell on Ken who seemed to have no reaction. His expression was unflappable, as if nothing could effect him.
"Coach, I thought Ken was already announced as the Ace?"
Hiroki voiced his concerns aloud, taking it upon himself to address the issue.
However, the coach shook his head. "I said this is the starting line up for the friendly matches. I won't be accepting any feedback."
A small smile crept onto Ken's face as he was able to read between the lines.
'The coach wants to keep me a secret by the looks of it. But I should probably get some play time against the teams in the other prefectures.'
Since they would only see the champions of the other prefectures at Koshien, it would be inconsequential if Ken played against those teams who had no chance. It seemed that the coach had this planned from the beginning.
The less data the teams in his prefecture had of Ken pitching, the better their chances of advancing to Nationals in the first place.
Of course he wanted to play, but he would do anything in order for the team to win at this point.
After shutting down Hiroki curtly, the coach continued.
"Bench players: Yasuki Hattori, Hideaki Takubo, Shiro Masuda. That is all."
Ken felt the grip on his arm tighten. When he turned around he saw Shiro's ugly crying face, causing him to recoil subconsciously.
"I-I'm so happy" He said, tears and snot covering his face.
Since he was still kind of out of breath, Shiro looked like a sick patient in the hospital who was afflicted with some kind of disease.
"D-Dude stay back." Ken said as he saw Shiro inching closer to him.
Ai, Yuko and Kaori who were off to the side watched on with mixed emotions as the coach gave the announcement.
The youngest of them looked worriedly at Ken who was currently backing away from Shiro. She had watched him since the coach said he'd be a relief pitcher, yet his expression was as stoic as ever.
She expected to see some pain or disappointment on his features, especially since he had been working so hard over the past month. However, he was like a machine instead, showing no emotions.
For some reason this made her feel sorrow on his behalf.
Ai thought back to their meeting this morning where he seemed to be more genuine in front of her and felt an ache in her heart.
"Don't worry Ai, I'm sure the coach has his reasons for making Ken the backup pitcher." Yuko said, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Y-Yeah. See even Ken doesn't appear to be upset about it." Kaori pointed out, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah…" Ai said after a while, letting out a sigh.
"Let's go get the towels and waters and cheer everyone up." She said a moment later, leaving the scene.
Unaware of the concern being shown his way, Ken had managed to finally avoid the snot demon Shiro and was about to head over and begin his batting training.
"Ken, do you have a moment?"
"Hmm?" Ken spun around, hearing the coaches voice.
He quickly followed the coach, having an inkling about what he wanted to talk about.
Once they were far enough away from prying ears, Coach Hanada turned to Ken and spoke. "I know I said that I would make you the Ace of the team, but you need to trust me okay?"
Hearing this, Ken could only smile in response. Despite his outward appearance, the coach always looked out for his players, even going so far as to pull Ken aside after such an announcement.
"Don't worry coach, I would have done the same thing." He said confidently.
"Oh? And why is that?" Taken aback, the coach asked.
With a smirk, Ken replied. "It makes sense to keep your best weapon hidden until the prefectural tournaments start right?"
Seiji Hanada blinked a few times before scoffing.
"Bah, just make sure you're in form when I need you." He said, waving off the cocky teenager. However a small smile crept onto his face the moment he turned his back.