Carlos saw Ken getting up from the bench out of the corner of his eye and smiled widely.
"It's about time you joined us! Hahaha."
Ken didn't respond, still awaiting the confirmation from the coach. He wasn't like Carlos who selfishly put his own desires above his coach and his team.
Even Coach Goto seemed a little embarrassed from the affair. Since they needed Carlos's talent, he had pandered to the kids demands more often than not.
Whenever he didn't want to play a game, the coach would relent. But that was where it usually stopped, he'd never seen the kid act in such a way before. It was as if he was obsessed with Ken for some reason or another.
Obsessed enough to forcefully foul every ball from the current pitcher in order to draw Ken off the bench.
Coach Hanada locked eyes with the opposition coach for a moment, almost as if he was questioning if it was Goto's idea. However, he only needed to see the exasperated and apologetic expression on his face to understand he had nothing to do with it.
He let out a small sigh before making up his mind.
"Alright. Don't let this kid continue to make a joke out of this game we love." Coach Hanada said, placing his hand on Ken's shoulder.
With his decision made, he walked onto the field and got the attention of the umpires.
"Pitcher change, Ken Takagi will be replacing Akira Matsui."
The umpire heard the coach and made the sign for a substitution, pausing play.
Ken grabbed his hat and glove and began to rotate his shoulder, stimulating the blood flow.
*DING*
NEW MISSION HAS BEEN ISSUED.
#MISSION: Baseball's Honor (Urgent Mission)
DESCRIPTION: An opposing player is taking the game lightly, willfully placing their whims above those of their teammates and jeopardizing their success. System has deemed this unacceptable and requested you teach this arrogant player a lesson.
*Task: Humble the arrogant Carlos Toro by striking him out 3 times in this match and win the game.
REWARDS:
>S-Grade Physicality Elixir
>Skill: Showdown
PUNISHMENT: (In case of failure)
>Pitching grade reduced by 2
MISSION IS MANDATORY AND HAS BEEN ACCEPTED.
Ken's eyes widened after reading the sudden mission that appeared in front of him. It seemed that the system also had a problem with Carlos's actions in this game, leading to such a result.
This was the first time that the system had done something like this, however…
'Pitching grade reduced by 2!? What the hell!'
He'd worked so hard to get it to A- grade and no matter how much he improved it wouldn't budge. But now the system was prepared to take it away from him? Even forcing him to accept the mission…
Although the punishment was harsh, a part of Ken felt even more motivated to punish Carlos. He already had the intention to destroy him, now he just had more incentive.
The easiest way to humiliate a slugger was to strike them out. To do so 3 times in a single match would have the ultimate effect.
The rewards were something he desperately needed since he intended to win the game and get to Koshien next. There would be much better teams at nationals than Shuei after all.
As for the punishment, he only glanced at it briefly.
'I have no intention of failing.'
Ken walked onto the field, this time a small smile pulling up the corner of his lips.
"Nice work Akira, I'll take it from here." He said, holding out his glove to receive the ball.
Although he seemed a little downcast, Akira eventually gave the ball over. He couldn't help but feel a little humiliated at this moment, since he'd been played with by the foreign batter.
"Make sure you get him back for me."
With that, Akira headed back to the dugout alone. Ken watched his retreating figure, feeling a little bad for him. He had made that walk from the mound to the dugout after being replaced before, it was not a good feeling.
However, now was not the time to dwell on such things. He turned his attention to Carlos who had been waiting patiently for this moment. A gigantic grin formed on his face, exposing his pearly whites.
"I'm getting fired up!" He shouted, gripping his bat tightly and getting ready to swing.
"Oi, get out of the batters box." The umpire said, giving the guy a weird look.
"What? No I want to bat…" He replied, a frown forming on his face.
"We need some warm up pitches." Yuta decided to chime in, considering the guy had lost all reason.
"Ah, of course of course"
Carlos stepped away from the plate and squared up a few meters away. He waited until the first pitch was thrown, swinging his bat in time and creating a whooshing noise.
'No no, it needs to be faster.'
WHOOSH
'Faster'
'Faster!'
'FASTER'
PAH
"That's it… That's what I've been waiting for."
A look of satisfaction crept onto his face as he heard the sound of the ball enter the catchers leather glove. There was a particular sound that was made when a fast pitch landed into a glove, that sound was his second favorite sound.
Of course his true favorite sound was the ball hitting his bat.
"Okay we're ready." Yuta told the umpire who then motioned for Carlos to return to the batters box.
Ken juggled the rosin bag in his right hand as he waited for the batter to get ready. Seeing the large grin on the man's face only made him want to humiliate the guy even more.
Since it was currently an 0-2 count, Ken only needed to throw one strike to complete his first strikeout of the mission. While they were ahead on the count, he had no intentions of trying to bait a swing with a well placed ball.
As if reading his mind, Yuta placed his glove in the center of the strike zone and gave the signal.
"Hehe, looks like we're in sync today Senpai." He mumbled, getting into his stance.
Lifting his left knee to his chest, Ken compacted his body before leaping forward and planting his foot, whipping out the ball with tremendous velocity.
Carlos's eyes widened as he took on the beautiful pitch he'd been dreaming of for the past few months. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, obsessing over night after night.
"Thanks for the meal."