Ken's mouth was salivating just thinking about the rewards that were up for grabs from the system's mission. If they won today, he would receive a SS-Grade Physicality Elixir and if he got player of the tournament it was a SS-Grade Mental Elixir up for grabs.
With those thoughts in mind, Ken moved around the locker room and checked in on every single one of the players, ensuring they were all locked in.
While the first few players like Makoto and Yuta appreciated his concern, by the time he got to Yusuke and Hiroki, they shooed him away like an annoying fly.
"Go sit on the bench or something, you're annoying me."
"Yeah, or maybe grab us some water?"
Ken's eyebrow twitched in response, feeling the sudden urge to inflict some pain on his so called friends. However, just before he acted on his impulses, he saw Akira sitting by himself in the corner.
He decided to extricate himself from Hiroki and Yusuke in order to check on him.
The two hadn't really spoken before, but Ken could instinctively tell that the guy was nervous. In all honesty he could understand and even sympathize with the guy.
Playing the finals of Koshien in your first ever match on National TV. Starting on the mound after the Ace had gone down to an injury?
The pressure must have been suffocating.
Without a word, Ken sat down beside the lean guy and looked at him dead in the face.
"Are you nervous?" He asked simply.
Of course that was a ridiculous thing to ask. It was quite obvious due to the circumstances that he would be freaking out right now.
Akira raised his head slowly before nodding.
Ken wasn't one to console his competition, however at the end of the day, this guy was his teammate and they needed him in order to win the game.
"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't jealous of you right now." He admitted.
"We came all this way and now I have to sit out the final game of the tournament, the most important match of the year."
Akira's face darkened a little, he was sure that Ken was going to come over and try to make him feel better. But this was definitely not was he had expected.
If anything, he felt even worse after hearing those words.
"But… If there is anyone that I would trust in getting us the win, it's you Akira."
'Huh?'
Akira's eyes widened in shock, thinking that he might have misheard Ken thanks to the acoustics in the locker room or something. He had almost nothing to do with Ken since he'd joined the team, so why was he saying so much.
"I've seen your work ethic this whole time. Don't think that I don't know you stay behind after practice to continue working on your pitching." Ken said, a small smile touching the corner of his lips.
Once again Akira was speechless.
'When have I ever stayed back after practice?' He thought inwardly.
Taking his silence as permission to continue, Ken wove this brilliant story about Akira who had fallen from grace as the Ace pitcher and was on the path to redemption. The way he talked about him made Akira think he'd gotten the wrong guy.
'What the hell is this guy talking about?'
"In conclusion, your hard work has paid off. You get to pitch on the biggest stage against the toughest competition with the best teammates." Ken said, bringing his story to a close.
"Just know that you don't have to do everything by yourself. Everyone behind you has got your back okay?" He placed his hand upon Akira's shoulder and smiled widely.
"U-Um… Sure. Thanks" Akira said, feeling slightly awkward.
"Good! Now let's go kick some ass." He said with a grin before leaving.
Watching Ken's retreating figure, Akira couldn't help but let out a laugh. The made up story seemed like a fairy tale compared to what had really happened.
While he had been doing his best since Ken took over as the Ace, he was also pragmatic enough to know he was only good enough to be a relief pitcher.
All it took was for a 1st year to come and humble him in the very first month after arriving.
So instead of going for speed and flashiness like he used to, he focused on pitching to contact. Since he didn't have the body strength and speed to capitalize on brute strength, he picked the only other route that made sense.
Suddenly he felt all of the anxiety from before begin to dissipate.
Why should he stress over something that he couldn't control?
All he needed to do was pitch just like he'd been training to do this whole time.
Coach Hanada happened to witness the exchange between Ken and Akira. At one point he had considered stepping in because the latter seemed to be getting worse, however he stopped himself.
Now seeing the look on Akira's face, he knew that he made the right decision.
'Nice work Ken.' He said inwardly, giving Ken a thumbs up in his heart.
Around 30 minutes later, the coach rounded up everyone and they made their way to the field. While walking through the tunnels, they could hear the commotion upon the stands as everyone made their way towards their seats.
Despite making this walk quite a few times in the past two weeks, the atmosphere felt rather heavy today. This was likely since everyone knew this was the final match to decide the champions of this year's Koshien.
If they were to win, then they'd bring themselves and the school glory.
Feeling the pressure, the Yokohama team made their way onto the field and were greeted by the cheers of the crowd. While there was still another 20 or so minutes until the game was scheduled to start, the seats were filling rapidly.
"Alright everyone, take your things to the dugout and meet back on the field for warm ups." Coach Hanada directed, his voice needing to compete with the crowds.
The final for this years Koshien was not far away.