Around a few hours later, Ken stirred from his sleep. As his eyes opened, he could see the afternoon sun filtering in through the gaps in his curtains.
His eyesight was sharp, allowing him to see things that he couldn't before. Unconsciously he began to count the particles floating through the air while maintaining his focus on the spinning fan.
Ken's mind began to work in ways that he never thought was possible.
All the information that his brain would subconsciously ignore or disregard was readily available to him in that moment.
'W-What the hell is this?'
He marveled in the new sensation for a few moments, drinking in the feeling. Yet he frowned in the next moment.
His eyes began to feel strained, causing a headache to appear out of nowhere.
'Mika, what's happening to me?' Ken asked, feeling slightly panicked.
[User is using his full mental capacity to examine the room. This will lead to mental fatigue if overused.]
Mika's monotonous voice sounded in his mind, giving him the information he needed in that moment.
'So I just need to teach my brain on what to disregard or ignore again?'
Despite not being told to do so explicitly, Ken's improved intelligence allowed him to intuitively come up with a solution. He began to will his brain to ignore certain things, almost like retraining it once again.
The moment he started doing this, he felt an instant relief.
He breathed out a sigh of relief as he felt the budding headache suddenly fade away. Now that that was done, he laid back down and smiled.
With his newfound mental capacity, he did the first thing that he could think of. Throwing the memory of the torture he had experienced earlier into the deep recesses of his mind.
It served no purpose other than to eat away at his sanity.
'Now that that's gone… Let's see how much I improved.'
[You have consumed: SS-grade Mental Elixir.]
[Mental grade has been increased by 3!]
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: S+
>Pitching: SS-
>Fielding: B-
>Game Intelligence: B-
>Mental: SS
A wide grin crept onto his features as he looked at his new mental grade. Even if he chose to remember the torture it had taken to get it, Ken would still say that it was worth it.
He could already imagine what kind of details he could pick up from upon the mound in the middle of a baseball match.
The shuffling of feet of the runners who wanted to steal a base, or the twitches of the batters fingers as he anxiously awaited his pitch. As long as he could train his brain to filter out all the unnecessary information, it would be a massive boon to his game.
As Ken was thinking of all the benefits he could gain, he heard a knock on the door.
"Ken, your brother is home." Yuki stuck her head in the door to check on him and let him know the good news.
"Thanks Mom, I'll be down in a second."
As soon as Ken exited his room, he once again felt overwhelmed by all the new information that flooded his brain. It took him a few seconds to once again tell his brain what to ignore before he could move on.
'Is this some kind of superpower or something?' He commented inwardly.
Despite just waking up from a nap, he already felt exhausted.
As he descended the stairs, he saw Daichi grinning widely at him.
"Here he comes, the most valuable player and winner of Koshien." Daichi's tone held a little sarcasm, but it was clear that he was happy.
Thanks to his improved mental capacity, he could see every detail on Daichi's face while also interpreting the emotions behind it.
'He wants to attack me?' Ken was shocked when he came to that conclusion, and instantly went on guard as he reached the end of the stairs.
The moment he placed his foot down, Daichi charged forward with his head lowered, aiming for his mid section.
In a fraction of a second, Ken made the decision to pivot his body out of the way, like he was dodging a charging bull.
However, even though his mind was working overtime, his body felt extremely sluggish.
"Eh?"
Daichi managed to grab a hold of him and lifted him off the ground, his arms squeezing him into a tight bear hug. The strength required to haul his tall frame around like a sack of potatoes was quite frightening.
"Hnnng"
Ken felt the air get squeezed from his lungs as he was forced unwillingly into a hug.
"Daichi darling, be gentle with Kenny. He was just in the hospital yesterday remember?"
Yuki's concerned words came from the kitchen, instantly causing Daichi to seize up. He quickly and gently placed Ken on the ground and his face was apologetic.
"A-Ah Ken I'm so sorry!" He quickly looked over his brother up and down, like he was a piece of fine china.
Ken sucked in a few breaths of air, doing his best to recover from the incident. However, he waved his hands, telling him that he was fine.
Soon enough, everything seemed back to normal as they sat down and talked as a family.
Yuki was busy preparing a large feast for the homecoming of her two kids. There was also the added celebration for Chris since she knew that her husband would be quitting his job tomorrow morning.
Once again the house was filled with laughter and merriment. Although they had done this two weeks ago when Daichi last visited, this time felt different.
Her two sons seemed to have grown closer after the tournament, despite everything that had happened in their game. Daichi appeared to look up to his brother even more so than usual.
When the noise of the dinner died down, everyone remained at the table to continue their chat.
"Boys, you'll be pleased to know that I'll be handing in my resignation tomorrow." Chris said, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Awesome!"