"He relied on his instinct and athleticism to dominate our opponents. At least until the first round of Koshien when we met Yokohama, or should I say, you."
Kei's eyes shined as he came to this point in the story, his gaze staring at Ken as if he was his idol. There was a sort of fanaticism that should not have been present in his eyes.
Ken couldn't help but shudder subconsciously, not appreciating such a gaze from another man.
Yet the guy didn't seem to care, still looking at Ken like his prized possession.
"S-So? You're happy that we beat you guys because of Tatsuo?" While Ken probably could have put all the pieces together himself, he was having a hard time thinking while being stared at in such a way.
"Yes! Ever since you beat him, he's been serious about baseball, almost to the point of obsessing over it."
"Okay, that's good I guess." Ken nodded
Kei smiled warmly, "Our coach said that Tatsuo could be the best player in Japan if he ever decided to take baseball seriously."
Only now did Ken's jaw drop.
"What!? Coach Hashira said that??"
"Eh? You know our coach?" This time it was Kei's turn to be confused.
"Know him? Who doe— ahem… I've heard rumors of his ability." Ken quickly cut himself off. He had almost blown his cover as a regressor in that moment.
Coach Hashira was the newbie coach who took over the Hanshin Tigers and turned them from a lower tier team into a powerhouse. In fact, Daichi was a player they had recruited the year before they won the NPB title.
He had recognized the quiet and calculating guy who was hovering around the edge of the field when they played Shinjuku. The fact that the farsighted and sharp Coach Hashira had said such a thing about Tatsuo, meant that it was likely true.
Ken had a feeling that if they met in next years Koshien, their match up would be much harder.
Kei didn't seem to recognize the oddness in his tone, or he just chose to ignore it. Either way, he was happy to talk about his friend seemingly all night if Ken didn't put an end to the conversation.
"Hey um, it's getting pretty late so I was thinking about getting some sleep." Ken said, doing his best to extricate himself.
"Yes yes, sorry. I get a little carried away when talking about Tatsuo. You see, he's like a little brother to me. Since I grew up in an orphanage, it was like I had 20 brothers and sisters growing up. It wasn't until a foster family…"
Kei continued on his conversation, as if he was detailing the life of a protagonist in a novel. He spared no detail as he went through his life story, even vividly describing meals he had on certain nights.
There were many times where Ken tried to interject and suggest that it was time to get some rest, however Kei would just agree with him before continuing his story.
'I just want my damn lottery prizes!' Ken cried inwardly.
Almost an hour later, Ken was having dark thoughts as his hand slowly and stealthily moved its way towards the bat he'd hidden under his pillow.
He was at the point where he wanted to put an end to the conversation himself, regardless of the consequences.
"Ah man, my mouth is dry. I think that might be a sign that it's time for sleep." Kei announced before jumping off the bed and grabbing his drink bottle. He was like a camel as he devoured the whole thing in a few gulps.
After finishing he turned to Ken and smiled.
"Thanks for the chat, goodnight."
He flicked off the light and hopped into his own bed. Within 10 seconds there was the sound of snoring, causing Ken's eyebrow to twitch.
'This guy… is such a weirdo.'
Ken stared daggers through the dark at the guy who had forced him to listen to his life story. Though in the next moment he was caught in between a sigh and a hollow chuckle.
It seemed the old adage was true, one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
While Kei looked like a typical delinquent and even wore a scary face, he was actually a caring person who cared deeply about his friends.
In that regard they weren't too different.
Of course his social skills were utter garbage, particularly when it came to picking up certain queues. Like the one where he said that he was tired and wanted to sleep already.
Yet at the end of the day, he was not a bad guy.
'I definitely won't be sharing a room with him again though…' Ken thought inwardly.
He would beat the daylights out of Hiroki if he tried to pull the same trick he did today.
Ken quickly looked at the time on his phone before hopping into bed. It was rather late, but he wouldn't be able to sleep if he didn't use his Golden Lottery tickets tonight.
Without wasting another second, he quickly brought up his system window and went straight to the lottery screen.
A few moments later he heard the familiar sound of the wheel spinning, bringing with it a sense of excitement.
[Congratulations, you have received 1 x Recovery Elixir]
'Nice!'
Despite no longer being able to use one on himself, he knew just how effective the Recovery Elixir was. It was able to fix his brain injury, leaving nothing but a superficial bruise to cover its tracks.
From the description, he knew that it could be used on others. Who knew when he would need something like this again.
He spun the wheel once more, crossing his fingers for something good.
[Congratulations, you have received the Trait: Dauntless]
*DING*
[User has unlocked their first Trait and is rewarded with 15,000 Major Points]
'Huh? What is this?'
Ken heard the notification go off in his mind and was startled. He read the text a few times, just to make sure that he wasn't going crazy.