"Daichi, you're the next runner." Chris called out, pointing to the base.
"Yes Da— Coach."
Daichi almost slipped up and called out to his father like he usually would. Thankfully no one seemed to notice, too focused on the drill they were going through.
Once he arrived, Chris blew his whistle and fired off another high ball, this time to the right outfield.
DOOONG
There was a lot of hang time once again, allowing the fielder plenty of time to get into position for the catch. However, the position of his body was unlike Masayuki from beforehand.
Upon catching the ball, the player was stationary. Therefore one he caught it, he had to take a few steps before throwing the ball towards Ken upon second base.
This allowed Daichi a good head start to run between the bases.
The throw came in a little higher than Ken wanted it, forcing him to almost stand on the tip of his toes to reach it. If he was of average height he would have needed to jump in order to catch such a ball.
However before he could bring the ball down, Daichi was already safe on 2nd base.
The staff members referred to their clipboards and began to make some notes, only for the player in the outfield to let out a disappointed sigh. He knew that he'd messed up, however he was not an outfielder.
FWHEE
"Rotate!"
Chris hit a few more big one's into the outfield. He was surprisingly good at controlling both the height and direction of the balls, making sure that each fielder had a chance at the fly ball.
Ken watched the ball head in his direction in the right outfield, tracking it carefully with his eyes.
In his peripheral vision, he could see the player in the center gravitating towards his side, looking as if he was going to make a play at the ball.
"Alright, I got it!" Ken yelled.
However, the other player took no notice, almost as if he'd blocked out all of his senses to focus on the ball in the air. Ken frowned, feeling a little irritation creep into his mind.
"I GOT IT!" He yelled once more, yet he was ignored once again.
The ball was rapidly approaching his position which was about to get intercepted by the center fielder. It was clear that if things continued as they were, they were going to have a collision.
Ken felt his mind go to work, calculating the speeds of both the ball and the approaching fielder, trying to come up with a solution.
In the moments before all disaster, Ken sprang into action.
Using his peripheral vision, he located the fielder before throwing out a stiff arm like he was playing American football.
Thanks to his long limbs, Ken's reach was long enough to slow the other fielders momentum without injuring either of them. In the next moment he shoved forward, knocking the fielder out of the way and onto the ground.
Pah
With his forward momentum, Ken caught the ball and was able to lead into a run up, throwing the ball with all of his might into the waiting glove of the person on 2nd base.
The glove which caught the ball easily dipped down and tagged the runner for an out.
"W-What the hell was that!?"
The fielder who'd been thrown to the ground suddenly got up to his feet and charged towards Ken who'd just completed the throw.
His eyes were full of fury as he faced the person who had just manhandled him in front of all the coaches. Yet as he approached, he saw just how intimidating Ken was with his tall frame and powerful figure.
Ken stood his ground, not giving an inch as he stood tall above the center fielder. He had done the right thing, preventing any injuries from the carelessness of the player, and still managed to field the ball properly.
Daichi who was on the left wing quickly ran towards the scuffle, intending to step in the middle. Yet he underestimated the coaching staff, or in particular, his father.
FWHEEEEEEE
Chris threw his bat to the ground and quickly jogged over to the scene, his eyes sharp and full of anger.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" His tone was deep and full of fury, causing the player to jump in fright in the next moment.
"T-This guy pushed me down." He said, pointing to Ken as if it would clear himself of any wrongdoing.
"You're lucky he did. You two could have collided and done much more damage!"
"W-What?"
"Didn't you hear him call for the ball? TWICE!?" Chris berated the teen, clearly not impressed with both his conduct and his awareness.
"N-No he didn't call for the ball." The player shook his head, adamant on that point.
Chris could only shake his head too, yet his features were filled with disappointment.
"Alright, I've seen enough. Not only did you put another teammate in danger, you're arrogant enough to talk back to your coach."
The player's face quickly changed as he felt a bad premonition overcome him.
Chris continued, "Grab your things, Japan doesn't need a player like you on our squad."
"W-What??"
It was as if the whole world crumbled down before the teen as the words threatened to damage his psyche. All that he'd worked hard for was suddenly stripped away from him, for something that he didn't even do.
Suddenly his face morphed into anger as he lashed out.
"You're just getting rid of me because of your stupid son! You don't want to admit that he did anything wrong so you're using me as a scapegoat."
The player spat out the first thing that came to his mind and began to make a scene.
"IT'S BLATANT NEPOTISM!" He shouted, pointing towards Ken and Chris.
Even if it was possible to have the same last name, it was made rather obvious that the coach and Ken were related since they looked quite similar. They were both tall and carried a similar build, each sharing foreign features also.
Chris calmly stared at the player, his eyes not changing in the least.