"He talks in his sleep, with his eyes open!" A look of horror washed over his face, as if he recollected something.
Daichi shuddered in response, not expecting such a quirk.
"I… I'm sorry for your loss." He said simply before power-walking away to the elevator.
'It has nothing to do with me!' Daichi shouted inwardly.
***
Ken stepped onto the field at Rodgers stadium, feeling the morning sun shine down upon him. They had lost the coin toss and would be fielding first against Cuba.
His gaze fell upon the tall figure of Kei on the mound and couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Of course he was lucky to still be a part of the starting line up, but he still wanted to pitch.
"Play ball!"
Ken quickly shook these thoughts out of his head. Masayuki was no longer covering for him, which meant the training wheels were off essentially.
'I can't get complacent.' He thought.
Kei fired off his unorthodox wind up and sent a fastball to the outside, approaching speeds upwards of 150km/h.
DING
The ball shot out along the ground between first and second base.
Thankfully Ken had been paying attention and managed to scoop the ball up, however the batter had already safely arrived at first base by that time.
He threw the ball back to Kei before retreating back to his position.
'Ahhh, it sucks getting hit on the first ball.' Ken lamented inwardly. Seeing this only made his itch to get on the mound increase even further.
"Don't mind!" Daichi shouted out to Kei. He was happy with the pitch which looked sharp, even if it was hit.
"Batting 2nd, Left outfield, Ricardo"
As the next batter stepped onto the plate, Daichi's eyes flashed imperceptibly towards first base as the runner took his lead. He already knew that these lead off batters were fast and not afraid to steal a base.
Daichi made the signal and received a nod from Kei.
WHOOSH
In one fluid motion, Kei threw a pickoff to first base, catching the runner by surprise.
Tap
He did his best to slide back onto base, but felt a tap on his arm before he could reach it.
Both he and Hiroki looked at the umpire in question.
"Yerrr out!"
"Alright!"
Ken pumped his fist, feeling a surge of elation. Only now did he remember how good Kei was at picking runners on first off, especially since he was a lefty.
The Cuban runner was forced to suck up his grievances and head back to the dugout. It was clear that he'd underestimated the Japanese side and was planning on stealing some easy bases.
Upon his return, he could feel his coach's stern gaze, yet he didn't dare to raise his head.
"What did you expect to happen against a lefty pitcher?" There was annoyance and exasperation in the tone, causing the player to lower his head even further.
"Don't get complacent, Japan are not an easy opponent." He said a moment later.
Back on the field, Daichi was feeling pleased with the result. However, he still needed to get through the next batters.
He crouched down once more and called for a cutter. This was one of Kei's most effective pitches, especially against a right handed batter.
Kei nodded and performed his wind up, flinging the ball from his fingertips. The ball acted like a fastball until the last moment when it broke towards the inside.
Ricardo had already begun his swing, yet upon seeing the ball cut inside, he tried to contort his body out of the way.
DING
The ball ricocheted off the bat and flew directly up with lots of backspin.
Daichi sprang into action and quickly discarded his face mask with his eyes on the ball. He moved forward and stepped into the batters box with the intention of catching the ball.
Yet as he got closer, Daichi felt a forceful shove, killing his momentum and pushing him away from the falling ball. He was forced to watch as the ball slipped past his outstretched glove and fell onto the ground in front of him.
"O-Oi what the hell was that!?"
Kei stormed forward, his face turned up in anger as he gestured to the umpire. It was clear as day that the batter had interfered with the play, despite being in the batters box.
"Hey I didn't touch him man." Ricardo cried out in English, holding his hands up as if to protest his innocence.
The umpire was silent for a while. He was behind Daichi, so he couldn't exactly see what happened. He called over the first base umpire and they had a brief discussion, yet Kei was still riled up.
"Hey man, calm down. You getting upset won't help our cause at all." Daichi said, holding him back.
Kei's delinquent tendencies were starting to come out, however he decided to listen to his catcher. Though he wouldn't take the decision lightly if they were screwed over.
After a few moments, the plate umpire returned and gave his verdict.
"Batter interference, you're out." He said, pointing to the Cuban batter.
"What!? This is ridiculous!" The batter shouted, throwing his bat to the side.
He stormed off the field in annoyance before heading back into the dugout. In reality he knew exactly what he did, he just wasn't happy that it didn't work. Either way he would have been out.
Ken breathed out a sigh of relief seeing that the umpires had made the right decision. He could already tell that the Cuban players would be extra competitive.
"Batting 3rd, 3rd base, Manuel"
Before anyone could relax after securing the 2nd out, one of the Lopez twins stepped into the batters box. His curly hair could be seen underneath his helmet, along with his bushy eyebrows.
The guys wide shoulders and powerful body was enough to make even Kei serious as he stood upon the mound. Even if they hadn't studied the guy earlier, it was obvious that this guy had some power.