Riku stood upon 3rd base grinning ear to ear. He'd played with Masayuki enough to have such a chemistry built up between them.
"Hahaha, the old bait and switch!" He yelled out triumphantly, sending an emphatic thumbs up to the captain in the batters box.
Masayuki merely shook his head and promptly ignored the fellow. In his mind, there was no point in celebrating until they converted the run.
Gustavo the pitcher felt his eye twitch in irritation. While he couldn't understand what the Japanese players were saying, he was sure that it was nothing good.
"Such petty tricks." He said spitting on the ground.
His eyes burned with a renewed fire as he stared down at Masayuki.
'Hehe, looks like he's fired up.' Masayuki thought with a grin.
Gustavo coiled his large body before firing out a blazing fastball towards the plate. There was no doubt that he had successfully pissed him off with his previous fake bunt.
Yet as if to rub it in once more, Masayuki held out his bat again as if he was going to bunt.
'Hah, you can't fool me this time.' He thought with a grin.
DING
This time, Masayuki didn't pull back his bat at the last moment, successfully performing a push bunt towards first base.
"S-Squeeze!"
Gustavo who had hesitated after thinking it was a fake out, was slow to react as he tried to run and cover first base. The Japanese captain was like a shooting star as he blitzed his way towards first.
Riku had already begun his sprint towards home plate before the ball had made contact. His faith in his fellow teammate was on full display as he put on the afterburners and sailed across the plate to secure Japan's first run.
"First!"
By the time the 1st base fielder collected the ball, he heard the catcher call to throw it to first. He quickly turned around in one swift motion throwing the ball at the same time.
"Ah!"
It was only when he let go of the ball that he realized Gustavo who was meant to be covering his base was still a few steps behind.
The ball sailed past the runner and flew into the outfield since there was no one to catch it at first base.
"Go Go Go!"
Masayuki pinned his ears back and rounded first base after seeing the errant ball fly past him. He didn't hesitate to continue his run, trusting the words of the first base coach.
The Cuban team was thrown into turmoil as the right outfielder sprinted towards the overthrown ball.
By the time he had recovered the ball, Masayuki was already standing upon 2nd base and recovering his breath.
"Holy crap!" Ken couldn't believe his eyes after seeing the two veterans play around with the Cuban team. It was like they had everyone in the palm of their hand.
Although it might seem like Masayuki was the maestro in this situation, the play wouldn't have been possible if both he and Riku didn't trust one another.
It wasn't just Ken that was in awe of the play. Those who had yet to see the lead-off duo together were just as impressed.
"Nice run Riku!"
As Riku walked triumphantly into the dugout, he received plenty of high fives and pats on the helmet. Of course the guy lapped up all the praise gracefully, his trademark grin never leaving his face.
In only a few pitches, Japan's morale had been restored.
On the other hand, Cuba weren't doing so well.
"Gustavo! What the hell was that man?" Rogelio the first base fielder was incensed since the guy had not returned in time to cover 1st.
Gustavo who was just as pissed off as Rogelio, kicked the dirt in annoyance.
"So it's my fault!? Why didn't you look before you threw it to first you idiot?"
Tensions were running high between the two, so much so that it seemed like a fight could break out in the next moment.
That is when one of the Lopez twins came forward and put an end to it.
"Shut up you two and move on. What's done is done." His voice was deep and full of annoyance.
Hearing this, the two swallowed their grievances and quickly agreed. This just went to show how much they respected the skills of the guy. Or perhaps they were intimidated by his size.
Either way, both Gustavo and Rogelio returned to their positions so the game could take place once again.
Hiroki who had been patiently waiting for his turn to bat let out a small chuckle. He felt any nerves disappear after seeing the display of animosity between the Cuban players.
"Batting 3rd, 1st base, Hiroki"
Daichi was already waiting on the side of the field and warming up as he watched the previous debacle. It was obvious that tensions were running high in the Cuban team, which gave him a sense of vindication.
Hiroki gripped his bat tightly, waiting for the pitch. Unknowingly he had a grin on his lips as he gazed at the pitcher.
PAH
"Ball."
The first pitch was inside, forcing him to back off the plate in order to avoid getting hit. Usually something like this would make a person annoyed or frustrated, yet Hiroki couldn't hide the smile on his face.
This only further fueled the anger of Gustavo on the mound. He had been wanting to wipe off the annoying expression upon the Japanese players face, yet he seemed unaffected.
WHOOSH
DING
"Foul"
The next ball was sent flying along the ground into the foul zone past 1st base.
DING
"Foul"
DING
"Foul"
Hiroki was starting to get into his rhythm, hitting 3 foul balls in a row. His actions seemed to annoy the pitcher even further who was already on the edge.
Jorge Lopez on 2nd base frowned. He had not been happy with Gustavo's attitude in this game and could feel like something was about to happen.
It seemed like his intuition was spot on.