"Achoo~"
Ken sneezed loudly, feeling his whole body get shaken from the action.
"Damn dude, cover your mouth." Hiroki complained, wiping some of the debris from his shirt.
"You better not be getting sick bro…" Daichi warned.
"Don't worry I'm not, someone must be talking about me." Ken replied, waving off any of the claims of his health.
The three were watching the games played today, their nightly ritual.
Cuba played against Canada right after their game today and came out on top. Both Jorge and Manuel once again lit up the scoreboards with 3 home runs between them, showing just how dangerous they were in the batters box.
Gustavo was their pitcher, yet he seemed to be playing considerably better than he did in their previous game. Were it not for the game finishing in the 7th inning, he probably could have gotten a shutout.
"Man, I can't believe we're playing against Cuba again tomorrow." Daichi lamented.
He still had flashbacks of Jorge and Manuel walking all over them. Of course it was dulled by the impact Ken had in the closing innings of the match.
No one rebuked him since they knew it would be a tough game.
"Do you think Kei is up to the task?" Ken asked curiously.
"Yeah for sure." Daichi responded confidently.
"Apparently he had a fever when he pitched against Cuba the first time…"
"What!? Why didn't he tell anyone?" Both Ken and Hiroki almost sprang to their feet in shock. How could someone be so reckless?
Daichi shook his head and let out a sigh.
"Coach Takashi knew about it."
"Eh?"
"That seems a little… irresponsible?"
They had been real close to losing the game, yet the Head Coach still insisted letting Kei pitch. If Ken hadn't have come in to save the day, they would have had their first defeat back then.
Daichi nodded, "Just remember, the coach is one of those old school ones."
"Mmm…"
The two fell deep into thought. Now that they took the time to think about it, it was always Chris who would go into detail during the film sessions, using analytics and data to dissect the game.
Whereas the Head Coach would relay the important information and give pep talks. It seemed so obvious now, yet the fact it took them this long to realize meant that they had been pulling it off seamlessly.
"Well hopefully he performs better than last time." Hiroki said succinctly.
Ken placed his hand on the guys shoulder and shook his head, "It's not just him that needs to perform better. We couldn't even get a hit from that submarine pitcher until the final inning."
At these words, both Daichi and Hiroki nodded.
"It won't be the same tomorrow. Now that I've seen his pitches, I'm confident we can take him on." Daichi answered.
"Please standby for the United States National Anthem."
While they were chatting, the next game appeared on the screen. It was the United States vs Mexico match which finished only an hour or so ago.
Since it was not live…
Ken fast-forwarded the opening parts, stopping just as Mexico was about to pitch to the opening batter of the US.
If they watched the whole thing, there was no way they'd be able to go to sleep at a respectable time after all.
DONG
The first ball was hit accurately into the outfield, allowing for the runner to make his run to 2nd base. The guy was lean yet athletic with olive skin, but most of all, his legs were fast.
This was Santiago Williams, one of the players Ken was wary of. On top of being a speedster, he was almost omniscient in the outfield. As long as the ball was going to land somewhere in his area, 9 times out of 10 he would catch it.
If that wasn't enough, the guy was even a switch-hitter.
'Wouldn't it be nice to have such God-given talents…' Ken lamented inwardly.
However, it wasn't like he could complain. After all, he was the only player who had a system, at least that he knew of.
He continued to watch the screen, letting out a whistle of appreciation as the next batter hit another ball into the outfield. Santiago touched home plate to secure the run and the US went ahead on the scoreboard.
The 3rd batter also secured a hit, this time only getting 1 base for his efforts.
"Batting 4th, Catcher, Leo."
Both Daichi and Ken sucked in a cold breath of air at the specimen that appeared on the screen. The guy had ash blond hair and green eyes with a square jaw, looking as if he had just appeared out of a modeling magazine.
If one took a look at his body, they could see the rippling muscles beneath the tight uniform. It was enough to make any guy jealous, or any woman swoon if they got to witness it in person.
While Ken and Daichi were seething internally, Hiroki was looking on in appreciation.
"Mmm, it looks like he works out a bit." He stated nonchalantly.
This prompted the two to channel some of their ill will to Hiroki. While they were busy being jealous, he was appreciating a fellow Greek God, carefully scrutinizing his muscles.
Ken couldn't help but shake his head in disgust.
DOOOONG
The three snapped their heads in the direction of the screen, only to see the ball fly into the stands. The ball was hit with such a force that the outfielders barely moved from their spots.
"That guy is dangerous." Daichi said, his face solemn.
The camera focused on the guy making his way around the bases, his expression showing no hints of surprise or excitement. It was as if what had happened was already a foregone conclusion.
Hiroki strained his eyes, his appreciation disappearing, replaced with a defiant look that crept onto his features.
"I could take him…"
Ken frowned, not understanding what he was on about.
"What do you mean by that?"
"In an aesthetics competition." He replied seriously.
"What…"