The Japanese team alighted from the bus, walking into the familiar tunnels on their way to the locker rooms. Since they were the 2nd game of the day, they happened to pass the Mexican team who were just leaving.
The two teams were silent, yet some of the Mexican players had smirks on their faces. They knew that the Japanese would have a tough opponent today and it looked like they were waiting for their failure.
After all, Japan had gone undefeated so far in the World Cup, just like the United States.
Some people believed that this game was a sneak peak at what would eventually become the finals match in a few days time.
"Buena suerte"
"Gracias"
Surprisingly it was Kuro who answered, bowing slightly to the player who had said something in his native language.
"Eh?"
The Japanese players were burning with curiosity. Did Kuro know how to speak Spanish? How? Or perhaps the better question was, why?
Yet they managed to hold their curiosity until they entered the locker room.
"Kuro, I didn't know you could speak Spanish?" Aki was incredibly impressed. Since the language taught in school were generally English, it meant that he would have had to study it on his own.
It wasn't just him, everyone looked at him with a sense of respect.
"I don't."
At least until he opened his mouth.
"What?"
"I only know one word, thank you." He responded nonchalantly.
What were once looks of respect, quickly turned to disdain and annoyance. Ken quickly lost interest and began to go over the information he'd learned this morning.
"Damn it man! Here I thought you were actually really smart, but you were just trying to act cool." Aki said with frustration, scratching his head roughly.
"So you don't even know what he said? But you thanked him anyway?" Hiroki added, feeling exasperated.
Kuro got a little defensive, "I-It's all a mental game… If they said something bad then me saying thank you might cause them to think about their actions a little more. Have you heard of the saying, kill them with kindness?"
"Idiot…"
Everyone quickly ignored the guy and focused on getting ready for the game. Talking to him was just a waste of time since they didn't understand what went on inside of his mushroom head.
"So, have you managed to figure out anything?" Daichi asked Ken beside him.
When he had woken up this morning he'd been surprised to see Ken in the room in front of the laptop. He was even more surprised after seeing he had 3 games going simultaneously on the screen.
Ken didn't answer right away, as if he was still deep in thought. In reality, he was using his memory recall to pour over what he'd watched this morning.
"I have some ideas, but it depends on a few factors."
"Oh? Please tell." Daichi raised his eyebrow, feeling his interest pique.
He was usually the one who did plenty of research on their opposition, though he'd been a little distracted lately. Just thinking about the reason for that distraction caused his heart to skip a beat.
"Well first off…"
Ken began to whisper to Daichi for a while. Daichi's face morphed a few times, but in the end he was shocked.
"Is that true?"
Ken nodded. He was rather confident in what he'd learned, especially since it was the effect of his knew Academic trait.
Daichi looked thoughtful for a while, but he decided to trust his brother. Sure enough, he'd never let him down before, at least when it came to baseball.
"Alright, I'll do as you say then."
"Good. There's also something else, but only if a certain someone is pitching today." Ken said, a smile reaching the corner of his lips.
"Hmm? Do you mean Ryan?"
"Hiroki… come here." Ken waved his friend over.
"Eh?" Hiroki saw Ken's vicious expression and instantly felt wary. If it wasn't for Daichi next to the guy, he might have just found an excuse to ignore him.
Eventually he worked up the courage to make his way over.
"Alright, keep this to yourself. If everyone starts using this information then it could become a problem." Ken stated, his face turning serious.
"Okay?"
A few minutes later, both Hiroki and Daichi sat back at the same time, their minds in turmoil. What Ken told them was almost too hard to believe, especially when it involved these powerhouses.
"Like I said, keep it to yourselves. We don't want them making adjustments because the whole team are in on it." Ken said succinctly.
"Alright, let's head out."
Coach Takashi spoke up, his words resonating around the locker room. He seemed composed and confident, enough to motivate the rest of the team.
With that, the team left the locker room and began their march down the tunnels.
The first thing that stuck out was the increase in crowd size. Before they even went out onto the field, they could hear the cheers of the crowd enter their ears.
As the walked out into the midday sun, Ken looked at the other side of the field where the US team happened to be.
He caught a pair of eyes locked onto him already.
It was Ryan Smith, looking at him as if he'd just encountered his fated enemy.
Ken flashed him a disdainful look before averting his gaze, yet inwardly he was cackling. He could already imagine the angry expression on the guy's face right now.
Ryan grit his teeth, feeling rage chip away at his self control.
'Arrogant brat… I'll crush you!'
Never before had he been treated in such a way by anyone, at least not after his talents had bloomed. He had always been told that he was a genius, a child prodigy in baseball.
Yet this foreigner had come to his own country and slighted him.
'Just you wait…' Ryan thought, balling his hands into fists.
Caught up in his mental warfare, Ken didn't notice another gaze that was focused on him.