Hiroki's eyes widened in shock. He slowed down his run and eventually stood in place, staring at the guy in the outfield.
"Tch. I missed a good opportunity." He muttered in annoyance before heading off the field.
"Out! 3 outs, changeover."
"Argh so close!"
The Japanese players called out, believing it was just unlucky. Yet Daichi and Ken sent him a frown, as if they were admonishing him for something.
Hiroki lowered his head, as if admitting his wrongdoing.
"S-Sorry." He said a little timidly.
Ken let out a sigh before patting him on the back, "Just be careful next time."
Daichi shook his head, but echoed Ken's sentiments.
Riku and Masayuki happened to catch the entire interaction, which left them feeling confused. They looked at each other, as if trying to understand what they just witnessed.
Yet neither knew anything.
However, now was not the time to expound on such a thing. They now had to try and defend against the US team who were known for their relentless batting prowess.
Daichi grabbed his gear and walked beside Satoshi on their way to their positions.
"Satoshi, we're gonna go hard from the beginning. Do you think you can keep up?" He asked, doing his best not to sound condescending.
Satoshi raised his eyebrow in question, turning his head to Daichi.
He was about to retort in annoyance, but he saw the determined expression on the guys face and thought otherwise. Instead, a grin crept onto his features.
'He's fired up…' He thought inwardly.
"Psh, who do you think I am?" Satoshi retorted, nudging Daichi with his fist.
Daichi paused, before he grinned in response. It wasn't often that Satoshi lost the serious expression on his face, yet it suited him.
"I'll take that as a yes then." Daichi responded, heading over to home plate.
He received no response.
"Looks like we might be a bit busy today boys~" Riku said as he limbered up his muscles.
"Don't say something so depressing." Masayuki replied, sending him an annoyed glance.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Both Riku and Masayuki turned to Ken, their expressions showing confusion.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Better yet… What do you know and aren't telling us?" Masayuki added.
"Fufufu, just wait and see."
Ken was like one of those annoying characters in Anime who would act all mysterious. They thought they were being smart, yet everyone who watched just wanted to punch them in the face.
Masayuki's expression mirrored his annoyance, causing Ken to instinctively back away a few paces.
"Anyway, I'll chat to you guys soon." Ken said, taking the opportunity to get away from the other two.
Just as well that the game was about to restart, otherwise Masayuki might have tracked him down and forced the explanation out of his mouth.
Ken settled into position and began to stretch a bit. While he had warmed up before the game, it was good to keep the blood circulating throughout his body since there was a lot of stopping and starting in baseball.
He glanced at Hiroki who was on 1st base and shook his head slightly.
They had a good opportunity to take advantage of their game plan in the first inning. It was very possible that they could have gotten some runs on the board early and had the US team on the back foot from the beginning.
The strategy he'd come up with was far more likely to work well in the earlier innings. This was especially the case since he now knew his Grandfather was the opposing coach.
'It's fine… Even if we only get a couple of runs, Daichi should be able to hold them down.'
Such was the faith he had in both his brother, and the plan his new Academic trait had helped him conceive.
"Batting 1st, Center outfield, Santiago."
As the olive skin teen walked up to the batters box, Daichi could feel his intense gaze trained on him the entire time. However, there was no malice or ill will contained within the gaze.
Daichi turned his head only to see the guy smiling brightly.
He looked like a Golden Retriever who had just met another friend.
"Ko neechee wa." Santiago said, his pronunciation terrible.
At first Daichi thought the guy might be mocking him, yet the genuine smile and happy look on his face made him quickly dismiss this thought.
Daichi felt a little awkward, so he responded in English.
"H-Hello"
In the next moment, Santiago looked like he was about to jump from joy. If he had a tail, it would be definitely wagging at mach 3 speed.
"Santiago, take your position." The plate umpire said.
"Ah yes, sorry!" He replied, quickly stepping into the batters box.
He had been so caught up seeing Daichi that he almost lost his cool.
Daichi tried to shake the weird interaction out of his mind, quickly squatting into position and getting ready to make the sign to Satoshi.
Yet it was then that he suddenly felt an overwhelming aura explode from Santiago who was standing in front of him. The friendly Golden Retriever was replaced by the figure of a bloodthirsty Jaguar.
It was as if anything that came into his range would be attacked at lightning speed, with intent to kill.
Daichi gulped, trying to compose himself. He had faced batters like this before, but none close to this level.
It took him a few moments to get used to the feeling, but Daichi eventually calmed down completely. There were still more monsters in this US batting line up, so he couldn't afford to falter here.
Not if they wanted to hoist the World Cup above their head at the end of all this.
Daichi's expression turned serious as he sent the signal to Satoshi. He needed the guy to be on point from the very beginning, otherwise it would be all for naught.
Satoshi nodded, his serious face once again adorned on his features.
He lifted his leg and sent his arm past his head like a whip, sending the ball out like a venomous snake as it bared its fangs towards the batter.