Ken finally made it to home plate and saw Daichi waiting for him with a big grin on his face.
"Nice hit bro." He said, holding out his fist.
"Hehe, it's easy when you know the trick." Ken replied, bumping his fist in return.
The two approached the dugout and received all sorts of welcomes. Yet surprisingly, the first person who came up to him was the Head Coach.
"Haha! That's my boy Ken, I knew you could do it." He shouted with a jolly expression, slapping him on the back a few times out of excitement.
Just from his actions, one could tell that he was beside himself with joy.
"Err, thanks coach." Ken replied, trying not to wince from the slaps. Despite his old age, the man had some serious power that his teen body struggled to withstand.
Ken turned around to glare at his brother and Miho in the distance, only for them to shy away. He could tell that it wasn't just because he'd scored a home run against the US that the coach was so happy.
The likely scenario was that he was getting buttered up, still under the impression that Ken's father was going to talk to him about dating Miho.
Therefore he tried to play it off, quickly running through the players who were in his way.
"Ow~!"
Aki happened to be the unfortunate soul who was kneed in the mid section by Ken's blitz offense on his way to the bench. He bent over, feeling the wind escape from his sails.
Ken didn't turn back, having successfully escaped from the onslaught of back slaps and the looks filled with ulterior motives from the Head Coach.
He finally plopped down on the bench, feeling a burning sensation in the middle of his back.
"H-Hey… Sorry about this." Miho said from beside him.
Ken didn't even look at her, feeling the burning gaze of the coach on him from the entrance of the dugout. He didn't look up, but he could already envision the expectant expression on the old man's face.
He let out a small sigh, wishing that it would just end.
"It's not your fault. Your Grandfather obviously cares about you, he just sucks at matchmaking." Ken spat out.
"Hahaha." Miho giggled, feeling a little better already.
Meanwhile, on the field. Ichiro stepped forward, his usual serious look plastered on his face. Though inwardly, he was actually sweating bullets.
Like Yusuke, Ichiro was faced with the unfortunate job of following up the batting schedule after Ken. It was quite a predicament, especially going up against the US team who generally kept teams to little to no runs in games.
"Batting 6th, 2nd base, Ichiro."
Taking a deep breath, Ichiro stepped into the batters box, yet instantly he felt something was off. He glanced at the catcher, only to feel an freezing aura emanating from his entire being.
It was as if he was standing next to a giant iceberg, wearing only swimming trunks. With one look, he could tell that the guy was pissed.
'Just ignore him… Pretend he's not there.' He told himself.
Ichiro shivered subconsciously before turning his attention to the mound.
His eyes widened, feeling the sweltering wrath directed at him from the US pitcher. If the catcher was like a freezing glacier, then the pitcher was like a volcano about to erupt.
'Oh no…'
PAH
"Strike."
PAH
"Strike."
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Ichiro left the batters box, his gaze lowered to the ground. He was disappointed after being beaten so thoroughly, yet part of him was happy to not be facing the scary battery anymore.
'Monsters…'
He had no idea how both Daichi and Ken had hit those pitches, which made him even more confused. He locked eyes with Aki on his way back and slowly shook his head.
"Good luck…" Ichiro muttered, feeling sorry for the guy.
"Psh, watch how a real batter hits it." He replied haughtily.
Instantly, Ichiro's empathy vanished. He resisted the urge to spit on the cocky Aki and just decided to wait patiently for his "triumphant" return to the dugout.
"Batting 7th, Short stop, Aki."
The instant Aki stepped into the batters box, his confident smile was wiped off his face. He felt the opposing hot and cold aura's from the US battery and felt his body freeze in fear.
"Eh?"
By the time he got his senses under control, the first ball came flying towards him.
PAH
"Strike."
He shivered, subconsciously looking up to the jumbo screen and seeing the 3 digits appear in red. The 100mph fastball was terrifying.
'I'm gonna die…'
Seemingly accepting his fate, Aki slowly inched his body a little further away from home plate, not wanting to get near the ridiculous pitch.
PAH
"Strike."
"What are you doing Aki!? Swing!"
Aki's neck cranked as he turned to his right, trying to figure out who would be yelling such a thing at him. He saw Ken's head standing at the rail, shouting at him.
'D-Damn it Ken!'
If it were anyone else in the dugout he could have ignored them. After all, he and Daichi were the only one's who had successfully hit against the US battery, he was also the guy who could throw 100mph pitches.
Aki gulped, reaching deep within to find his manhood that had retreated after facing the first ball.
What looked like an intense mental battle appeared on the guy's face as he inched his way forward a little closer to the plate, his hands tightly gripping the bat.
"I hate you Ken…" He muttered, gritting his teeth.
The next ball came flying, its course similar to the last one on the outside. Aki didn't have much time to make a decision, so he just swung and hoped for the best.
WHOOOSH
DOOONG
"Eh?"
Aki was shocked as he felt his bat hit the ball.
"RUN!!"
Thankfully, Aki was only frozen for a second before Ken's yell reached his ears. He dropped his bat and ran with all his might as the ball flew over the right outfielders head.