"Nice pitching bro. Let's keep up the momentum." Daichi said, flashing him a smile.
Ken saw his brother smiling at him and instantly felt better. If there was one thing he knew that he did right without the system, it was saving Daichi from his abusive mother and bringing him into his family.
"Say that after you make it onto base." Ken replied haughtily.
"Ah, that reminds me…" He continued.
He didn't have a chance to relay the information that he'd found out about Ryan to Daichi just yet. There was no doubt that the Coach was going to tell the rest of the team, but Daichi was up to bat first so he might not have the time.
By the time they arrived to the dugout, Ken had already explained the general situation to his brother.
"He changes his grips?" Daichi was shocked.
He'd never heard of such a thing before, granted he was still fairly new to baseball.
While he was still processing this information, Ken grabbed a helmet and stuck it on Daichi's head, only to hear a murmur of thanks.
Daichi grabbed a bat and headed up onto the field, yet his mind was racing. He had enough trouble picking the course of Ken's fastballs since they spun so much.
"Batting 4th, Catcher, Daichi."
As he stepped into the batters box, Daichi glanced at Leo briefly. He felt his level of respect for the US Captain increase tremendously.
To be able to completely rely on his instinct and reflexes to catch Ryan's pitches, it was very impressive.
Leo didn't even look at him, too focused on the task at hand. With Ryan's new pitching style, it demanded a lot from him, yet it was something that only he could handle. At least from those his age.
He crouched down into position and gave the sign for a low fastball.
Ryan nodded, his expression calm. He lifted his leg before stepping forward and whipping out his arm, sending the ball flying from his fingertips.
Both Daichi and Leo's eyes widened as the ball flew towards them. It quickly lost height and bounced on the ground a few feet in front of home plate, kicking dust up in its wake.
With lightning fast reflexes, Leo managed to get a hold of the ball after the second bounce, catching it in front of his knee.
"Ball."
Ryan let out a sigh of relief as Leo cleaned up the wild pitch.
"S-Sorry, it slipped." Ryan shouted aloud.
Of course that wasn't the case, but he didn't want Japan figuring out his technique so soon. He visualized the grip the he just used and made a mental note not to use it again.
He had only been exploring this technique for a few days, so there was still quite a bit left to iron out. Ryan retrieved the ball from Leo and sent him an apologetic glance, if it was anyone else behind the plate, it could have ended in disaster.
To make things believable, he grabbed the rosin bag and began to shuffle it around in his right hand, causing powder to cling to his fingers.
After a few moments he got back into position, awaiting the signal from Leo.
He nodded once more, sending another pitch a little higher this time.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
"Strike"
Daichi frowned. If he were to explain the fastball in a few words it would be fast and erratic. The odd spin on the ball caused it to move around weirdly in the air, giving the illusion that it could break at any moment.
Suddenly Ken's words seemed to hit the nail on the head. It would be far too difficult to predict the course of these balls, which meant they had to aim for something else.
The so-called meatballs would only appear somewhere once every 10 pitches or so. If he assumed that the first pitch he threw into the dirt was one, it meant that he'd need to wait another 8 or so pitches for the next one.
"Tch."
Daichi clicked his tongue. It would be tough to make contact with the ball, let alone foul it off consecutively.
'Is this really the only option we have?'
While his mind was working, Ryan had already begun his wind up.
PAH
"Strike."
Daichi's expression once again fell. He had tried to watch the ball this time instead of swinging, yet he did not find any answers that he was looking for.
'Is it just going to be up to luck?' He thought.
Yet on the subject of luck, he considered himself to be pretty lucky, at least lately. First he was adopted into Ken's family, then he received a scholarship to one of the best baseball schools in the country.
If he added his success with Miho into the equation, then he could consider himself one of the luckiest people in Japan, or even the world.
He nodded, taking a deep breath in through his nose and out his mouth.
"I am a lucky boy." He muttered.
WHOOOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"
"Ah…"
Daichi's shoulders lowered as he swung at nothing but air, receiving his 3rd consecutive strike. He moved out of the batters box and let out a sigh on his way back to the dugout.
"Maybe I used up all of my Luck…" He mumbled.
Ken who had just walked into hearing range suddenly paused and tilted his head in question.
"Huh?"
'What is he even talking about?'
Daichi just waved dismissively, giving him an unenthusiastic "good luck" from under his breath.
Ken shook his head slightly in amusement before turning his attention back to the field.
"Batting 5th, Pitcher, Ken."
The moment his name was announced, he felt two pairs of fierce gazes aimed at him. This was the Fire and Ice attack that he was met with in their last game against the US team.
"Well if it isn't the Ice cold beauty and the Fiery Phoenix, sorry to keep you waiting."
Ken's face morphed into a haughty grin as he spoke out in Japanese.