After practice, Ken walked up to the coach who was busy making some notes on his clipboard. The man looked the same as ever with his 5 o'clock shadow and messy hair, making it look like he'd just woken up.
"Coach, have you got some time?"
"Mmm? Don't tell me you want some more training?" He asked, feeling a headache coming on.
He had PTSD from all of the extra training this stubborn player had asked ever since joining the club. Not only did he have to create the training plans, he also had to put in overtime to administer it.
"Ah… Sort of." Ken admitted.
"Haaaah."
Seiji let out a dramatic sigh, silently saying goodbye to all of his remaining free time. He had thought he might get a break since there weren't any tournaments for a while.
Ken found the coach's reaction to be rather amusing, but he quickly got on topic.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, I've gone backwards in form lately."
Coach Hanada's eyebrow raised, his curiosity piqued. It wasn't often that athletes could make such an assessment of themselves, particularly when it came to teenagers who lacked the ability to view things objectively.
"Go on…" He prompted.
"Well, I have a feeling that it has something to do with my pitching form. For some reason I can't seem to pick what exactly is different, which is why I was hoping that you could help me."
Seiji furrowed his brow and began to think, tapping his pen on his clipboard for a few moments. His mind poured over the past year and the changes is Ken's performance since the World Cup.
He had to admit that Ken truly had regressed. Not only was his pitches slower, they also lacked the liveliness that once made his pitches so difficult to hit.
After almost a minute of silence, the coach nodded.
"Alright, track down some footage of your pitching in Koshien last year and maybe some of the World Cup. After that, I'll take some time to review your form."
Ken smiled, feeling a sense of warmth inside. He knew that his coach wouldn't hesitate to help him out, that's just the kind of person that he was.
"Already done." Ken said, pulling out the USB drive out of his pocket and handing it over.
"Ah…"
For some reason Seiji looked a little disappointed, though he quickly hid it.
"Very good. Let's chat tomorrow after practice." He replied, shooing Ken away.
As Ken practically skipped towards the locker room, Seiji's face fell.
"And here I was looking forward to watching some K-drama tonight…" Letting out another sigh, the coach returned to his office, feeling rather downcast.
A couple of hours later, Seiji returned home to his one bedroom apartment and opened the fridge. He stared at the empty shelves before letting out a small sigh.
He walked back out the door and returned 20 minutes later with a 6 pack of beer and some food from the convenience store.
PSHH
After puling up a chair at his desk, the coach opened up one of his beers and took a few swigs, letting out a satisfied grunt.
He fished in his pocket for a moment before pulling out the USB stick and plugging it into his laptop. It wasn't long before the computer recognized the contents and he was able to view the videos.
"Ah thank goodness."
It seemed that Ken had cut the clips, only showing the moments that he was pitching. This would save him a lot of time when it came to reviewing the footage tonight.
Seiji continued to sip on his beer as he watched the clips. Sometimes he would pause the video, and other times he would slow down the footage, ensuring to watch carefully.
After a few hours of this, he sat back in the chair and stretched, feeling a sense of fatigue.
"He truly was reckless…" Seiji muttered, feeling a little remorseful.
Inwardly he was rather shocked after looking at Ken's throwing action at both last year's Koshien and the World Cup. Such a form was putting significant pressure on his developing muscles, wearing them down significantly.
This was especially the case when he was pitching against people like Leo Cameron, Jorge Lopez and even his own brother Daichi.
He cringed just thinking about what kind of pain Ken would have been enduring after those games.
If he had learned anything from these clips, it was that Ken's current predicament was not necessarily a bad thing, at least with his longevity in mind.
"I'm not sure he'll accept that as an answer though…" Seiji said, letting out a chuckle.
After another stretch, he decided it was time to shower and go to bed, otherwise he'd be at risk of not waking up to his alarm.
***
The next day, Seiji could feel Ken looking at him all throughout the training session with eager eyes. If it weren't for the fact he would get in trouble, the kid probably wouldn't have been able to wait until they were finished to speak to him.
Only after the coach blew his whistle and put an end to the training did Ken bound his way towards him.
"Hey coach, how did you go?"
"Go get cleaned up and meet me in my office in 20 minutes." Seiji said, shooing the eager teenager away.
"Yes sir!"
The coach shook his head and let out another sigh, sounding like an old man. He leisurely made his way to the faculty office and began to meticulously organize his desk like he usually would.
He needed everything to be in its place otherwise he would struggle to work.
"Hey Coach!"
As soon as he finished, he almost jumped out of his chair in fright at the bubbly greeting he received.
"D-Damn it Ken! Are you trying to kill me?" He said, clasping at his chest as his heart beat wildly.
"Sorry, but you told me to meet you here." Ken said innocently.
"…Yeah, in 20 minutes. It's been 10…"