"The 3 training sessions a day, the constant film study… It's so draining." Daichi admitted, his tone sounding tired.
Ken kept his mouth shut, letting his brother pour out all of his feelings. He had never heard Daichi complain about these things in his previous life, despite knowing the guy since High School.
He worked hard every day without a single complaint, all the way up to becoming a professional for the Hanshin Tigers. What was it that drove him to work so hard in his previous life? What was different now?
'Daichi's mother…' Ken thought.
"What's the point in playing baseball anymore?" He said finally, reaching towards the ceiling.
Ken scoffed, feeling a wave of annoyance from those words. How could Daichi, the prodigy who entered the pro's only after 3 years of playing baseball utter such words.
To him who had fallen into such despair and depression after losing the ability to play baseball…
It was insulting.
"You're so selfish." Ken said, his tone scathing.
"Huh!?" Not expecting such words from his brother, Daichi quickly sat up from the bed, his burning gaze locked onto Ken.
"Let me guess, you don't see the point in playing baseball because you can no longer prove to your mother that you could make something out of yourself." Ken added, poking him in the chest.
Daichi's face morphed from one of shock, to intense anger. He felt his body heat up in response, causing him to curl his hands into fists.
"What the hell do you know?" He spat between his teeth.
"I know that you're being a selfish asshole. What does your mother have to do with you playing baseball? What, now that she's dead you suddenly lose all your motivation?"
THWACK
Out of nowhere, Daichi's fist came flying towards Ken's face, glancing off his jaw and sending him to the floor.
"Heh, your fists are light." Ken said, wiping the blood from his lip.
"You watch your damn mouth or I'll hit you again." Daichi threatened, breathing heavily.
Ken grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you really gonna give up your gift because of something so selfish? What happened to repaying Dad for taking you in? What happened to our pact? Or have you forgotten about all that now…"
"SHUT UP!"
THWACK
Daichi dove on top of Ken who was still lying on the ground and threw another punch. The sound of flesh colliding sent a dull echo in the room.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
THWACK
"How could you understand what I'm going through?"
Daichi continued to rain down punches, his vision blurring with every swing. His knuckles hurt, but the pain in his chest was even worse.
His final punch missed the target, landing on the carpet next to Ken's head and leaving a bloody mark. It was then that he lowered his head and began to cry on his brother's chest.
Ken didn't resist, putting both his arms around his brother and pulling him into his embrace. He smiled, splitting his lip even further in the process, but he didn't complain.
"What's happening!?"
The door swung open with a great sense of urgency, showing his father in a panicked state. His eyes moved to the two boys on the floor, only to see Ken showing a thumbs up.
Chris saw the beaten up face of his son and felt his anger rise. Yet after seeing Daichi crying his eyes out on Ken's chest, it quickly subsided.
He wasn't sure of what happened, but the situation seemed to have deescalated for now.
With reluctance, he closed the door and left the room, leaving his two boys to sort things out.
The two laid there for a while as Daichi's cries turned into sobs. Eventually he fell asleep, exhausted after everything was said and done.
This would have been fine, however Ken tried to move the big guy off him but failed. His head was a bit dizzy from taking a beating, not allowing him to use all of his strength.
He searched around for his phone in his pocket and was forced to ring his father.
"Help me…" He whispered.
Once again Chris ran up the stairs and saw the situation. He shook his head and let out a small laugh before helping Daichi up slowly and putting him on the bed.
"You've got some explaining to do." Chris said to Ken as they were leaving the room.
The whole left side of Ken's face was swollen and there was dried blood on his lips, yet he still grinned, reopening the split.
Yuki was horrified as Ken came down the stairs. She quickly ran forward and inspecting his wounds, snapping into concerned mother mode in an instant.
"Let's get you cleaned up dear." She said, grabbing out the first aid kit.
The trio sat down at the dining table a little while later and tucked in to dinner. While it was a bit sore to chew, Ken still seemed to be enjoying the meal.
Only after finishing did Chris speak up, his tone grave.
"Why don't you fill me in."
Ken then began to detail what had happened, leaving out no details. He spoke about what happened to Daichi and that he had known something was wrong when his brother decided to come home abruptly.
After saying everything, there was a silence over the dinner table.
Yuki's originally sympathetic expression turned stiff as she heard what Ken had said to Daichi.
"You deserved to get your ass kicked…" She said matter-of-factly.
Chris on the other hand was frowning, deep in thought. He peaced together what Ken's goal was and experienced a feeling of resignation come over him.
"Don't be so hard on him honey, sometimes us men need a wake up call. Plus, I bet he didn't even throw a punch back."
Yuki huffed in response, mumbling something about how barbaric men were.
Chris chuckled in response, turning to his son, "You did well Kenny. I just hope that he comes to his senses after a nice long rest."