"Nice pitching!"
In the crowd near the right outfield, Michael was cheering loudly, getting into the spirit of the game. Seeing Ken pitch truly was the best, even if it was from so far away.
Latrell on the other hand, was wearing a serious expression.
"What's wrong? Why are you so quiet?" Michael asked him, feeling a little confused. The guy was cheering alongside him moments before, but now something seemed wrong.
"Do you think Ken's pitching form is a little off?" Latrell said, his tone serious.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Just watch."
Michael nodded, waiting for the next batter to get into the box. He kept his eyes on Ken the entire time as the guy wound up and took a step forward, sending the ball towards the strike zone.
As his lead foot planted, he saw that Ken's usually smooth and fluid follow through looked a little awkward. It was almost as if there was something preventing him from performing his usual action.
"I can see it… His follow through is weird." Michael said, no longer wearing a cheerful expression. "But why? I don't understand."
Latrell nodded, "I'm not sure, but I think he might have hurt his lead foot."
"What!? Ken is injured?" Michael jumped out of his seat in shock.
"Shh man, keep it down." Latrell motioned, pulling him back into his chair.
"Ah… Sorry. How did he get injured though?"
"It had to be the end of the bat that he stopped with his foot. Even though he's wearing cleats, there's a chance that he could have gotten a bruise from the impact, or even worse." Latrell replied.
"No way right… Then why is he still pitching? It can't be as bad as you say." Michael said, not wanting it to be true.
This time Latrell shook his head, "I hope you're right Michael. But if I know anything about Ken, there is no way he would call it quits, not in a game as important as this one."
Michael didn't have to think long to agree with Latrell. Ken had this kind of mentality, he would not be surprised if the guy decided to endure an injury like this to give his team the best chance at winning.
Suddenly he felt sour. 'Why… Why did this happen?'
It felt unfair that such a hardworking and overall great person would have to suffer like this. It was bad enough that they were behind a game against one of the best teams in the nation right now, but now Ken was likely injured.
His fists clenched and he stared out on the field with a worried expression.
On the mound, Ken was donning his poker face. He had told Mika not to deactivate the skill under any circumstances, lest he give away his current situation.
Every time he planted his foot for a pitch, he felt a wave of pain shoot up his leg, causing him to almost buckle during his follow through. It seemed to be getting worse and he didn't know what to do.
His thoughts drifted to the Recovery Elixir in his inventory, but then he remembered that it could only be used on someone once. Since he had used it back at Koshien over 5 years ago, it would not be effective on him anymore.
'One pitch at a time…'
There was two strikes, he just needed one more before the end of the 2nd inning.
He stepped forward and felt his body cry out, but he pushed onward.
WHOOOSH
PAH
"Strikeout!"
Ken let out an audible sigh of relief and glanced at his left foot briefly before moving towards the dugout. Steve intercepted him, nudging him gently.
"If I can see you're struggling so can the coach." He said in a hushed voice, causing Ken to freeze.
He lifted his head and saw the coach evaluating him silently, his eyes moving to Ken's foot. A wave of panic settled over him, almost canceling out his poker face skill.
'Damn it, what am I going to do? I can't have him take me out of the game.' Ken thought, his mind whirring.
"How's that foot of yours?" Coach Brown asked, his eyes sharp.
"Ha—Haha, it's fine coach." Ken replied, trying to sound sincere.
However, the guy was having none of it. "Go get it checked out, I'm taking you out of the game from the next inning."
Ken's eyes widened, "No way! My pitches are effective against them. Please let me stay on the mound." He exclaimed.
Coach Brown shook his head. "I can't in good conscience let you keep pitching Ken, even if we're destined to lose if I take you out. Every time you pitch, you place all your weight on that injured foot, all you're doing is making it worse."
Ken was crestfallen. He had waited so many years to pitch against Leo, but this was how it was going to end? He felt bitterness and regret bubble up from within, threatening to overwhelm him.
But then he froze as his mind stumbled on something.
"Coach… what if I didn't have to put all my weight on my sore foot?" He asked, his eyes shining.
Coach Brown raised his eyebrow, "What are you talking about? You need to place weight on your front foot when you follow through, otherwise you risk injuring yourself in other ways. Unless you can pitch left handed, then I'll be taking you off."
However, after seeing Ken's expression remaining the same, Coach Brown felt incredulous. "Wait… You can pitch left as well?" He asked, almost not believing he was asking such a thing.
"Yes coach, though it's not as fast as my right." Ken admitted, nodding like a pecking chicken.
"HUH!? Since when?" Steve asked in complete and utter shock. Ken had never told him this the entire time they'd known each other.
"How fast are we talking?" Coach Brown asked suspiciously.
"The last I checked it was around 95mph." Ken answered with a little white lie.
"WHAT!?" Both Steve and Coach Brown shouted.