"I would take that burden upon myself. Even if I become hated for it." Daichi replied with conviction.
Ken looked at his brother's serious expression and he could tell that the guy wasn't lying. In fact, Ken didn't even need to question it, he knew this was how Daichi would react.
"So if I told you that my actions right now were to save the world as we know it, what would you say?" Ken asked, his gaze never leaving his brother.
A frown formed instantly upon Daichi's face, it was clear that he was having a hard time believing him. However, Ken didn't expect to be believed.
"If we're talking hypothetically here, then I would need to find out how you would be saving the world from your actions. Without context, it just sounds like you're being stupid."
Ken nodded, "Fame. Hypothetically, the world will be saved when I become famous enough to stabilize it."
Daichi went silent, his brows still knitted as he went into deep thought. It took a full two minutes before he finally replied.
"If this is the case, then I would call your actions both reckless and brilliant. Regardless of if you succeed or not, doing such a thing will grant you fame or infamy." Daichi answered.
"However… You've essentially backed yourself and your loved ones into a corner with this move. If you want to succeed, you'll need to devote yourself to training relentlessly all season, and if you fail, you'll lose baseball… Both of these will have an effect on you and Ai."
Ken nodded bitterly, "So what do you think I should do? I haven't sent the video we recorded to Tara yet…"
Daichi looked at Ken, his expression neutral. "Well, since this is hypothetical… I would tell you to send it. You've already caused a wave through the interview, backing down now would only have the opposite effect."
Ken let out a sigh and pat his brother on the shoulder, "You truly understand me brother. Thank you for listening."
"Don't mention it, we're brothers after all. You're not alone in this, I'll help you complete all your tasks this season, no matter what." Daichi replied, slapping Ken on the leg.
Daichi got up off the bed and shot him a smile, "Don't worry about Ai, Miho will calm her down."
At the mention of Ai, Ken's body froze. He had left out a crucial piece of information during their chat.
"H—Hey, just one more thing. Please keep it to yourself, but Ai thinks she may be pregnant." Ken said.
Daichi's expression changed in an instant, his eyes turning fierce. For a moment, Ken thought that his brother was going to start beating him up.
Daichi leapt forward and placed his hands upon Ken's shoulders, "You bastard…"
"Why didn't you tell me I am going to become an uncle!?" He said, shaking Ken.
Ken didn't know how to react, he stared blankly at Daichi who seemed to be angry, sad and excited at the same time.
Daichi stood back and cursed, "Damn it! There's no way I'll let my cute niece or nephew's father be known as a bum. Hurry up and send the damn video and meet me in the yard, we're going to train…"
Daichi quickly turned on his heel and walked towards the door. Ken thought that he saw the guy skip like a schoolgirl for a moment, but he could have been mistaken.
As his brother closed the door, Ken blinked a few times in disbelief.
'What just happened?' He thought in confusion.
However, a laugh soon escaped his lips. It seemed that the prospect of having a niece or nephew had fired up his brother like nothing else could have.
Ken grabbed his phone and stared at it for a little while before bringing up Tara's contact details. He uploaded the video to the cloud and sent the link with some instructions. He knew that even if she didn't agree with it, Tara would still do as he asked.
"Well there's no turning back now." Ken mumbled, however his heart was much lighter than before.
Even if it was just said as a hypothetical, telling Daichi about the burden on his shoulders had helped relieve some of the pressure on him.
Ken got to his feet and put on his workout clothes and grabbed his baseball cleats from his bag before heading out of his room. Rohan, Tetsu and Naomi were still in the lounge, looking a little awkward.
Their eyes focused on Ken, filled with questions.
"I'm going to workout with Daichi for a bit. Don't wait up." He said, heading out the door to the back yard.
Daichi was already down there, putting his catcher gear on. He was wearing a stoic expression, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking.
"Why are you doing this all of a sudden? Didn't you say that catching my pitches too much might hurt your hand?" Ken asked.
"There's more at stake than just your pride here Ken." Daichi replied seriously. He was in the process of wrapping bandages over his right hand, likely to soften the blow of the ball's impact.
'He's right, this entire reality is depending on me right now.' Ken mused in his heart, clenching his fist.
"If you fail, my poor niece or nephew will be bullied because of you. As their uncle, I won't allow it." Daichi said with conviction.
Ken's eyebrow twitched. 'This is the reason why he's so fired up?'
However, when he thought about it. Daichi was bullied as a kid, so it made sense why he didn't want his niece or nephew to suffer the same treatment.
Ken shook his head with exasperation and laughed. "Think you'll be able to catch 200 of my pitches today?"
"I'll catch as many as you throw." Daichi replied haughtily.
"Let's see if you're this confident in an hour or two." Ken grinned widely.
Around 2 hours later, Daichi's face had already gone pale and his hand was numb.
"Okay that's enough for today…"