An hour later, the pizza arrived and the four men ended up in the media room for a movie and pizza night. Steve insisted on watching a scary movie, whereas Rohan wanted a romantic comedy.
Eventually it was decided to watch them both, but only if the comedy was last.
At one point, Ken disappeared to get some air, but in reality he was checking his system. Since leveling his system to the max level, Ken had been checking his status less and less.
Of course this was because his stats were close to the limit and increases were few and far between.
MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
SYSTEM LEVEL: 6 (Max)
NAME: Ken Takagi
AGE: 22
TALENT ASSESSMENT: EX+
POTENTIAL: L
MAJOR POINTS: 3,604,880
USER MENU:
-STATS
-MISSIONS
-SYSTEM SHOP
-LOTTERY
-IMAGE TRAINING
-IDENTIFY
-TRAINING PLAN
-MENTOR
-???
USER STATS:
>Physical Fitness: EX+
>Pitching: EX+
>Fielding: A+
>Game Intelligence: SSS
>Mental: EX-
>Skills: 27
>Traits: 4
PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. EX)
Balance and Coordination: EX+
Agility: EX
Strength: EX
Stamina: EX+
A few changes had happened after throwing his perfect game. His Balance and Coordination as well as his pitching increased a single grade each, now sitting on the cusp of Legendary.
Ken wondered if he would receive any rewards after reaching the Legendary grade with any stat. He wasn't sure, since after reaching the Majors, things had begun to feel different.
One example was his missions. He was under the impression that he would receive a season mission at every level of competition, but that had not happened for the Major League.
At first he'd been skeptical, but Mika was gone by then, so he had no one to ask.
Only after paying the 20 million Major points and revealing the hidden function did Ken finally realize that there would probably never be another mission.
'With the increase in my pitching grade… Maybe I can finally beat Daichi in the Image Training realm.' Ken thought, his mind wandering.
Since the system would essentially disappear once the World Series was over, he needed to make the most of the available rewards while he could. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to finish all of the Image Training tasks, so he needed to choose sparingly.
While he was outside thinking, a figure opened the door and joined him.
"Not good with scary movies?"
Ken shot the newcomer a look and scoffed, "I'm fine, whatever you chose is too corny to be scary."
Steve shrugged, "I'm not that great with scary movies, I prefer when its easy to tell there's a jump scare coming."
Ken shook his head, "Then why did you suggest it?" he chuckled.
"I dunno man. I was too excited about having a guys pizza and movie night that I panicked." He explained. "I guess I just miss hanging out with my best friend…"
Ken's eyes widened briefly at the unexpected vulnerability he heard in his friends voice. It wasn't often that he saw this side of Steve.
"Back in College, we used to hang out almost every day. Now, you may as well be in a different country altogether," he continued.
Ken laughed, "It wasn't just College. You were pretty much attached to me back in High School as well."
However, Steve didn't laugh. "Well, what do you want me to say? Before I met you, I never really had a true friend. I used to go from group to group, but no one really saw me for who I really was, let alone accepted me."
Ken was trying to keep it light, but he realized that Steve wanted to talk.
"It's not like you made it easy," Ken remarked, "You're really good at blending in with whatever crowd you're with at the time, but you hide your true self when you do it."
At his words, Steve frowned slightly.
"Do you remember that time at the Gladiators ballpark?" Ken prompted, seeing that he was losing Steve.
Steve nodded, his expression turning solemn. "You mean after Christmas lunch? When Steph brought your prom date along?"
Ken's eyebrow twitched violently, "L—Listen here… She was only my prom date because of you."
Steve waved his hand, "Anyway, the details don't matter. Why are you asking if I remember that time?"
Ken took a deep breath and calmed his rising annoyance, "That time when we played catch after Christmas lunch… That was the first time that I saw the real you, without a mask or persona to hide behind."
"That's pretty tragic man…" Steve replied, his cheeks reddening slightly.
Ken shrugged in response, "I'm just telling the truth. If it wasn't for what happened, who knows if you ever would have opened up to me?"
Steve was silent for a while as he took in Ken's words. "I don't know the answer to that," he said cautiously, "but what I do know is that we're friends for life, even if we play on different teams."
"Of course… Why would you think any different?" Ken said with a wry smile.
"I don't… I just felt the need to say it. For some reason, I feel like your actions this year have been weird." Steve added.
"Hm? How so?" Ken raised his eyebrow.
Steve gave him a knowing look, "The Ken I know is confident, but not arrogant. Saying all that crap before the start of the season made you look like a real dick."
"Gee, thanks." Ken replied dryly, but inwardly he agreed with his friend.
"I'm just telling the truth." Steve retorted, firing back his own words at him. "I guess I'm just a little worried about you is all. I know you've got a lot going on with Ai being pregnant and all… I just don't want you to lose yourself."
The words struck a chord within Ken unknowingly. Of all people to show concern, it was Steve who had come to the forefront.
"Don't worry bro…" Ken said, placing his arm around Steve's shoulders, "No matter how it all ends, I can guarantee that I'll still be regular old me."