The next morning, Daichi woke up feeling groggy, his mind still reeling from the vivid dream that he’d had the night before. Everything had felt so real, but it had to be fake right?
This was his initial thoughts, but in his heart, Daichi held some doubt. From his mother beating him to attending Yokohama High School with Ken, these were not some far-fetched happenings.
In fact, if Ken had not been so persistent in Middle School, he wouldn’t have become so close with him, let alone gotten into baseball. Of course this also meant that he would have never been adopted into the Takagi family.
‘Was I shown what would have happened if they didn’t take me in?’ Daichi thought, his heart turning cold.
The scene of him holding Ken’s cold and gaunt body surfaced in his mind, causing his heart to thunder in his chest. Even if it was just a vision, seeing such a scene left a lasting impact on him.
Daichi felt Miho stir beside him, breaking him out of his trance.
Remembering how she’d taken care of him last night, Daichi smiled softly and planted a kiss on her forehead gently before getting out of bed. Still feeling groggy, he looked at the time and realized it was almost time for the morning run.
‘Crap, If I’m late I’ll never hear the end of it.’ He cursed inwardly.
In a record 60 seconds, Daichi had got changed and headed out of his room quietly, descending the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, he saw Ken, Rohan and Steve waiting for him.
“Why the hell are you here?” Steve asked, looking at him with confusion.
Daichi blinked a few times, taken aback, “To go for a run, obviously…”
“Huh!? Didn’t you hurt yourself yesterday? Why wouldn’t you just sleep in for once?”
“Hmm?” Only now did Daichi remember that he had indeed broken his wrist the day before. He quickly looked down and clenched his fist.
“It doesn’t hurt…” he muttered incredulously.
He felt a hand upon his shoulder, “See, I told you that you’d be fine after a good rest.” Ken’s confident voice called out. The guy wore a knowing smile and sent him a wink before heading towards the front door.
“Come on, Michael is probably waiting for us too.”
Both Rohan and Steve appeared nonplussed, but they quickly followed behind their leader, choosing not to voice their opinions.
Daichi on the other hand was rooted on the spot as he watched the three leave. Sure he had heard Ken say that he had a way to heal his injury, but he did not think that it would be this drastic.
Just what kind of medicine had he been given? Was it a miracle panacea?
“You coming?” Ken’s voice broke him out of his trance.
“Yeah.”
The group met up with Michael a few streets down and after an exaggerated reaction from the kid regarding Daichi’s miraculous recovery, they began their workout.
Throughout the duration of the run, Daichi couldn’t shake that he was forgetting something from his dream last night. His mind was wandering, causing him to fall behind the pack a little.
Fortunately, Ken noticed and had lowered the pace. His eyes were constantly evaluating his brother, noticing that he was struggling with something.
After another 40 minutes, the group returned to the house.
“Was that run a bit shorter than usual?” Rohan asked, scratching the back of his head.
“Shut the hell up man…” Steve gave the guy a swift elbow, paired with a glare. Upon closer inspection, his puffy eyes and nauseas expression were clear signs that he was hungover from the previous night.
“You guys go ahead, I want to have a chat with Daichi.” Ken stated.
“I’ll head back to the hotel to get showered and bring Rachel with me.” Michael replied.
“Hey wait, what’s with that bruise on your forehead?” Ken caught sight of a mark and asked curiously.
Michael looked a little embarrassed, “Uh, I passed out in the shower last night apparently, just after talking to you on the phone. It’s the first time its ever happened to me.”
“HUH!? You did too?” Steve’s hangover seemed to disappear as he swiftly appeared in front of Michael grabbing both of his hands.
Ken flinched, realizing that he’d messed up.
‘Why does everyone I mentor decide to go shower when I impart skills to them?’
While the two were discussing their misfortune, Ken gestured to Daichi who still seemed to be in his own world. The two left the group and walked back the way they’d came, finding a secluded area.
“You okay little brother?” Ken asked, speaking in Japanese. He didn’t want anyone to eavesdrop on their conversation, especially since it could involve the system.
“I think so… Like you said, my wrist is completely healed. Even my catching hand has all of its strength. Just what did you give me?” Daichi asked.
However, Ken wasn’t having any of it. “Something happened, I can tell. If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine, but remember what happened the last time you kept things from me.” He said, giving his brother a look.
Hearing this, Daichi paused but soon let out a chuckle. When he put it that way, it was hard to refuse.
And so Daichi took Ken through what had happened in his dream, going through every detail. Halfway through, he remembered what had been bothering him.
“There was a voice speaking to me throughout the dream. It was feminine and rather pleasant, but it was directly speaking into my mind.” He said.
If Ken wasn’t using his poker face skill, his expression would have been dark.
‘Mika… Care to explain yourself?’
[…]
Daichi continued his story, moving onto the scene at Koshien where Ken had injured his shoulder. At this point, Ken could already see where this was going and what it would lead up to.
“Then I found myself at an apartment and when I went in… You were lying on the ground dead.”