The following afternoon, Ken woke up from his “nap”, his eyes snapping open.
“Just 300 more…” he muttered, feeling a wave of fatigue wash over him.
While he was able to enter the Image Training twice a day, it was beginning to cause him some mental strain. It would be fine if he could just sleep all day, but he still needed to attend training and team meetings.
Although it was tedious, the benefits outweighed the cost.
‘Man… I wish I could see the skill description of Home Run King.’ Ken thought, letting out a sigh. He had no doubt that it would be good, but it would be nice to know what he was working towards nonetheless.
KNOCK KNOCK
“Coming.”
Ken hopped off the bed and opened the door, only to see his brother standing there.
“Are you getting old or what? What’s up with all these midday naps?” Daichi asked, casually entering his room without an invitation.
“Would you believe me if I said that I’m meditating?” Ken replied with a wry smile.
Daichi scoffed, “Were you also meditating on the plane trip over here? Most of the cabin could hear your snores.”
Ken chuckled. It wasn’t like he could explain to Daichi that he was actually training while sleeping, that was even harder to believe that Ken had regressed.
“Anyway, what brings you here?” Ken asked.
Daichi took a seat on the edge of the bed, his eyes scanning the room casually, “I’m just bored… Should we head to lunch?”
Ken looked at his brother and realized that the guy was probably feeling antsy. Despite being fully fit and able, he wasn’t allowed to play until game 5.
While this might not be as bad during the regular season since there were so many games, this was the World Series. Just a single game was enough to turn the tide of the series, let alone 3 games that he had to miss.
“Alright, I could eat.” Ken said, sliding on his indoor shoes.
The two went down to the restaurant in the hotel and happened to bump into Rohan who was already eating.
“Hey guys.” He said, waving his arm to get their attention.
The two brothers took a seat and asked for a menu.
“You nervous?” Ken asked him, scanning the menu when it arrived.
“A little, but I feel better knowing that you’ll be my relief pitcher.” Rohan admitted, stuffing a spoonful of fried rice into his mouth.
Tonights game would be the first time Rohan pitched in the World Series. He had been a solid starting pitcher for their team this season and even in the post season. While he wasn’t as lauded as Ken, his performance was consistent.
Ken wondered if it had been the system who guided him to use the Recovery Elixir on Rohan back then. Rohan had turned out to be a huge asset, bolstering their pitching lineup considerably.
“If you give up more than 2 runs you’ll owe us dinner tonight.” Daichi said, placing down his menu.
Rohan seemed a little unsure, but a determined expression crept onto his face. “Alright deal. But you have to pay for mine if I don’t.”
“It’s a deal.”
The trio ate their meal, chatting casually between each other. Since they had lived together for the past 8 or 9 months, they were all pretty close.
Once lunch was over, they attended the daily meeting to go over some film ahead of the 4th game tonight. Having faced Miami 3 times already, there was no real new information to relay.
So they were forced to watch game 3, going over the mistakes and breakdowns in both offense and defense. This took around an hour.
“Starting line up will remain the same with Rohan starting as pitcher. Jason, spend some time with Rohan after this, we really need to keep Miami at bay especially in the earlier innings.” Mark said, handing out instructions.
Jason Rogers nodded in response.
“Alright, the bus leaves in an hour. Make sure you’ve got everything, and bring your A-game. Dismissed.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, the players went their separate ways. Ken returned to his room and showered before retrieving his phone and dialing a number.
“Hey, how’s my buns in the oven?”
“Doing their best to beat me up…” Ai replied, sounding uncomfortable.
Ken felt a little bad for her. This was something that he could only sympathize with since he would never experience what it was like to carry life in his belly.
“At least we don’t have to chase after them while they’re still in your belly.” Ken said, trying to lighten the mood.
It seemed to work as Ai let out a giggle, “if they’re anything like you, It won’t be long before I won’t be able to keep up.”
The two chatted for a while, speaking of some mundane things. This was what he did before every road game. Chatting to his wife about even the most random things would help put his mind at ease while on the road.
“How’s Daichi? Miho said he’s going insane having to sit out games.”
At this, Ken chuckled dryly. Despite not having mentioned it himself, Ken gathered this was the case. After all, the guy usually spent most of his time studying his opponents, trying to get an edge.
He could count on one hand the amount of times that his brother visited him in his hotel room.
“He’ll be fine, I think he’s just eager to play. The loss last night just made him even more anxious.” Ken replied.
“Are you playing again tonight? Grandpa won’t take you out again will he?”
“I’m relief pitcher tonight after Rohan, but I’m still batting 5th since Daichi isn’t playing. I think we have a good shot of winning as long as we can keep their batters quiet.”
“Alright well good luck, we’ll be cheering for you.”
The two finished their phone call and Ken got ready for the game tonight before heading out the door. Game 4 was just around the corner.