As everyone got off the bus, the first thing they saw was a playground with kids already occupying it. Being kids, they stared at the unfamiliar players with no shame, looking at them as if they had two heads.
“H-Hi.”
Kuro waved at one of the kids, using one of the only English words he knew.
The child closest to him turned up his face in horror before running off screaming to his mother.
“Mommy, that man has a scary mushroom head!”
“Pffft”
Both Ken and Chris felt chest hurt as they heard the child’s words.
“Hahaha” Ken leaned over and couldn’t help but burst into laughter, feeling his sides hurt. The confused expression on Kuro’s face made the situation even funnier.
Due to Chris’s position as the Assistant Coach, he needed to have a little more composure. He cleared his throat loudly, yet one could still see some vestiges of a smile that crept onto his face.
“Ahem. Let’s head to the field.”
“Ken what did that kid say?” Daichi asked, rather intrigued.
Ken fought hard to get his breathing under control before he whispered the words to Daichi.
“Oh man that’s brutal…”
Fighting back his amusement, Daichi took a brief glance at Kuro who seemed a little sad.
‘Maybe I won’t tell him…’
Once the team arrived onto the field and put their things down, they were ushered over to the side.
“We’ve got some breakfast over here guys, don’t eat too much as we’ll be starting warm ups in about 20 minutes.”
Everyone got in line and walked away with something.
Ken only found the egg and bacon muffins to be appealing, so he got two. There were other items that didn’t look appetizing, like the scones with a light brown sauce.
‘Who would want gravy on a scone?’ He thought, letting out a shudder.
Soon enough, they were on the field going through their warm ups. Much to their dismay, they could see some of the other staff setting up the interval training on the field, once again eliciting glances towards Daichi.
However, after receiving a glare from Masayuki, the teens could only look away.
The training wasn’t that different to what they had done for the past 4 days so there were no surprises. If anything, it seemed as if the intensity had dropped a little, likely because the games would be starting soon.
Once the training session was done, they were ushered off the field and back onto the bus.
However, just as they got seated, they saw another bus arrive.
Ken who was sitting in the window seat had a clear view of the players as they made their way off the bus. The first person he saw was a Korean teen with bangs that partially covered his eyes.
Yet the most eye-catching thing was a scar that ran horizontally across his nose and under his eye.
The teen’s gaze moved around before finally setting on Ken who he could see through the window. Being a nice guy, Ken held up his hand to wave, acknowledging his presence.
What happened in response caused Ken to be taken aback.
Not only did the teen not wave back, he lifted his fist and produced the middle finger with a giant grin on his face.
“W-What the hell is with that guy?”
Yet before Ken could react, the bus started reversing.
“Bam, what the hell are you doing?”
The Head Coach stepped off the bus and managed to catch the tail end of the interaction. His voice was high pitched and filled with annoyance.
“Eh? Just greeting the Jap team.” Bam replied, sticking his tongue out.
“Don’t worry about him Coach Hyun, you know how he is.”
Another player walked past and tried to cheer up the coach. It seemed like these kind of antics weren’t uncommon for this player.
The coach grumbled before finally accepting it.
“Just keep that stuff off the field, there will be cameras everywhere when we play.”
With that, the South Korean team made their way onto the field.
Not long later, the Japanese team arrived at Rodgers stadium. Stepping off the bus and entering the field, the teens looked around in awe.
“This is the biggest baseball stadium in the world, capable of holding up to 56,000 people in the audience.” Chris said with a smile on his face.
He had visited this place a few times during his work trips so he was not surprised by the reaction of the players.
As they walked through the tunnels, the field appeared in their view, causing even more whispers to diffuse throughout the team.
Yet it wasn’t until they stepped on the grass that they realized just how big it was. The seats seemed to block off the horizon, shooting into the sky and painting an awe inspiring picture.
“Is this where we’ll be playing Coach?”
This time it was Coach Takashi who spoke up, “Yes, Group A will be playing here while Group B plays in Sacramento. The Super Round will also be played here.”
“But don’t expect the seats to be full for our games.” He said with a laugh.
“The Coach is right. Although it’s the world cup, most people only want to see the men’s teams, not the under 18’s.” Chris added.
“Speaking of which, we’re only here today to watch the men’s training session. Remember, we’re not to bother them.”
With that, the team was led to the seats near on the left side of the field. Since it was a closed training session, there were no other spectators in the stadium.
“There he is!” Ken said with excitement, pointing to the mound.
Yu Tanaka, the player that Ken most admired was currently in front of him. The guy looked shorter in person, but he gave off a determined atmosphere.
As he watched him wind up, Ken wished that he had brought a camera, or something that he could get autographed a bit later.
WHOOOSH
PAH
The crisp sound of the ball entering the catchers glove made the hair on his arms stand up in response.
‘So cool…’