***
“Alright everyone, settle down please. We’ve only got 20 or so minutes until we need to be on the field.”
The South Korean team swiftly drew their attention towards the coach, respect clear in their eyes.
The Head Coach An Hyun was a man in his early 40’s and sported a vibrant head of hair with high cheek bones and intelligent brown eyes. He looked like a retired actor who would have been rather dashing in his younger days.
“As I said, we need to be careful of their freshman pitcher Ken Takagi. He is the biggest threat to our playing style.” He stated with a serious expression.
“Eh? Ya really think so coach?” A young figure with a scar on his nose commented, seeming a little unconvinced.
Seeing who it was that spoke, Coach Hyun rolled his eyes. He should have guessed that this guy would speak up in this moment.
“Dam… shut up dude.” One of his fellow players whispered and nudged him.
“Dam, I want you to try and get under his skin this match. As long as you can disrupt their rhythm, we’ll be able to open up our game.”
Yet instead of getting angry, Coach Hyun gave Dam a special mission, much to the surprise of the South Korean players.
“Hehehe, It’ll be too easy for me.” He responded nonchalantly.
If Dam was good at anything, it was being annoying. Everyone on the team could vouch for his abilities.
“Okay good. Let’s finish up here and go do some warm-ups. The game is set to start soon.”
With that, the sleek Coach Hyun and his team finished getting ready and went onto the field to where the Japanese team were already present.
Dam scoured his opponents and looked for his target. His eyes settled upon a tall guy with blond hair who looked just as intimidating as himself.
“So that’s their Ace in the hole eh?”
As they locked gazes, Dam let out a wide grin and grabbed his crotch, giving a rude gesture to Kei who he’d mistaken as Ken.
Seeing this, Kei blinked a few times in confusion, even turning to see if there was anyone behind him.
“What the hell is with that guy?”
“He must like you Kei, why don’t you wave back.” Aki let out a peel of laughter, having seen the whole interaction. He gave the tall delinquent a nudge with his elbow, as if to hint at something.
It was then that Kei’s expression darkened.
Despite not speaking the same language, the gesture was universally known to be rude, therefore it pissed him off.
‘Let’s see if you’re smiling when my 95mph fastball flies by your chin you bastard.’ He thought, grinding his teeth.
The South Korean players didn’t even react after seeing Dam act in such a way. After all, they’d probably seen him do it many times in the past.
Soon enough, both teams were too busy completing their warm up drills to pay attention to the tension between the two players.
Around 20 minutes later, the horn sounded for the game to commence.
Both the coach and the captains shook their counterpart’s hands and the coin was tossed, resulting in Japan taking the first batting rights.
“Japan win the toss and elect to bat. South Korea, please take the field.”
With that, the first match of the U18 World Cup was about to begin.
The Japanese team shuffled into the dugout and wished the two lead off batters some good luck. Both Riku and Masayuki seemed like it was just another day at the office, as they headed onto the field with their equipment.
Riku held the bat over his head and began to tilt from side to side, loosening up his muscles.
“I’ll be hitting pretty early in the count. I think we can get some early runs against these guys.” He said with his trademark smile adorning his features.
Masayuki seemed unfazed as he looked at the pitcher warming up.
“Just focus on getting onto base, we don’t need any flashy plays.” He said seriously.
“Yes Captain~”
After warming up, Riku began to shuffle his hips from side to side and groove his feet. The South Korean players who looked over, couldn’t help but double take.
“Is he dancing?”
“Hahahaha! What a weirdo.” Dam shouted out from first base, holding his sides in amusement.
Masayuki didn’t seem bothered. In fact, only the newer members of the National Team seemed slightly embarrassed from Riku’s antics.
For those who knew him, they were aware of his peculiar ritual of dancing before a game. Most of the time he would do it in the locker room, but only when he was fired up would he do so on the field.
“Let’s get it.” Riku said with a grin.
“Batting first, Left outfield, Riku.” The voice announced over the stadium speakers.
Since there were not many people in attendance, his applause was almost non-existent. However, that didn’t deter him in the slightest.
“Play ball!”
There was something about an American umpire calling the start of the game that sent shivers down one’s spine. This was particularly the case for foreign countries like Japan who weren’t native English speakers.
Riku stared at the Korean pitcher with his trademark smile still plastered on his face. His bat was waving around in small circular motions as he waited for the first pitch of the World Cup.
The pitcher nodded slightly before turning his body. He lifted his left leg and pushed forward, sending the ball whipping out of his fingertips in one fluid motion.
“Thanks. For. The. MEAL!”
DOONG
Riku picked the pitch perfectly, sending the barrel of his bat sweeping towards the center of the ball swiftly and accurately.
With practiced ease, he flung the bat onto the ground and sped off with blistering speed towards first base.
The ball sailed over the short stops head and into the outfield, bouncing along the ground a few times before the left outfielder managed to arrive at the ball.
But it was too late. Riku easily made his way to 2nd base by the time the ball was recovered.
Riku sent a grin to Masayuki on the field, as if he was waiting for praise.