Time passed quickly and Ken started to become more comfortable with the level of competition in the Major League. With his new Striker signature skill, Ken was leading the league in strikeouts per 9 innings with 14.2.
Such a statistic was one of the reasons why his name was always in the media, even though he would only pitch every 5 games.
In addition, his batting average was the second highest on the team with .327. Sports analysts were salivating over the best two-way player since the likes of Babe Ruth and Warren Spahn.
While it was still only early in the season, Ken’s numbers were not something that anyone could ignore. Of course there were still people trying to bring him down, mostly because they saw him as arrogant, but Ken didn’t let that get to him.
In fact, he was happy with the publicity he was getting. The more famous he was, the better chance he could stabilize this reality even if he could not complete his tasks.
Speaking of his tasks, he had gotten close to beating two already. The first game he was only 1 hit shy of throwing a perfect game and he had pitched 105mph a few times over the past few games with his new skill.
However, the 0.6mph difference he needed to beat the record seemed like an invisible wall that he couldn’t cross.
But that was all about to change.
In the Image training, his eyes glimmered as he stared at the next reward waiting for him.
[Congratulations, you have received skill: Over the Speed Limit]
[Congratulations, you have received 5,000,000 Major points]
“Finally…”
Ken left the Image Training and his consciousness soon appeared back in bed. Ignoring the mental fatigue that ate at him, Ken opened up his skills menu and went right to the bottom.
Over the Speed Limit (Signature Skill): Pushes past perceived pitching limits. Temporarily boosts fastball speed beyond typical thresholds.
Once again, it was a signature skill, and like his Striker skill, it was broken.
Ken clenched his fist and felt a surge of happiness. After working so hard in the Image Training for the past few months, he was finally starting to see some dividends.
However, while this might help him break the pitch record, he still needed to increase his pitching grade. Barry had been looking for a pitching coach for the 8 weeks, but he’d yet to find someone that met Ken’s specifications.
However, that was a worry for another day. Ken checked the clock on his bedside table and let out a sigh, it was already 11pm, he needed to get some sleep.
He activated Sleep Protocol and soon gave in to sleep.
The next morning, Ken went through his usual morning routine with both Daichi and Rohan. Even though it had been over 2 months, he hadn’t put pressure on the two to leave the house.
With Miho and his mother present, Ken was able to travel interstate without any worry.
“Are you ready to go?” Ai walked down the stairs, cradling her baby bump that had finally begun to show signs of growing.
“Where are we going?” Ken asked.
“You forgot? We have the 16 week scan today…”
“Oh, right. Of course…”
Ken cleared his throat and helped his wife down the stairs. The two bid their farewells and headed into town to the radiology clinic once more.
This was their second visit, but one of the most important ones. They could learn the sex of their child.
“So do you want to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl?” Ai asked.
“I don’t mind.” Ken replied truthfully. “I will love him or her no matter what.”
Ai smiled sweetly, “Well I heard of a thing called a gender reveal. Should we do that?”
“Hmm?”
Ai then explained the ins and outs of a gender reveal to Ken who listened patiently. Of course he didn’t care for such a thing, but seeing the excitement in his wife’s face, there was no way that he wouldn’t agree.
“Okay, sounds good. So we tell them to write down the gender and place it in an envelope? Do we have to provide the envelope?” Ken asked.
“I think we should get one in case.”
“But wait, if we don’t know the gender, how do we do that balloon thing when its time to reveal?”
“We reveal it to someone close and they can organize it all. Who do you think should do it? Definitely not my Mom or Dad…”
Ken thought for a while, “Maybe Rohan? I doubt he’ll tell anyone and I’m pretty sure he can be trusted to organize things.”
After some back and forth, the two decided to ask Rohan before committing.
The two arrived at the clinic and were taken in for the next ultrasound.
“So did you want to learn the babies gender today?” It was a different operator this time, but she was quite bubbly.
“If you don’t mind, can you write it down and place it in this envelope?” Ken asked, fishing it out of his pocket.
“Hehe, sure thing.”
After the gel was placed down, she placed the paddle on Ai’s protruding stomach and started moving it around until she found the womb.
“There they are.” She said with a smile.
After a brief look she wrote something down on the piece of paper and set it aside, returning to maneuvering the paddle. She narrowed her eyes and moved her head closer to the screen.
“I swear this happens all the time.” She said letting out a laugh.
“What happens?” Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, I was able to get the gender of baby number 1, but number 2 is making my life a little difficult.”
Ken blinked a few times, “I’m sorry, you said baby number 2?’
“Oh…” The woman looked at him weirdly, “You didn’t know you were having twins?”
“EH!?”
Both Ken and Ai looked at each other in bewilderment.