Coach Hanada had already asked a few of the locals on their way out of the arena for some Ramen recommendations since he hadn’t expected Ken to actually succeed.
Not only did he keep Tatsuo off base, he prevented anyone from getting a single hit.
After saying a silent prayer to his bank account, he led the group of hungry teenagers from the arena to the closest Ramen joint. Thankfully it was only 450 meters down the road.
“Did you see my big homer? It was like DOKANG!”
Makoto’s loud voice broke through the sound of traffic as he placed his large muscular arm around Tatsuya’s shoulder. There was a mocking look on his face as he waited for the teen’s response.
“I-I guess it was alright.” Tatsuya muttered under he breath.
He knew that he had this coming from the moment he’d seen the impressive hit on the field, and now was the time where he would receive his just desserts.
The others in the group were still buzzing from their win, recounting moments in the game with great enthusiasm.
Ken was walking along with the usual crowd of Hiroki and Yusuke as they chatted about their next opponent. Since there were 49 teams, 15 had a bye in the very first round which meant they already knew who they were up against next.
“Uruwa Gakuen is our next opponent from Saitama prefecture. They used to be a strong team in the past, but I heard it’s their first Koshien in almost 10 years.” Hiroki said thoughtfully.
It wasn’t uncommon for schools to go through periods of not qualifying for Nationals, especially in the prefectures with a lot of competition. Since only one team could qualify from each prefecture, apart from Tokyo and Hokkaido which were alloted 2.
Ken listened half-heartedly. It still felt surreal that he had pitched a perfect game in his first appearance on the national stage.
Since he wasn’t paying attention, he saw Shiro out of the corner of his eye. His expression seemed to be filled with mixed emotions, yet Ken felt as if he could decipher it.
He had worn the same expression when he was left on the bench last year at Seiko. Only able to watch as his team won their matches without his help, it really left him feeling stifled.
Since this was the biggest stage for high school baseball, he could only imagine how much worse his friend was feeling.
‘What can I do to help cheer him up?’ Ken thought inwardly.
He needed to be careful giving out advice since Shiro might take it the wrong way. It would be different if he was also on the bench, but that was not the case.
“Alright we’re here guys.” Coach Hanada stopped out front of a medium sized building.
Since they’d left just as the final match had started, there was no line to get in.
The staff didn’t seem too concerned as the nearly 20 people walked in, meaning they were probably used to hosting a large amount of customers.
The group took up nearly half of the seating area by the time they all sat down.
“Boss, we’ll get 20 special’s please.” Coach Hanada called out, his voice breaking as he said the number.
A wave of dark laughter spread across the room as the players found their coach’s plight hilarious. At the same time, they were all appreciative of how the man treated them, despite the harsh training regimen’s he put everyone through.
“I’ll have an extra egg with mine!” Makoto said aloud.
“Oh me too.”
“Can I get some extra pork?”
Coach Hanada’s face flushed red before his burst out in desperation.
“No extras! This wasn’t part of our deal.”
“Hey Coach, Ken getting a perfect game wasn’t part of the deal either.” Tatsuya said, a gloating expression creeping onto his face.
Before he could respond, words of agreement filled the room, apart from Ken who was staring at Tatsuya blankly.
‘Trust this guy to take advantage of the situation.’ He commented inwardly, shaking his head incredulously.
Coach Hanada felt his face redden as his players turned against him. His mind was torn between his poor bank account and what kind of punishment to give the team after Nationals had finished.
“Perfect game? Are you lot the Yokohama High baseball team!?”
The boss who was in the kitchen stuck his head out, his face full of fanaticism. Being so close to Koshien stadium, it was understandable that the owner would be a follower of baseball.
“Yes sir! You must have heard of our team right?” Makoto said, sticking out his chest with pride.
“Of course. Who would forget the name Ken Takagi and his team Yokohama High.” The boss said back with a grin.
Makoto’s face instantly fell as he heard the guy’s voice.
“Hahaha! They only know Ken and not the Captain”
Tatsuya who was feeling gloomy earlier thanks to Makoto’s showboating attitude, suddenly felt his mood turn for the better.
“OOOOF~”
Like clockwork, the handsome teen was assaulted by an uppercut to the stomach, sending him tumbling ungracefully to the floor in a heap.
“Can we grab a photo and have your Ace sign something for us? I’ll give everyone some extra toppings for free in exchange.” The boss asked the coach.
“We have a deal.” Seiji threw his hand forward in one swift motion the moment her heard the word ‘free’.
“Eh?”
Ken was left confused as an older lady grabbed his arm and ushered him out of his chair. In the next moment he was posing next to the boss and the old lady with a blank expression on his face.
“Oi Ken, give us a smile.” The coach said, holding the camera while feeling his wallet give a sigh of relief.
***
The sound of an alarm pierced through the dark room, rousing a man from his light slumber. He made a few attempts lunging at the alarm, however they all failed, prompting him to open his bleary eyes and locate the damn thing.
Once the alarm had been taken care of, the figure let out a big sigh filled with lingering tiredness.