now about 3 and a half years had passed since I woke up in this world . a lot of things happened after we won the Tokyo tournament.
we of course won the national tournament. during the tournament me and mori pitched in all the 7 games . coach sometimes used me as the starter and sometimes mori . in the finals mori pitched for first 5 innings and I for last four . as expected all the teams were strong so there was no called match but still there was no real opponent who could be considered a threat. I was awarded with 3 awards in the end
1 mvp
2. best pitcher
3. best slugger
it was expected as I never gave up a run and scored 22 home runs during the tournament .
after that me , mori and Sato became celebrities. mori was called ace of fire in the media after coach told his story of hard work to the media . Sato was called the tactician because he displayed amazing skills as catcher and his calculative lead .
we were the champion team so of course there many pro teams that was interested in our team members . Sato and mori were given many offeres too . in the end both of them joined Tokyo United as professional baseball players with high salary from the start . they joined the same team because they were best friends and wanted to become the best battery in Japan.
in the end , I became ace of our team for next 2 tournaments. of course we were the national champions again .
in my free time , i went to watch the games of mori and Sato as they were annoying and pestered me . they both did great in every match. I had hammered my knowledge of nutrition, body building and various other things in their brains so I was not worried about them being injured by over pacing themselves . they both had realistic personalities like me so I knew that they could take care of their bodies themselves.
I was now fed up of media because they pestered me everywhere and treated me like a Hollywood actor . I didn't dislike it but didnt like the fact that they were snooping around for information on my personal life . I wanted to keep my house , money and everything secret so I ignored the interview requests from 2nd year of my high school . I just allowed mr yoshida from Tokyo times to interview me as I liked his style . he was a professional and I liked his articles .he never tried to pry my secrets so i accepted his request every time .
the media started pestering coach because i refused to meet them . when i was going to teach them a lesson, coach used his authority and banned any media access to the training grounds completely. I was really impressed with the coach that time .
whenever I went on a trip somewhere, I always used simple disguises . I went on many trips to places like hokkaido, mt. Fuji etc . I really enjoyed the fresh environments and delicious food . I never went anywhere outside Japan though as I never had so much free time.
today was my graduation day . after the ceremony , I was sitting in a family restaurant waiting for mr yoshida . but my mind was somewhere else . I was reminiscing about dad and mom as they couldn't see me graduate . there were many parents present during the ceremony so I just remembered mine . my mood was off so I left the hall quickly after I recieved my graduation certificate.
Mr yoshida came so I was brought out of my thoughts. I quickly refreshed my thoughts and greeted him with a smile .
yoshida- so Ken. congrats on graduating high school .
Ken- thanks
yoshida - let's just get this interview over with as I have promised my wife to take her out on a date . .
Ken- okay .. let's do it then
yoshida- so Ken , what's your plan for future. I'm sure this is the question that everyone is waiting an answer for .
Ken- hmm.. well I just want to play baseball as a professional.
yoshida - then why didnt you accept any offer from so many pro teams.
Ken- you know it already dont you mr yoshida .
yoshida - sigh .. bakayaro .. this is your interview. so its natural that I have to hear your comment.
Ken- sigh. ... such a boring job you got
yoshida- absolutely correct. but it's also fun just like you have fun playing baseball and want to go pro ..
Ken - okay .. well your thinking correct . I will go to America.
yoshida - as expected. so why not Japan ?
Ken- well , it's not that I dont like it here but I want to live more freely and see the world . so America is my choice.
yoshida- so a major leaguer huh..
Ken- yeah .. I want to provide dreams to my fans like I got mine from baseball. so the right place for me is the country where baseball was born .
yoshida - okay .. now let's end our little time here .. bakayaro.. get famous quickly so that my company allows me to visit America to interview you ..
Ken- you know that you are the only one I accept here .. so what's the difference...
yoshida- sigh ... see ya ..
Ken- bye . let's meet again in America.
I then went home . I ate some cake while reminiscing about my dad and mom . I promised them I will have fun mentally and went to sleep .
next day , I went to the school and met yamada sensei and coach in secret . I thanked them and told them that I was going to America. i then met a family who wanted to buy my house . I sold my house to them at market price and my training equipment to a nearby gym . after that I booked a flight ticket to Los Angeles online and took a taxi to the airport . I only had a small carry bag with me in which only some t shirts and shorts were filed. I had my smartphone, passport and wallet inside my pockets and was ready for a new fresh start .
I quickly reached the airport. I went to my business class seat and sat on it comfortably. after a while the plane took off and I relaxed and closed my eyes .