His mom had always been good at reading emotion, meaning he could rarely hide anything from her. Ken suddenly felt bad for his father who would never have a stray thought to himself.
"Ahem…" His mother cleared her throat, her eyes narrowing suspiciously "You just thought of something rude didn't you."
'Damn!' Ken cursed inwardly. 'Is she a mind reader?'
He quickly composed himself before answering with the only acceptable response, "Of course not mom… hehe."
She shook her head with exasperation before responding, "You know you can talk to me about anything right? As long as you confide in me, I won't treat you harshly."
Ken stiffened at those words, feeling the care and concern underneath them. He had heard similar words before from her, yet he trampled on them in the past.
He felt a bittersweet feeling rising up his throat, threatening to evoke some emotions. However, he tried his best to quash them, at least for now.
It wasn't that he was averse to confiding in his mother about his shoulder, he just didn't want to make her worry. At least until he had tried everything available to him to try and remedy the situation.
Instead, he smiled from the bottom of his heart and responded, "Thanks Mom. I appreciate you and everything you do for me."
His mothers face froze for a moment, clearly not expecting such a response. Instead of smiling back, her face turned into a frown.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my son?" Her tone was flat, missing the earlier care and affection.
Ken recoiled, his mind racing in terror. He had never heard this tone from her, almost causing him to jump up in fright.
"Hahaha!"
Yet in the next moment she burst into laughter, clutching her sides.
"Kenny, you should have seen your face. It was priceless." She continued to giggle.
It wasn't long until her infectious laugh caught on to him and he couldn't fight back the laughter himself. The two continued to talk and enjoy each others company over dinner, allowing Ken to fully relax.
Ken helped with the dishes before grabbing a set of clean clothes and running a bath. Since he was in a good mood, he even decided to focus on some more homework before it was time to go to sleep.
He climbed into his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. Soon enough he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of playing in the Major League.
"How was he after school?" The sound of broken Japanese could be heard through the phone speaker within the Kitchen.
"He was much better than this morning, you were right when you said to leave him be." Ken's mom said, holding a cell phone up to her ear.
"Sometimes men just need time to process things our own way. Sorry I couldn't be there to help out in person."
"It's okay honey, I know you're busy with the start of the new season coming up." She responded, before continuing.
"On another note, I think our Kenny is maturing a lot. He sincerely thanked me for showing care over dinner and even helped out with the dishes without me having to ask."
"Huh!?" The voice on the phone sounded shocked.
"I know! I asked him who he was and what he did with our son." She replied, letting out a giggle. "You should have seen his face! Haha."
The two then spoke for a while longer before calling it a night. His mother hung up the phone and sat back in her chair, letting out a small sigh. She felt a lot better after talking to her husband.
Yuki Takagi often worried about her only child, however it seemed that he had matured overnight. While she was still a little skeptical, she decided to let things play out, hoping that this was indeed the case.
Yuki stood up and stretched, feeling a sense of fatigue after a long day. She had already packed Ken's lunch for tomorrow so it was now time to head to bed.
***
The next morning, Ken awoke before his alarm for one of the first times in his 2 lives. Despite doing so, he felt well-rested and full of energy.
He quickly checked the clock on his bedside table to make sure he hadn't done something stupid like forgetting to set his alarm. He let out a sigh of relief after seeing the time was only 6:15am.
Ken stretched his limbs, feeling ready to tackle the day. Even though he did not know what he was going to do about his shoulder, he felt motivated.
Yet suddenly, he heard a noise in his head followed by a blue screen appearing in front of his face. He almost shrieked in fright, yet managed to stop himself before it became audible.
*DING*
USER DATA HAS BEEN PROPERLY ANALYZED
MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM INITIATED