บท 4: Practice
A new day had started, sun rays shone in Rei's room waking him up.
Rei woke up with a smile on his face because he was excited to test his skills today.
While yawning and stretching he walked toward the only bathroom on the floor.
"Shit", said Rei when he walked closer to the bathroom door and saw the door locked.
"'Language'…. I don't even know what's gotten into you, always using these words. Where did my sweet son go?", said Rei's mom in the living room.
"Oh, leave him be he just graduated from junior high. Kids going through some changes", said the grandpa snacking on some fruits while watching TV.
"I don't even know how long that man is taking in the bathroom", said Rei's mom.
"It's been an hour already for god's sake, Reiji. Let Rei use the bathroom.", yelled mom from downstairs.
Rei was about to knock on the door but heard the flush noise coming from the bathroom, so he waited patiently outside.
"I'm coming…. coming. Chiaki why are you always yelling? calm down", said Rei's dad, Reiji coming out of the bathroom.
Reiji gestured for Rei to use the bathroom.
After Rei was done with the bathroom. He went to his room and wanted to change his clothes.
He opened his cabinet and the only color he saw in the cabinet was black.
'How much black did this kid even wear', thought Rei.
Rei wanted a gym outfit, but looking at his cabinet, he knew he couldn't find anything.
So, he just grabbed a casual black t-shirt and wore grey shorts.
Wearing his clothes, he went downstairs.
Rei entered the living room and was about to ask for breakfast, but he stopped looking at everybody's expression on their faces.
"Hello, handsome", said the grandfather smiling.
"Oh, you finally wore the shirt I bought you", said Chiaki happily.
Reiji gave a thumbs up to his son.
Rei smiled at their reaction to his outfit. 'It seems like my predecessor had horrible taste in fashion' he thought while sitting at the dining table.
"When are we going to the field today?", questioned Rei to his father.
Reiji had a stunned expression when he heard the question from his son. He seemed to have forgotten that he promised to go with his son. Thankfully he had nothing planned out for the day.
"We can go whenever you want. I remembered what you said my son", said Reiji seriously.
'How convincing', thought Rei sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at his father.
He finished eating and walked towards the door ready to go to the field to practice.
Reiji saw his son getting ready, so he quickly grabbed his car keys and exited the house. He was excited about this trip because usually, they didn't get to spend much time together.
Before Rei took over the body, the predecessor didn't get along with his father because he only focused on studying while his father was always talking about soccer and coaching. Which is why they didn't get along.
Reiji always wanted to do a father and son activity like this.
Reiji got into the car with Rei, and they drove towards the field near their house.
"What are you going there to do anyways? It's not like you play any sports", questioned Reiji.
"I just wanted to do some exercise. I was feeling weird sitting at home doing nothing during vacation", said Rei.
"Really…mmmm", said Reiji squinting his eyes at Rei's response.
"Ugh...I'll tell you. Promise you won't laugh", said Rei. He wanted to tell his father about practicing baseball because in the future he was going to join the baseball team, so his family was going to know about it anyways. He thought it was better to tell them now than later.
"Promise, I won't laugh. So, what is it?", questioned Reiji curiously.
"Recently I started watching some documentaries, and movies and I got interested in baseball. Secretly I have been practicing some baseball in the backyard, but I wanted to come to the field today to test them", said Rei
Hearing his son, Reiji was left shocked because he didn't expect his son to be interested in sports. "HAHAHAHA….", laughed Reiji enthusiastically.
The laughing caught Rei off-guard. "What happened?", questioned Rei.
"Nothing I am just glad that my son turned out to be like me. You do have my genetics. Anyways, I'll support you and why don't you show me some of your baseball skills today", said Reiji.
"Sure", said Rei.
After a few moments, they arrived at an empty field.
Rei was surprised looking at the empty field.
"It's summer, shouldn't this field be more crowded", questioned Rei.
"Kids nowadays don't like coming outside. They rather stay inside and do whatever they do on their phones", said Reiji.
Rei nodded because in his previous life when he was a teenager, he would slack off a lot until he met baseball that is.
Rei had brought a baseball glove and ball because for some reason he found them in his room under his bed.
Taking his equipment, he went toward the baseball field on the ground.
Rei was going to practice here even though there was no catcher or professional equipment that he was used to. There was a paper posted toward a wall that signified if the ball was a strike or a ball.
Rei felt like his stomach was churning when he stood on the mound preparing to throw a pitch.
Taking his pitching position, he swung his arm back with force. He held the ball in a special way that would go unnoticed by any amateur.
The ball went 90 KM straight hitting the strike zone.
*clang**clang*
The sound of hitting the strike zone echoed in their ears.
Reiji was stunned looking at his son's skills. He knew it wasn't good, but he was an amateur with no prior baseball experience and he could pitch like that.
There were twinkles in Reiji's eyes as he continued to look at his son.
Rei was disappointed seeing his pitch.
"Is this the best I can do? Only around 90 KM? Am I a fucking kid?", thought Rei. He was going back to his previous habits.
Rei was ruthless and hard on himself in his previous life, and he continued like that.
Seeing the lack of speed in his fastball he thought of leveling it up because it was his skill.
Because the fastball was a skill that's why he could pitch it like that without any prior practice.
For 6 hours straight, Rei continued throwing fastballs toward the strike zone. It was to the point his father begged him to go home because he feared his wife. But Rei ignored his father's bullshit and kept pitching.
Rei winced in pain as he was about to throw another pitch. He looked at his throbbing hand and realized he shouldn't overdo it.
He eventually decided to stop when he saw the system notification.
[Four Seam Fastball Skill Level 1 to Level 2]
"let's go home", said Rei to his dad with joy in his heart. He didn't want to show such behavior in front of his dad to make him suspicious, so he held it in.
Reiji nodded and gladly took his son back home.
Rei went back to his room because he was exhausted from overdoing it at the field.
Before he forgets Rei did his daily quest.
[Congratulations Host you have earned 'All Stats 0.5']
Exhausted he lay on his bed and prepared to sleep but before sleeping he had to check his status to see the progress from his practice today.
[Status
Name: Rei Fujikawa
Position: Pitcher
Current Level: 1
Speed: 5+ (Can only be increased through practice)
Strength: 6+
Balance: 6+
Flexibility: 6+
Grip: 0.5+ (Can only be increased through practice)
(Skills)
Four-seam Fastball (level 2): when pitching this ball your chances of striking out the opponent increase by 10%.
Hitting (Level 1): Increases 5% your chance of touching the ball with a bat.
Cold- Heart (Level 2): Increases your focus and lets you make good decisions in matches by 10%.
Comment: Your stats are shit. Even normal human stats are double yours.]
Rei was glad to see the increase in his stats. He nodded seeing the grip stat increase because he threw some pitches today so maybe it increased because of that.
When he saw the skills, he was surprised because his fastball skills had increased. He smirked in joy seeing his hard practice pay off.
After checking his status Rei slept on his bed.
Meanwhile downstairs in the living room with Reiji and Chiaki.
"You know I saw his baseball skills. He really has my genetics; I tell you Chiaki. You should really tell him about the admissions that Seido is holding for their 2nd string team", said Reiji in excitement.
"Are you sure, it wasn't someone else you saw?", questioned Chiaki.
"No…no, I am sure, it is our son. He will be a baseball prodigy in the future. As parents we should be supportive of him", said Reiji trying to convince his wife.
"I don't know, ever since that day he has been acting weird. Maybe it's just puberty", said Chiaki worryingly.
"Don't worry Chiaki just tell him about it tomorrow, please. Take my word for it.", said Reiji.
"Okay…. I'll tell him tomorrow", said Chiaki seeing her husband plead so much that she eventually agreed.
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