Chapter 1071: Disappearing Act (1)

“The Ligers have won the World Series on the back of an unexpected play from closer Graham Soto! I can hardly believe it.”

“Let’s head down to our reporter on the field Charlie Mueler who is with Ken Takagi who had a huge impact on the win tonight.”

The camera changed and a middle-aged man in a blue suit appeared on the TV, but Ken was nowhere to be found.

“Thank you Bill, it seems that we can’t track down Ken right now, but I’m here with the coach Mark Williams. Mark, explain to us what’s going through your head right now after winning the world series.”

Mark looked a little frazzled, but he managed to respond appropriately, “It’s surreal, there’s no other real way to describe it. I think we’ll remember this night for the rest of our lives.”

“Players like Ken Takagi and his brother Daichi were instrumental in this win, as their grandfather, do you feel a sense of pride that they had such an impact?” The reporter asked.

“All of these guys are my pupils. I am proud of what we’ve built and how we performed this whole season. Tonight is just a testament to how much work we put in and how much we trust each other.” Mark replied.

His eyes were scanning around the field and it looked like he wanted to leave. This fact was caught onto pretty quickly by Charlie, who realized that it was probably time to move on.

“Speaking of the guys, where is Ken and Daichi?”

“They should be leaving the arena and won’t be available for media.” Mark stated succinctly.

“Oh…” Charlie sounded both confused and disappointed, but he was currently on the air during the biggest baseball event of the year. “Let’s track down Graham Soto who made the winning play.”

Over in Texas, Steve was currently pumping his fist in the air.

“YOUUUUU BEAUTYYYY! LET’S GOOOOO!”

As soon as the end was called, Steve had reacted strongly. He turned to the TV and wanted to hear a live interview of Ken, but when Coach Mark said that he would be unavailable, Steve frowned.

“Unavailable? You can do that?” He muttered thoughtfully.

While he had yet to join the Majors, Steve understood how much the sport valued reporters and media. After all, these corporations were in lucrative deals with the league, of course they would be accommodating.

“OH MY GOD!”

Tara’s shout caused Steve to flinch and turn his head dramatically.

“It’s happening… they’re coming!”

“What? Be more specific woman.” Steve exclaimed, grabbing her softly on the shoulders. When Tara just continued to babble and stammer, he shook her, “What. Is. It?”

Tara suddenly got annoyed and sent Steve a fierce look, stopping him in his tracks.

“Ai is going into labor! Our niece and nephew are going to be born…”

“WHAT!? But isn’t it too soon? Wasn’t she meant to give birth in 3 weeks?” A mix of excitement and worry appeared on Steve’s face, a man who clearly had no clue about pregnancy terms and the like.

“I—I don’t know… But Miho didn’t say that there was anything to be worried about.”

“Damn it! I knew we should have gone to Detroit.” He cursed, bringing out his phone and typing furiously.

“What are you doing? You won’t get a hold of anyone while they’re in the hospital.” Tara questioned.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m buying tickets on the next plane to Detroit. Go pack your bags, we might have to leave pretty shortly.” Steve said, making a shooing motion towards her.

Tara blinked in confusion, “It’s so late… Are you really going to buy a ticket for tonight?”

“You think I’m going to stay in Austin while my niece and nephew are being born?” he scowled, as if the mere thought of staying here was insulting.

Seeing the obstinate expression upon Steve’s face, Tara knew that there was no changing his mind. She let out a sigh and got up from the couch to go pack her bags. It seemed she would not be getting a good sleep tonight.

In a bar in another part of the world, the atmosphere was far more rowdy.

A group of Japanese men were jumping up and down, hooting and hollering, cheering after just witnessing the end to the World Series.

“ORYAHHHHHAHAHAHA!”

Makoto shouted his usual catchphrase before it broke into a laugh. Masayuki, Riku, Yusuke, Shiro and Hiroki were arm in arm, jumping up and down while celebrating.

The owner of the bar somehow inserted himself into the huddle, joining in on the cheers. This was just another case of baseball bringing unlikely friends together.

“UNI CORN”

The bar owner who was still sporting his fake unicorn horn began the chant. Soon, the whole bar was chanting in time with him, the sound echoing onto the busy Tokyo streets in the middle of the day.

“Wait! Did anyone tell Ken the news?” Hiroki froze on the spot, suddenly remembering the fact that Ai was going into labor.

“Surely they would have right?” Rie added.

“I’ll try to call him.” Hiroki said, breaking away from the group. He turned towards the door and fished out his phone, trying to locate Ken’s international number from his contacts.

The bright light hurt his eyes as he walked onto the street, but the phone was already ringing.

RING RING

“Hello?”

“Ken! Bro, Ai is going into labor!” Hiroki stated right away, getting straight to the point.

“I know, I’m on my way to the hospital right now… How did you find out?” Ken asked, his surprise evident.

“My girlfriend is your wife’s best friend, you think she wouldn’t find out that Ai’s going into labor? Don’t be silly.”

“Ah, right. Well, I managed to get out of the arena and get a taxi. I should be there soon…”

At this, Hiroki let out a sigh of relief, “God speed man, and congratulations…”

“Thanks man. Bring your girl and visit us soon alright? I’m sure your niece and nephew will want to meet you.”

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