In a Parallel Universe...

It was a cool autumn evening in LA when Kyohei Sotani found me sitting alone at a dimly lit bar, nursing a glass of whiskey. I’d been on a losing streak at the casino for weeks, and the weight of my mounting debts was clearly taking a toll. Kyohei pulled up a stool next to me and ordered a drink. He could see the despair in my eyes.

“Hey man, what’s going on? I haven’t seen you around the field lately,” Kyohei said, trying to sound casual.

I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m done, Kyohei. I can’t keep doing this. The gambling, the losses - they’re destroying me. I need to quit while I’m still ahead.”

Kyohei furrowed his brow. He knew how much gambling meant to me, and he couldn’t bear the thought of me giving it up. “If you quit gambling, I quit baseball,” Kyohei said firmly.

I looked up, my eyes widening in surprise. “What? You can’t be serious.”

“I am serious,” Kyohei replied. “Baseball is my life, but it’s nothing without my best friend by my side. If you walk away from the tables, then I walk away from the game.”

We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of Kyohei’s words hanging in the air. Finally, I spoke. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

Kyohei nodded. “I do. We’re in this together, my friend. No matter what.”

I stared down at my glass, my mind racing. I knew I had to make a choice - continue gambling and risk losing everything, or walk away and take Kyohei down with me. After what felt like an eternity, I looked up and met Kyohei’s gaze.

"Alright, I'm in," I said, with a new sense of determination in my voice. “Let’s do this.”

The two of us clinked our glasses, our bond stronger than ever. We knew the road ahead would be tough, but with each other by our side, we were ready to face whatever challenges came our way.