***
BUZZ BUZZ
“Hey Ken, did you have time to talk?”
Ken pulled out his phone and saw that he had a new email from Ai which seemed to be a little cryptic. In any other situation he wouldn’t have hesitated to put some time aside to talk to her, however he was a little busy at the moment.
“Ken! Hurry up and warm up. The coach will be here soon.”
The sound of his brother’s voice interrupted his train of thought.
“O-Okay one moment!”
He quickly typed away a brief message back before closing his phone and stashing it away in his bag.
It had been a few days since his father had mentioned the tryouts for the National Team and now the time had arrived.
Ken made his way over to the field where around 25 teens were busy going through their own warm up routines.
His gaze fell upon a few familiar faces within the crowd that he’d seen at Nationals just a couple of weeks earlier. The one’s that stood out were the delinquent Kei, the tall outfielder for Koryu and…
“Ken!”
A warm and familiar voice called out to him from the crowd, causing the others who were warming up to look at him weirdly.
“Hiroki.” Ken couldn’t help but smile as he saw the teen waving enthusiastically at him from the field.
He was happy to know that one of his teammates had managed to get invited to the tryouts. Surprisingly he was the only other one even though they had taken the championship at Koshien.
Ken beckoned to Daichi and walked over to where Hiroki was warming up.
“You didn’t tell me you were invited too Hiroki.”
“Hehe, I only found out the day before yesterday through the coach. He didn’t tell me you were coming though.” Hiroki responded as he went through his stretch routine.
Ken and Daichi also didn’t dilly dally, performing their warm ups. They had been a little late thanks to some traffic on the way here.
“Do you recognize anyone here?” Ken asked, gesturing at the 20 something other players sharing the field with them.
Hiroki gestured towards a figure close by, “That’s Riku Sato. We played against his team Koryu in the finals. Apparently he’s been a mainstay on the National Team since U15.”
Ken nodded. He thought that he had recognized him from somewhere else.
The guy wore a constant smile, almost as if he was perpetually happy.
“That gloomy one over there is Kuro Tojo. He’s also a longtime player for the National team.”
Ken turned his gaze and could instantly see why Hiroki had referred to him as the gloomy one. His hair was in a short bowl cut and he had bags under his eyes.
This, paired with his pale skin, gave him an aura of doom and gloom. Despite this, he seemed to be wearing a creepy smile, adding even more to his unique charm.
Ken recoiled a little inwardly. There was nothing about this guy that one would find approachable.
In the next moment, someone who reminded Ken of Shiro suddenly fell to the ground a few feet in front of them. He was average height and had a shaved head, looking like one of those monks you’d see in movies.
“Ah, are you okay?”
Ken walked over and offered a hand to pull the youth up.
“Oh, haha. Sorry this happens all the time.” The voice was bright, albeit a little high like a womans.
He took the hand offered and stood up, easily a head shorter than Ken.
The person looked up at Ken’s imposing height and blurted. “Wow man you’re so tall. What’s the weather like up there? Heh heh.”
Ken blinked a few times, not knowing how to respond to such a question.
After a few awkward moments, the stranger must have realized his mistake and bowed quickly.
“I’m Akimitsu Jin, but most people call me Aki. Sorry if I interrupted your warm ups, I can be a little clumsy at times.”
“Ah it’s no problem. I’m Ken, this is my brother Daichi to my left and Hiroki to my right.”
Despite giving off a dopey vibe, he could tell that this guy was sincere so he didn’t hesitate to introduce his friends.
Aki’s face scrunched up for a moment as if he was deep in thought before suddenly receiving an epiphany.
“Ah! You’re the guy who took a beanball to the head” He said, pointing his finger at Ken.
If that wasn’t enough, he took a few steps to the right and inspected Ken’s head, as if to see if there was any evidence of the offense.
Ken’s eyebrow twitched a few times, only to hear Hiroki and Daichi giggling behind him.
“Ahem. Yes I’m the Ace for Yokohama High.” He stated, trying to control his urge to shout at the guy for being rude.
As he said these words, he noticed some people turn in his direction before whispering to those beside them. It seemed that they had at least heard of him. Whether or not it was a good or bad thing, he had no way of knowing.
“Ah, well I better get back to warming up.” Aki said before heading on his way.
“That guy was a little… quirky.” Ken said, watching his retreating figure.
“You can say that again.” Daichi added, stifling a laugh.
It was then that Ken saw his father in the distance, walking towards them with an older man beside him. The two were dressed in the National Team jackets which were predominately white with red on the arms and sides.
Whoever had designed the jacket did a great job of using the Japanese flag as reference.
Ken instantly recognized the older man next to his father. The balding gray hair, the sharp gray goatee and the squinted eyes that held a sharp and intelligent gaze.
“Alright everyone, please may I get your attention.”
Chris’s voice spoke up, easily drawing the attention of the youngsters. It was clear that he was a natural at speaking in public settings as he so masterfully controlled the crowd.
