During the next week, the 26-man roster of the Detroit Ligers played another 3 practice games with other teams in the Florida area. Coach Williams experimented with different line ups, using the matches as a testing ground to assess the team.
Ken pitched in 2 of the games, of which he only gave up a single hit and a walk. Such a result was not out of his expectation though, since many of the teams weren’t using their full strength lineups.
Now that they were officially Major League players, the barrier that existed between them and their teammates all but dissolved. Originally, there was some friction between Jake and Ken thanks to the $100k bet.
However this was resolved painlessly by the end of the week. Not only did Jake pay the money, he also apologized for his behavior.
This was rather surprising to Ken, but he still accepted the apology. There was no harm done, and they would be teammates in the future, so it made no sense to hold a grudge.
Of course he wasn’t aware of the machinations behind it. After Jake found out that the two were the Grandson’s of the coach, he had quickly done his best to make amends.
So like this, the players returned to Detroit with a 2-2 record in their practice matches. There would be a few days before their season officially started at Comerica Park.
The very first series would begin on Friday against the Chicago White Socks.
Ken and Daichi both arrived at the apartment together while Rohan had to head back to Erie to retrieve his belongings first. The apartment they bought had already been signed over to Ken and Ai, but no one had been living there for a few weeks.
“Hey beautiful.” Ken said, taking his wife into his embrace. It had only been a couple of weeks but he had missed her dearly.
Ai struggled a little in his embrace, pinching him on the side, “Show some restraint in front of your brother.” She said, letting out a giggle.
“Come in, Kenny already told me that you and Miho would be staying. I’ve prepared the guest room for you both.” Ai said, giving Daichi a warm smile.
“Sorry for intruding,” Daichi said, returning the smile.
Ken ushered Daichi in and waited till his back was turned before giving his wife a little slap on the behind. She jumped and sent him a glare only for Ken to poke his tongue out cheekily.
“I’m going to punish you later.” She leaned forward and whispered.
However, this only caused Ken’s grin to widen even further. “Very good.” He said, giving her a thumbs up.
“Um, where is the guest room?”
“Ah, sorry. Please follow me.” Ai said, shuffling forward.
Ken walked into the house and looked around. This was the first time since purchasing the place that he’d seen it again. Everything was the same, apart from a few personal items that Ai had brought over from Japan.
“Kenny boy!”
“Eh?”
Ken’s expression faltered for a moment as he saw a figure he did not expect to see appear in front of him. He almost didn’t recognize him without his tank top and flour covered apron on.
“Tetsu?” Ken muttered, his eyes blinking in disbelief.
“Huh? That’s how ya greet yer father-in-law?” He replied, his face morphing into one of displeasure. “Call me Otousan1.”
“I don’t want to.” Ken replied flatly. He couldn’t think of anything worse than calling Tetsu, father. “What are you doing here?”
Tetsu held his hand to his chest, pretending to be offended, “If yer not gonna call me Otou-san, at least call me Oyaji1…”
“How about Kuso Jiji1.” Ken replied, his expression serious.
“Oh come on Ken, surely you can make a concession for him. Look how much it means to him.” Naomi appeared, giving him a sweet smile.
She linked her arms into Tetsu’s and looked at him expectantly. Even Tetsu had a pleading expression on his face.
‘They didn’t even answer my question…’ Ken complained inwardly.
“Okay… Oyaji.” Ken cringed, as if the very act of calling Tetsu his old man hurt his pride. “What are you guys doing here? Ai never told me you’d be visiting.” He tried to ask politely.
At this, Naomi looked a little embarrassed. “Well… Last time we went to New York City we loved it. So—”
“We’re movin’ in!” Tetsu announced grandly, cutting off his wife.
“HUH!?”
“Mom, Dad! Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room until I talked to Ken?” Ai came rushing from upstairs, her face flushed red with panic.
Ken turned to Ai, unable to formulate any words.
All of his thoughts about living peacefully alone with his wife suddenly shattered at once. For a few moments, he didn’t know how to react at all.
By the time he came to, Ai had already ushered her parents out of the room and returned to stand in front of him. She was wearing a guilty expression on her face and seemed reluctant to speak.
“Are you mad?” She asked, grabbing the hem of his shirt softly.
Ken was silent for a while, still trying to wrap his head around it. “I wouldn’t say I’m mad, just quite surprised. I thought we would have at least spoken about it first.”
“You’re right, I should have spoken to you first.” Ai admitted, “But you also know my father, when he makes a decision there’s no talking him down. He already went and got approved for immigration months ago without telling me.”
Ken blinked a few times, not expecting this explanation. Now that he thought about it, immigrating to the US was a difficult affair. He was a dual citizen so it wasn’t that difficult, but for Tetsu and Naomi, it would have taken months and months to be approved.
‘So that bastard has been planning this for so long?’ Ken thought, grinding his teeth.
However, he let out a sigh in the next moment. “It’s fine, it will just take some adjusting.” Ken said eventually.
In Japanese, “otousan” (お父さん) means “father” or “dad”. It’s a polite and common way to refer to someone’s father.
In Japanese, “oyaji” (親父) means “father” or “old man” and is used more commonly by men than women.
Shitty old man.