Ken listened silently, not interrupting his brother at all.
Only when he had finally finished did Ken open his mouth.
"Did you tell Yatsuo to throw the ball at my head?" He asked simply.
Daichi recoiled at the question, his face turning up into a frown. "Of course not!"
Ken couldn't help but laugh at the exaggerated response, his spirits rising.
"Well then how the hell was it your fault? It was simply a freak accident. Sometimes these things happen in baseball, that's why they make you wear a helmet." Ken stated, placing his hand on Daichi's shoulder.
"But… If I had have—"
"No buts. I'm not saying what you did was good or even ethical, but I can say wholeheartedly that you were not at fault for the accident." Ken interrupted his brother, putting an end to the matter.
"Ken…"
Ken's face turned up in his usual warm smile, "I'm fine lil bro. Stop beating yourself up okay?"
Daichi paused for a moment, as if he was processing his brother's words. He then leaned forward and pulled Ken into an embrace, almost squeezing the life out of him.
"Hnng. Yep, ok big boy… hug it out."
Ken felt the strength of Daichi and felt the air get squeezed out of his lungs. He did his best to hold on, even consoling him and patting him on the back.
"Thank you."
"Visiting hours are over now, you'll have to come back tomorrow morning."
The feminine voice broke through the atmosphere, causing Daichi to let go of his vice grip.
Ken sucked in some air to replace what he had lost in the exchange before breathing out a sigh of relief. He waved to Daichi who was ushered out of the room by the nurse.
Thankfully he could see that his brother's expression had lightened significantly. It was good that he'd brought it up now instead of burying it deep down to fester.
Now that he thought about it, the old Daichi from his previous life would have likely done exactly that.
"Haaaah, I wonder how everyone else is holding up?" He mumbled, letting out a long sigh.
He looked around the room briefly, only to see his bag that he'd packed for the trip to Osaka. However, since he was hooked up to some monitors, he couldn't exactly move at this moment.
"We'll be serving dinner in a few minutes. Are you hungry?"
The nurse returned after seeing Daichi off. She looked to be in her late twenties and quite skinny. If it wasn't for her height and the long hair tied up in a bun, she could probably pass as a small man.
Keeping his thoughts to himself, Ken nodded vehemently.
"Ah miss nurse. Could I possibly be taken off these monitors? I'd also like to use my phone." He asked nicely.
"You'll have to wait for the Doctor I'm afraid."
Around 15 minutes later, Ken received his dinner which was an even spread of rice and a few side dishes. While it wasn't as luxurious as his mother's cooking, he didn't have any complaints.
Perhaps it was a little on the small side for his kind of appetite, but it would only be for one night.
After getting the go ahead from the bearded Doctor Hige, he was free to grab his phone and go to the nearest phone friendly zone. In Japan's hospitals, phones needed to be switched off unless in one of these zones, to prevent the wireless frequencies from messing with the medical equipment.
Ken walked out onto the balcony, feeling the fresh breeze on his face. The sun was already almost over the horizon, painting the landscape a deep orange.
The streetlights were beginning to light up as the city of Osaka transitioned from day to night.
As he looked out, he felt the sudden urge to drink some alcohol. Perhaps it was because he had accomplished what he wanted to, or maybe because he had a near death experience.
Either way, he would have to wait until he turned 20 to do such things.
As Ken turned his attention to his phone and turned it on, it began to vibrate continuously, his notifications piling up as the messages rolled in.
"Ah… This might take some time to respond to all of them." He murmured.
Only after around 30 seconds did they stop rolling in.
Just as he was about to go through and reply to them, his phone started buzzing once more.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ
"Hmm? Whose number is that?" he murmured, not recognizing it.
It wasn't surprising since he mainly communicated by email. The only phone numbers he had in his phone were his family members.
"Hello?"
"Ken! I was so worried. Are you okay?" The voice was obviously female, and one that he knew well.
"Ai? Y-Yeah I'm okay. Thank you for worrying about me." He replied, feeling his cheeks redden a little.
"Wait, how did you get my number?" Ken blurted out, unable to read the atmosphere.
"Your mom called my mom to give her an update. She then sent me your number after I kept asking." Ai sounded a little embarrassed, but it was overshadowed by her obvious relief.
"Ah, that makes sense. How is everyone doing?"
"They're a lot better after I gave them an update. We are going to visit you in the hospital tomorrow morning."
Ken shook his head vehemently. He did not want the whole damn baseball team packed into his small room. He could just imagine the poor hospital staff who would have to deal with their rowdy group.
"No need. I'll be heading back to the residence tomorrow after I'm discharged, I'll catch up with everyone then." He stated.
The two then talked for a while longer before Ken hung up. After chatting to Ai he started to feel a bit better, she didn't even talk about the finals so as not to upset him.
'She's so thoughtful' he commented inwardly with a smile.
Even though he was not upset about not getting to compete in the finals, he still appreciated that she cared enough not to mention it.
With that, he ignored all of the other messages and headed back to his room.