Daichi was forced to furiously explain himself for the next 5 minutes until Ken finally calmed down. He hadn't expected such a move from his brother who had shown no signs of rebelliousness the entire time they'd known each other.
Not only had he gone against his father's words, he'd also been caught by Miho's father who happened to be the Dean of the University.
Ken massaged the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache start to form behind his eyes. However, he soon decided to not think about it so much, lest he develop some type of anxiety disorder.
Daichi had never done such things before, and since he was a teenager, Ken couldn't exactly blame him for acting rashly in such a situation.
Thankfully, there were no repercussions at this stage. The Dean had also struck a deal with him, so the Head Coach shouldn't receive word unless Miho told him.
"Alright alright… Let's just be thankful that it didn't blow up in our faces." Ken said after a while.
He looked at his brother who had his head lowered like a child in trouble and couldn't help but feel a smile creep onto his lips.
'This damn idiot is making me feel like an old man… Aren't we meant to be the same age?' Ken thought.
The duo had stopped their run to talk over the situation, not paying attention to Hiroki who was lingering nearby.
If they paid attention to him, they would see his pale face which looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Can you just wait 4 more days until we arrive in America? I'm sure it won't kill you." Ken stated in exasperation.
"Y-Yes…"
Daichi didn't find the request unreasonable. After all, that was his intention initially, however his conscience had gotten in the way and forced him to do something that was truly risky.
Although he appeared cowed, Daichi did not regret his actions last night. If he hadn't have made such a decision, he would have struggled to get closer to Miho and missed out on seeing such an expression on her face.
Just remembering her pretty features in the moonlight caused him to let out a contented sigh.
Seeing Daichi's lovestruck expression, Ken shook his head, letting out his own sigh.
"Okay, let's get back to our run. Just remember to act apologetic around our teammates, I don't want them to isolate you." Ken reminded his brother, thinking a few steps ahead.
"Eh?"
Daichi's expression suddenly stiffened, as if he'd been thrust back to reality.
"Oh, you're too busy thinking about Miho that you forgot what you did?" Ken replied snarkily, letting out a scoff.
"B-But it wasn't me…" Daichi replied pitifully.
Ken laughed before starting his jog and leaving the other two behind.
***
The next few days went just as expected for the trio. They had two training sessions throughout the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, followed by film study before dinner.
As they continued to sweat beside their new teammates, their relationships strengthened.
It was soon obvious as to why Masayuki was given the captain role for the U18 National Team.
He was the driving voice during training, always speaking up and motivating other players when things got tough. He was also the mediator between the team and Daichi, preventing any hard feelings to fester.
In a stroke of genius, he turned it into a competition, stoking the young athletes ego's.
Daichi and Miho had little interaction after their reunion on the first night. They hardly spoke to each other through the days, only saying perfunctory words in passing.
Yet for some reason, Daichi didn't seem depressed at all. He even wore a dopey smile most of the time, raising some suspicions as to whether or not he stayed true to his promise.
However, after asking Mika to keep an eye on Daichi after he went to sleep, he'd found out that the two had been messaging back and forth, sometimes past midnight.
Soon enough it was time for the team to head to the airport and make their way over to America.
Their flight was set for 11pm Friday night and would arrive just over 10 hours later on a direct flight to LAX. Due to the time differences, they would actually be arriving around 6pm on Friday night.
For Daichi, this was his first time catching a plane, therefore upon finding his seat on the aircraft, he gripped the armrests until his knuckles turned white.
Ken was forced to baby his brother throughout the first hour of the flight, particularly when it was in the act of taking off.
Perhaps the mental strain of the flight and the constant late nights messaging Miho had caught up to him, as Daichi eventually fell asleep.
The next 9 hours Ken did his best to get some rest. He could have probably done some Image Training to pass the time, but just thinking about being stuck if the plane had an emergency was enough of a deterrent.
Thankfully for Ken, Daichi slept the whole way through the trip, only waking up once the wheels had touched the ground.
Once the team were ushered off the plane, they were brought through customs and were forced to wait for their bags to come through on the conveyor belt.
After heading into the lobby, everyone was struck dumb at the amount of people.
Being from Japan, they had never seen so many foreigners in one place. Some of the newer players felt intimidated as they made their way down the escalators.
"Hey, who are those guys in the matching track suits?"
"Are they a sports team or something?"
Soon enough, whispers and looks were sent their way, making some of them nervous.
Ken who was fluent in English, translated a few of the words to Daichi and Hiroki, making them feel more at ease. It was stressful having others discuss you in another language.
The team were led through the lobby to where a bus was waiting.