A couple of hours later, Ken sat at the dining table and ate his dinner in silence. Every now and then he would look up at his father who seemed off.
He had barely spoken two words during the meal and any attempt to start conversation would end abruptly. Ken was growing increasingly worried as the night grew on, yet there was nothing that he could do to get his father to speak.
"Kenny, why don't you go to your room." His mother said, obviously wanting some alone time with his father.
Ken quickly scooped up the remaining rice in his bowl into his mouth and stood up from the table. It was clear that his dad wouldn't open up with him present, which meant it was probably something serious.
He wordlessly placed his bowl into the sink and went upstairs, leaving the two.
Yuki looked at Chris's plate of food which had hardly been touched and placed her hand on his shoulder with a worried expression.
"Honey, what's happened? Why are you like this?" She asked softly.
Chris was silent as he moved his chopsticks around the plate. Just as she thought he wasn't going to answer, her husband spoke up.
"I got let go from the Warriors today." He admitted, gripping his chopsticks tightly.
Yuki almost gasped in shock, yet she quickly reigned it in. It would only exacerbate the issue if she reacted strongly to the news, and she didn't want her husband to feel worse.
"Why?"
Chris took his time answering, though it was not to build suspense. He was doing his best to regulate his emotions, but it was far tougher than he expected.
"That woman somehow spread a rumor to the Yokohama sponsors and got me fired."
At the mention of Sachiko, Yuki's expression darkened as her anger rose.
"That selfish woman! First she tried to take Daichi back, and now she forces you to lose your job!? I'm gonna kill her!"
Ken who was laying on the ground at the top of the stairs quickly covered his mouth, trying not to let out a peep. His mind was racing as he heard the news, not believing his ears.
'Daichi's mom has been trying to get him back!? But why?''
Yet that wasn't the biggest piece of news. The fact that his father had lost his dream job at Yokohama Warriors was the absolute worst news. Without an income, their whole family dynamic could change in a heartbeat.
Ken retreated back to his room, crawling along the ground in order to not make any noise, all the while he was shaken by the news.
Only after slowly closing the door as quietly as possible did he relax.
He sat on the floor with his back against his room door feeling his anxiety levels begin to rise. Ken felt a mixture of emotions ranging from shock to rage.
'How could this happen?'
As his mind began to work, Ken suddenly felt a mountain of guilt weigh down on him, threatening to crush him into pieces.
'If I hadn't have gotten involved with Daichi, none of this would have happened…'
But in the next moment he shook his head violently, slamming his fist onto the ground. He couldn't say such a thing, not after seeing how Daichi had been treated so poorly by his mother.
In his previous life the guy always wore a fake smile, even listening to Ken's meager issues and giving him comfort. If anything, Ken owed Daichi much more.
But that was a price he needed to pay, not his father.
Suddenly Ken felt hopeless about the whole situation. There were too many unknowns since he had only heard a fraction of the story from eavesdropping earlier.
'What do I know so far?' Ken asked himself, trying to piece the information together.
'Daichi's mom wants him back and she spread rumors about Dad to the Yokohama Warriors sponsors which got him fired.'
The primary question was why Daichi's mom wanted him back.
From what he understood, she signed away her parental rights without any real resistance. This was backed up by the fact Daichi was adopted only a few weeks after he caught her in the act of abusing her son.
'Is it because he's on his way to becoming a professional athlete?'
Ken's initial thought was money, however that didn't seem to make sense. Daichi would be over the age of 18 by the time he signed for a pro team, meaning he would be an adult at that time.
Even if the adoption was annulled and she regained her parental rights, she wouldn't be able to touch his money.
Ken frowned.
'I wish I still had my Academic Trait…' He complained inwardly.
Even after thinking for a few minutes, Ken felt like he couldn't craft a decent theory since he was lacking too much information.
If he couldn't find out the why, his next question should be, how?
How could Daichi's biological mother spread rumors to the Warrior's sponsors? Even if she did, how could they take her word seriously?
From what he remembered, that woman worked at a hostess bar and could be considered somewhat of a floozy. What self respecting businessman would take such a woman's words at face value.
"Who is the sponsor for the Warriors?" Ken muttered, getting off his feet and walking over to his laptop.
He then proceeded to search the Internet for the answer.
"BeNA mobile games?"
The name didn't sound familiar, so Ken decided to do some more research. He then spent the next 30 minutes browsing through pages and articles about the company and how it rose to success.
Just when he thought that he'd reached a dead end, a photo appeared at the top of an article, causing his eyes to narrow.
"Is that…?"
As he moved his face closer to the screen, Ken recognized the figure shaking hands with the CEO of BeNA mobile games.
"That's the guy from the World Cup…"