He started with a jog, slowly warming up his muscles. While it started out a little painful, after around 10 minutes they started to ease into a rhythm.
Soon enough, Ken increased the pace as per Mika's instructions. Before he knew it, he was already running with 80% of his max speed through the residential streets of Tokyo.
Since he had already stayed at Ai's apartment a few times, he had no real worry of getting lost so he could focus on ensuring his heart rate reached the required speed.
Over an hour later, he slowed to a walk and began to get his breathing under control. He went to a nearby park and began to stretch out his muscles, his usual routine.
His mind wandered as he went through the motions. This was the first time that he'd trained alone in quite a long time. Usually Steve would be close by, speaking nonsense while he tried to focus.
Part of him missed the companionship, but another part of him enjoyed the serenity.
As his mind wandered, he heard the footsteps of someone nearby. Out of habit, he briefly glanced at the figure before promptly ignoring them.
"Ken? Is that you?"
"Hmm?" Ken lifted his head after hearing his name, turning towards the voice.
"Holy crap, it is you~" The figure jogged over and brought him into a hug. Since they were both drenched in sweat, it was a rather unpleasant affair.
"Riku? What are you doing here?" Ken was dumbfounded. What was the odds of meeting someone from the U18 National Team at this time of the morning.
Riku took a step back and looked him up and down, "Didn't you hear? I play for the Tokyo Sparrows now." He said with a hint of pride.
"Oh wow, I had no idea. Congratulations man!" Ken said, his words sincere. After playing alongside Riku in the World Cup, Ken had lost touch with him, especially since he'd gone through quite a slump afterwards.
"Thanks man. Daichi told me that you moved to America, what are you doing here?"
Ken's eyes lit up in surprise. He didn't expect that Daichi would still keep in touch with Riku, but it made sense since the guy was more outgoing than Ken.
"It's Summer break so I came home to see my girlfriend and go watch Koshien while I'm at it."
Riku's face faltered for a moment at the mention of Ken's girlfriend. "Ah yes, it must be nice to have a girlfriend…" He said, looking a little gloomy.
"Yeah… Anyway, are you going to be watching Koshien?" Ken asked, moving from the subject.
Riku shook his head, "We're playing in Hokkaido for the first 2 days of Koshien so I'll just be watching it on TV."
"Ah bummer."
"Hey, give me your contact details, it would be nice to catch up properly while you're still in Japan. Masayuki is also close by, he plays for the Giants." Riku said, grabbing his phone from his pocket.
"Ah sure thing."
With that, the two spoke for a little longer before going their separate ways. Ken was in a pretty decent mood after seeing an old friend, yet he couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy.
With Hiroki, Riku and Masayuki already in the NPB, Ken felt like he was falling behind. Not only was he still in High School, he would likely still have to join a College before heading to the Majors.
'That could take up to 4 years…' Ken thought, clenching his fist tightly.
While he was busy studying, those 3 would be playing against the top Japanese professionals. Sure he had the system, but self-training would only get him so far.
What Ken really needed was competition that was going to push him to take his game to the next level. But the problem was, unless he could compete at every National tournament, he wouldn't find such competition in High School.
With mixed emotions, he returned to Ai's apartment. The sun had begun to rise, painting the sky mix of orange and yellow which streaked through the clouds beautifully.
Ken unlocked the door and walked inside, taking his shoes off. He took off his shirt, wanting to rid himself of the sweat-soaked burden as soon as possible.
Yet as he looked up, he saw Rie staring at him unblinkingly with a bowl of cereal in front of her. Ken froze, feeling a small shiver run up his back from the stare.
"I—Is Ai awake?" Ken asked, covering his chest with the sweaty shirt as if he was some fair maiden who had been spotted bathing alone by a creep.
"Mmm… She's just getting ready now." Rie stated, her eyes locked onto him as if she was evaluating his body.
Feeling awkward, Ken walked past her hurriedly.
"Hey, maybe you can join us the next Comiket in 2 weeks."
"Not interested." He said plainly, escaping into Ai's room.
"Tch." Rie clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Ken breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him. Yet his eyes grew wide as he saw Ai dressed in her underwear, about to put on some clothes. He took a moment to appreciate the sight in front of him before Ai quickly hid under the covers.
"W—Why didn't you knock." She said, her face reddening.
"Sorry, I was escaping from Rie…" Ken admitted, feeling a little disappointed he didn't get to look for longer.
"Anyway… Go and shower, I can smell you from here." Ai said, shooing him away.
Ken felt his body flinch from the words. This was one of Ken's complexes ever since beginning his training. Even at the airport he was queried why he had so many cans of deodorant packed with him.
"R—Right, I'll be back soon." He said, opening the door to leave.
"Oh, I almost forgot." He said, turning back around. "I've booked us a place in Osaka so we can go watch Daichi play at Koshien, so you'll need to pack enough clothes for 5 nights."
"Eh?"