If he had not chosen to go to America, wouldn't he still have been fine? In fact, wouldn't he have been better off?
Ai saw Ken's face filled with doubts and felt her heart ache. The man who always looked so confident and carefree was almost visibly crumbling in front of her.
"Hey… I was thinking." She said, rubbing his hand slightly. "What if I moved to America with you? After I finish High School of course."
"What!?" Ken suddenly snapped out of his reverie, feeling a sense of hope surge from within. However, before it could take hold, a cold reality washed over him.
"No, I won't let you give up your dream… You almost gave up on it when you joined the baseball club in our first year, but now things are different. We can make this work, I promise."
But Ai simply smiled, "Who said I would be giving up my dream?"
"Eh?"
"What better place to study Western Fashion than America? Of course that's if you take Europe out of the equation." She said with a grin.
Ken was stumped. He had been working under the assumption that Ai would stay in Japan for not only High School, but also University. But if she decided to move…
"You better not be messing with me…" Ken said, revealing a vulnerability that he rarely showed.
"Why would I joke about such a thing?" Ai replied with a smile. "This is something that I've been considering ever since you left."
Only now did Ken allow himself to believe the words. He felt a wave of both relief and happiness surge from within, bringing a dumb smile to his face.
"Wait, but what about your parents?" Ken said, his expression turning solemn. He couldn't imagine trying to convince Tetsu that he was taking his girl to the other side of the world.
At the mention of her parents, Ai giggled. "Don't worry about Dad. He's your biggest fan these days." She replied.
"Eh? Really? I thought he'd want to punch me if he saw me again." Ken muttered in disbelief.
Ai's hand tightened on Ken's, getting his attention once more. "I've already looked at some colleges, but most of them are in New York. How far away is that from where you live?"
Ken's expression faltered. While he wasn't the best at the geography of the United States, he knew that Texas and New York were essentially on polar opposites of the country.
"Not even close…" He said, letting out a small laugh. "But I can try to get into a College in New York if you really want to do this…"
This was not a conversation he had expected to have, but he was ready to try and make it work. If he had the opportunity be in America with his girlfriend, there was no way he wouldn't try everything in his power to make it happen.
"Mmm. I think it's worth looking into." She replied seriously.
The two held hands from across the table, only letting go when their food was finally delivered to their table.
***
"Tony… I told you to drop it." A thick Boston accent spoke up, full of irritation.
"Giuseppe, you don't understand, the kid is special. Here look at his profile, he's even been named #1 for the class of 2020." Tony replied, handing a tablet to his boss.
The man took the tablet and briefly looked at it for a few moments before placing it on his desk. "So what? Even if he declares for the draft, do you think he'll fall to us? We're not at the bottom of the table..."
"We can move some pieces around and get some capital now... By then we'll move down the table." Tony urged, his figure filled with passion.
The man called Giuseppe shot him a fierce look. "You're tellin' me that you want to tank the season? All for some High School kid? Just what do ya think the people of Boston will think about this?"
"Scratch that, do ya think that the organization would allow that?"
This time, Tony was forced to shut his mouth. It was one thing talking to his boss and friend, the head of scouting. But when it came time to make a decision, the ball did not rest in his court.
"Let's be real, our team isn't performing as well as we had hoped even with the same players as last year. If we make some moves now, we can still get some good value out of them." Tony exclaimed, trying to convince his friend.
Giuseppe sat down, letting out a sigh. "Look Tony, you and I might see this and think it's a good opportunity. But I can tell you now, there is no way that they would suddenly decide to tank the season, not when we're still in playoff contention."
Although these words were logical, Tony couldn't help but feel hopeless. Throughout his entire scouting career, he'd never seen a player like Ken before who had dominated his peers so easily.
'With a short stint in the minor leagues, he could easily start for us in the following season…' Tony lamented inwardly.
"Yeah… I guess you're right." He eventually replied. "I guess this is all under the assumption that he declares for the draft instead of going to college too."
"Mmm. Could you imagine we did all this and he didn't even declare? It's just a disaster waiting to happen." Giuseppe stated, letting out another sigh.
"Wait… What if he joined the open tryouts? Wouldn't we be able to sign him like that?" Tony said, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah right… You'd need to convince him to forgo the draft and enter a pitiful contract for the minor team. Do you really think that someone of his talent would do this?"
Tony was brought back to reality, but his expression changed slightly. "I've probably got more chance of convincing him than I do convincing the organization to tank the season." He said with a hollow chuckle.