Ken was receiving a few looks from some of his new teammates, checking him out, but one stood out. A guy even taller than him approached, his wide chest and athletic physique enough to question if he was in the right place.
"You must be Ken." The guy said, matter-of-factly. It seemed that he was only interested in Ken since he completely ignored the other freshman.
Ken could sense some hostility right away, causing him to frown slightly. He didn't know this guy, yet he was already being looked down upon like this.
Not one to shy away from some friendly banter, a smirk appeared on his face. "You must be the current pitcher." He guessed.
"Oh? You've heard of me?" The guy replied haughtily.
However Ken shook his head, "Since you're the only one who feels threatened by me, I thought this would be the case." He said, shrugging nonchalantly.
The guy's expression froze, anger flashing across his features. "You talk big for a freshman. Let's hope that you can also walk the walk." He said, turning around and leaving promptly.
Ken let out a hollow chuckle, not caring in the slightest. With the regulations the NCAA had in place for pitchers, teams often had upwards of 15 pitchers in a squad. Coach Reynolds had all but guaranteed him a starting pitcher position despite his freshman status.
As he was about to mingle with his other teammates, Ken felt a strong hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about Ethan, he might seem like a bit of a hothead, but he's actually kind of sweet."
'Sweet?' Ken turned his head and saw an odd looking guy standing next to him. He had short brown hair with blond highlights, giving him a 90's flair. This paired with his sharp green eyes made him look straight out of a boy band.
His looks, plus the fact he had called another man "sweet" led Ken to think the worst.
"Okay… And you are?" Ken asked, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder. He didn't really like people touching his shoulder, particularly his right one. Not to mention the guy's orientation was currently unknown.
"Ah my bad." The guy seemed to understand where he went wrong and quickly apologized. "The name is Tristan, I'm the captain." He said, holding out a hand.
'Captain? This guy?' Ken was a little taken aback, but he still took the offered hand. He could afford to be arrogant in front of the other pitchers, but doing so to the captain would likely get him in trouble.
"Ken, nice to meet you." He replied.
"Heh, don't worry… I've heard all about you from Coach Reynolds. In fact, he hasn't shut up about you since you committed." Tristan said, rolling his eyes.
"Ah… Sorry about that." Ken said a little awkwardly.
"It's fine, don't worry. I'll introduce you to a few of the guys." He said, directing Ken to a couple of players loitering around looking bored.
"This is Ayden and Kaden. Before you ask, yes they are twins."
Ken looked at the two players who seemed like carbon copies of each other. They had bright blond hair and were rather short, though the one on the right was a little taller. The problem was, they both looked familiar.
"Wait… Didn't you play in the U18 World Cup a few years ago?" Ken asked, pointing at the guy on the right.
The guy shook his head, pointing to his brother on the very left. "That was my brother Ayden."
"Whoa! You're that guy that killed us in the finals!" After hearing the mention of the World Cup, Ayden's face lit up with wonder. Instead of being upset about it, he looked as if he was about to jump for joy.
"Wait, he's that guy? The pitcher for Japan?" Kaden asked in surprise.
"It seems like your reputation proceeds you." Tristan said, grinning. His pearly white teeth were almost blinding to one's eyes, enhancing his already questionable style.
Ken slowly crept away out of the Captain's reach and continued the conversation, "Well, no hard feelings. We'll be on the same team from now on." He said, holding out a hand.
"Hehe, I'd much prefer you on my team. Who wouldn't want a top-tier pitcher who can slug it out with the best of them." Ayden replied, grasping the outstretched hand.
After a few more words between old adversaries, Tristan took Ken around the room and introduced him to the other players and coaching staff. Ken felt it was a little odd that he was receiving so much attention from the Captain, making him even more suspicious of the guy's motives.
Ken met the assistant coach's and managers, as well as the strength and conditioning coach. The guy looked like a body builder, his physique practically bursting out of his tight polo shirt.
He had dark skin and was friendly, almost too friendly. Ken had met these kinds of coach's before, causing him to grow wary. They would be overly nice in other settings, but when it came time to train, they were literal demon's.
However, if there was one thing that Ken wasn't afraid of, it was training.
"Ah I forgot to tell you, we have a freshman catcher as well this year. He unfortunately had to miss out on orientation for family reasons." Tristan said with a sly grin. "I heard you guys know each other."
At these words, Ken raised his eyebrow in question. He was only really on speaking terms with two catchers from his time in America, Taylor and Steve.
Steve was already out of the equation since he hadn't received an athletic scholarship from Columbia. There was also no way in hell he would receive an academic scholarship, especially to an ivy league school despite his tutoring.
'It must be Taylor then…' Ken was a little disappointed, but it didn't mean this wasn't good news.
"I see, that's good news I guess." He replied a little indifferently.
Tristan didn't seem bothered by Ken's nonchalance and leaned in, "He's playing as a walk-on. He must be pretty good to pass the try-outs for our team." He added.