Ken turned around and stared at the newcomer, almost not believing his eyes.
"Steve? What the hell are you doing here?" He asked in disbelief.
Steve smiled slightly, "Is that any way to speak to your best friend?"
"Seriously though… Why are you here at Columbia?" Ken asked, ignoring the usual banter that his friend uttered.
"Why? Because this is where I'll be going for the next few years." The guy answered, shrugging. The way he said it was like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Ken shook his head, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere until Steve dropped the act. "Get your food and meet me at the table." From his tone, it was clear that it wasn't a request.
As Ken sat down at the table, his mind was racing. He had no idea how Steve had gotten into Columbia since the guy wasn't recruited. There was also no way he could have gotten an Academic scholarship, not with his grades.
Of course they'd improved since Ken had been tutoring him for over a year, but this was an ivy league school. They wouldn't accept half-assed applications.
'Wait… Is he the walk-on the Captain was talking about?' Ken thought, his eyes widening in shock. He had originally thought that Taylor would be the walk-on, but it seemed he was wrong.
"Man, even the food looks posh here." Steve said, taking a seat close to Ken.
"Cut the crap. What— No, how did you get in to Columbia?" Ken asked, getting straight to the point.
"Bro, why aren't you happy?" Steve asked, waving away Ken's concerns nonchalantly.
Ken paused for a moment and thought deeply. Steve was right. Why did he care about how the guy got here? Shouldn't he just be happy that his good friend would be attending College together with him?
But something felt fishy. The guy wasn't from a well off family, nor did he have the grades to secure a scholarship at this place. So what happened?
Seeing Ken brooding, Steve let out a sigh. "Look man, I tried out for the baseball team and they agreed to take me in. The only issue was that they no longer had any scholarships available."
"But they said that in my 2nd year, as long as I play well, they should be able to move some things around."
Ken nodded slowly, "So are you taking out a student loan for your tuition this year?" From what he knew, Columbia was almost $100k a year for tuition, something that even he could not afford to pay out, even with his Grandfather's money.
"Well, not entirely." Steve replied, "I could only come later today because we had a funeral. One of my Dad's Aunt's or something left the family a large inheritance… Enough for my parents to retire."
"Eh? Really?" Ken was gobsmacked. Just how convenient was it that Steve's family just happened to have enough to send him to College all of a sudden.
"No word of a lie man. Even I didn't believe it at first." Steve said sincerely.
Ken thought for a few moments, "So I'm assuming the coach put in a good word for you to join the school, despite your grades."
"Ken… You might think that my grades are bad, but I was still in the 92nd percentile thanks to your tutoring." He replied in an exasperated tone.
"I see…" Perhaps it was because Ken was used to schooling in Japan, but he had high expectations for grades. It wouldn't be too far fetched if his metric was slightly off.
"Heh, you should have seen Yuki's face when I told her I was going to Columbia to look after you." Steve replied, a mischievous grin creeping onto his lips.
"She was so relieved that she almost cried~"
"What? You told my parents before telling me?" Ken couldn't believe it. "Wait, forget that. You told me that you were going to Junior College you bastard." Only now did he remember the lie he'd been told.
Steve shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair before replying, "I just wanted to surprise you man."
Ken was silent for a while taking everything in.
Finally, it seemed like Ken had accepted that his friend was not playing some elaborate prank on him. He couldn't help but smile before reaching over and placing his hand on the guy's shoulder. "It's good to see you man."
"You too man."
The two caught up while stuffing their faces, laughter soon echoing from their table. Ken had been so tense and exhausted earlier, but the appearance of his good friend had turned his mood around.
Although this place was new and unknown, having someone familiar had already improved his outlook.
"What did you decide to major in?" Ken asked curiously.
"Same as you, Economics."
"Wait… Did you ask my Mom what subjects I was taking?"
"Yup. I also made it so that we're dorm mates!" Steve replied with satisfaction.
Ken was impressed with the resourcefulness of Steve, although he felt a little betrayed by his mother. However, it was just a sign that she was worried about him in the end so he didn't take it to heart.
"Dude, you're getting some stares from the women over there." Steve leaned in and whispered, nodding his head towards a bunch of girls talking amongst each other.
Ken turned his head, only to see their faces turn stern, almost disgusted.
'Huh? What was that all about?' Ken thought in confusion. But his intuition burned in the back of his mind, telling him that something was afoot.
However, at the end of the day, he didn't care about college women. Especially since his girlfriend was now in the States. In fact, she was rather close by.
"So, what did I miss today?" Steve asked, changing the subject. He was used to being looked at strangely by people, so he quickly adapted.
"A fair bit of boring stuff. I'm sure you'll get roped into something later to make up for it." Ken said with a stretch.
"Hey, stop being antisocial and go mingle." A voice called out to them.