Ken sat patiently by the side as the team went through their practice. The thing he was most surprised about was that most of the players went through their own routines and only for certain drills did they group up.
At first Ken thought they looked a bit lazy, but once the drills began he was quickly proven wrong. These guys were professionals. The ease at which they were performing tasks was what made it seem like they weren't putting in 100% effort.
'So this is a professional team…' Ken thought, his eyes locked onto Daichi.
The guy was popular within the team despite being a rookie. The older players ruffled his hair and treated him well, as if they were looking out for him.
This brought a smile to Ken's face, but it also made him feel a little jealous. If he had decided to stay in Japan, would he have been accepted like this into a professional team?
But this wasn't the time for such thoughts. If he continued along this line of thinking then he would get depressed. After all, he was still suspended from playing in College, and wouldn't be able to play organized baseball for almost a full year.
When the group activities finished, the pitchers and catchers made their way over to the bullpen. Daichi waved at him, gesturing for him to come over.
It was only now that some of the players noticed his presence since he'd been sitting down the entire time.
"Who is the beanstalk?" A player asked Daichi, within Ken's earshot.
'Beanstalk?' Ken felt his eye twitch.
"That's my brother Ken." Daichi replied, holding back a laugh.
"Eh? That's the guy you've been talking about? He's pretty damn tall…"
Ken didn't exactly appreciate being talked about while he was within earshot, so he walked up and introduced himself. "I'm Ken Takagi, Daichi's older brother." He said, holding his hand out.
"Keiji Takamura." The guy responded, taking the hand. He looked to be in his mid 20's and was fit. The first thing that Ken noticed was the grip of his handshake. Even if he didn't know that the guy was a pitcher, that alone would be enough to assume so.
"You've pitched really well this season." Ken added with a smile.
"Hehe, it's easier with this guy giving me leads." Keiji responded, nudging Daichi.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Ken laughed.
"Oh that's right, you're also a pitcher." The guy nodded and turned to Daichi as if Ken was not present, "Is he any good?"
Daichi let out a chuckle, "He's good. At least he was back when I was catching for him."
"Oho? You doubt me little brother?" Ken replied, feeling his ego attacked.
Keiji ignored him and asked Daichi, "Who is better? Me or him?"
This time, Daichi looked pained, as if he didn't want to answer the question. The duo of Ken and Keiji glared at him, waiting for the answer.
"Heh… It's been too long to give a proper answer." He said, trying to skirt the question.
Keiji frowned, "Daichi-chan, this question should be a no-brainer. After all, I'm the Ace for the Tigers…"
Ken could feel the tension rising, so he quickly took a step back. "Let's not pressure him. I'm sure we have our different styles."
"Yeah, this is why I'm a professional and you're still a no-name at university." He replied simply.
'This bastard… I tried to give an easy way out but he wants to be persistent.' Ken grit his teeth and tried to swallow the insult. He didn't want to make things difficult for Daichi who would have to deal with the fallout.
However, Daichi frowned in the next moment and stood up to Keiji, "Did you know, my brother was the first pitcher to ever throw a perfect game at Summer Koshien? He's also been throwing over 100mph ever since he was 15 years old. He's the most hardworking and dedicated person I've ever known, and the very reason why I even got into baseball in the first place."
Keiji was taken aback, not expecting Daichi to have his hackles raised. Before he could reply, Daichi stepped forward and got into his face.
"I like to think that I'm an easygoing guy, but one thing that I won't tolerate is having my big brother disrespected in front of me." He said coldly. "Now get into the bullpen and warm your arm up."
Ken's eyes were wide open in shock, not believing what he was seeing. Was this really his brother right now? The same guy that was bullied in middle school and who was far too anxious to even speak to people some time ago.
Keiji's expression twisted and for a moment Ken thought he might have needed to step in, however the guy cooled down. "You're right, I took things too far." He turned to Ken and bowed slightly, "I apologize for my rudeness."
Then he jogged off to the bullpen, leaving the two brothers standing on the field.
There was a few moments silence before Ken placed his arm around his brother's shoulder. "Look at you little bro, still bossing the pitchers around like you own the place." He said teasingly.
However, he felt warm inside. He was very much like Daichi, he didn't care what people thought about him, but when they talked about his family, he would react like this.
Daichi let out a sigh, "He's a good guy but he's very competitive. I don't doubt that he knows all about you and was just trying to get you to challenge him."
Ken let out a small laugh, "He sure has a roundabout way of going about it. Why didn't he just challenge me himself?"
Daichi shook his head. "He's a professional player Ken. It wouldn't look good if he were to challenge an amateur pitcher, no matter their skill level. Only if you issued the challenge could his pride allow him to accept it." He said knowingly.
"Ah… Makes sense."