"I almost had you!" Brian called out, slowly getting to his feet. His freckled face was covered in sweat, but he wore a toothy grin.
"You think you'd beat me with those short legs?" Ken scoffed.
Brian grinned, "I'll get you one of these days." He then turned to Steve who was still on the floor, an arrogant expression now on his face, "It's too easy to beat this guy."
"Y—You bastard." Steve huffed, "You didn't beat me. We were tied!"
"Yeah, yeah." Brian retorted, quickly losing interest. "What are we doing next? I've still got some energy to burn."
Ken saw Steve's face turn even more red with subdued rage and couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He shook his head, "We're heading to Virginia tomorrow for the first game of the season, you should consider resting and recovering since you're starting."
"Ah, boring~" Brian retorted.
"Just don't let us down in the first game of the season." Ken said, placing his hand on the guys shoulder.
Brian didn't have the fatigue management skill like him and Steve, yet it seemed the guy had an abundance of energy all the time. It was quite bizarre, but Ken enjoyed training with the guy. Not only did it push Steve, it also pushed him.
"Heh, don't worry about me. I heard you might be a bit rusty since you haven't played in so long." Brian quipped.
Ken raised an eyebrow, "You wanna face a few of my pitches and find out?"
However, Ken quickly regretted it since the guy practically jumped up and down in excitement. It seemed as if he wanted to drag him to the batting nets right away.
"I can't right now. I want to see my fiance before we leave on the first road trip." Ken said, putting a stop to the excitement.
At the mention of fiance, Brian got quiet. "Women are big distractions, Ken. I pray that you don't let her come between you and achieving greatness." He said with a serious expression.
"PFFT. HAHAHA!" Steve who had finally recovered, let out a peel of laughter and placed his arm around Brian's shoulder. "Spoken like a true virgin."
Brian delivered a short elbow into Steve's ribs, causing the guy to let out a groan and fall to his knees. "I'm saving myself for marriage, you heathen." He spat.
Now Ken couldn't control his laughter, seeing Steve's bullying get turned on him.
"You don't need to worry, Brian. When you find the right girl, they make your goals seem even easier to achieve." He said, ruffling the guy's hair.
Brian still didn't seem convinced, but he accepted it nonetheless. Before Steve got up to his feet, he bid his farewell and began to jog back towards his dorm.
"That bastard packs a punch." Steve mumbled, rubbing his ribs.
"He's a fiery one, I'll give him that." Ken replied with a grin.
"Yeah… almost too fiery." Steve shivered, "It's freezing, let's go get changed before we catch a cold. Wouldn't want to miss out on your first game because you got a chill."
Ken agreed and they made their way back to the dorm.
He visited Ai later that afternoon and spent some quality time together. It had been hard for Ken to go in public ever since receiving those photos of him and Ai together, so he was far more vigilant.
Ken would always get receipts for any purchases, be it at restaurants or retail stores. There was no way that he was going to allow the same thing to happen once again.
Soon enough, the day of the road trip arrived and the team shuttled onto the plane for the hour and a half trip. While Ken still wasn't great with planes, it sure beat driving 6 hours on a bus to their destination.
They soon arrived and were taken into their hotel for the weekend. It was nothing special, but Ken was used to it by now, in fact he had stayed at much worse places while in Texas.
With the first game of the season later that night, the team were buzzing. Coach Brown also seemed to be in a wonderful mood, despite the few changes to the roster after some players graduated.
With Tristan now gone, there was currently no Captain on the squad. Usually he would have announced it during the off season, but the coach had been putting it off until the start of the season to see if anyone stepped up without prompting.
He noticed that apart from Brian and Ayden, most of the team weren't loud during practice. Tristan was great because he not only talked a lot, but he was well liked by the team.
Ken on the other hand, seemed a little reserved at times, but he would let his actions do the talking. When it came to training, there was no one who put more effort into the drills than himself.
'If only he were more talkative…' Coach Brown thought, scanning his players.
They were currently in the midst of a film study session prior to the game starting tonight. The lineup had already been decided, he just needed to announce it, as well as the new captain who would lead the team.
"Coach? Did you want to announce the lineup." Coach Coleman got his attention, snapping him out of his reverie.
"R—Right." He stammered briefly before turning towards the team.
The lineup was the same apart from Brian the freshman taking over Tristan's position at short stop, and Steve now being the starting catcher in place of Clinton who had graduated.
"As for the new Captain, how about you nominate who you think would be best." Coach Brown stated. If he couldn't make the decision then it was best to find out from the players themselves.
Steve instantly stood up and point to Ken next to him. "I'd like to nominate Ken."
"I second this." Brian stated.
"Third!"
"Me too."
One by one, the players spoke up for Ken who by now had his jaw dropped in shock.
'EH!???'