By the time he was almost finished, more players had begun to arrive on the field.
"Looks like you're making friends already." A voice called from outside the bullpen, getting his attention.
Ken turned and saw Rick, the short guy he had met yesterday, standing outside of the bullpen wearing a grin. Ken had a good impression of the guy, but for some reason his smile ticked him off.
"You were watching?"
"I only saw the end." Rick replied with a shrug.
"And you've just been watching me clean up this whole time?" Ken asked incredulously.
"Hehe. Well, usually our ball boys are the one's who clean up before and after practice. I didn't want to interrupt your good deed for the day." Rick snickered.
Ken froze, his mind taking longer than usual to piece together what had happened.
"That bastard…" Ken grit his teeth. The guy had told him to clean up, knowing that it wasn't the players job to do so.
Seeing Ken's angry appearance, Rick couldn't help but laugh even louder. Unfortunately, this just made Ken even more annoyed.
"Don't sweat it man, I can tell, Rohan acknowledges you."
At this, Ken raised his eyebrow, "And why would I need his acknowledgment?"
"W—Well…" Rick looked a little uncomfortable. He waved Ken closer to the cage, as if he didn't want others to hear.
A little intrigued, Ken obliged.
"You see, Rohan was never meant to be here…" He started.
"He was drafted out of junior college and started way down in rookie ball. He climbed all the way up through the leagues until it was finally time for his debut… That's when he got injured." Rick said, wearing a sullen expression.
Ken's eyes widened for a moment. It seemed that every player has their story and Rohan was not the exception. Still, did that warrant his attitude?
"So you're saying I should be thankful that he acknowledged me?" Ken replied indifferently.
"No… I'm just saying, give him a little slack. As Cain said yesterday, he takes a little while to warm up to people." Rick replied, letting out a sigh. "You probably remind him of his younger self."
"He's not even that much older than me." Ken retorted incredulously.
"Sure, age-wise. But I'm talking about attitude, enthusiasm and the like."
Ken shook his head, to him, Rohan sounded like someone that was immature and could not accept his circumstances. Just as he was about to leave, he froze in place as memories started to stream in.
Was he not the exact same? In his previous life when he was injured, he turned sour and pushed people away. If they were comparing maturity, the old Ken would have been far worse than Rohan.
'At least he can chase his dream again…' Ken thought. When he was given another chance, he had made the most of it. The fact that he was standing here right now was a testament to his hard work and shift in attitude.
"It has nothing to do with me." Ken shrugged eventually. He had his own battles to overcome and goals to achieve, why would he need to be worried about someone like Rohan.
"You're right." Rick said, though his face looked a little disappointed.
"Practice should be starting soon, let's go." Ken said, turning to leave the bullpen.
Rick watched as Ken walked away and couldn't help but let out a sigh. He had hoped that Ken and Rohan would get along, especially since they were both starting pitchers. But it didn't seem like it would happen.
Rick let out a grunt of annoyance, "Damn pitchers… Why are they all so stubborn?"
Coach Matthews walked onto the field and blew his whistle, getting all the team to gather. His face lit up as he saw Ken walking over, wearing the SeaWolves uniform.
When he had found out from his boss that Ken would be joining the team, he had almost jumped for joy. He'd been following the guy ever since learning that he was a switch pitcher, and though Columbia weren't able to make it far into the post season, it was still exciting every time Ken got onto the mound.
'With his help, we might finish the season strong…' He thought.
Then his eyes fell on Rohan not far away, his expression turning mixed.
"Alright you lot, there's a game tonight so we're only going through some light training and drills today. I want everyone to get some batting practice in by the end of the day as well." He said, gazing over the team.
"Ken, I want to see 100% out of you today. Martin will be shadowing you today to test your game readiness, whatever he reports will dictate when you will debut for us so keep that in mind."
"Yes Coach." Ken said seriously, clearly fired up.
Coach Matthews nodded. "Since you're a two-way player, you might be pretty busy, just don't slack off."
With that, Beau, the captain of the team took them through some group stretches and warm ups. He was a big guy, sporting a short-cropped beard and had wide shoulders. Judging by the streaks of gray in his beard, he was at least 30.
Yet Ken didn't underestimate the man.
Once finished, they broke up into their groups to go through some drills.
Ken found himself alongside Cain, the easy to talk to outfielder he had met yesterday. He was around 6'2 and looked to be in great shape. Cain carried himself with an ease and confidence that was almost enviable.
The guy reminded him a little of Riku, his old teammate in the U18 National Team. Of course he wasn't as eccentric as the guy.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Cain asked, seemingly out of the blue.
"Ah… Yeah. Well, she's my fiance." Ken replied.
Cain's expression turned sour. "Damn it! Is it just me who will be alone forever?" He cursed.
'Ah… Maybe they're more alike than I thought.' Ken thought, resisting the urge to laugh.