Chapter 17: Training Partner Acquired (1)

Ken continued his morning run and exercise routine throughout the next few days of his suspension, even doing so on the weekend. While he still looked like a zombie after getting out of bed at 5am, he had improved his running time considerably. It was currently Monday morning and he was headed back to school for his first day back since being suspended. One thing he noticed since starting his training regime was that he was now full of energy throughout the day. Perhaps this was also a result of his food intake increasing by a large margin. Due to his mom's cooking, his food was always balanced and full of nutrition. As he made his way to class, Keisuke bumped into him and began to bombard him with questions. "Dude! I heard you broke Sakamoto's nose and got suspended. Are you some kind of delinquent now?" He asked, nudging him in the ribs. Ken scoffed in response, "The guy had it coming." He said simply, not wanting to go into further detail. Keisuke complained a little after failing to get any more information, however he quickly changed gears. "Coach Yoshida has started trialling some of our pitchers. I even heard that he's looking for a new Ace for this season. Does this mean you're kicked off the team after being suspended?" His face was full of concern, fearing that his friend was being punished unfairly. After all, it was only his first offense after so many years of schooling. Ken shook his head, "Nope I'm still on the team, but I won't be a pitcher this year." "WHAT!?" Keisuke's jaw dropped exaggeratedly as he exclaimed loudly. The other students in the hallway locked their gazes onto him after the outburst, causing him to redden in embarrassment. "What do you mean you won't be a pitcher?? You're one of the main reasons we were able to make it to the Kanto Tournament the past 2 years." He continued, choosing to whisper this time. "Don't worry about it man. We might not make the Spring Tournament, but I think we have a chance at the Summer one." Ken said honestly. Seeing his class up ahead, he increased his pace, not wanting to continue this conversation any longer. While he had already told Coach Yoshida about his injury, he didn't want to have to explain everything to all of his teammates. Ken just wanted to do his best and train to become a decent batter and 1st baseman in peace. Keisuke's questions died in his throat as he saw Ken scuttle shamelessly into the classroom and close the door behind him, leaving him standing by himself outside. "What is up with that guy?" He muttered, before eventually heading to his own classroom. Ken sat down at his chair and finally let out a sigh of relief. He had forgotten how inquisitive teenagers could be. Soon after he got settled, he saw Daichi enter the classroom. Yet he looked quite uncomfortable. "Hey Ken… I'm sorry that you got suspended for me." His head was lowered, not even able to look him in the eyes as he said his apology. It seemed that he had been beating himself up for the punishment Ken had to bear. Ken felt a sense of warmth after seeing his best friend apologize, yet he couldn't allow that to happen. "Hey man, don't sweat the small stuff. We best friends have got to stick together ya know." He said grandly, throwing an arm over Daichi's shoulders. If it wasn't for his long arms, he never would have been able to span the length of Daichi's wide shoulders. "Best friend?" Daichi jumped at those words, not expecting such a declaration. "Of course! Why? Don't you want to?" Ken crooned, before letting out a hearty laughter. Daichi seemed to be at a loss for a while, however he eventually nodded, a bright smile creeping onto his baby face. Ken saw this and smiled widely. This was the first time he had seen him smile like this since returning back to middle school. The face seemed to overlap with his memories of his best friend in high school, causing a sharp pang of guilt to appear in Ken's heart. The sound of a door sliding broke the atmosphere. Everyone quickly got into their seats at the arrival of the teacher and awaited his instruction. In usual school fashion, the periods dragged on, threatening to bore him to death. Thankfully they were saved by the lunch bell, which suddenly perked him up considerably. Like usual, he decided to eat in the classroom with Daichi. He pulled out his lunch box, showing an array of delicacies which instantly made his mouth water. Daichi too could only look on with jealousy at the assortment of food in front of his friend. Yet he didn't complain, pulling out his lunch box with some leftover rice and a few errant vegetables. "Man, don't you ever get anything but leftover rice and vegetables?" Ken asked between shoveling food into his mouth. A wry smile formed on Diachi's face at the question. "It's only my mother at home so she does what she can while working most of the day." He responded.