𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 || 𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐈 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎

𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌

"That went...weirder than I expected."

I said to myself as I left the room, filing out with all the other equally weirded out reporters. Ken just leaving like that was unexpected giving this was his big day to 'wow' the crowds into loving him more than they already did. That lady was pushy but I thought he'd be accustomed to treatment like this. Did it make it right? Absolutely not, but still just overall unprofessional and unexpected.

As I rounded a corner, a voice caught my attention, "Oi! Sato!" Coach Shimura barked indignantly, "Hey, Coach Shimura." Ken greeted as if they were old pals catching up over drinks. I decided to ease drop to see the kind of response his abrupt end to the Ken Sato show was affecting him.

"You can't charm me." He cut him off before he could get another word in, "There's no place for the Ken Sato show on my team." He gruffed harshly, "Look, I get it." Ken started softly, his hands held in defense, "It's been a rough couple of years for you guys, but I'm here to help." With every word he spoke, he inched closer and closer to him. Hand on his heart, the man honestly looked like he had a bit of sympathy, "Let me drive, win some games, and we can get this team back on top where it belongs."

"See? Right there. That's your problem. No humility." I started to peek from around the corner when the argument sounded heated, "It takes more than attitude to become a Giant." Coach said sternly.
I heard Ken sigh, leaning in slightly closer to him, "I stopped believing in Giants a long time ago." He hissed quietly.

Then he looked up like he had noticed something.

He looked right at me

"Shoot!" I whispered, ducking back behind the corner. It was so fast, I didn't believe he caught a glimpse of me at first. But those eyes were unmistakable. His eyes bore into me like I heard something I wasn't supposed to.

"Y/N?" I jolted in suprised at my name being called, "Oh, Fia, I thought you went home already." I turned my head to see her along with some others I knew. "I wanted to know if you wanted to join us for drinks later, didn't you see my calls?" My phone had been in my pocket the whole time so I didn't get the chance to check it. I grabbed it and the first thing to pop up was her name followed by the notification she had called me, "Sorry, had my phone on do not disturb again..." I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment, "I'd love to join you all though."

AFTER HOURS

The noisy atmosphere of the bar took away from all apprehension I had towards the event that had happened earlier in the day. I would have had time to stew in them more, get a sense of what Sato meant by his comment earlier if I didn't have a much bigger problem at stake, keeping a drunk Fia in check.