The Old Baseball Player System

The rest of the game passed quickly after Shoto Junior High opened the scoring. After Sora was struck out at the end of the sixth inning, and the bottom of the order was eliminated in the seventh, Shun came back to bat once more in the eighth inning.

After observing the pitches from Aoba's ace, Shun had no trouble hitting a double. And his friends who followed did the same. Ren hit a double that brought Shun home, taking the score to 4-0.

Kenta stepped into the batter's box unsatisfied, even though he had gotten a hit in the sixth inning, he still felt he wasn't playing at the level a captain and fourth batter should. Especially with Shun's incredible performance both pitching and batting. Feeling the weight of being captain, Kenta batted with determination.

WOOSH

DOOONG

Kenta sent a forkball flying out of right field, making Shoto's dugout even more excited. With Kenta's two-run home run, the score went to 6-0, but it didn't stop there.

Daigo hit a double, and after him, Jiro hit a single, leaving runners on the corners. In this way, Sora, who had come in to replace Ryosuke, hit a sacrifice fly that brought Daigo home, raising the score to 7-0. The inning ended with that score as the seventh and eighth batters were eliminated, leaving Jiro on base.

Shun would have had an opportunity to come to bat one more time in the ninth inning, well, he would have, but thanks to himself, that opportunity didn't happen. The boy closed out the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings spectacularly, dominating Aoba's batters.

Even Shun himself was surprised by his dominance, he didn't expect the pressure would improve his pitching the way it did. But he didn't have the energy to think about those things at the moment, despite the 7-0 score making it seem like an easy game for Shoto Junior High, anyone who watched the game knew that it was far from easy.

Especially for Shun, who, besides having to deal with Aoba's batters, spent most of the game with it tied, suffering the pressure of not being able to give up a single run. He also had to deal with his own past traumas and the situation with Ryosuke.

Just thinking about Ryosuke irritated Shun, he really couldn't stand people who blamed their own teammates and their lack of skill, especially because he understood very well what it was like to be bad at baseball. Shun just shook his head as he let go of Ryosuke, no matter how talented the boy was, Shun didn't care about that anymore.

The Shoto players left the dugout while bowing toward the opposing dugout. Shun watched Aoba's players do the same, he noticed the sad looks on their faces and even some tears, but this time he felt a bit more empathy for his opponents. Although it didn't seem like it, he knew very well that Aoba could have won this game.

Shun felt the pressure of facing a strong opponent, but also, for the first time, he felt the sensation of defeating one, and he couldn't deny that he liked that feeling.

Shun sensed a stare directed at him and quickly looked at Aoba's coach standing next to his players. Shun felt the man's irritated gaze, almost as if they were mortal enemies or something.

"What a weird old man..." - Shun murmured as he walked back to the dugout and shrugged his shoulders. Since he already had some experience with a certain "weird old man", Shun just ignored Aoba's coach.

---

Outside the stadium...

"Bro!" - Little Yumi shouted excitedly as she ran towards Shun. Without hesitation, she jumped on her brother and hugged him tightly, not caring about how dirty Shun was.

"Hey Yumi..." - Shun was a bit surprised by the girl's sudden jump, but he didn't mind. Even though he was exhausted, he could always find a little energy for his family.

"You were amazing, Bro!" - The little girl smiled as she spoke to Shun, still not letting go of her hug.

"Hehe, you didn't think I'd forget our promise, did you?" - Shun smiled as he ruffled his sister's hair. He still remembered how sad the little girl had been about not being able to watch all his games, and that's why he promised her that whenever she was watching, Shun would give it his best.

"Of course I didn't forget! I cheered louder than anyone in the stadium! You can even ask Mom if you don't believe me!" - Little Yumi said confidently, also remembering her part of the promise.

"Oh really?" - Shun asked with a skeptical look as he glanced at his mom. He really believed that his little sister had cheered louder than anyone in the stadium, but he knew her better than anyone. Yumi would probably be happier after their mom confirmed it, and Shun acted surprised.

"She really did cheer the loudest, Shun." - Aiko said with a smile. She knew that Shun was acting just to make the little girl happier, so she played along.

"Wow! Really?!" - Shun did his best to fake a surprised expression as he spoke loudly.

"Hehe, I told you, Bro!" - Yumi said with a proud smile, which made Shun unable to resist pinching the little girl's cheeks due to her cuteness. Shun played with his sister a while longer until the little girl fell asleep in his lap.

"It was a good game, kid!" - Grandpa Jack said with a smile as he patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Grandpa!" - Shun said with a smile. Even though it was just a simple sentence, it meant a lot to him, knowing that his grandpa wasn't a man of many words. If the man said it was a good game, it was because he was really impressed.

Aiko looked at the scene with a smile, she didn't care at all whether Shun was a good baseball player or not. All she wanted was to see her son happy. But seeing how hard her son trained, she couldn't deny that she felt immense pride in the player he had become.

---

Meanwhile, outside the stadium but in a different place from where Shun and his family were...

Two boys were walking side by side, both wearing hooded jackets, which was very odd considering the terrible heat Tokyo was experiencing in the summer. They were also wearing sunglasses.

"Hey man, do I really have to wear this?" - One of the boys asked, clearly uncomfortable with the infernal heat he was feeling.

"Shhhh! Shut up, we can't draw attention!" - The other boy quickly replied, signaling for his friend to stop talking. Anyone who saw their actions would find them at least suspicious, and some people might even think the two were wanted criminals or something.

"Draw attention?" - The first boy muttered incredulously, feeling the many suspicious stares directed at him. Did his idiotic friend really believe that walking around in hoodies and sunglasses in the summer was discreet?

But unfortunately for the first boy, arguing wouldn't get him anywhere. He just sighed as he followed his friend away from the stadium. Only after walking two kilometers did the other boy carefully look around and say:

"It's clear! You can take off the disguise!" - He said as he quickly began taking off his jacket. As soon as he removed his hood, his white hair became visible, but it was drenched in sweat.

"Thank God!" - The first boy shouted in relief as he wasted no time in removing his hood quickly, revealing his brown hair, also soaked with sweat. The boy threw his jacket to the ground as he took deep breaths and fanned himself, trying to cool off.

These two were the battery of Hokuto Junior High School, the current champions of the Kanto tournament, Kohei Sasaki and Yoshinori Sugawara. They had been watching the game between Shoto and Aoba, and for some reason, Sugawara insisted that they "disguise" themselves.

"That blue-eyed idiot! He really improved a lot... Aoba's batters used the same strategy I thought of, not swinging the bat and letting him give up walks, but to think he could handle that in such a short time..." - Sugawara said thoughtfully, standing calmly despite his body being completely soaked in sweat. He didn't seem to care about the infernal heat he was feeling at the moment.

"Ahh man, I'm gonna die!" - On the other hand, Kohei was sitting on the ground, breathing heavily while fanning himself with his hand. The boy was clearly more concerned with the heat than with the game he had just watched.

"Although he still doesn't have good control, if you don't swing the bat, you'll probably fall behind in the count... Besides, even if we get some walks, he didn't seem to get rattled with the bases loaded and no outs..." - Kohei continued his train of thought, not caring about his friend's suffering.

"Do you have a plan?" - Kohei asked, even though he was suffering from the heat. He knew Sugawara wouldn't stop talking. Besides, he was also impressed with Shun's pitching in this game. Compared to the player they faced in the practice match earlier in the year, this Shun was really a tough pitcher to face.

"Hmph! Not yet, but I'll definitely come up with one! For now, all we can do is train harder!" - Sugawara said, a bit irritated that he hadn't yet figured out how to deal with Shun. He then began walking back to his school, angry, not even caring about Kohei's opinion.

"What did I do?" - Kohei muttered in depression as he got up and followed the white-haired maniac. If it hadn't been for his idea to invite Sugawara to that Shoto Junior High game to ease up on their training, none of this would have happened. Now, not only had the training gotten tougher, but he also had to accompany his friend to Shoto's games dressed like a fool.