The Old Baseball Player System

"Hmph! We\'ll win no matter what!" - Ren stood up from his seat, speaking confidently.

"You can handle it, right, Shun?" - Ren then turned to Shun and asked.

"It\'s going to be tough…" - Shun sighed thoughtfully, knowing that the next game would be very challenging for him on the mound. Kenta and Ren were about to try to cheer Shun up, thinking he might be nervous about facing Kasuga, but they were surprised by a laugh from their friend.

"Hehe, don\'t worry, no matter how tough it gets, we\'ll win! I\'ll accept nothing less than the Kanto tournament trophy at the end of this summer!" - Shun said with a confident smile, which left his two friends astonished.

"Haha, you\'d better not get destroyed by Kasuga\'s batters after saying that!" - Ren laughed, playfully teasing his friend.

"That\'s right, I\'ll kick your butt if you get hit after saying something so arrogant." - Kenta joined in the fun with a grin.

"You two—Shut up!" - Shun shouted, annoyed.

"Pft!" - Meanwhile, Mio Shimizu let out a small laugh as she watched the three friends joking around, but then she remembered something and felt a bit sad.

\'Summer is ending...\' - She thought, realizing that this Shoto Junior High baseball team only had a maximum of five more games together before the third-years would graduate and leave the team.

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Shun said goodbye to his friends and headed home on foot. Before reaching his house, he stopped at a nearby park to complete his daily exercise routine. Since it was already late, he imagined his mother wouldn\'t be happy if he came home and went straight to the yard to train even more.

Shun spent a little over an hour doing his exercises, and when he finally returned home, he was sweaty and dirty, with his uniform covered in dirt. He opened the front door, tired, thinking only of taking a shower and resting. But when he saw a pair of men\'s shoes at the entrance, he immediately perked up.

"Dad!" - Shun shouted as he ran toward the living room. It had been over a week since he last saw his father, who had been traveling with the Yomiuri Giants.

"Hey, son!" - Kenshin said cheerfully as he got up from the sofa to greet Shun, but then he was surprised when Shun stopped suddenly before entering the room.

"I\'ll go take a shower!" - Before Shun could step into the living room, he caught sight of his mother from the corner of his eye. Remembering how dirty he was, Shun didn\'t even want to imagine the consequences of entering the room in that state. So he quickly stopped, dashed to the stairs, and hurried into the bathroom.

"Pft!" - Aiko let out a satisfied chuckle at her son\'s reaction. Kenshin, meanwhile, watched the direction Shun had bolted and sighed in relief, seeing just how dirty Shun was. The boy had narrowly avoided a hefty punishment by not entering the room like that.

Shun took a good shower before getting dressed and going back downstairs. Now clean, he went straight to his dad and gave him a big hug, realizing how much he\'d missed him.

"Hehe, you seem happy, Shun. I assume you won today?" - Kenshin smiled as he hugged his son, then asked curiously.

"Hehe, of course! We\'re playing the final round of the Tokyo tournament the day after tomorrow!" - Shun replied proudly, he truly enjoyed sharing his victories with his father.

"Haha, good! The day after tomorrow, huh? I think I can make it to watch." - Kenshin said, thinking about his schedule. Although he wasn\'t on vacation, he would be in Tokyo for a while, and since professional games were usually held in the evening, he could attend his son\'s game in the afternoon.

"Really?" - Shun asked excitedly. Despite the improvement in his relationship with his father, Kenshin hadn\'t been able to attend any of Shun\'s games this year due to his work.

"Is Daddy going to watch Bro\'s game on Friday too?" - Little Yumi appeared in the living room, excited after hearing her father and brother\'s conversation. Since it was Friday and the last round of the Tokyo tournament, Aiko had allowed Yumi to attend her brother\'s game.

"Haha, let\'s cheer for your brother together, Yumi!" - Kenshin said with a cheerful laugh upon seeing his youngest daughter\'s adorable reaction. He couldn\'t help but feel a little guilty for not being able to spend all his time with his family because of his job, but he was happy to enjoy these moments with his children.

"Yeeaah!" - Yumi raised her fist excitedly as she ran toward her father and leaped into his arms. The two then headed to the kitchen for dinner, with Shun following behind.

\'Hehe, I won\'t let you down!\' - Shun thought silently, clenching his fists with determination. Now he had even more reason to play well in the upcoming game.

Shun then sat down at the table for dinner. For the first time in a while, the entire Takahashi family was together, and Shun enjoyed this time with his sisters and parents, relaxing and sharing laughs while taking baseball out of his mind for a bit.

After spending a good while chatting with his family, Shun went up to his room and lay down on his bed. The boy then entered the Training Center in the arena and spent more time pitching under the old man\'s guidance, knowing that in two days, he would be pitching in the most important game of his middle school career.