The Old Baseball Player System

"Hey Shun, long time no see!" - Shun heard an excited voice as he felt an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey Akira!" - Shun smiled in response as he looked at his friend. That was Akira Suzuki, third baseman for Tokyo Nakano Senior and also part of the Japan U-15 national team. Shun had known him since they were both in Tokyo Nakano Little League.

Shun then glanced to the side and noticed three more people standing nearby. He saw a blonde figure among them, but when his eyes met the beautiful green eyes of the girl, he quickly averted his gaze.

"Hey Kaori!" - Shun said with a smile as he looked at the beautiful girl with brown eyes and black hair. Without waiting for her reply, he glanced at the gorgeous blonde standing next to her and continued:

"Hey Hana, nice party!" - Shun tried his best to sound as natural as possible.

"Thank you!" - Hana replied with a beautiful smile that left Shun momentarily dazed. After a few moments, he snapped out of it and did his best to hide his reddening ears from embarrassment.

"Hey Satoshi! I watched your games at the U-15 Asian Championships last year. You were amazing, man!" - Shun then said to the third person standing there, Satoshi Hayashi, the future ace of Japan and the guy who took Shun's spot as pitcher for Tokyo Nakano.

To be honest, Shun didn't really want to talk to this guy. Even though they had never fought, they were never really close either. Plus, even though Shun had gained the system and had been training every day to improve, this guy just had it all. He was the best pitcher in their age group, and on top of that, he was good-looking and always had a bunch of girls around him.

As Shun thought about the girls hanging around Satoshi, he involuntarily glanced at Hana, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart before quickly burying it.

"Oh, thanks." - Satoshi was surprised. It had been a while since he talked to Shun, but he never expected him to be so friendly. After all, whether he liked it or not, he had taken Shun's spot as the ace of Tokyo Nakano, and after that, Shun was even kicked off the team.

"So, Shun, how's your team doing?" - Kaori asked curiously, still remembering Shoto's terrible loss to Hokuto last year. But from what Mika had said, Shun's team was doing much better this year.

"Oh, we're doing well! Just a few things to fix before the tournament, but I believe we've got a good chance this year." - Shun spoke honestly, but everyone present could feel a strong confidence behind his words.

"Hehe, so can we expect to see our Shun back on the mound?" - Toji asked with a grin. He still remembered the story of Shun pitching to his dad earlier and wanted to know more.

"Hehe, who knows? It'll depend if the opponents can make me step on the mound. After all, I've got some talented kohais on the team." - Shun responded with a smile.

"Huh? Make you step on the mound? Shouldn't it be the other way around? I'm pretty sure that kid with glasses pitches better than you…" - Toji said in a serious tone, looking at his friend with a teasing grin.

"Huh? Who the hell pitches better than me, you bastard!" - Shun got irritated by his friend's annoying grin. Without wasting time, he tackled Toji, and the two of them fell to the ground, playfully wrestling. Of course, Shun didn't mind hearing that Jiro was better than him, he'd say it himself without hesitation, but hearing it from his friend with that smug smile was different.

"You two, knock it off!" - Akira quickly ran over to try and break up the fight, but unfortunately, he wasn't prepared to step into that battlefield.

"Ouch!" - Akira yelped in pain as a stray leg hit him in the face. Shun and Toji were too busy wrestling on the ground to notice their friend holding his face in pain.

"Pft! You okay, Akira?" - Kaori chuckled before going over to check if he was alright. Back when Shun was still on the team, this scene was pretty common. Akira would always get hurt trying to break up Shun and Toji's fights, and somehow, the two wrestlers would always walk away unscathed.

"Aren't you going to do something, Mika?" - Hana asked, looking at Mika with concern.

"Huh? Do what? Let them be. It's fun watching those two idiots fight." - Mika said with a smile.

"Pft! You're so mean!" - Hana giggled as she watched the two friends tussling on the ground.

"Oh, and why don't you do something then?" - Mika asked with a teasing smile.

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Hana just rolled her eyes and didn't answer Mika's question. In truth, both girls were happy to see Shun and Toji messing around. Even though no one talked about it much, they all missed Shun since they had grown up together. Ever since Shun left the team, these silly moments had ended, and the girls were glad to see that the friendship between the two idiots was still as strong as ever.

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Shun was with his sisters and parents, leaving the Hoshinos' house. He had spent a lot of time chatting with his friends, but seeing little Yumi asleep in his father's arms, he knew it was time to go.

"Hey boy!" - Shun heard the familiar voice speaking English and stopped in his tracks. He turned around and saw José Martínez walking toward him.

"I'm going to see your pitches again, but next time, I won't be satisfied with just watching, hahaha!" - José laughed loudly as he patted Shun on the shoulder.

Shun, on the other hand, was in shock. He didn't understand much of what José said, but just the presence of the man made him tremble.

"Hehe, he said he wants to see your pitches again, son." - Kenshin noticed his son's confusion and spoke with a smile. Even he was impressed by José's words.

"What?" - Shun looked at his father in disbelief, but before he could say anything else, Kenshin continued speaking.

"But he said next time, he won't just be watching your pitches!"

"Huh?" - Shun felt a chill run down his spine as he heard his father's words. He quickly glanced back at José Martínez, thinking about the monstrous hits the man had made in last year's home run derby.

But for some reason, instead of fear, Shun felt an incredible surge of adrenaline running through his body. He flashed a confident smile as he extended his hand toward José.

"It's a promise!" - Shun tried his best to say the words in English.

José looked at the boy's extended hand with surprise but quickly broke into a wide grin.

"Hm!" - José nodded as he firmly shook Shun's hand. This was a promise Shun would never forget.