Shun woke up early on Thursday morning and went out for his morning run. Even though today was the rest day between the fifth and sixth rounds, Shun had no intention of resting. Well, even if he wanted to rest, thanks to the system's daily mission, he didn't have that option.
Shun returned home after finishing his daily 20 km run, then took a quick shower and went down to the kitchen to have breakfast. He chatted enthusiastically with his family before heading to school.
Classes were normal, but Shun couldn't focus on them at all since all he could think about was how he would face Kasuga's batters tomorrow.
When the bell rang to signal the end of classes, Shun looked at his notebook in surprise, he hadn't taken any notes all day... To be honest, he hadn't even noticed the time passing. But for Shun, this time wasn't wasted, as he had formed several different plans in his head for dealing with Kasuga's batters.
Shun went with Kenta and Ren to the school's baseball field, and when all the team's players had arrived, Coach Yamada began practice.
---
Meanwhile, Ryosuke Sugano, the talented first-year center fielder who had been kicked off the Shoto Junior High baseball team, was on his way home. It had been almost a week since Ryosuke was expelled from the team, and in the past few days, he had been suffering from boredom, with nothing to do.
In Japan, it was common for kids to spend several hours every day training baseball. Especially Ryosuke, who, before joining Shoto, had been part of a junior league team and had been used to training every day since he was little.
Ever since Shun had seen Ryosuke's abilities, he thought it strange that the boy hadn't joined any senior league team, but after seeing his attitude, he guessed what had happened.
In Japan, NPB teams had affiliate teams, known as farm teams, which played in a sort of Japanese minor league. Kyosuke had been playing in that league for a few years, developing as a player. During this time, he had gone through various hardships like injuries, slumps at the plate, and fielding errors. These were normal challenges for a professional player, but of course, he hadn't come here to complain about his difficulties to his little brother.
"I heard you were kicked off your new team." - Kyosuke got straight to the point, speaking in a calm voice.
"Mm." - Ryosuke nodded, embarrassed, with nothing to say about it. As proud as he was, he knew he wasn't exactly in the right, and his brother was the last person who would go easy on him after he messed up.
"Ahh, you never change, do you?" - Kyosuke sighed in disappointment, then looked at his brother, who was hanging his head in shame, and continued:
"Well, since you don't have practice anymore, you're coming with me tomorrow!"
"Where are we going?" - Ryosuke asked, surprised. He had expected to get a scolding from his brother, so why was he inviting him out?
"To watch the sixth round of the Tokyo tournament." - Kyosuke said with a smile.
"Huh? I don't want to go—" - Ryosuke looked confused but quickly voiced his lack of interest in watching his former team's game.
"I don't care! Nobody asked if you wanted to go or not, you brat!" - Before his younger brother could protest, Kyosuke spoke sternly, giving him a tug on the ear.
"Ow! Ow! Okay, I'll go!" - Ryosuke whimpered in pain and quickly gave in.
"Hehe, good boy!" - Kyosuke said with a satisfied smile as he let go of his younger brother's ear, he had already achieved his goal.