Meanwhile, at the Takahashi household...
Kenshin was sitting in his armchair, resting, when he picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Hello?" - A deep voice answered on the other end of the line.
"Hey, Masahiro! What are you doing tomorrow?" - Kenshin spoke cheerfully upon hearing his friend's voice. The person he was speaking with was Masahiro Takeda, Toji's father and a Japanese baseball hero.
"Huh? Nothing, I'm retired, man. Why?" - Masahiro replied without much thought. Unlike Kenshin, who got a job after retiring, Masahiro decided to sit back, relax, and do whatever he wanted for the rest of his life. After all, he'd earned a ton of money during his career.
"You— Shun is playing in the final round of the Tokyo tournament tomorrow. What do you say we go watch together?" - Kenshin was a bit annoyed by how lazy his friend was but quickly got to the point.
"Oh! Young Shun is playing? That's great, I'll go! It's just that..." - Masahiro replied excitedly and quickly agreed but then hesitated for a moment as he remembered something.
"Out with it" - Kenshin said, waiting to hear what the problem was.
"I-I need to ask my wife first." - Masahiro spoke in a low voice, clearly embarrassed. It seemed that the man who retired to do whatever he wanted couldn't actually do whatever he wanted.
"Hahahahaha! Alright, go ask and call me back with the answer." - Kenshin laughed loudly at his friend's response. Right after he finished speaking, Masahiro quickly hung up without even saying goodbye.
After laughing a bit more, Kenshin dialed another number on his phone.
"Dr. Hoshino speaking. Who is this?" - A calm voice answered on the other end.
"Hey, Satoru! Are you working tomorrow?" - Kenshin asked, sounding upbeat.
"Hey, darling, what's up?" - Kenshin stood up and quickly asked.
"Could you help Yumi with her homework? I'm busy with dinner..." - Aiko asked, her eyes looking tired. It was clear she was overburdened, managing the house and three kids on her own.
"Of course, sweetheart, leave it to me!" - Kenshin agreed quickly, heading toward Yumi's room to help his little girl, as a pang of guilt settled in his heart.
It was hard to notice because Aiko never complained, but she must have been exhausted from handling everything alone. Kenshin also realized that his wife spent a lot of time by herself.
'Maybe I should start thinking about retirement too...' - Kenshin thought to himself, remembering his friend Masahiro. Even though he had retired as a player, he could never give up baseball, which was why he continued working as a coach, even though he didn't really need the money.
But seeing how much his wife struggled and the many moments he missed with his kids, Kenshin began to think it might be time to stay home and enjoy his family.
"Oh, honey, I forgot to tell you! My father called today and said he's coming with us to Shun's game tomorrow." - Aiko mentioned before returning to the kitchen to finish dinner.
"Oh, alright!" - Kenshin replied before heading upstairs to help his little girl with her homework. Kenshin had a good relationship with his father-in-law, as both were passionate about baseball. Knowing Shun would be happy to see his grandfather in the stands, he smiled.
---
Meanwhile, on the baseball field at Shoto Junior High School...
Shun was alone on the field, finishing his daily exercise routine. He had waited until everyone left to start his routine since he didn't want his friends to feel pressured to train extra the day before the game. After all, they weren't like Shun, who had the system to help him recover.
Today's team practice had been light but very helpful. Shun explained to the entire team all the information he had on the two pitchers from Kasuga Junior High, doing his best to give Shoto's batters a fighting chance.
But to be honest, Shun understood very well that he couldn't rely on the offense to score too many runs, and this wasn't the fault of Shoto's batters, it was simply a recognition of Kasuga's pitchers' skills.
Shun also spent a good amount of time in the bullpen, preparing Daigo for all sorts of different scenarios. Thanks to his Learning Master quirk, he could recognize some weaknesses in Kasuga's batters, and he didn't let these pass by, explaining everything to Daigo and devising ways to exploit these weaknesses.
Shun finally wrapped up his training, and before the sun disappeared, he walked off the field and headed home.