Shun arrived home exhausted, and without saying much, he went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. The boy then went downstairs and headed to the kitchen for dinner. It was still a bit early, and Mika hadn't come home yet.
But Shun decided not to wait, he simply served himself and ate alone at the table. He ate a lot to replenish his energy, but soon after finishing his meal, he stood up and headed toward the stairs.
"Good night." - Shun said before going up the stairs and entering his room, so focused on tomorrow's game that he didn't even realize he was acting a bit strange.
"Good night, dear. Rest well!" - Aiko said with a smile, but as soon as he went upstairs, she looked over at her husband, worried.
"Do you think something happened?" - Aiko asked, her concern visible.
"Hehe, don't worry, dear. He's probably just in the zone. I used to get like that sometimes before pitching in big games." - Kenshin replied calmly. As a pitcher himself, he understood that it was normal for pitchers to withdraw and concentrate before games.
In fact, for Kenshin, who had seen many different pitchers with all kinds of crazy pre-game rituals, the way Shun was acting seemed pretty normal.
"Hmph! Baseball idiots!" - Aiko huffed, a bit annoyed. She didn't mind these things, but she definitely didn't like seeing her son act like he was in another world.
---
Shun lay down and quickly entered the arena, heading straight to the training center.
Shun continued watching the Kasuga game until he felt satisfied. Then he pitched in the bullpen against José Martínez, imagining he was facing Kasuga's lineup. Of course, the fact that the José Martínez hologram kept sending his pitches flying out of the stadium didn't exactly boost Shun's confidence.
---
Shun woke up in the morning feeling nervous, quickly putting on his running shoes and heading out for his daily run. After 20 km, his mind was much calmer, solely focused on strategizing against Kasuga's batters, doing his best not to let the growing pressure consume him.
This game would undoubtedly be the most important game Shun had ever played. If they won the sixth round of the Tokyo tournament, they would be one of the two teams representing Tokyo in the Kanto tournament.
The biggest tournament a middle school team could dream of joining, a competition that brought together the two best teams from seven different prefectures, plus last year's finalists, for an epic 16-team tournament vying for the coveted title of Kanto champions.
For players not in the senior league, the Kanto tournament was probably the best place to be scouted by top high school baseball programs. But for now, all this was still just a dream for Shun.
A dream that wasn't as far off as it seemed at the beginning of the year, but still a dream. The good part of all this was that it was in Shun's hands to turn that dream into reality, he could lead his team to the Kanto tournament with his pitching.
Shun returned home and took a shower. He paid close attention to make sure he packed everything he needed for the game in his bag before finally heading downstairs to eat breakfast quietly.
After talking with her husband, Aiko decided to let Shun be. Even though she didn't like seeing her son in another dimension, she didn't want to interrupt his focus and be responsible for a possible loss. All she could do was support him as much as she could and hope for her son's team to secure the victory today.
Shun walked to school, and before he even realized it, he arrived much earlier than usual. He sat down in his seat, looking out the window, lost in thought as he reviewed all his plans for today's game. After a while, Kenta arrived in the classroom, and soon after, Ren also showed up.
However, when the two saw their friend deeply focused, they didn't say much and simply sat down quietly. After all, Shun wasn't the only one feeling the pressure of this game. Kenta and Ren, especially as third-years like Shun, fully understood that this was their last chance to reach their dream of stepping onto the Kanto tournament stage.