The Old Baseball Player System
Chapter 80: All-Star Game (1)

Shun returned to the baseball field and quickly started training. The young samurai, Ren, had already arrived at the field, but after hearing from Kenta about Shun and Jiro's fight, he chose not to say much to avoid irritating his friend.

Kenta, Daigo, and Sora also decided to keep quiet and just followed Shun's intense training. Well, at least they tried...

"I'm heading out." - Shun said as he got up off the ground, still breathing heavily.

"Hm, see you tomorrow." - Kenta nodded as he also stood up, exhausted. Ren was still lying on the ground, dead tired, while the poor first-years had already been wiped out for a while.

Shun then walked back home, deep in thought. When he reached his front door, he hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and opening it with a determined look.

"Hey, son, is everything okay? Your dad called me saying you're not going to the All-Star Game with us anymore?" - Aiko looked at her son, who was dirty and tired, and asked, concerned.

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"Everything's fine, Mom. No need to worry! It's just that I need to do something important today." - Shun said with a smile. The last thing he wanted was to make his mother worry.

"Hm, alright." - Aiko nodded, a bit hesitant. She watched her son go upstairs to shower but didn't stop him. Shun had been extremely excited to go to the All-Star Game that morning, and she couldn't even imagine a reason for him not to want to go anymore, but she decided to trust her son.

Shun then took a quick shower and put on clean clothes before going back downstairs.

"I'm heading out!" - Shun shouted as he rushed out the door.

"Take care, and don't come back too late!" - Aiko called back, but when she realized, the boy had already dashed out the door. She sighed before returning to what she was doing.

Shun walked for about 15 minutes before arriving at a particular house. It was a large and beautiful house, clearly belonging to a wealthy family. Shun then walked decisively to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Yes?" - A beautiful woman opened the door, looking at Shun with suspicion.

"Mrs. Fukuoka? It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shun Takahashi, I'm a friend of Jiro!" - Shun introduced himself, bowing respectfully.

"Oh, you're a friend of my son? Wait here, I'll let him know you came over to play!" - Mrs. Fukuoka said excitedly, which left Shun a bit confused. He couldn't help but wonder silently: 'Play with him? How old does she think I am?'

But Shun quickly brushed off those thoughts and remembered his reason for being here.

"Ehh Mrs. Fukuoka, Jiro invited me to watch the NPB All-Star Game today." - Shun tried his best to sound convincing.

"Huh? Oh, of course! I had forgotten about that, I'm sorry! I'll call him now. Please, come in." - Mrs. Fukuoka said, surprised.

Of course, she was lying about having forgotten because Jiro had never invited Shun in the first place. But naturally, she didn't know that.

Mrs. Fukuoka quickly went upstairs and knocked on her son's door.

"What is it, Mom?" - Jiro opened the door with a gloomy expression. The boy was still shaken by the defeat, and the fight with Shun earlier had made him even more upset.

"You little brat! Why didn't you tell me you invited your friend over today, huh?" - Unfortunately for Jiro, his mother didn't seem to care about his gloomy state as she spoke to him irritably.

"Huh? Friend? What—" - Jiro was clearly confused by his mother's irritated words, but before he could say more, his ear was grabbed.

"Cut the nonsense! Your friend is waiting for you in the living room, go greet him!" - Mrs. Fukuoka said while pinching her son's ear. Of course, she was a bit annoyed at not being informed, but she was happy to know that her son had friends. After all, the nerdy boy had always been very shy and was even bullied by other kids.

Jiro wasted no time and went downstairs, confused, with his hand on his ear, which was still warm from the pinch. The boy and his mother reached the living room where Shun was standing, waiting. Jiro was surprised to see Shun in his house, and after remembering his senpai's reaction earlier today, he felt a bit scared about why he was here.

"Hey, Jiro!" - Shun said cheerfully, putting his arm around Jiro's shoulder.

"He-hey, senpai." - Jiro responded, unsure of what was happening. But before he could say anything else, his mother interrupted.

"Haha, you boys have fun watching the game. I'll prepare something for you to eat!" - Mrs. Fukuoka said with a smile as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Game?" - Jiro muttered in confusion. He looked at Shun, who still had his arm around his shoulder, and felt anxious about what would happen now that they were alone.

"Haha, did you forget? Today is the All-Star Game!" - Shun said with a grin, taking his arm off Jiro's shoulder and walking toward the television.

He quickly turned on the TV and put on the sports channel. Noticing that the game hadn't started yet, he sighed in relief and lay comfortably on the sofa, ignoring the fact that he was just a guest.

"All-Star Game?" - Jiro was shocked by Shun's actions. First, Shun had almost hit him at school, then he showed up at his house unannounced, acting as if nothing had happened. Now, Shun was lying comfortably on his sofa as if he were in his own home.

The nerdy boy stood there for a while, trying to make sense of what was happening, but after some time, he just shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Jiro went to the other end of the sofa and sat down. He was still worried that this was all part of Shun's plan to catch him off guard and beat him up, so he sat at the edge of the sofa without even leaning back against the cushion. He started watching TV, but he couldn't focus since there was a potential threat to his life right next to him.

Shun ignored all of this and just watched the presenters on TV comfortably. Anyone looking at the scene would think that Jiro was the shy guest, and Shun was the relaxed host.