The Old Baseball Player System

"Huh? Shimizu?" - Kenta said, his voice tinged with fear as he stared at his girlfriend, who was standing in front of him with an expression of pure anger.

"Kenta! Did some hussy try to hit on you?!" - Shimizu asked, her eyes locked on him with a piercing glare.

"What? No—" - Kenta stammered, taken aback by the sudden question. He quickly composed himself, the last thing he wanted right now was an angry girlfriend.

"Oh, that's good! Let's head to the field!" - Shimizu's expression instantly softened, her beautiful smile reappearing as she grabbed Kenta's hand. However, instead of heading toward the field, she took a step toward the door and shot a menacing glance at the group of girls who had invited Shun and Ren out earlier. The girls visibly trembled in fear.

Kenta observed the scene with a look of understanding. He had been wondering why those girls had so blatantly ignored him, but now he understood, none of them wanted to provoke Shimizu. It seemed Shimizu had marked her territory throughout the school. Of course, Kenta didn't mind this at all.

The four friends then began walking toward the baseball field. Along the way, several random students greeted them and wished them luck. Finally, Shun understood what was happening. Word had spread throughout the school that the Shoto baseball team had advanced to the Kanto tournament. As team members, they had suddenly become quite popular.

Naturally, none of them cared much about this newfound popularity. Their sole focus at the moment was preparing for the Kanto tournament. Even Ren, the young samurai, was only joking around. While he loved the idea of going to karaoke with a group of pretty girls, he would never jeopardize his training for it.

Of course, Ren couldn't deny that he was already planning to celebrate their Kanto tournament victory with a group of beauties. Being popular now was exciting, but imagining how much more popular he'd be after winning the kanto tournament made Ren ecstatic.

The four friends arrived at the baseball field. While Shimizu went to organize some things for practice, the three boys headed to the clubroom to change into their uniforms. However, when they entered, they were met with a tense atmosphere. The younger players were speaking in hushed, worried tones, but they all fell silent as soon as the three entered.

"What's going on?" - Kenta asked seriously, a hint of concern crossing his mind. They had just won the Tokyo tournament, so this kind of tension was unusual.

Instead of answering, everyone remained quiet, avoiding eye contact and waiting for someone else to speak up. This only made Kenta more worried. Stepping up as the team captain, he approached the nearest player directly.

"Takeya, talk." - Kenta said sternly, fixing the poor boy with a firm gaze.

"Eh... well... Ryosuke is talking to the coach..." - Takeya replied, shifting uncomfortably.

The moment Kenta heard Takeya's words, he understood why the atmosphere in the locker room was so heavy. The last time Ryosuke had caused a scene, he berated half the team, particularly the lower-lineup players. Naturally, this behavior hadn't gone over well with anyone. Even Kenta didn't have a favorable opinion of Ryosuke, but as captain, he knew he couldn't show it.

"And what does that have to do with you wasting time in the locker room? Everyone, out! We have a lot of practice to do today!" - Kenta commanded loudly and firmly, prompting all the players loitering in the locker room to scramble out and head to the field. In no time, only Shun, Ren, and Kenta remained.

"Haha, that's how you do it, Captain!" - Shun laughed lightheartedly, giving Kenta a thumbs-up to break the tension.

"What do you think about this, Shun?" - Kenta asked honestly, concern evident on his face. He understood Ryosuke's value on the field, but he also knew how disruptive Ryosuke could be off the field, especially to team morale, a problem Kenta was determined to avoid, especially with just a week left before the Kanto tournament.

"Think about what? We don't even know what he's talking to Coach about." - Shun shrugged, speaking honestly. He wasn't going to form an opinion until he knew what Coach Yamada planned to do with Ryosuke.

Of course, Shun hadn't told anyone about the apology Ryosuke had given him on Saturday morning. To Shun, if Ryosuke wanted to rejoin the team, he would have to learn how to be a team player. After all, Shun shared Kenta's view, they didn't need a fractured team heading into the Kanto tournament.

Kenta and Ren exchanged glances with Shun and silently agreed. The best course of action for now was to wait and see what Coach Yamada and Ryosuke decided before jumping to conclusions. The three boys quickly changed into their uniforms and headed to the field.

When they arrived, they saw their teammates standing in a straight line while Coach Yamada stood in front of them. Ryosuke was standing just behind the coach.

"You three, get in line now!" - Coach Yamada barked in a stern tone as he noticed Shun, Kenta, and Ren staring.

"Yes, Coach!" - The three friends quickly responded, hurrying to join the line and focusing their attention on the coach.

"As you all know, Ryosuke was removed from our team after being reckless and disrespectful during a game. I want to make it clear that such actions are unacceptable, which is why he was expelled. However, he approached me earlier today, apologized, and asked for a chance to make amends with you all.

I've decided to give him this opportunity to apologize. I can't ask you to accept his apology, but I do ask that you listen to what he has to say." - Coach Yamada spoke seriously, addressing his players. He then stepped aside, giving Ryosuke a look that signaled him to speak.
Stay connected through empire

The Shoto players reacted differently to Coach Yamada's words. No one said anything, but their expressions made it clear that many of them had strong feelings about the situation, and most of those feelings weren't positive.