The Old Baseball Player System

Chapter 129: Third Round (10)

PAH

Aoba's captain caught the ball in his glove and looked directly at Ryosuke, who was still sprinting toward him with everything he had.

"Damn!" - Ryosuke cursed as he saw the catcher standing in front of him with the ball. He slid toward home plate, hoping something would go wrong and Aoba's captain wouldn't be able to tag him out.

Unfortunately for Ryosuke, Aoba's captain wasn't a player who couldn't handle a basic play. The boy with glasses quickly tagged Ryosuke with his glove before he could reach home plate.

"Out! 3 outs, changeover!" - The umpire announced.

"Fuck!" - Ryosuke cursed loudly as he was called out. He stood up and walked back to the dugout, clearly frustrated.

Takeya watched the scene with a strange expression. Since Ryosuke was the one tagged out, he would return to bat again in the next inning. Takeya followed behind Ryosuke without saying a word.

Coach Yamada stood by the steps of the dugout with a stern expression. He gave Ryosuke a cold look as the boy entered the dugout but decided not to say anything about his reckless play. He had already made his decision.

However, before Coach Yamada could announce his decision, an angry voice sounded from behind him in the dugout.

"Hey, Ryosuke! What the hell was that?" - Kenta shouted furiously as he approached Ryosuke.

"Tch! What? These losers can't get me home, so it's better for me to try and score by myself than just wait for those useless idiots to get out!" - Ryosuke responded angrily, completely unfazed by his captain's rage.

"You—" - Kenta was shocked by Ryosuke's reply. Though the boy had made reckless plays before, this was the first time he had insulted his teammates so blatantly. Kenta opened his mouth, ready to scold Ryosuke, but he was interrupted by someone else.

"Take off your uniform right now!" - Shun had had enough. If there was one thing he couldn't tolerate, it was a player disrespecting their teammates. Shun grabbed Ryosuke's collar firmly as he spoke coldly, holding himself back from hitting the boy right then and there.

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"Y-You! Let go of me! Who the hell are you to tell me to take off my uniform?" - Ryosuke was a bit startled by Shun's expression, but he still didn't stop talking back.

Unfortunately for Ryosuke, Shun wasn't joking. Shun yanked Ryosuke hard by his collar before throwing him to the ground.

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to wear this uniform. You can take it off yourself, or I'll take it off for you. The choice is yours!" - Shun spoke in an icy tone, glaring down at Ryosuke, who was sprawled on the ground.

"Y-You! I-I'm not taking off my uniform! It's those idiots' fault for not being able to hit and bring me home! You can't do this!" - Ryosuke shouted in shock, indignant that Shun had actually thrown him down like that. He yelled, pointing at Shun, with tears forming in his eyes, a sign of the mix of emotions he was feeling at that moment.

Shun glared at Ryosuke, and when he heard the boy blaming his teammates again, he took a step toward Ryosuke, ready to hit him until he was satisfied. But before he could, a voice called out.

"That's enough, Shun! Sora, you're going to play center field. Get ready!" - Coach Yamada ordered decisively.

"Y-Yes, Coach!" - Sora responded quickly. Even though he had never played that position before, he understood that Coach Yamada was pulling Ryosuke out, and both on defense and offense, Sora was the best available option to replace him.

"Wait, what?! You're really taking me out, Coach?! I'm the only one on the team who's been able to hit that pitcher! If you're going to take someone out, you should take those idiots who can't even make contact!" - Ryosuke yelled indignantly, getting to his feet and shouting at his coach.

"Ryosuke, it's best you stop right there! Our team doesn't need an arrogant brat who doesn't know how to play as part of a team. You don't need to come to practices or games anymore. You're off the team!" - Coach Yamada said coldly as he looked at Ryosuke.

"What? You—? Hahaha, fine! Let's see how far you all go without me. Good luck with those awful players!" - Ryosuke was shocked to hear he was being kicked off the team, but his anger quickly overtook him. He let out a crazed laugh as he spoke for everyone in the dugout to hear. Without another word, he stormed toward the dugout door, opened it, and walked out.

POW

He slammed the door shut, leaving the rest of Shoto's team in silence. No one had expected something like this to happen in the middle of the game, and they couldn't help but feel deep in thought.

"I'm going." - The first person to break the silence was Shun. He said just two words before climbing the steps of the dugout. No matter what had happened, the game had to go on, and now that they had lost a strong offensive player, Shun understood better than anyone the need to compensate on defense.

The rest of the team followed Shun's lead, one by one climbing the steps of the dugout and running out onto the field.

The sixth inning was about to begin, and on top of the pressure Shun felt due to the incident with Ryosuke, he now had to face Aoba's top batters once again.

But the boy didn't seem worried about facing the lineup for the third time. All Shun was thinking about was getting the batter in front of him out, as he felt the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders, his determination growing stronger by the moment.

The first batter from Aoba stepped out of the dugout with his bat in hand and walked up to the batter's box.

"What the hell is this?" - The first batter thought as soon as he stepped into the batter's box and looked at Shun on the mound. He felt a pair of intense blue eyes staring at him, along with a terrible aura surrounding the tall figure on the mound.

"Focus!" - The first batter told himself as he tried to calm down, nearly losing his composure from the fear of the aura Shun was exuding.