Promise

Shun was distracted, looking out the window. He had no friends in this class besides Kenta, so without him here, there was no one to talk to. While Shun was distracted by the window, he heard the sound of the chair next to him being pulled out. He quickly looked to the side and spoke excitedly.

"Kenta, you finally arrived!" - That was Kenta Kobayashi, 1.60 meters tall, black hair and eyes, a symmetrical face, and a serious expression. But before he could hear his friend's response, the system's voice sounded in his head.

[DING]

[Baseball Player detected, showing player stats.]

[Kenta Kobayashi

Overall: B

PITCHING: C+

BATTING: B

FIELDING: A-

RUNNING: B+

GAME IQ: B-

Overall Potential: SS+]

"SHUN!" - Kenta shouted, making everyone in the classroom look in their direction. For some reason, after Shun called his name, he just stared at him with a confused look. After being ignored a few times, Kenta lost his patience and shouted, waking his friend.

"Huh? Why are you shouting, Kenta?" - Shun was startled by the sudden shout.

"Why? You idiot, you're messing with me! First, you call my name, then you start ignoring me. You're lucky I didn't punch you," - Kenta said angrily. He really thought his friend was messing with him.

"Huh? When did I ignore you? Whatever, I have something important to tell you" - Shun really didn't realize he had ignored Kenta and spoke with a serious face.

"When did you ignore me? You" - Kenta was really losing his patience, but unlike his friend, he was a controlled person. He decided to ignore this silly prank of his friend and asked - "What important thing do you have to tell me?"

"I'm going back to the team!" - Shun said excitedly, giving a thumbs up to his friend.

"Oh, and why did you decide to come back?" - Kenta's reaction was nothing like Shun expected.

"Huh? Why? That doesn't matter, hahaha. Shouldn't you be happier, man? I just said I'm coming back to the team!" - Shun didn't think much about the response. He thought his friend would be happy that he was coming back and just reacted strangely.

"How doesn't that matter? Yesterday you were all depressed saying you were leaving the team, and now you're saying you'll just come back. I'll tell you this, we may not be a strong team, but we take this seriously. If you don't have a reason to come back and are going to do this just to leave again later, it's better to stay out of the team!" - Kenta was irritated with his friend. He really wanted Shun to come back to the team, but the Shun he wanted was his dedicated friend who loved baseball, not someone who was coming back on a whim.

"Hehe, I understand. Kenta, I'm sorry." - Shun wasn't angry at hearing those words from his friend. In fact, the feeling he was experiencing was disappointment. He was disappointed in himself. He was really being pathetic. Just because some talented rookies joined the team and he lost his spot as a starter, he left the team. He abandoned all his teammates. Why? Because he wasn't talented? No, it wasn't because of that. He was scared. In the end, he was a coward. Someone who no longer had the courage to fight, someone who was afraid to lose, a person who gave up his beloved baseball out of fear. He was a coward. At that moment, Shun couldn't help but think, "What would have happened if I didn't get the system?" But he knew the answer, he would have given up. In that moment of self-reflection, Shun realized, thanks to the words of his best friend, how pathetic he was. He couldn't help but feel grateful to the system for a moment. In less than a day, the system rekindled his passion for baseball. The system gave him a chance to fight for his dreams again. At that exact moment, he made a silent promise to himself, he would give his all, no matter how difficult or impossible it seemed, he would take this chance.

"Huh? I'm sorry?" - All this speech happened only in Shun's head. Kenta was surprised by his friend's response. Shun wasn't a person who usually apologized, and even when he did, it always had either a joking tone or as if he was forced to apologize. But this time, Kenta could feel that Shun was being honest.

"Hmm, I just realized I was being pathetic. Kenta, thank you, but you don't need to worry anymore. I've never been as serious in my life as I am now. I'm going back to the baseball team." - Kenta felt a chill down his spine when he heard his friend's words. Not just the words, but his face was serious, and his blue eyes showed incredible determination, a determination even greater than when Kenta first met Shun.

"Hmph. That's good. I was seriously thinking about beating you until you returned to normal, haha." - Kenta was happy to see his friend back on track and let out a joyful laugh.

"Huh? Beating me? You're joking, right? Hehe." - Shun was scared to hear that, but after seeing Kenta laughing, he believed it was just a joke and laughed with his friend.

However, Kenta stopped laughing and looked at him with a serious face before saying - "I'm not joking. I was really planning to beat you."

Shun stopped laughing and looked bewildered before letting out a "huh?" Kenta couldn't hold it anymore and started laughing again. Shun watched his friend laugh. He really couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

The two friends attended classes and, after eating their lunches, headed towards the baseball field. While walking together, Shun started thinking again about Kenta's stats he had seen earlier in the morning. He looked at Kenta and asked the system to show his stats.

[Kenta Kobayashi

Overall: B

PITCHING: C+

BATTING: B

FIELDING: A-

RUNNING: B+

GAME IQ: B-

Overall Potential: SS+]

"He's way better than me, huh? He's better in all the stats, even in Overall Potential. Well, that's good. Kenta is a shortstop. He can really make a difference in our defense if he's playing well. He's also a great batter. Hehe, I can't fall behind." - Shun's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sight. They had arrived, the school's baseball field.