I'd like to bring you in as a wild card addition for the Women's National Team's training camp.
This is all so sudden, I...
Please.
I know you'll be a great asset to the team.
I'm not asking you to give me an answer right away, of course.
I'm just asking that you give me an answer by some time next week.
I see...
I hope you'll consider this in a positive light.
I'm expecting a positive answer from you.
Aoba?
Aoba!
It's burning.
Oh geez, I messed it up.
Mitsuru Adachi
（Serialized in Shogakukan's 「Weekly Shonen Sunday」）
Created by
Toshihiro Nakazawa
Nobumasa Sawabe
Planning
Masato Hayashi
Rei Anami (TV TOKYO)
Shin'ichirou Tsuzuki
Planning Assistance
Toshisato Okuno Shin Omura Takenori Ichihara
Tetsuya Takeda
Supervisors
Original Planning Assistance
Michihiro Tsuchiya
Series Composition
Yuji Kondo
Main Character Design
Maho Takahashi
Tomoyuki Matsumoto
Koichi Imano
Art Design
Subcharacter Design
Prop Design
Kayoko Ono
Miki Tsubouchi
Hiromi Komine
Yutaka Kuramoto
Art Director
Color Design
Photography Director
Editing
Nobuhide Tanaka Toshiyuki Kuroiwa
Kotaro Nakagawa
Takeshi Takadera
HALF H・P STUDIO
Music Producer
Music
Sound Director
Sound Production
「Summer Rain」
Lyrics／Composition: Kentaro Kobuchi
Arrangement: Kobukuro
Kobukuro
（Warner Music Japan）
Opening Theme
Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment
TV-TOKYO Music
Warner Music Japan
Music Assistance
Ryosuke Sakurai
Animation Producer
Animation Production
Shin'nosuke Wada (TV TOKYO) Naohiko Furuichi
Producers
Osamu Sekita
Director
Shogakukan Shueisha Production
Production Studio
SUBTITLED BY ANBU
I'm home.
Welcome back, Ichiyo.
I'll take care of the rest with Akane here;
could you go help Dad?
Sure thing.
What are you doing?
H-Hey.
So she really is working as a part-timer here.
Yes.
They have enough hands over at the soba restaurant already,
and she doesn't make any money working at her own house.
She agreed to work until 8 o'clock on weekdays,
saying it'll be a good way to study society and build some life experience.
She looks good in an apron.
Why don't you just come inside instead of peeking from the outside?
What is it?
Could you lend me money for coffee?
Welcome!
The customers really seem to like her.
That's good to hear.
There aren't very many girls out there deemed fit to work at the café
renowned for its beautiful sisters, after all.
Beautiful sisters, huh?
Do you have any objections to that?
Oh, no.
It just felt for a moment that Wakaba had actually come back to life.
Take care of the register while I go eat some dinner.
Sure.
Hey.
What are you sitting over there for?
Don't tell me you don't have any money for coffee, either.
Oh, don't worry about me.
I'm just waiting for Akane to finish her shift, so I can walk her home.
Why would you have to walk her back when she lives in the neighborhood?
Apparently some weird guy's been following her around and freaking her out or something.
Some weird guy?
I guess you could call him a stalker.
You may not know anything of it,
but girls who are nice and pretty are sometimes—
Don't you take me for a fool.
Until recently, even I was being—
Oh, Akane.
Your steward awaits.
Who're you calling a steward?
Oh?
Akaishi was with you?
Then I guess I won't have to—
Oh, I'm going to go hit a few balls at the batting center before heading back.
See you around, Akane.
Sure.
I'm sorry, Kitamura.
I shouldn't have brought up that story yesterday.
I could just be imagining it.
Oh, don't worry.
It's not like I've got anything better to do.
Oh, there's nothing to worry about.
Waka would make him come pick her up when she went to the pool.
Oh, shut up.
I'll be going on ahead then, Aoba.
Yeah, good night.
Oh yeah, just now I...
What a naïve little man.
He fell for the oldest trick in the book!
Being followed by a stalker my butt!
Could you lend me money for some tokens?
See you tomorrow, Akane.
Bye.
She was just imagining it, just as I thought.
I'm talking about the stalker.
But you can't know for sure yet.
It's nothing to worry about.
Although I understand why people want to follow her around, even if they're not stalking her.
There aren't that many really dangerous guys like that in this world.
I sure broke a sweat.
Really dangerous guys, huh?
What are you doing, Momiji?
Ao asked me to do this for a bit.
Hey, Aoba.
Check this out!
I had Akane draw this for us.
Isn't she great?
The heavens will punish you for making the grand prize winner
of the Koshien poster competition draw something like that.
What do you mean "something like that"?
Thanks, Momiji.
You can go and take a bath now.
There doesn't seem to be any suspicious guys around...
There is one.
Thank you for your good work.
Here's a little something for your troubles.
I guess you stewards don't have it easy, either.
W-Well, I was just worried about this guy I saw around her house last night, and...
I wasn't really, well...
What kind of a guy was it?
He was wearing a black knitted cap and long hair,
and he had this weird aura around—
What's wrong?
He's here.
He's hiding in the parking lot.
What are you going to do?
I'm just going to go over and threaten him a little.
But that's not your style!
Don't worry.
He's just some skinny, pale-looking guy who's probably not that strong.
But those are the kind of guys you should really watch out for!
What if he was holding a blade or something?
That punk!
H-Hey!
Aoba!
Meow my ass!
Come out you punk!
Hello there.
Hello yourself!
You used to follow me around up until recently, didn't you?
Yes I did, until recently.
Why did you change your target when you weren't even rejected by me first?
So it doesn't matter who you're stalking as long as it's a girl?
You shouldn't assume such ridiculous things;
I actually have very particular taste in women.
It's just that...
Just what?
With you, it was that you walk too fast,
and you carry baseball bats from time to time.
You didn't even seem the slightest bit alarmed when you noticed me following you.
So I started losing interest.
What the hell?
So that's the only difference between you and Akane, huh?
Well, I'm heading back home.
What am I supposed to do with this guy?
I'll leave it to your best judgment, thanks.
Come on!
Reporting back from duty, sir!
Well done, soldier.
Here's your reward.
Thank you.
See you, Ko!
Bye bye!
What's the point of having an escort if you're going to be escorted by a spineless guy like him?
He may run away from dogs that bark at him,
but Ko doesn't run away from dogs that bark at me.
Don't you think so?
Wait, this is just your imagination?
I'm heading back, Aoba.
Thanks for your work.
See you tomorrow, then.
Excuse me?
I'm sorry, I won't follow you anymore.
But I'm starting to get blisters on my hands, and...
Can I please stop now?
Wait, is this the guy who...
He's the one who's been following you around.
Did you catch him for me?
Y-Yeah, it ended up that way.
Thank you.
But you should probably let him stop soon.
I think his hands are hurting.
Oh no, not just yet.
I'm not letting you go back until you finish spending all those tokens!
How can their personalities be so different
when they look almost like sisters?
He said we look like sisters.
Shortstop!
Here we go!
You see that hairline save?
That was because you were one step behind the ball, dumbass!
Fancy performances don't belong on the practice field!
Your throws will get shoddy if you force your body into hard positions like that, dumbass!
A poor performance at first base will end up with the runner at second base, dumbass!
Right field!
Run directly for the ball's landing point!
You won't make it in time if you keep staring at the ball like that!
Dammit!
Looking back won't do you any good!
Don't jump in if you know won't make it, dumbass!
Third base!
Training yourself for training is useless, dumbass!
It's all about spirit; you gotta have spirit!
Wasn't your brother's catchphrase "enjoy baseball," Azuma?
Center field!
Damn you!
She's going to marry him if Seishu make it to the Koshien.
Quit making the same mistake over and over, dumbass!
Don't make me repeat myself!
You freakin' dumbass!
That's what Ichiyo said.
We're going to the Koshien!
We're going there no matter what it takes!
You got that?
All right, left field's next!
Coach?
I think I sprained my waist.
Left field!
Next, second base!
You won't be able to beat Ryuou if that's all you've got!
Concentrate harder, dumbass!
Now that I think about it, we never had a batting coach before, did we?
That's right.
We'll get to the Koshien or die trying!
What on earth are you thinking?
Don't worry about it.
I figured just rooting for you guys wouldn't be any fun.
You figured?
Aoba did say that it doesn't look totally impossible for you guys to make it, after all.
Well at this point, it's not totally impossible for every high school wanting to get in.
But don't you think it would be extra memorable for us if you guys do make it?
He may just end up killing us if we don't make it happen.
Yeah.
Don't worry about it, I said.
It's not like I'm not going to marry him if you guys don't make it to the Koshien.
But don't tell him that.
The games wouldn't be as exciting if he found out.
What should I ask him to do next if Seishu doesn't make it to the Koshien?
Your brother's totally being played.
Just pretend you didn't hear what she just said,
otherwise our games may not actually get all that exciting.
Oh yeah, where's Akane?
She's out running an errand with Aoba.
With Aoba?
Now that's rare.
Not really.
Especially lately.
Wow, so Akaishi used to be a pitcher?
Yeah, and an amazing one.
He used to be able to throw over 100km/h in elementary school or something.
Then why did he give up pitching?
Because...
Ko was the pitcher, and you were the catcher
at a jam-packed Koshien.
You seem to have something on your mind recently.
R-Really?
You even burned that Napolitan the other day, remember?
Oh yeah...
I got a call from the Women's National Team coach from the National Team training camp,
asking if I wanted to join up with them.
That's amazing!
So are you going to join them?
Of course not!
Now's an important time in Seishu's Koshien challenge, you know.
But isn't it surprising?
I never thought they'd ever go through the trouble of calling me up as a wild card.
If...
If I were you,
I'd go for the option that I probably won't regret later.
That I won't regret later?
Is that noisy batting coach taking a break today?
Nope, he went out on a scouting mission,
and took Tsukishima with him.
He's scouting with Aoba?
If you marry me, I'll cook for you every day.
Potato and meat stew, croquettes, and even Salisbury steak...
Sounds like I know who'll wear the pants in your marriage already.
I'll cook them all the way you like them.
All you have to do is just sit and laugh next to me.
A happy wedding is just around the corner...
Shut up!
This is a pretty high level game, even for a scrimmage.
They could probably still be able to challenge for the Koshien even if they split into two teams.
They weren't crowned champions of Japan back in Spring for nothing.
I don't know when and where we'll end up facing off against these guys,
but I guess whether we make the Koshien or not will depend on Ko.
Just think of it as if you're pitching through me.
What do you think of Yuhei?
There's absolutely nothing to complain about him;
nothing about his swing or driving power.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm asking your opinion of him as a man.
I think he really likes you, Aoba.
If I had to choose between whether I liked him or not
I'd choose that I like him.
Have you ever thought that you liked him without having someone else ask you if you do?
You don't have to look so confused.
It's simple, really.
You just have to be honest to yourself.
Yeah.
I guess it depends on the person.
Well I guess you should take it easy then, since you're young.
You're still young, too.
Oh no, I'm turning 27 this year.
I wouldn't say that's an age where one would normally fret about getting married in this world we live in.
Would you listen to yourself?
This is exactly why our birthrate keeps dropping.
At this rate, who's going to take care of the elderly?
But I'd also have to argue that it's as equally foolish that you're trying to increase the global population
when important issues such as destruction of the environment, global warming,
and food shortage around the world still remain unresolved.
Are you against me and your sister getting married?
Sorry!
Don't worry, you'll get to marry her.
That was Wakaba's last dream.
Seishu Academy will make it to the Koshien!
Who was that?
No clue.
She's pretty cute!
What's wrong?
Huh?
You somehow look refreshed all of a sudden.
Do I?
Could you wish Azuma a happy birthday with this money?
I have enough money to buy him a cake on my own, thank you.
It's Waka's and your birthday next month, right?
And Akane's, too.
She's so much like Wakaba.
She's too much like her.
But she's not Waka.
Next time, on Cross Game Episode Forty-One:
We're going to the Koshien!
Akane did say it.
She said she liked us.