Hey, Azuma.
Mom wants you to take this.
She told me to tell you to share it with everyone back home.
Thanks, as always.
Don't worry about it.
It's better to have someone eat it than to have some left over anyway.
I'm not talking about just the care packages.
You guys did a lot of things for me when I was hospitalized, too.
I can't believe you noticed.
Given that you normally can't even remember other people's faces.
Shut up.
Well then, have a Happy New Year.
Yeah.
I'm going out for a delivery!
Hello.
You look busy.
This is our busiest day of the year.
Could you drop by the Yamashitas' after you're done with that?
Sure.
See ya.
Yeah, good luck.
Wait, my bad;
Could you stop by the Ohnos' before the Yamashitas' place?
Okay.
Sorry.
It's okay; see ya.
Wait, can you carry one more order?
I can't...
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
Come on, let's go together, Aoba!
No.
The first sunrise from the mountains is really awesome, I swear!
What if I hurt my foot climbing up a dark mountain path?
It's okay, I'll be with you.
It's really pretty.
The sunset will be greeting us with its red face,
as if to bless us for climbing all night to get to the peak to see it—
A sunrise is just a sunrise, no matter where you see it from.
Hey...
Why don't you take a picture of it from the mountains and show it to Ao?
A picture, huh?
Yeah, I'll do that.
I'll be off then, Uncle.
Yeah, take care.
Did that mountain freak actually leave?
Yup.
Good afternoon. Takigawa's here.
The soba's here!
Could you get that for me, Aoba?
Sure.
Thanks for your patronage.
I see, now.
So you're helping out Akane now, are you?
I'm helping out my neighbor, if that's what you mean.
That'll be 3250 yen, please.
I didn't know you were the kind of guy who'd just help out his neighbor for free.
Just give me the money already, will you?
I heard the soba was here.
Huh?
Ko?
Why are you here?
I'm helping out with the cooking.
Keeping a careful eye on the temperature is important when you're cooking vegetable tenpura.
But I thought I saw Azuma leaving the house and saying you were driving him back home.
About thirty minutes ago, that is.
Forgive me, my brother!
Here's your money.
You'd better be scoring some points with her on this one,
especially since you have your sorry performance during the Autumn Tournament to make up for.
What part of it was "sorry"?
I only gave up three hits and one run against a strong opponent, you know.
Losing just makes it all moot,
whereas if you had won, you guys might have made it to the Spring Invitational.
But we don't know if we've been disqualified yet.
Come on, now.
When can we have our soba?
So how about that end of the year, huh?
Remember how we used to try and see who could stay up the latest on New Year's Eve?
Come on, don't be angry;
I was only a little late...
I wouldn't have minded staying, either.
There's nothing to do at home anyway.
Don't say that.
You should at least let your family see you on New Year's.
Relax, the Koshien isn't going to sprout feet and run away, you know.
It's just boring.
When I'm not playing baseball with them, that is.
I'm back.
I'll be back.
Sorry!
Thank you so much for the help.
Sorry we made you help out so much.
Oh no, it's not like I had anything better to do.
This isn't much, but please enjoy this with the rest of your family.
Oh, thank you.
Kitamura?
Sorry I held on to this for so long.
Did it help you draw something good?
Yeah, thanks to you.
I wish I could see it.
Sorry, I don't have it with me anymore since I submitted it already.
Oh, I see.
But you might just be able to see it.
See it?
Yeah.
Next summer.
That's quite far ahead.
Well then, have a Happy New Year.
Yeah, Happy New Year.
Ichiyo...
Not a single cloud in the sky;
I'm in luck this year!
All right, I'll capture this spectacle for Aoba, and...
Here you go.
Hey, Ko!
Happy New Year.
You want to go to the shrine and pray for victory this year?
Yeah.
You haven't received a single New Year's card.
High school kids nowadays don't write New Year's cards;
they all send text messages.
Right, Kei'ichiro?
Yeah.
Don't you have baseball practice today?
Yeah, right.
Now that I think about it, I think Midori said she might be dropping by to say "hi" later.
I bet she's trying to get you to practice with her.
Happy New Year!
Is Ko around?
He left the house just now.
What about Azuma?
He went back home.
I see.
It's all right, then.
It wasn't all that important, anyway.
If you'll excuse me...
Wait.
Yamada, was it?
My name is Senda.
Hey, Happy New Year!
Is Osamu around?
He left the house just now to pray for victory this year or something.
I see.
They sure are fired up!
They better get even with Ryuou this year!
It'll be their last summer, after all.
I'll excuse myself, then.
I hope to see you make it to the Koshien, Manda!
It's Senda...
Geez, it's the new year and all everyone can talk about is baseball?
See ya.
I'm supposed to go on the new year temple visit with Ichiyo.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year!
You came back early.
Yes.
My brother brought me back, saying he had business to attend to here.
Ko just left the house.
Would you like some ozoni?
Oh no, I've already had some at home.
I'll be back after the temple visit.
See you!
I'm going to go to the temple too.
Yeah, have fun.
I'm going to drink over at the Kitamuras!
Damn it, you guys.
Geez, everyone in this family is in their own world, huh?
Now then.
I have this place all to myself!
I should have known they wouldn't be open.
Flying kites, huh?
Damn you!
What part of this is funny, you little brat!
What's wrong, Chii?
Happy New...
Year!
Damn it all!
This is sort of meh.
All three of us got the same thing?
Is "a little good luck" something to be happy about?
I guess, since it's still "good luck".
You'd think at least one of us would get "very good luck".
This shrine probably doesn't have that many "very good luck" fortunes.
Ko!
I didn't know you were here.
It's rather sad to be coming to your first temple visit of the year with two other guys, isn't it?
Shut up.
Did you pick up your fortune for the year?
Yeah.
Both of us got "very good luck".
Didn't you say that this shrine didn't have that many of those?
I'm going to go buy a charm.
Do you want one, too?
Yeah, thanks.
What a nice guy.
Is he your boyfriend?
Oh no.
He's just one of the candidates.
It's a thief!
Somebody catch him!
It's Azuma's brother.
Nab him, Ko.
All right.
Not in this situation, no.
I guess we'll just have to chase him down, then.
Yeah.
Okay.
Go!
Ko, take right.
I'll take left.
You chase him straight ahead, Nakanishi.
Ow!
My bad.
Looks like I'm in the clear now.
You there!
Unless you want to get hit by this, you better quietly...
Quietly what?
Quietly sit and talk this over with me.
Yeah, right!
Good work.
Imai knows Aikido.
Thank goodness!
Thank you so much, guys.
Be more careful next time.
Yes, ma'am.
Boy am I tired.
But why did you have the ball with you, Akaishi?
It's common sense for a member of the baseball team to be carrying a baseball at all times.
Is it really?
Yeah, it's common sense.
I see...
And what kind of common sense is that supposed to be?
Wait, so they were all together?
Oh, Kei'ichiro?
Who came into my room without permission?
Your friends from the baseball team were just here.
They wanted to wait for you so that you could all go visit the temple together,
but they left since you didn't come back.
Where have you been this whole time?
I-I was hanging out with my friends.
I see.
I guess you have a lot of friends, Kei'ichiro.
That's good.
Friends are like treasures of a lifetime.
Take good care of them, okay?
Yeah.
I know.
Nice home run!
But we won't be able to give you the prizes since we're technically not open for business.
I don't need 'em.
I'm happy just being able to bat today.
Don't you have anything better to do on New Year's Day?
As for me, I live here, so...
Baseball's the only thing that matters to me.
It'd be worth it if that determination took you all the way to Koshien, right?
But I haven't gotten there yet.
You'll get there this year.
What about you?
It was in March, wasn't it?
The tryouts for the Women's National Team.
How did you...
My brother told me.
He said the coach from the girls baseball team you played against last year
came to talk to you after the game.
That same coach is also in charge of the National Team, isn't he?
So you're confident about it, huh?
No way.
How could I be confident?
We're talking about the National Team here.
I don't think there's another girl in this country
whose fastball is good enough to force me to just foul it back.
I am a member of Seishu's baseball team, you know.
If I were to be selected as a member of the National Team,
I wouldn't be able to participate in summer training or even any of the practice games leading up to summer,
especially when we now finally have a chance to get to the Koshien.
You won't be able to stand on the field even if we do get there.
I wouldn't mind just being in the stands.
After all, it is the Koshien.
Fulfilling your dead sister's dream, huh?
When my brother gave up baseball,
I wanted to get to the Koshien in his place.
But all my brother wanted for me was to enjoy baseball.
I don't think your sister would want you to push yourself so hard just to get to the Koshien, either.
I'm not pushing myself that hard—
I'd try out, if I were you.
I'd aim to reach for a place in a Koshien of my own,
rather than a Koshien that I can't play in.
There's only one Koshien in this world.
But you're not just a member of the Seishu baseball team, you're also a baseball player, right?
Nice pitching!
I wonder where Senda ran off to.
He probably went off somewhere to play.
Well, I better excuse myself here.
Your house isn't that way.
He's probably going on a date with Nakagawa.
See you guys.
Check out the smirk on his face.
Don't you have any plans with Akane?
As if I do.
See ya.
Happy New Year.
Oh crap, it's getting cold.
It's snowing.
Are you serious?
Yeah.
How many did you get this year Kitamura-senpai?
What are you talking about?
What else but chocolates?
Shut up, leave me alone.
Would you get off your high horse and show me already?
Did you give out any chocolates?
I...
Next time, on Cross Game Episode Thirty-Five:
February 14th.
The only person I probably wouldn't mind going out with at the moment... is you.