School starts today, huh?
What's all in the past? I took it so personally!
God!
Natsume might've realized.
You're gonna be late for your first day of school!
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Okay, okay, I'm coming!
I don't wanna go to school.
Hey, Happy New Year.
Did you get fat?
I ate a lot of mochi.
Hey, what's that?
What school is that uniform from?
I'm asking you!
Well, I think I also went too far... Yeah.
Mi-o!
Morning! Happy New Year! Let's have a good one!
Morning. Happy New Year. Let's have a good one...
Hm?
What? You like Soma AND him?
Huh?! Why?
Oh, am I wrong?
What's with you?
Don't worry about it.
Oh! Sanae!
It's so unfair! Haruto keeps winning!
You're so lame!
What?!
Don't "what" me.
Dammit! I'll show you with the next one!
Oh, Hazuki!
Morning!
Yeah, morning.
Let's head in.
Man, a rare one isn't appearing for me!
I said it'll appear. Right?
It will. You've got real luck, anyway.
Use up all your luck here, you guys! I'm gonna keep it for my entrance exam.
I'm gonna pass my entrance exam with my abilities.
I don't have any entrance exams.
What?! Then, give me your poop! That's lucky, right?
Does he realize he was rejected? What?! Then, give me your poop! That's lucky, right?
Yoriko!
It's good that it doesn't bother him, right?
That's true, but...
Later.
Slides is here.
Happy New Year, everyone! Let's keep chugging along until graduation. Now, be seated.
That's rude, Slides!
Now then, we'll be heading to the opening ceremony in the gym, so bring your coats, if you're cold.
Once we get back, we're going to have a lottery for the new seating arrangement.
Well, it's already the third semester of your third year, but we'll do it anyway.
It'd be fine to just stay in our current seats.
Man, I just go to cram school early, even though school ends early.
Hey, wanna go somewhere?
I want to, but the National Center Test is next week! The Center Test!
There's no Right or Left Test...
Sorry, Haruto.
It's okay. I get it.
Must be nice that you found a job, Haruto. I'm seriously jealous!
Oh, Senpai! Hello!
Hey.
Oh, hey, Soma-senpai?
Huh?
The teacher told me you should clear out your stuff from the club room.
Yeah, okay. I'm gonna stop by the club room.
Okay.
Then, we'll see you tomorrow.
See ya.
Yeah.
Entrance exams are so intense!
Must be nice. The guys that can go to college have a future ahead of them.
Are you done?
Yeah. Thanks, Mio.
Don't mention it.
Okay, let's go home!
You've got something to give her before we go, remember?!
Oh, yeah!
Huh?
This is from me and Momoka. Ta-da!
What? Did you go out of your way to get that?
We got it when we visited the shrine on New Year's.
Thanks!
I have this for you, too! Ta-da!
Why?
Now, now, don't say what you're about to say.
Your smile is kinda scary.
That's not good at all... Frantically using entrance exams as an excuse.
Momo, what about me?
I don't have one for you.
Why?
I said I don't have one for you.
I asked why.
I don't have one for you, so I've got nothing.
I. Asked. Why.
Mio. I. Asked. Why.
Mio. I don't have one for you, so I've got nothing.
Why is that? I don't have one for you, so I've got nothing.
Yeah, sorry, I'm gonna go. Why is that? I don't have one for you, so I've got nothing.
Yeah, sorry, I'm gonna go. I don't have one for you, so I've got nothing.
I've still got stuff to do.
What? Talking with Slides?
Not that, but it's something like that.
Huh? Huh?
I found Izumi-senpai's room!
Mio was acting kinda weird.
What stuff did she need to do?
Maybe confess her love or something.
No way.
Oh! But...
Soma!
Hm?
Oh, never mind. Bye-bye!
Let's go.
What was that about?
Everything's really over.
I really do think that I went a bit too far when I said it didn't involve you. Sorry.
I'll tell him that.
Ah!
You don't have to follow me.
You're gonna stand out if you're seen alone, wearing that gakuran uniform.
I'm gonna stand out if I'm seen with you.
You won't know what to do if someone starts a weird rumor or something, huh?
Natsume-san?
Whatcha doin' there?
No, I'm just--
You're just...?
I don't know...
Why are you running away from Mio-senpai?
Did something happen over winter break?
Hm?
Is this Soma-senpai's?
Yeah.
That reminds me, was it okay to let Izumi-kun be? I thought you needed talk to him.
Uh, yeah, I did, but...
Did you fight or something?
Fight? Um, I guess.
Well, Izumi criticized me a bit.
I didn't really want talk about that stuff. I guess I was a bit too harsh on him.
So, things are awkward?
Something like that.
So, I thought about apologizing, but...
You got jealous since Izumi was flirting with Komiya.
N-no!
I get it, though. It's like that with you guys, too, huh?
Well, we won't be having conversations on LINE anymore.
Soma's ship sunk, too, after all.
Yoriko!
It's fine. Natsume-san knows about it.
Yeah, well, for the most part.
I'm home.
Welcome back. How was school?
Hm?
Good luck on your entrance exam. I'm rooting for you!
Yeah, thanks. See ya.
Natsume-san, hold on!
Huh?
There's something I want to talk to you about.
Haru-chan, move. I want to vacuum that spot.
I'm trash, Granny.
Maybe you are, if you just sleep all Sunday.
Why don't you go to the sandlot baseball game?
Saeki-san's boy invited you, didn't he?
I'm not in the mood.
Then, how about hanging out with Junpei-chan?
He's got entrance exams... unlike me.
That boy probably doesn't study anyway.
I'm sorry for bringing you all the way here with me.
I'm gonna stop by my cram school, so don't worry about it.
So, you wanted to talk about Soma, right?
Yeah.
Hey.
Which team?
The losing one.
Hello!
Oh, you're here, Soma!
I'm sorry I'm late, Saeki-senpai.
I asked you to come all the way out here. Don't sweat it.
Who's that?
Oh, he's my friend.
We used to play ball in middle school, so I brought him along.
I'm Izumi.
So, you two have experience. We're gonna win today.
Komada-san, this is Soma.
He's my junior from high school. He's gonna come work at our factory in the spring.
I see.
Hm?
Nice. You're huge.
Nice batting, Shindo-san!
All right! Keep going, Ishii. The pitcher's strong!
First, let's get a point!
You guys are pretty serious about this.
It wouldn't be fun, if we weren't.
All right! Go, go!
Yeah, I guess...
I see. So, Soma actually asked you out.
Everyone knew, huh? Yoriko talked about it the other day.
Sorry. I was the one who suggested that we leave you and Soma alone together.
It's okay.
Still, that means... you're fine with rejecting him, right?
Yeah.
It was a first for me.
It caught me off guard, so I responded immediately.
But now, I think I probably should've given it some thought before responding.
Does that mean... you might answer differently if you were asked right now?
I think... I'd give him the same answer again.
Oh, but that doesn't mean I hate or dislike him or anything like that.
Yeah.
It's just that Soma-kun and I hadn't really talked until recently,
and there's so much I don't know about him.
It's much too soon to go out with him right now.
Yeah.
Besides, I won't be in town once we graduate.
I've been thinking about Soma all the time, ever since that day.
It's kind of embarrassing... talking about this stuff.
Why don't you tell him?
Tell him you want to answer his question again but properly.
Well...
I think it'd be good news for him.
But after thinking carefully about it, I'm sure it'll probably be tough for him to be rejected again.
Will Soma-kun hear me out?
I don't know about that.
Yeah...
Thanks, Natsume-san! I'll give it a try.
See you later.
Okay.
You'll give it a try, huh?
I will, too.
We're gonna hold them off and turn the game around.
Yeah!
Gondo-san! I hurt my foot from that slide earlier.
Will you be okay?
Yes, sir! I'll be able to work tomorrow!
I don't mean tomorrow.
It'll be okay if you let Soma take the field.
Huh?
Take my place, Haruto!
It doesn't feel right using someone's glove.
Then, why don't you use this?
What?
This'll feel right.
Why do you have this?
You dropped it, so I picked it up.
You're... seriously scary.
You should hurry up and take the field. Everyone's waiting.
I'm counting on you, Haruto!
Well, I'll do my best if the ball comes my way.
There it goes! Right field!
Hey, don't actually come my way!
Dammit!
All right! Nice catch!
It's still four o'clock, you know.
We were so close today!
Just one more bat!
Yeah!
If we had one more bat, we would've won!
Komada-san IS Grand Slam Man, after all.
Meaning, it was definitely gonna be an easy out.
You asshole!
They're kinda different from my mom.
Hm?
Because she just works all the time.
My dad's like that, too.
Adults play ball and make a fuss about it, too, huh?
What is today's MVP doing in the corner?
The MVP is the pitcher of the opposing team who got you out when you had the bases loaded, Komada-san.
Don't be ridiculous! Eat some yakisoba!
I'm already full.
You're still young! Eat more!
The game would've been all ours with that diving catch.
And if Soma-kun got to bat, too.
Yeah, the yakisoba is really good here.
We've got a game next week, so come if you want.
See ya!
I'm the Grand Slam Man, dammit!
You know, I thought I wouldn't be able to hang out like today, once I got a job.
Good thing you'll have a fun workplace.
Eita.
Hm?
Thanks for the glove.
It was nothing. I only picked it up.
Let's go home.
Oh, there's a place I need to stop by.
Uh...
How--!
"How"?
Howdy.
Oh?
You went to play baseball, huh?
My senpai invited me, so I couldn't turn down the offer.
How was it?
I didn't know what to think at first. There were just old guys with beer bellies.
But they seriously tried to win the game.
I guess it was pretty fun.
Is that so? I'm glad to hear that.
Seems like you cheered up a bit.
Huh?
You were down in the dumps for about a week.
Not really... It was nothing.
But what about you?
What about me?
You always seem busy with work.
Are you worried about me?
I'm fine, though. Well, I suppose it's hectic and, sometimes, very annoying.
But occasionally, there are good things about it.
Good things?
Like when my son carries my things for me.
Huh? What's that supposed to mean?
You'll understand once you become a parent.
What did you buy?
Nothing special.
What a creep.
It's just a manga.
I was just kidding.
You don't have to take it so personally.
Sorry.
It doesn't bother me.
Sorry about the other day, too.
I think I went too far when I told you that it didn't involve you.
I was the one who said more than I should've. Sorry.
You didn't mean anything by it, right?
I guess.
So, why did you say that?
Stop requested.
What, aren't you getting off?
I am, but... never mind.
It isn't because you told me to, but I thought I'd kind of make things clear to Soma.
I see.
The National Center Test is coming up, and I'd like to focus on it. This isn't an excuse or anything.
I didn't think it was.
The other day, you told me it was.
I was pretty hurt.
What did that mean? Did she realize or not?