H2
	 Volume 14
	  Chapter 8 (137)
	   Three More Until the Koshien

 - Page 131 -

(Ch. 8) Three More Until the Koshien

 - Page 132 -

Ohtake: What did Katchan say?

 - Page 133 -

Shima: He enjoyed your hitting.
	And he wants you to do likewise in tomorrow's game.
	Plus,
	he wants both of us to be starting members in the semifinal game.
	11 vs. 7.
	...an easy victory.
	Still, I'm surprised.
	Who would have thought that beginners like us would ever get to play in a game?

 - Page 134 -

Ohtake: Starting players, too.

Shima: Nobody can call this a famous baseball school.

Ohtake: Still, we're in the Best Eight, among all those big names.
	Did you hear the way the crowd roared...?

Shima: Weren't you going to say goodbye to baseball
	so you could go the beach and check out chicks in bikinis?

Ohtake: I know.
	I'm just saying, it's not a bad feeling.

 - Page 135 -

Ohtake: Don't worry.
	I won't disobey Katchan.
	The day we accidentally beat Eikyo,
	your family is going to be in a ton of trouble, if not mine too.
	Bikinis...
	Shit, that reminds me...
	It's summer vacation...

 - Page 136 -

Sign: Meiwa Daiichi Senior High School

TV: Sun and Day's
	Weather Forecast

 - Page 137 -

Hideo: What are you staring at?

TV: Tomorrow's forecast

Hikari: Nothing.

Hideo: Oh, really?

Hikari: Ah, Hide-chan.
	What do you think about Hirota-kun from Eikyo Academy?

Hideo: What do you mean?

 - Page 138 -

Hikari: Uh, like,
	as a person...

Hideo: I dunno, I don't know much about him outside of baseball.

Hikari: Then how about as a player?

Hideo: He's top-rate,
	no doubt.
	...but,

Hikari: But?

Hideo: He's not a sportsman.

 - Page 139 -

Hideo: So, what about him?

Hikari: Ah.
	Nothing.
	Just wondering what he's like...

Miho: Not those two again...

Hideo: By the way, what happened with your missing underwear?

Hikari: It's weird, I checked, and they were back in there.
	Maybe I was imagining things...

Hideo: What a pain she is...

 - Page 140 -

Sign: Eikyo Academy High School

 - Page 141 -

Players: It's too bad
	about Ogura-san.
	Yeah.
	I think he's even better than our starting catcher Kan-san, both at hitting and catching.
	I agree.
	But he never gets called on to play, just sits on the bench all the time.

 - Page 142 -

Players: I heard he had an argument with Coach over a strategy in a game once.
	Figures, then...

Hirota: He's always had a good swing.

 - Page 143 -

Shiroyama: A romanticist with a pathetic sense of justice,
	helplessly honest and kind,
	and completely stubborn and set in his ways.
	Absolutely useless as a pawn.
	Speaking of which...
	I remember another player like him, years ago...

 - Page 144 -

Koga: Best Eight!  (tada!)
	Three more until the Koshien!

Haruka: Three more tough ones.
	The second game will be against the champion of this spring's Koshien.

Koga: Coach Shiroyama and Eikyo Academy...

 - Page 145 -

Koga: He hated me for three years...
	Picked me for the team so he could sit me on the bench,
	and never once called on me to play in a game.  My high school baseball coach.
	Shiroyama Yoshiaki and Eikyo Academy.

Haruka: "I'm not bringing my own petty grudges into a game!"
	...right?

Koga: Of course not!
	High school baseball is a tool for learning!

Picture: Stinky
	Butt
	Farty-pants

Shiroyama: Wahhh

 - Page 146 -

Crowd: (zawa)(zawa)

Writing: North Tokyo Quarterfinals
	Game 1 (9:00)
	Eikyo Academy - Seikita

Crowd: (zawa)(zawa)(zawa)

 - Page 147 -

Crowd: (zawa)
	(zawa)(zawa)

 - Page 148 -

Lineup: Eikyo
	Shiga
	Ogasawara
	Arai
	Hirota
	Kuniwake
	Suzuki
	Kan
	Ohmura
	Miura

Shiroyama: You look bored, Ogura.
	Why don't you keep score?

Crowd: (zawa)(zawa)(zawa)

 - Chapter 8 End -