#Zettai Nakasu

[tracingdreams]

A happy chibi-Miyuki for everyone.

Source: Zettai Nakasu Doujinshi

[tracingdreams]

“Zettai Nakasu” (I’ll definitely make them cry) - Translation: Part III

Miyuki/Kuramochi Unofficial Fanbook (Doujin) (2015 PIXIV/Kinakorondo)

Disclaimer: Translation and thus all errors are my own. I do not have the capacity to scan the pages without damaging the book. I will include occasional images where I can get them to work, but this is a text translation.

This doujin translation and content is safe for work.

It is chiefly Kuramochi Miyuki but it is a shade bittersweet and also includes hints of Kuramochi Ryousuke, Miyuki-Chris and even maybe Chris-Sawamura vibes in it. 

Part III (Final Part)

It’s graduation for the third years, they’re all in uniform under the cherry blossom, some of them with flowers.

I want to come underneath your umbrella. *Note, here the ‘you’ is formal, suggesting a senpai*

Miyuki stands at a distance, smiling, as he watches Eijun and Furuya talking to Tetsu. Suddenly something catches his attention, as he sees Chris standing nearby.

“Chris-senpai!” he says. Chris is wearing a large flower in his lapel, and has what looks like a stain of some kind on his blazer. Miyuki grins, pointing at it.

“Hah! Was that Sawamura?” he asked. Chris agrees.

“He got you good there, didn’t he?” Miyuki is amused.

“Ah well, it’s fine,” Chris observes. “Today is the last day I’ll be wearing this, anyway.” He looks off towards the cherry blossom.

In the background, Sawamura is trying to shake Ryousuke’s hand, only to have Ryousuke bop him on the head, with Kuramochi looking on apprehensively. Chris and Miyuki sit down together, away from the crowd, on a bench.

“Organising these pitchers is going to be hard work,” Chris remarks, “But I know you’ll be fine doing it.”

“I wonder about that,” Miyuki admits.

“What’s this?” Chris is surprised. “It’s not like you to voice doubts.”

“If you hadn’t been there, Chris-senpai, Sawamura wouldn’t have come on as far as he has. As I thought, you’re amazing, senpai.”

There is another shot of cherry blossom. As Miyuki speaks, Ryousuke continues to tease first Sawamura, then Kuramochi, who grins and blushes when Ryousuke pats him on the head.

“If I were as smart as you, with as good a personality as you…being as good at baseball, and with everyone having such trust in me as they do in you…If I was as cool as you, or as mature…maybe I could become special to someone.”

There’s a pause, then Miyuki looks down, scratching his neck awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I said something odd.”

“Not really,” Chris replied. “I’m sure you have something even more important.”

Miyuki gazes at him in surprise.

“By the way, what’s this person like?” Chris is curious now. Miyuki looks sheepish.

“Um…well…”

“Are they a complete beauty?”

“They have a really bad stare…”

“Do they have an amazing personality?”

“Well, they’re a surprisingly good person, but…”

“That kind of thing isn’t based on logic, though, is it? You have to work hard to bring yourself up to speed…but pushing yourself too much to change is no good, you have to accept even the bad parts as well.”

Chris smiles.

“Not looking at it just as yourself, but as the person the other sees.”

In the background, Jun is taking photos with Haruichi. A picture of Chris and his Dad randomly appears.

“That’s the person you can become special for.”

Miyuki casts Chris a glance, and there’s silence. In the background several of the team are gathered. Sawamura is flinging his arms around Masuko for a hug. Miyuki is pensive.

“I said before, if you weren’t there, Chris-senpai, Sawamura wouldn’t have progressed,” he remarks. “But I’m the same too.”

He smiles.

“The next time we play each other, I don’t intend to lose.”

Chris returns the smile.

“Sure,” he says genially. “I’m looking forward to it.”

From across the school grounds, Sawamura raises his hand, yelling, “Come on, everyone, let’s take a photograph!”

Furuya and Haruichi are messing with Jun’s camera, while an angry Jun exhorts them not to break it. Sawamura reaches Chris, then looks surprised.

“Chris-senpai, wasn’t Miyuki-senpai with you?”

“He went somewhere just now,” Chris replies. Sawamura is unamused.

“He causes so much hassle,” he mutters to himself, stalking off – presumably in search of the captain.

“Kuramochi-senpai isn’t here either, Eijun-kun!” Haruichi calls out to him.

“They’re probably in the restroom,” Ryousuke suggests. Furuya is randomly taking photos.

“They went together?” Sawamura is taken aback. “They really do get on well, don’t they?”

A way away from the crowd, Miyuki pauses, gazes at the ground.

“Now,” he wonders. “What should I do?”

At this moment, his inner devil and angel materialise, as his brain holds an “Interbrain Meeting” about his next course of action.

“Leave it all be,” suggests the devil. “You’ll just cause him a bother.”

“No, no,” objects the angel. “You’re worried about it already.”

“But he’ll come back soon enough, surely,” the devil points out. “He’s not a little kid.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being worried about someone,” the angel retorts.

“Are you going to butt your nose into something annoying?” The devil taunts.

“But you’ve come this far,” the angel points out. “Are you just going to turn back?”

“He’s just gone to the restroom, surely,” the devil insists.

“But what if someone else were to go and bring him back instead?” the angel presses.

Miyuki looks a little lost and confused about what to do.

“And, even if it’s what you suspect it is, in a few days time you can change your mind,” the angel reminds him.

“It will be that way,” the demon affirms.

Miyuki laughs.

“That fits,” he reflects. “Even my inner angel has a bad personality!”

He keeps walking.

“That’s right,” he thinks. “He and I have that kind of relationship anyway.”

The next panel shows him and Kuramochi both in uniform, Kuramochi yelling at him across the space. It’s a memory of Kuramochi’s challenge in the dressing room before the Yakushi game.

It’s the reverse of that time.

He reaches the school roof. Sees his target. Calls out his name.

“Kuramochi.”

Kuramochi turns, his expression is startled. He seems okay. Miyuki stops, stares at him.

“Huh…erm…”

What’s this? He’s completely…fine?

He smiles.

“What are you doing, taking yourself off somewhere alone? Who’s going to handle Sawamura?”

Somewhere in the background, Sawamura twitches, as if instinctively aware of this remark.

“More to the point, being that it’s you, I was certain that…”

Miyuki trails off. Kuramochi smiles slightly. His cheeks are red. There’s a tear sliding down his cheek.

“Miyuki,” he murmurs.

Where strong emotions are concerned, I can’t control myself. That’s why it’s a problem.

Miyuki reaches across the divide, and hugs Kuramochi. Who looks stunned.

“Hey, what are you doing, all of a sudden?” he demands. “This isn’t like you!”

“I think so too,” Miyuki admits to himself.

You’re not like yourself, either. I want you to call my name in the same cheerful way you always do. Even if you’re going to play a prank on me.

Kuramochi closes his eyes, buries his head in Miyuki’s shoulder. Softly, he whispers,

“Ryou-san.”

Ah.

The world is black, and Miyuki remembers the girl, crying, in front of him.

Right now I feel as though I understand that girl’s emotions.

Miyuki gazes up towards the sky. There are tears in his eyes. He hugs Kuramochi still, beneath the shelter of the cherry blossoms.

Oh well.

The end

[tracingdreams]

“Zettai Nakasu” (I’ll definitely make them cry) - Translation: Part I

Miyuki/Kuramochi Unofficial Fanbook (Doujin) (2015 PIXIV/Kinakorondo)

As mentioned previously, this is a super cute doujin and as requested I am translating it (in parts) in text form :D

Disclaimer: Translation and thus all errors are my own. I do not have the capacity to scan the pages without damaging the book. I will include occasional images where I can get them to work, but this is a text translation.

This doujin translation and content is safe for work.

It is chiefly Kuramochi Miyuki but it is a shade bittersweet and also includes hints of Kuramochi Ryousuke, Miyuki-Chris and even maybe Chris-Sawamura vibes in it. 

Part I

Miyuki stands in the hallway of the school, looking awkward. A girl stands in front of him. She is crying. It seems like she has confessed to him, and he has rejected her. At the sight of her tears, he is troubled. “Ah. This is a problem.” He thinks.

The scene flips back in time to when Miyuki was at the Edogawa Dragons. The coach is reading out the team list for the next game.

“ Right, I’m going to announce the start list for the next game,” he says. “Catcher – Miyuki.”

Miyuki is really excited. The other kids turn and stare at him.

As he is walking home, humming to himself, they call him back, “Hey, Miyuki!”

There is the off-panel sound of him being hit, and then Miyuki is on the ground, glasses on the floor, a bruised cheek and his eyes closed. One of his peers looks anxiously on.

“You…If you weren’t there, then I’d be the catcher!” claims the senpai.

Miyuki’s eyes snap open at this.

“If it makes you feel better to hit me, then do so,” he says. The senpai is thrown off guard by this, looking dismayed. Miyuki wipes his face, then continues,

“But please make sure it’s not of a level enough to stop me from playing in the game. I’ll show you that I’m going to win the next game.”

Miyuki’s home, now. There’s a woman walking up the path to a house with a carrier bag. She knows Miyuki but I am not sure she’s his mother. She calls out to him.

“Kazuya-kun, welcome home!”

“I’m back!”

“What happened? You’re all injured!”

“I fell!” is Miyuki’s immediate reply.

The next day, at the practice ground, the senpai are talking.

“Is it okay, letting him be now?” one of them asks. The other, the antagonist in the earlier confrontation replies,

“Ah…mm. Yeah. Well, he didn’t cry even a little bit. It was boring. He seems completely unaffected by it. It’s kind of scary.”

There is a particular focus drawn here to the number ‘2’

***

For some reason, I’ve always had problems getting along with people.

Miyuki remembers an encounter with a girl at middle school, and she calls his name, asking if he wants to walk home with her. He looks at her, confused, then asks,

“Why? No thanks. More to the point, who are you, even? Didn’t you get the wrong person?”

The girl looks thunderstruck. There’s the sound of her slapping him.

At the game, later, a teammate notices the slap mark on his face and asks if he is all right. Miyuki agrees that he is.

It’s not entirely a bad thing. I just need to learn how to turn it into a weapon.

There is the sound of a bat hitting a ball far over the fence, then Miyuki, sitting on the bench in his Edogawa uniform after the game. He looks content.

“He rushed the contest and threw a soft ball. Lucky me!” he reflects to himself.

Baseball is so much fun that those strong emotions make me lose control of myself.

His cheek is bruised. It looks like he wipes his face, maybe his eyes. Perhaps those specks that fall around him are tears, but it’s not clearly shown for sure.

He reflects on other encounters with his peers. “Kazuya! Let’s go play soccer!” asks one. Miyuki looks unmoved. “But I’d rather play baseball,” he replies. “Why don’t you come to the amusement park with me sometime?” Asks a girl with her hair in bunches. Miyuki looks at her blankly, and refuses, saying, “I have baseball practice.”

It’s a school parent-teacher meeting, and Toku has been called in to talk to his teacher about his progress. The teacher leans across the desk.

“He’s a good lad, and capable of clearly stating his opinions,” he says frankly, “but he needs to take more interest in the other children.”

As he and his father walk home, Miyuki trotting behind Toku, there is silence. Then, Toku breaks the quiet.

“Baseball,” he states, and Miyuki looks up at him, surprised.

“Is it fun?” Toku asks. Miyuki smiles.

“Yes.” He says warmly. Toku replies,

“Then it’s fine.”

Dad and I, just the two of us. Anything I can do on my own, I am able to do just fine. I can cook, and go shopping, and do the cleaning, and the laundry. If you get used to it, it stops being a burden on you.

Someone’s hand is on his head – it’s not clear whose. Maybe it’s Toku’s. Miyuki’s big eyes look up at them, as they say, rather condescendingly,

“Kazuya-kun, you’re very impressive, able to do all these things.”

Because of that, perhaps, I’m allowed to go put my all into my baseball playing. Maybe I put all my feelings of loneliness into it, or played out the part of me that felt like I was lacking in freedom. Even though I never thought that way about it. I didn’t feel I could do baseball and give nothing in return. I’m trying to play it too cool…but I never complained about it.

It’s night, and Miyuki, in his pyjamas, walks along the hallway. He sees the door is a little open.

He never showed me any weaknesses either.

Glancing through he sees Toku, looking at the photo of him, his wife and his son. Standing in shadow, Miyuki observes his father, the only light coming from the room beyond. Toku has no idea he is there.

Love. Affection. I still don’t really understand those.

The timeline returns back to Seidou, and the girl who has confessed to him in the hallway.

“Well,” she says awkwardly, “will you at least shake my hand?”

Miyuki is confused, but he shakes her hand anyway.

I don’t want to think about anything that’s pointless.

***

It’s raining, and Miyuki’s in the second year classroom at Seidou. It’s autumn, pushing towards winter now. There’s a commotion coming from outside. It’s Sawamura. He’s got his hands pressed up against the window and he’s yelling. “What is this?! I hate rain! Today I felt like taking the tire and going for a run, since I haven’t done it in ages!”

Kanemaru is trying to get him under some kind of control.

“Stop yelling in the corridor! You’re embarrassing!” he protests.

Miyuki is watching from the end of the hall. His hand goes to his mouth and he stifles a snigger.

“He’s even noisy outside of practice,” he observes.

Some of the surrounding girls are whispering together about the disturbance.

“Ah,” says one, “I know that kid. He’s part of the baseball club. His name is Sawamura-kun.”

“Is he famous?” asks another.

“He was apparently awesome during the autumn tournament,” comes the reply.

“Ah, I wanted to see that! We won, didn’t we?”

“Yes! We did!”

Miyuki watches their conversation, but does not try to take part. The conversation then turns to him.

“The catcher, Miyuki-kun, was injured.”

“Yes.”

“He broke a bone or something in the previous game, apparently.”

“Really?”

“But he still played the whole game to the end. And, on top of that, he scored a run.”

“That’s pretty incredible.”

“It’s amazing, yeah, but maybe they just couldn’t swap him out.”

“Hrm, I wonder…”

“It was the final, after all. Maybe they didn’t have anyone who could replace him at the same skill level.”

“He’s the captain and the fourth batter. Maybe it was for the sake of the team.”

No.

Miyuki’s arms fold across his chest. His face is not visible, and he is surrounded by darkness.

It wasn’t that at all.

His hand goes to his side, twitching at it. Suddenly, Mei’s voice is echoing in his head.

“Kazuya”, says this hallucination of Mei. “It’s what I told you, isn’t it? Are you regretting it? Even now, do you want to come across to join us?”

Miyuki responds to him,

“I’ve never thought that, not even once. Not once that this team is weak…”

I made the choice myself. Which hand to choose.

His hand stretches out. Two other hands reach out towards his. There’s a figure, silhouetted in the light. Miyuki, his face like a child’s, stares after him. The figure comes into more focus. He’s wearing catching protectors. There’s a number 2 on his back.

The person turns, and Chris’ features come into view. He’s smiling. Smiling, but the light is getting brighter. It eclipses Chris’s body, till all that remains are his feet. Then there is nothing, and Miyuki stares, looking lost.

“Miyuki,” Someone calls his name. It is almost certainly not Chris.

They hold out their hand to him. Their sleeves are dark, maybe the uniform of Seidou’s team.

Which hand, more attractive than the rest…

This hand…

The hand slaps across his, and he jolts with surprise.

Someone is flicking at his forehead. His eyes shoot open in astonishment. He clutches his forehead, as someone calls his name again.

“How many times do you think I’ve called you?!” It’s Kuramochi. He looks pissed, and Miyuki stares at him blankly. “Next class we have to move rooms! Hurry up and wake up!”

“Hey, can’t you do that a bit more gently?” Miyuki protests.

“You didn’t wake up, so what else am I meant to do?” Kuramochi is unrepentant. “Just think that it’s better than me punching you.”

“Hahaha,” Miyuki laughs at this. “Sorry about that.”

Kuramochi eyes him carefully.

“Miyuki…you…did you have some kind of nice dream or something? Stop grinning like an idiot!”

Miyuki is indeed smiling broadly, his hand touching his bruised brow. There is a blush to his cheeks.

Kuramochi tsks, and tells him,

“I’m going now, anyway. Today, I have to organise giving the papers out or something, apparently.”

He leaves, Miyuki calls behind him.

“Wait up, Kuramochi!”

As they head down the hallway, Miyuki glances out of the window. The sun is shining. He smiles.

“Ah,” he says. “It’s brightened up.”

To be continued...

[tracingdreams]

More drama and other translation links from my archive for people wanting a moment of distraction.

We are all fighting the same battle, stay safe.

These CD translations come from either drama CDs (not character CDs) or song CD releases. 

The Panty Thief (Featuring Eijun, Haruichi, Furuya)

Special Extended Drama: “They’re Doing an Interview!” (Featuring Miyuki, Mochi, Zono, Eijun, Furuya, Haruichi, Kanemaru, Toujou, Nori) Part One Part Two Part Three

And the one currently IN PROGRESS:

Special Extended Drama II: Service Area; En Route (Featuring Miyuki, Mochi, Zono, Eijun, Furuya, Haruichi, Kanemaru, Toujou, Nori) Part One

Part Two and Three of this drama are on my current to do list if and when I can find time :) Life is hectic rn. 

In doujinshi - for some reason I ended up with an inordinate amount of Mochi Miyuki Doujin when I bought my drama CDs (??). 

I have some Eijun and Miyuki ones too I think but I need to go through those yet. They’re stuck in a box as I haven’t had time. Some Mochi Miyuki translations below:

Itai (Set during the Autumn Final) Zettai Nakasu (Includes Mochi/Ryousuke and hints of Miyuki/Chris as well). Part One Part Two (Part 3 coming April 6th, I already have it in the queue)

[tracingdreams]

“Zettai Nakasu” (I’ll definitely make them cry) - Translation: Part II

Miyuki/Kuramochi Unofficial Fanbook (Doujin) (2015 PIXIV/Kinakorondo)

Disclaimer: Translation and thus all errors are my own. I do not have the capacity to scan the pages without damaging the book. I will include occasional images where I can get them to work, but this is a text translation.

This doujin translation and content is safe for work.

It is chiefly Kuramochi Miyuki but it is a shade bittersweet and also includes hints of Kuramochi Ryousuke, Miyuki-Chris and even maybe Chris-Sawamura vibes in it. 

Part II

Back in the middle school Edogawa Dragon days.  Miyuki returns home from practice in his uniform.

“I’m home!” he calls out, but there is no response. He turns on the light, and heads up to change into his casual clothes. He cooks his meal, turns on the television and sits down at the table to eat. The television commentary echoes into the room.

“And the game enters the final moments. It’s the bottom of the ninth, with two outs. Will the game be decided on this one pitch? A moment of tension…”

His gaze is fixed on the screen as he eats.

Nighttime. It’s black outside and he draws the curtain.

“He’s late again tonight,” he reflects. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he yawns. He says ‘goodnight’ to himself, into the silent darkness.

I never once felt that I was lonely.

The twelve year old Miyuki at the table, slippers dangling from his feet, is now the second year in high school, pen in hand.

I’ll definitely make them/you cry. (Note: This could equally mean, “They’ll/You’ll definitely make me cry” and “He’ll definitely make you cry” and any other possible combination of pronouns…because Japanese doesn’t require them to be stated. Deliberately ambiguous, this is also the title of the doujin)

“What are you drinking?” he asks Kuramochi, seeing him with a carton in hand, straw in mouth.

“Cola flavoured milk.” Came the reply.

Kuramochi’s in a good mood today. How good a mood?

Kuramochi eyes Miyuki pensively, then asks,

“Do you want some?” He grins, a big smile that reveals fang teeth. “I’ll give it to you!”

That good a mood.

I understand the reason only too well.

In the last game, he was praised by Ryou-san. (Even though right after that he got a ton of criticisms as well).

Kuramochi is shown talking to Ryousuke. Ryousuke’s face is hidden, but Kuramochi is all sparkles and smiles.

“It probably tastes horrible,” Miyuki says out loud. Kuramochi dumps the carton on his head.

“Shut up,” he shoots back.

“Don’t use me as a rubbish bin,” Miyuki objects. “What’s with that challenging spirit?”

“Well, I wanted to know,” Kuramochi replies. “Hey, you got praised as well, so be a bit happier about it, will you?”

“Of course I’m happy about it,” Miyuki answers. “Sawamura was also in good form, after all. But I need to play at that level as a matter of course.”

As the Captain. As the main catcher. As the fourth batter.

“Ah!” The carton falls off Miyuki’s head and onto the ground.

***

Room five. Sawamura is present, looking hugely emotional. His cheeks are red, his eyes wet with tears, his teeth gritted. Miyuki stands in the doorway, dressed in his tracksuit. His expression is troubled, then impassive.

“Tsk, that’s no good, Kuramochi-kun,” he says lightly. “Bullying your kouhai.”

“It’s not me!” Kuramochi is annoyed at this.

“What’s that?” Miyuki notices the books. “Manga?”

“Yes!” Sawamura announces. “A currently popular one! There’s even a movie!”

Kuramochi, still looking frustrated, grabs a towel and starts forcibly wiping Sawamura’s tears away.

“Are you his mother?” Miyuki asks.

“If he gets them dirty, I’m the one who Jun-san will kill!” Kuramochi exclaims.

The door of Room Five opens to reveal an angry looking Kanemaru, who enunciates Sawamura’s name ominously. Miyuki shoots him a startled look.

Ah-ah…

Kanemaru has plenty he wants to get off his chest.

“You idiot! Why are you sitting there reading manga?! You said you were studying for the test, didn’t you?!”

“I’m finishing, I’m finishing!” Sawamura protests hastily.

“When you’ve finished with the revision stuff, then you can read it!” Kanemaru is unamused. “The next time you do this, I’ll give you manga spoilers!”

“What kind of evil demon are you?!” Sawamura is horrified. Toujou pokes a smiling head around the door.

“Sorry for the disturbance!” he chirps cheerily.

Sawamura is taken away, and the door shuts behind them. Kuramochi and Miyuki are left alone in the room.

“They’re energetic,” Miyuki observes.

“You don’t really seem to be, though,” Kuramochi remarks in return. “You came to ask me about the test subjects, right?” He taps Miyuki on the head with his textbook. “The next time you sleep in class, I won’t tell you.”

His back is to Miyuki, who clutches the book tightly. Still without turning around, Kuramochi adds,

“You’re clearly still thinking about a bunch of stuff, but right now you need to just heal up your body.”

“You’re being too nice to me, it’s kind of scary,” Miyuki replies.

There’s nothing amazing about it or anything. I just pushed myself that far for the sake of my own selfish desires. I wasn’t able to think about doing it for the team, or about being Captain, or even thinking about how all of you felt. I thought that, for my own sake, if I trampled on the concern all of you felt for me it didn’t matter. I certainly wouldn’t have given up that place…even though to achieve that dream, I needed all of you as well.

But no matter what, I couldn’t stop myself.

“It’s not that,” Kuramochi replies. “I still don’t know myself if that was the right call.”

He still has his back to Miyuki.

“I tried to think about a bunch of things – what was best for the team, your own feelings…but at the end of the day, I really just wanted to win with a Seidou team that included you. So when you were able to keep standing there, I was happy. Even though I had no idea how much worse your injury could get from continuing to play…”

“The same is true for me,” Miyuki replies.

Please don’t lump us together like that so easily.

“Sorry for not stopping you.” Now Kuramochi turns. “The next time it happens, don’t hide it, okay?! You’re so annoying.”

“I get it, already!” Miyuki beams at him. He recalls that hand being placed on his head, and adds, “I’m used to doing stuff by myself, after all.”

“In that case, you need to get used to this,” Kuramochi grabs Miyuki by the lapels of his shirt. “To the fact the rest of us are here with you, too.” He looks serious. “Me, Zono. Don’t think you just have to do it and it can’t be helped. Although being you, I knew you would do it.” The shot pans out, showing them facing each other, both huddled on their knees.

“It’s annoying but the rest of us can’t get by any more without you.”

He gets to his feet.

“Right, I’m going to return this (manga volume).”

“Right now?”

“Well, it seems as though he wants it back soon, so…”

Kuramochi leaves, and Miyuki is alone in the silence of room five.

I never once thought of myself as being lonely.

“It’s really quiet…” he reflects. He looks around the room. “Seems like he’s added some more new games.” He starts poking through Kuramochi’s stuff, and finds an old magazine. “This one’s pretty old…”

He shivers.

“It’s cold in here.”

He glances around him, seeing a blanket on the floor, which he grabs with both hands and pulls towards him.

“Just what I need right now.”

He wraps it around himself.

“I’m sure this is Kuramochi’s…”

A flashback memory darts into his head, of banter between the two of them.

“That thing’s so old and ratty it’s falling apart,” he had teased, and Kuramochi, blanket defiantly over his shoulders, had retorted, “Does it matter? I feel relaxed with it!”

Miyuki eyes the blanket.

“He said he brought it with him from home, I think.”

He reflects on his conversation with Kuramochi. Kuramochi is shown, smiling and sparkly.

“I’ll never forget being praised today!” he announces, and Miyuki thinks this over.

If Kuramochi says that, probably, he won’t ever forget it.

Kuramochi has a ton of things he likes.

There is an image of Kuramochi, surrounded by an array of things – food, games, television, books, baseball, and his teammates; the image shows Ryousuke, Eijun and Jun.

I’m a little jealous of how he can add to those things and treasure them so much.

The panel changes to a big empty one of Miyuki sitting, wrapped in Kuramochi’s blanket, surrounded by grey. An inset shows a young Miyuki, alone, peering out of the window of his apartment, presumably down to the steel workshop and Toku below.

The door of the room opens and Kuramochi returns. He’s surprised.

“Oh! You’re still here.”

“Still? Seriously, you. Sawamura’s not here either, I didn’t want to just leave the door open like that with nobody else here.” Miyuki replies, still wrapped in the blanket.

“Right. Well done, taking care of things in my absence,” Kuramochi rubs his hand over Miyuki’s head playfully. “I’m back now.”

“Welcome back,” Miyuki answers him. “Did you go borrow another volume?”

They are wrestling over the blanket, Kuramochi wanting to retrieve it and Miyuki wanting to keep hold of it. Kuramochi demanding he give it back, and Miyuki not yielding.

“The next volume,” Kuramochi replies at length. “Why don’t you read it?”

“No. To begin with, that’s a middle volume. And I’m not interested. Not in shoujo manga.”

Kuramochi still has his hand on the blanket. He fixes Miyuki with a look, then,

“It’s because you’re like that that you make the girls cry, you know.”

Miyuki is taken aback. “Wha? Why do you say something like that now?”

In his moment of distraction, Kuramochi pounces and takes back the blanket. Miyuki protests, “unfair!”. Unrepentantly, Kuramochi reminds him that it’s his blanket in the first place.

“You poor thing.”

“Hey, that’s pretty merciless…”

There are some images of Miyuki in flashback, over which he explains,

“The thing is that I played baseball because it was fun, right from the start. But right now it’s even more fun. Well, because of that, in the past, I got scolded because I only played baseball and did nothing else but that.”

“So that’s why you strike out with the girls.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Stupid.”

“So are you, most of the time.” Comes Miyuki’s retort.

“Hey!” Kuramochi is annoyed. “That’s not what I meant! The girls! I meant the girls!”

He glances down at the manga.

“Those are your good points, after all.”

Miyuki looks at him. Kuramochi is reflected in the lens of Miyuki’s glasses.

“Well, it is pretty much your only point as well.” Kuramochi adds.

“Hey!”

Nevertheless…if for some reason, baseball was to disappear from me…I feel like you’d still call my name in exactly the same way as you do now.

An image of Kuramochi, calling Miyuki’s name, follows.

Maybe that’s just my wishful thinking, though.

Out loud Miyuki says, “Hey, Kuramochi…? Did you ever have a girlfriend…?”

There is a moment of awkward silence between them. Miyuki looks at Kuramochi, then retreats, as though he’s suddenly realised he’s hit a sore point.

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

Kuramochi slams shut the manga volume, looking angry. He clenches his fist.

“I swear, if I don’t make you cry at least once, I really won’t be satisfied…” he growls.

“Take care of the things you borrowed!” Miyuki chirps in a quiet voice. He tries to back away as Kuramochi grabs his baseball bat, letting out a squeal. “Hey, I’m against violence!”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kuramochi has the bat in one hand, and he pushes open the bedroom door. “I’m just going down to do some private practice. I’m going to lock the door, though, of the bedroom.”

“Hey! I’ll come down with you!” Miyuki decides. Kuramochi fixes him with a look, as he’s still injured.

“You…”

“I’ll just watch! I’ll just watch!” Miyuki says hurriedly.

“I guess you’re restless,” Kuramochi thinks.

They head out. It’s cold enough to turn breath to clouds of condensation. Kuramochi shivers.

“It’s cold,” he says.

“It’s winter,” Miyuki replies.

“And when you mention winter,” Kuramochi began.

“The winter training camp,” Miyuki finished.

“Scary! Don’t! It’s already pointlessly cold!” Kuramochi protests.

Miyuki let out his breath in a rush, and a cloud of white air comes from his lips.

You shouldn’t underestimate the ability to make this baseball idiot cry.

There’s an image of Koushien stadium.

All we can do now is go there.

The panels show the members of the team. Eijun yelling, and Kanemaru in pursuit. Haruichi practicing with Zono. Asou with Seki and Higasa. Then them all gathered around Miyuki, Zono looking stern, Miyuki grinning, an arm around Sawamura’s shoulders.

Until I reach the top with these guys, I’ll definitely make them cry.

To be continued...