On September 27, Miyuki set out to draw lots.
The Autumn Tournament draw covered both East and West Tokyo, so representatives from every Tokyo school had gathered today.
In the crowded venue, Kōshū spotted plenty of familiar faces. As for why he had come, that was something to ask Miyuki beside him.
"Hey, wouldn't it have been enough for you to come alone?"
Yet everyone had insisted that Kōshū come along too, on the grounds that—
"That guy's luck is unreliable. Kōshū, you look like someone who does good deeds all the time, so you should go with him."
So what am I, a Taoist priest or a monk? Someone who wards off disasters and misfortune?
But it was true. Victory didn't depend on strength alone; luck mattered too. Especially in high school games, where the schedule was packed—if you kept running into strong teams in succession, you would be at a huge disadvantage later on.
"Bzzzt—bzzzt." Kōshū's phone vibrated.
"Hayakawa?" Seeing the caller ID, Kōshū answered right away. "Hello, Hayakawa?"
"Kōshū, look to your left."
Following the instructions over the phone, Kōshū saw Hayakawa Aki waving at him. He waved back. "Hayakawa, you came too."
But when he looked beside Hayakawa, the person sitting there was not Narumiya Mei, but an unfamiliar Inajo Jitsugyo player.
"Is the person beside you your New Captain?" He didn't seem to be an official player.
"Yeah. So you came too. But that's not what I wanted to tell you. Look farther back."
"Huh?" Kōshū did as told and met a pair of smiling eyes. "Senior Nozawa? Ah, and Senior Ido too?"
Sitting several rows behind Hayakawa were Nozawa and Ido, seniors from Kinoshita Little League. The school name on their chests was "Tachikawa."
Kōshū was thrilled. During the Summer Koshien regional qualifiers last