Episode 34: Happy New Year

On New Year's Eve, Ko helps the Takigawas deliver soba. At the Tsukishima's, he meets Junpei Azuma, who had forgotten he is driving his brother home for a visit. When Ko is done, Akane returns a book to him, thanking him for helping her draw a good picture for a competition. Ko, Akaishi, and Nakanishi go to a shrine to pray for good luck, and Senda follows to avoid practicing with Midori but fails to find them. Yuhei Azuma returns and finds Aoba alone in the Tsukishima batting cages, the rest of the family having gone to the shrine. Junpei's wallet is stolen at the shrine, and Ko and his friends chase the thief, but he is caught by Momiji's "candidate" boyfriend. In the batting cages, when Aoba tells Azuma she will not try out for the women's national team because does not want to take time away from practicing with Seishu, to help them get to Koshien, he tells her she should try for a Koshien of her own.