Stars Align (星合の空)

I bet there won't be any chocolate-covered critters

in a place like this.

That's one chore I won't have to worry about.

I'm fine with that.

Look, we even have an elevator.

We're on the eighth floor this time, right?

This move is gonna take us a while.

I'll just take the stairs.

Hang on, Maki!

You'll work yourself to death climbing all those.

I'll be fine, Mom. It's nothing new.

Maki!

That kid of yours moves pretty quick.

We didn't have an elevator before, so he's used to it.

Let's go, Shijo! Fight, fight, Shijo!

Let's go, Shijo! Fight, fight!

Well, what do we have here?

The two soft tennis teams are having

a pretty one-sided practice match.

Really? It's the boys versus the girls?

Are they seriously trying to play against

the national champions?

Those boys are gonna get destroyed!

For real!

Yeah, go ahead and laugh.

But, it's kind of sad.

'Cause, they really are getting destroyed.

I mean, at least they're all doing their best, yeah?

Ah!

Huh?

Wow, you scored on me good!

Come on!

He really is doing his best, I swear!

He's just nervous!

And... There!

Aw, well, dang it.

That shot went by way too fast.

There's no way either of us could've gotten it.

That deserves a round of applause.

Yeah, you're right. Nice.

Wait! They're not trying to be mean! Honest!

Yeah! They're not trying to do much of anything!

Whoa!

Look at that! It got stuck!

They're so pathetic. This hardly counts as practice.

Yeah, that's a fair point.

At least your girls can take it easy.

Let's go, Takada! Fight, fight, Takada!

Let's go, Takada! Fight, fight, Takada!

I got it!

Ah!

Thanks for the match.

I learned a lot from playing you.

Glad to hear it.

Work on your first serve's placement,

and you won't be half bad, Shinjo.

Right. Thanks for the tip.

Speaking of.

Are you okay with me speeding up my second serve a bit?

Yeah, sure.

As long as it doesn't affect your accuracy,

it's fine by me.

Way to go, Kei!

Good game out there, you two!

Why are we wasting our practice time

playing against the boys' team?

We're doing them a favor.

And they should be grateful that we even

agreed to these matches in the first place.

But they're not.

What's wrong with them?

They don't even care that they lost!

Hey, Captain. Uh. Good effort!

Yeah right. I sucked.

Here I thought Toma'd get a game

off the Black Butterfly.

I guess he's just as bad as the rest of us.

Hey, Itsuki, The White Butterfly's your sister,

isn't she? So, tell her to go easy on us or something.

Do you honestly think she would even listen to me?

That's fair. I guess not.

Must be nice having an older sister who's smart,

pretty, and athletic. I'm kinda jealous of you.

You cannot be serious.

Wha...? Uh. No. Of course not.

Good to know. Because if you were, you'd be dead.

Okay, Itsuki, that's enough!

Don't wanna bring down the team morale!

Well, it's not like we're ever gonna win.

So, who cares?

Even if that's true,

you don't have to be so harsh about it.

But it is true.

We're never gonna be good,

so it doesn't matter how hard we try.

But y'know, I heard that Ms. Muroi practically begged

Mr. Sakurai to have a practice game.

She thought that we would be a nice change of pace.

Wait. Are you for real?

Shingo. Nao is just making stuff up again.

Aw. That sucks.

I'm sick of this. I'm tired of losing!

Uh-- Takuto?

This is a club for losers anyway!

Don't you get it?

How could anyone get popular when they're stuck

in a stupid Soft Tennis Club like this?

Nanase's never gonna like me if I'm some loser!

Hang on a sec.

You mean that Nanase?

Never gonna happen.

I'm gonna start doing things that are cool!

Like, playing normal tennis!

Then I'm gonna become popular and stuff!

You'll see!

I don't think that's how it works, man.

You can't stop me!

I'm quitting this club and I'm gonna be cool

and popular starting now--!

You do that.

All club activities at this school

operate with the funds provided directly

by the administration.

As you might expect, the amount of support

that each club gets is something we take seriously.

Naturally, there is a slight variance in how much

is provided to each of the clubs.

The total number of students enlisted is a factor,

for example.

The problem is, this equal distribution of funds

naively assumes that all clubs have the same value.

It fails to consider the amount of effort

and passion invested in them.

So, as your current student council president.

I want to change all of that.

I'd like to implement a system that compensates

each club according to their level of commitment

and quality of results. That will be truly fair.

I believe hard work and enthusiasm

will always produce great results.

In that same vein, those results deserve

a proportional reward.

Unfortunately, there are some clubs which

produce no results and needlessly drain funds

that are better used elsewhere.

These sorts of clubs are worse than useless.

They are essentially stealing resources from others

who deserve it more.

So, why should these clubs continue to exist at all?

Who does she think she is? What?

So we have to win in order to be considered a real club?

But they won't go through with it, right?

I thought these clubs were supposed to be about

students enjoying themselves.

It's already starting to happen, man.

Just take a look at the clubs that were good enough

to go to nationals.

They've all got their funds secured already.

Then what about us?

What's goin' to happen to the Soft Tennis Club?

Unless we win a match in the summer tournament,

it's over.

Student Council Pres sure is heartless.

She knows that we're not good enough to win anything.

It's been four years of nothing but losses, hasn't it?

Guess we're done for.

Don't be like that, guys!

So, what are we all gonna do next semester?

Well, I suppose my mom did always want me

to learn how to play an instrument of some kind.

Is it too late to join a music club?

We're really disbanding?

But think about the members that came before us.

You know that it's their fault, too.

They didn't really do us any favors.

We shouldn't feel too bad about it.

Yeah, good point. No third years stuck around.

And we also weren't able to get any first years

to join us this year either.

It's just us second years now,

at the very end.

That's too bad.

I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do with my old racket.

Well, I could always give it to my sister.

Not sure she'd have use for it though.

You've gotta be kidding.

Good morning!

Oh! Good morning!

Ah, crap! Where is it, where is it?

Found you!

Mom! Food's ready!

Oh, you're the best, Maki!

I gotta hurry!

Come on.

Here you go!

Thanks! You're a lifesaver.

No problem. You've got everything now, right?

Toma.

Do me a favor? Hand this book off to Maki.

Huh? Did you say...?