"Tears" is the fifty fifth chapter in Ahiru no Sora.
Chapter Summary[]
Konishi thanking his senior Momoharu for the great match
Few seconds left to conclude the match. Momoharu, upon his rebounding attempt, somehow manages to touch the ball, and it is heading towards the other side of the court. Chiaki uses his last-second stamina and attains possession of the ball, and then passes it to Sora. Natsume requests his teammate Sora to pass the ball to him. Kurumatani, due to being tired and indecisive at that given moment, shoots the three-pointer. The ball touches the rim. Upon seeing, Kenji gets a bit frustrated at Sora’s attempt. However, the match isn’t over; one second remains. Nao encourages Natsume to grab the rebound. Due to being a bit further away from the basketball hoop, he is unsuccessful; the referee gives the signal for the conclusion of the practice match. Kitasumi High wins the game by two points with a score of 76 to 74.
A depressed and low-spirited Kuzuryu High squad lineup at center court. They thank their adversary Kitasumi High for the great match. Tarou sees Nao crying and, while heading back towards his bench, tells himself that in the end, it is always like this for him, hurting the people he cares for. Konishi thanks his senior, Momoharu, for the great match and confidently tells him that he won. Momoharu stares at him and states that his team might have lost the match, but he didn’t lose to him when it came to attaining rebounds. Upon hearing, Konishi thanks his senior, and Momoharu politely walks away. Koga, Kitasumi High instructor, approaches Sora and gives him some advice. He informs Sora, if he had kept his cool and drawn a foul during the last play or passed the ball to Kenji, Kuzuryu High would have won the match. Upon hearing, Sora thanks Koga for his guidance and heads towards his teams’ bench. Koga then sees the scoring sheet and is amazed at Sora’s shooting ability that out of his nine three-point attempts, he successfully scored 7 of them. Koga further comments that the future of basketball looks bright with players like him, referring to Sora.
Meanwhile, at the locker room, a frustrated Natsume furiously punches one of the cabinets. Kenji then states that although this was just a practice match, he feels terrible and angrily heads out. Nabe and Masahiro astonishingly see Natsume’s behavior and then notice their captain, Momoharu, also being a bit hard on himself. Nabe encourages Hanazono that Kitasumi High is on par with the level of Shinmaruko High, and seeing the results of the match, their team performed pretty well. Nabe further comments that their basketball club just started taking the sport seriously a month ago, so we shouldn’t be discouraged. Upon hearing, Chiaki disagrees and states Kitasumi High wasn’t competing against them with their best lineup and further comments that no one on their team was wearing the number 4 jersey, referring to the team’s captain.
Satsuki and Nao thanking Kitasumi High for the good match
A frustrated Sora lays flat on the ground near the school’s handwashing station and recalls his mistakes of the match. Madoka sees him and tries to approach Kurumatani to give him the bracelet, and seeing him all depressed changes her mind not to have a conversation with him. Meanwhile, Nao and Satsuki politely escort and thank Kitasumi High for the great match at their school's entrance gate. After their departure, Satsuki sees a tearful Nao and informs her that even though their team lost the match, he was amazed and moved by his student's efforts. Upon concluding, to show his appreciation, Satsuki stated that he would reward his team by treating them for dinner and further commented on considering this as an advance gift for their teams’ future victories.
Characters[]
- Sora Kurumatani
- Chiaki Hanazono
- Kenji Natsume
- Manabu Konishi
- Momoharu Hanazono
- Tachibana
- Nao Nanao
- Madoka Yabuchi
- Ryuuhei Nabeshima
- Masahiro Saki
- Yasuhara Shinichi
- Tarou Kabachi
- Koga
- Masayoshi Satsuki