Volume 5, Afterword
During the 2004 offseason, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes sold management rights to Orix, ending its 55 year history. The last manager happened to be Nashida Masataka. For both the Buffaloes and coach Nashida, the team ended its history regrettably without being able to conquer Japan.
Five years later, winter 2009. Coach Nashida led the Nippon Ham Fighters against the visiting Yomiuri Giants, only to be defeated, and unable to attain their dream. A month later, I visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto for vacation. I saw the famous senbon tori, and there were thousands more inside the shrine, each of them carved with the name of the person praying, and the date. I just happened to find one with the words written,
“Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, Nashida Masataka.”
That offertory was dated October 2006, two years after his final match.
After returning to Kyoto, I began drafting a short story close to the deadline. It was different from the draft I had initially submitted to the editor, so I ended up writing another story from scratch. I had to write a story about baseball. In that case, I had to put it at the last chapter of the short story anthology. So I thought.
It was my first time submitting a short story on the magazine, to be compiled in an anthology, and somehow, the earliest work was written three years ago. Looking back, I found that Alice and Narumi are greatly different from the present. Despite this, I tried to minimize the edits, and fixed certain plot points that did not flow well. In this story, it had been a year since Narumi started getting involved, and many things around him had changed greatly. Changed, but never vanishing. This was everything I believed in as I wrote, and I believe the future shall be the same.
The Kintetsu Buffaloes no longer exist. However, its life takes shape in a different form, breathing through many teams, the hearts of the fans, and even in my novel.
If I could end off with such a touching episode, I suppose the editor will forgive me for not only changing the entire plot, but also for submitting it late?
This volume’s sold along with the drama CD at the same time, and I am glad to participate in the writing of the audio drama. The manga by Tiv-san will also begin serialization in the June edition of ‘Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh’. Also, to the editor Yuasa-sama, illustrator Kishida Mel-san, and also to everyone who bought this work, I will like to really express my thanks.
February 2010, Hikaru Sugii
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