Episode 3

## For Real?

* Title Screen
* Screenshot

*Part Two - Present Day*

* 04 ○ 05 ○ 06

## Episode Guide

**For Real?**is the third episode of the *Cross Game* anime.

Daiki Nakanishi invites Kou Kitamura to play a fun sandlot game with some former classmates from their elementary school. After the game, Nakanishi realizes that Kou isn't pitching to his full potential and asks him why he never joined the baseball team in middle school.

## Plot

The Seishu Academy Middle School baseball players are out running. Keiichirou Senda calls out to Aoba Tsukishima then proceeds to ask her how she feels about autumn. She says she doesn't mind it. Senda then starts asking her more questions but Osamu Akaishi interrupts him and tells him to stop talking while they are running. Senda said they will soon be graduating. Akaishi asks him if he's going to be done with baseball after graduation. Senda says no, that it's only going to get more seriously next year on. He then goes back to questioning Aoba, but was interrupted again. Senda tells Akaishi to shut up for interrupting him again, then decides to leave and watch the high school baseball players. Akaishi then sees Nakanishi watching from the window and stares back. Nakanishi then walks away.

Senda brings the high school players a drink, and they ask him if he's kissing up to them in preparation for next year. Senda just laughs it off. Sentarou Maeno, the high school coach, shows up and asks them to stop sitting around idly, and get back to practicing. The high school players wonder why Maeno hasn't been fired yet. At Kou's house, Nakanishi approaches Kou about playing in an upcoming sandlot game against some of their former classmates from elementary school. Kou is reluctant at first then agrees saying they can buy new uniforms, Nakanishi kicks him in the face and tells him the game is next Sunday. He then asks him if the two alarm clocks Wakaba gave him are still effective in waking him up and Kou says they are.

At the middle school, Aoba tells Akaishi that everyone on the team, minus Senda, are present. Akaishi isn't worried. Aoba asks if Akaishi has heard what was going on with the high school baseball team and Akaishi says no, but they will find out next year. He asks Aoba if she knows what's going on with Kou and Aoba says she doesn't. A car pulls up to the high school, and two mysterious men emerge and walk into the school. Kou is accused of stealing the girl's gymnastics club leotards but he's adamant that he didn't steal anything. Mr. Akichi, the teacher who is accusing Kou, is then informed by another teacher that the culprit has turned himself in. Mr. Akichi suggests Kou join the baseball team when he gets to high school so his athletic talents wouldn't go to waste.

Nakanishi is practicing at the batting center, while Akaishi looks on. Kou enters the batting center, and is greeted by Seiji Tsukishima who asks if he wants some coffee. Kou says no thanks and asks who was in the batting cages. Seiji says it's been a while since that person has been there. Kou goes to see for himself Kou goes to see for himself and seemed surprised to find Nakanishi there. Kou then leaves and goes home.

At the Tsukishima's house, Ichiyou Tsukishima tells Aoba, who is doing laundry, that she can stand to act more like a girl. Aoba asks where their father is, and Ichiyou says he's at a meeting. Aoba wanted to play catch so her sister, Momiji, offers to play catch with her. Aoba is surprised that Momiji is so good at throwing and Momiji says she's been practicing with Kou. At the sandlot game, it's the 'guys thrown together' team playing against the 'previous elementary school kids' team. Kou asks Nakanishi to be the catcher for some practice throws. Nakanishi asks when was the last time they formed a battery and Kou says 3 years ago in 6th grade. Kou pitches; Nakanishi, noticing something, calls for a pitcher change. Kou, confused, says he'll pitch for real in the actual game. Nakanishi stares at him for a moment, then once again calls for a pitcher change.

Aoba tells Momiji if she is getting tired, they can stop for a rest. Momiji shrugs the suggestion off, saying she and Kou would play catch for half a day. Aoba remembers Wakaba's words of not underestimating Kou. Back at the game, the guy's thrown together team has 5 points and the former elementary school students team has 3 points by the 4th inning  The batter hits the ball to right field, where Kou is. The batter cockily thinks it's a homerun but Kou catches the ball. In a panic the batter screams for the runner on second to get back to the base but it's too late. Kou's team is now at bat. Kou hits it and make it to first. At that moment, Akaishi is riding by the field on his bike and sees the game. He then remembers Wakaba's words "instead of just standing there watching, why not join the team?"  In a flashback, Wakaba is seen asking Akaishi, Nawata and Hayashi that aforementioned question. She says if they just stand there watching, the team will surpass them. Akaishi says he can't bring himself to play baseball. Wakaba respects that.

Back in the present day, Akaishi asks Nakanishi why Kou isn't pitching, Nakanishi responds they just wanted to play a fun sandlot game. Last inning, the score is 9–8 with Kou's team in the lead. The batter for the random bunch of guys team hits the ball and it looks like it will be a tie. However, Kou catches the ball and throws to Nakanishi who tags the runner out before he can make it to home plate. Game over. former elementary school students team wins. Kou approaches Nakanishi and says it was a fun game. Nakanishi , who isn't happy, grabs Kou by the shirt and asks what he was thinking, throwing like that. Before Kou could answer, Akaishi calls out to them saying he will see them later.

After everyone leaves, Nakanishi asks Kou to pitch for real, not the take it easy kind of pitching but real pitching, which Kou does. After the pitch, Nakanishi asks why Kou hasn't joined the middle school baseball club. Kou tell Nakanishi that it's his (Nakanishi's) fault that he (Kou) isn't joining. Akaishi tells Aoba that if Nakanishi hadn't been in the baseball club then he, too, would have left in 3 months time. In another flashback, it shows Makihara, Sekiguchi and Tsuneki on the ground, seemingly out cold with an angry Nakanishi standing over them with a bloody fist and face.

Nakanishi says, in the present day, that incident had happened 3 months after them starting middle school and asked Kou what he was doing in those 3 months. Kou finally says he didn't join because he didn't have enough confidence at that time to join, but he was practicing at home and watching the club practice every day. He says that he had fun playing the sandlot game and again, tries to get a team together just so they would buy uniforms from his family store. Aoba asks if Akaishi will able to get along with the scumbags in high school next year. Akaishi responds that not many people will be able to get along with scumbags. Senda is still acting like a choreboy to Makihara, Sekiguchi and Tsuneki. The mysterious men from earlier are revealed to be Shuugo Daimon and Eitaro Shidou, a baseball coach and interim principal, respectively. Aoba and Kou run into each other outside of Kitamura Sports. Kou asks if she is coming back from practices, to which she responds that it is none of his business.

## Characters

### Order of appearance

* Aoba Tsukishima
* Keiichirou Senda
* Osamu Akaishi
* Daiki Nakanishi
* Makihara (debut)
* Sekiguchi (debut)
* Tsuneki (debut)
* Sentarou Maeno (debut)
* Kou Kitamura
* Eitaro Shidou (debut)
* Shuugo Daimon (debut)
* Seiji Tsukishima
* Ichiyou Tsukishima
* Momiji Tsukishima
* Nomo
* Wakaba Tsukishima (flashback)
* Tanaka
* Hayashi (flashback)
* Nawata (flashback)
* Yuuhei Azuma (debut, photo)
* Tatsumasa Miki (debut, photo)

## Trivia

* **Title drop/references**: "For Real?/Properly?" is said by Nakanishi when talking to Kou about his (Kou's) pitching

### Anime/Manga differences

##### Changes

* In the manga, Nakanishi comes to visit Kou, he has his friends with him. In the anime, Nakanishi still visits Kou but doesn't have his friends with him
* In the manga, when Nakanishi and his friends visits it's immediately after Aoba leaves after changing her shirt and Senda is also there. In the anime, Nakanishi and Kou are the only ones at Kou's house, with no mention or indication that Senda or Aoba were ever there

##### Omissions from anime

* Nakanishi asking Kou about some girly magazines when he visits him