The night Japan lost at the WBC, Kopo sat slumped in the plaza .
“We lost.”
“We lost, huh.”
Tacchi came and sat beside him, looking up at the sky. Stars were out.
“frustrated ?”
“Frustrated. But…”
Kopo hugged his knees. “But it was cool. They gave everything they had.”
Tacchi was silent for a while.
“Giving everything you’ve got, and losing anyway — that’s a kind of beauty too.”
Kopo said, “That sounds sarcastic coming from you.” Tacchi replied, “I mean it sincerely, actually.”
The two of them laughed. And once they laughed, something inside their chests felt a little lighter.
News had also come in that gasoline prices had hit a record high, but tonight, that didn’t matter. Only the stars stayed overhead, unchanged.
Margin note: The next morning, Kopo declared that his “practice falls, given everything he had” would be forgiven, no questions asked.
【Today’s Drop】
- Japan Eliminated in WBC Quarterfinals (March 18, 2026): Team Japan was eliminated in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals . Venezuela won the tournament for the first time.
- Record-High Gasoline Prices (March 18): The nationwide average retail price of regular gasoline broke the ¥190-per-liter mark, an all-time record high.
This is an English translation of “負けた日の空”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).
