Hachigatsu no Cinderella Nine - Episode 7 - The Quest for Club Status and Maiko's Family Issues

It’s amazing how Yoshimi destroyed a bat like that.

As the Baseball Association continues to practice, Yoshimi destroys a bat. Now, Tsubasa are in a debacle with the equipment worn out. With the lack of funding, there is one thing she needs to do. Upgrade the Baseball Association to a full-fledged club.

It’s apparent that this will eventually happen. After all, the girls had to save money for their uniforms. As expected, the funding issue will become an issue since associations don’t get much funding. Suzuki brought up the club thing, which made me wonder why Tsubasa didn’t realize this at first.

Of course, to reach club status, they need approval from the student council. While they received approval from their advisor, the student council needs to evaluate them. I wonder if they will pass since Tsukumo Kana who is in charge of the athletic clubs will evaluate them.

Yuki meets her old friend at the wrong time.

Meanwhile, while Yuki is working at her part-time job wearing a mascot outfit handing out balloons, she meets an old friend. Yes, it’s Kurashiki Maiko, who is a year above Yuki. Yuki invites her to try out baseball. From Maiko saying that she doesn’t participate in any clubs is a small indication of what to come later on.

Despite being good at sports, Maiko decides to give up easily.

With Kana coming to the practice at the first time, Yuki brings Maiko. She introduces her to everyone saying that she is very athletic. It shows when she pitches the ball, better than Ryou. Sadly, Maiko wants to give up despite being good. She felt that she will interfere with the association’s evaluation. Thankfully, the girls convince her not to give up that easily.

It seems that Kana knows about Maiko’s trouble with the police for walking late at night. She also knows about Maiko’s anti-social tendencies. It’s somewhat apparent when Maiko talked to Yuki revealing that she is not a part of any clubs. That is a red flag. I understand why Kana seems concerned that Maiko won’t get along with her teammates. Still, I wonder why Maiko gets into trouble with the police.

Surprisingly, Maiko is getting along with others.

Despite Kana complimenting Maiko, she still gets annoyed at her.

At a glance, it seems that she is getting along with her teammates. Sure, she becomes annoyed at Kana after she said that Maiko is having fun. Still, I wonder why she is so confrontational at Kana. Either way, Kana sees that Maiko is having fun as she eventually saw her smile. Yuki also seems happy that Maiko is having fun.

Of course, things take a turn for the worse when Maiko returns home. She became upset at her mother who feels distraught over her husband not being at home. Maiko becomes upset and runs away. This can explain why she has so many dealings with the police, especially when she started to fight a bunch of drunkards.

With Maiko in a teacher parent meeting with her mother, it seems that it didn’t go so well. Kana eventually overhears some of what happened. When Maiko’s mother mentioning transferring her daughter no another school, Maiko becomes upset at her mother deciding what is best for her and her father for their own benefit. In other words, she ran off.

At last, Kana finally shares how she feels about Maiko.

After Kana heard what happened, she looks for Maiko. While they don’t get along with each other, she encourages Maiko to stay in the Baseball Association. Sure, Kana doesn’t know how to express her feelings. Even so, she seems to like how Maiko smiled when she had fun playing baseball. From that, she wants to see her smile more. Given that Maiko became surprised that Kana out of all people look after her, maybe she is warming up to her. It seems that way.

In the end, thankfully Maiko didn’t receive any punishment and only had to submit an apology. Either way, the student council finally give the Baseball Association a pass. I guess Kana’s speech to convince the teacher and student council did wonders. Nevertheless, Kana still wants to look after them. It’s quite obvious. She is either worried about Maiko or want to see her smile more. Either way, I smell a potential pairing here.