Blue Summer Haze Vol. 2 (Kodansha, 2026)

Makoto, the ace pitcher of his high school baseball team, has had a long, one-sided crush on his former battery partner and childhood friend, Shusuke. But when Makoto gathers the courage to tell Shusuke how he feels, he is ultimately rejected. In an attempt to get over Shusuke, Makoto tells his current battery partner, Hokuto, that he plans on leaving the team after the summer. Seeing Makoto look so dejected, Hokuto can't keep his feelings bottled up any longer... Meanwhile, Shusuke has been feeling all kinds of butterflies after receiving Makoto's heartfelt confession. With feelings of first love tugging on their hearts, the curtain rises on the summer tournament of the boys' last year in high school...