Hokuto's First Win — Underdogs End Tokei Hex's 8-1 Unbeaten Run

Hokuto's first win finally arrived. At Hokuto Gymnasium on the night of the 31st, Hokuto defeated Tokei Hex 5-4 (1 edge) in Round 10 of the Hexball league, ending the league leader's 8-1 run. Among the five clubs this paper tracks closely — Tokei Hex, Fukagawa Pelicans, Owari, Naniwa Six, and Hokuto — Hokuto had lost all six of its tracked matches so far this season, and was again widely expected to lose. When the final buzzer sounded, towels and caps flew from the Hokuto bench, and the crowd erupted in its loudest cheer of the season. Hokuto's captain, Gaku Kashiwabara (27, a second-generation drifter of the dog lineage), said he was speechless for a moment afterward. "Honestly, we hadn't even seen ourselves win yet. All season we've been saying 'next time,' and today we went in with that same 'next time' feeling."

Tokei Hex led 3-1 (1 edge) early, drawing on its usual teamwork. But Hokuto's defense steadied in the second half, and Kashiwabara himself closed the gap to 4-3 (1 edge). With under three minutes left, Tokei Hex tied it at 4-4 (even edges), but just before the buzzer, a rookie Hokuto player landed a shot from the right side to make it 5-4 (1 edge). "For a second I honestly didn't know if it had gone in. It was only when the referee called the edge that it felt real," Kashiwabara said.

Tokei Hex's Ritsu Kishiura, 24, recorded multiple edges again but the team's defense showed cracks overall. "I don't think we underestimated them exactly, but we were outlasted in focus at the end. It's frustrating, but I'd call this a win Hokuto earned rather than a collapse on our side," he said afterward. The Tokei Hex manager added, "Maybe we'd gotten comfortable somewhere in that 8-1 record. All we can do now is take the loss and face the next match."

Hokuto had lost twice each to Tokei Hex and Fukagawa Pelicans since a narrow opening-day loss to Naniwa Six, and entered the round at 0-6 in this paper's tracking; it now stands at 1-6, its first tracked point of the season won by an outright victory. "The fact that we beat a team we'd lost to again and again makes this especially meaningful," the Hokuto manager said. "I've kept telling the players how much it matters just to keep going, all for a day like this."

Second-place Fukagawa Pelicans had no match scheduled this round and remain at 6-1-1, as previously reported, watching the gap to first place narrow without playing a part in it themselves. Captain Shu Enami, 26, said, "I was surprised to hear Tokei Hex lost. The gap closing is a fact, but all we can do is play our own matches." Owari also had no match and stays at 3-4.

Regulars who had endured a difficult season turned out in force at Hokuto's home court. A man, 49, arriving straight from work, laughed: "Honestly, I was about to stop counting the losing streak today. Now I don't have to." A woman, 38, who came with her elementary-school daughter, said, "My daughter once asked me, 'Is Hokuto a team that can't win?' I'm glad I finally got to say otherwise, today of all days." The club shop reportedly sold out of cheering towels that rarely move at all.

With the loss, Tokei Hex falls to 8-2, and while the gap to second-place Fukagawa Pelicans (6-1-1) remains wide, the sense of invincibility has its first small crack. League officials say the next round's matchups will be announced soon, and while Tokei Hex's title hopes are far from gone, the back half of the season can no longer be described purely in terms of a runaway lead. Kashiwabara, for his part, smiled quietly: "Right now, I'm just happy I get to show up to practice next week with the same faces."