In the first round of the national tournament, Chihaya has alternating sweats and chills. Meanwhile, Arata makes his way there and thinks of his grandfather, who continued to coach him even after he had suffered a stroke. After a subsequent stroke, he lost lucidity and even forgot what kuruta was. On the day of a tournament when Arata was nursing him alone, he regained his lucidity and commanded Arata to compete. As Arata won and made Class A, his grandfather suffered another stroke and died. Arata arrives at Omi Jing? just as Chihaya passes out. The team forfeits Chihaya's match, but continues the round. Praised by one of the officials who thinks he is there to compete, Arata imagines telling his grandfather that he still loves karuta. Afterwards, the team tells Chihaya how Komano won two matches in a row and how they advanced to the playoffs before losing to Fujisaki.