As it is revealed that Komano and Tsukuba had managed to win their own tournaments, Chihaya laments how she hasn't managed to live up to her own goals. As they leave, Chihaya exchanges contact details with Sakurazawa, who offers to send her a video of the Class A final. Later, a hospital examination of Chihaya's finger reveals she has enchondromatosis in her index finger, so Chihaya decides to undergo an operation. Whilst hospitalized, Chihaya expresses some of her frustrations over the phone to Arata, who tells her that whenever he plays, he thinks back to his old apartment where he used to play with Chihaya. As Chihaya spends the next week recovering from her operation, she comes to realise she is in love with Arata. Taking note of this, Kana prompts Taichi to try harder in expressing his true feelings towards Chihaya. The next day, Chihaya calls Sakurazawa, who offers to take her to a Fujisaki training camp, which Chihaya and Taichi go to.