On his way home from school, Kousei Arima runs into Kaori Miyazono, and he goes with her to a café as Ryota Watari's substitute. Kaori is thrilled with her plate of delicious waffles. There's an old upright piano in the café, and some kids are attempting to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on it. Kaori orders Kousei to perform, and the sound of his playing soon resonates around the café. But then suddenly, he stops. Kousei begins to lose his ability to hear the sound of the piano once he starts concentrating. It is then that Kaori appoints Kousei to be her accompanist. By claiming the audience’s nomination, Kaori is slated to compete in the second round of the preliminaries.