Sumire follows Taichi to the karuta society, where she becomes curious as to why he enjoys karuta. Meanwhile, Chihaya is saddened after nearly all of the first year members leave the club, leaving just a boy named Akihiro Tsukuba. When Kana calls Sumire out on her personal prettifying, she reveals that she is only sticking with karuta to pursue Taichi. During practise, Chihaya takes keen interest in Tsukuba, who is experienced in Second Verse Karuta, whilst also noting how Sumire felt when obtaining her first card. When Chihaya asks Sumire to trim her nails, she ends up blurting about her crush on Taichi and runs off. When the others question Chihaya on why she is serious about the first years, she reveals that she wanted more members in order to avoid another incident like when they lost the team tournament due to her collapsing. As Nishida starts teaching Tsukuba competitive karuta, Kana catches up to Sumire, managing to calm her down and convince her to return to the clubroom. Learning that karuta, much like love, is determined by its rules, Sumire decides to take karuta a bit more seriously.