A new school year has started and the Karuta club must get new members or face penalties. Discussing the goals of the club, Chihaya discovers the team is not as unified as she thought.

At the Shiranami Society, Taichi plays Tsuboguchi, who has graduated from college and is now a high school teacher.

Fujisaka's training has proven to be a major hurdle to Mizusawa thanks to the training regimen demanded by their coach, Sakurazawa. Rion continues her lead over Chihaya thanks to her familiarity of the reader's voice. Doubts and injury plague Chihaya and her team as they fight to stay in the game.