Kumiko enters Kitauji High School having been unable to forget what Reina said at a middle school concert band competition. She goes to visit the concert band at school along with classmates Hazuki and Sapphire, where they meet Reina again.

Kitauji High School Concert Band is preparing their parts for the ensemble, but some students are fooling around when they should be practicing.

Starting this year, the band holds auditions for members participating in the competition. First-year Hazuki has a chance, too. The bass section does everything they can to encourage her.

The audition for the competition participants has come. Everyone must demonstrate their abilities, whether they're a third-year or a first-year. And then, the results are revealed.

The competition's coming up. Kumiko is suddenly asked to play a difficult phrase from a different part. She begins practicing, but...

The competition performance is "only" 12 minutes long. It's both a blink of an eye and an eternity. The Concert Band members bet their entire youths on this competition. And Kitauji High School Concert Band's performance begins.

Having won first place at the Kyoto competition, Kumiko and the band are preparing to compete in the Kansai competition. A shadow looms over them when an old member, Nozomi Kasaki, enters the picture.

Nozomi finally meets Mizore. She learns, the hard way, why Asuka had been keeping her away.

It's the school festival at Kitauji High School. Kumiko's sister insists on quitting college, while Taki reveals some things about his past with his wife.

Asuka invites Kumiko over for a study party. With Kumiko's sister quitting college and Asuka's band membership uncertain, Kumiko and Reina are forced to contemplate the role of music in their lives.

Taki's deadline for Asuka draws near. She refuses to admit that she wants, more than anyone, to compete in the Nationals.

It's the big day: the All Japan Concert Band Competition Nationals.

Members of the concert band are given a brief, three-day summer break that quickly fills with plans of all sorts. Some of the third-years attend an event to gather information on different colleges and plan their futures.

Mayu taking the soli part has made the concert band uneasy. Despite Kumiko's insistence that this is how it should be, several members take issue with Taki's decision.

The concert band receives its Kansai competition results. Reina and Kumiko see Yoroizuka perform with some of their senpais. However, Kumiko and Reina's relationship becomes precarious as she continues to insist she won't go to music school.