The young boys turn out to be members of the boys' basketball team in the elementary section at Keishin Academy, and they want Subaru to stop being the coach for the girls' basketball team. The boys explain that a match between the two teams will determine whether or not the girls' team will be dissolved. When Subaru shows up for practice, he mentions how he understands how the boys feel, causing Maho to get upset and run out again. Subaru meets Tomoka on the way back with a get-together with his friends, and he invites her over to his house so she can practice basketball. Tomoka challenges him to a match to decide whether he will continue coaching the club, but she is not able to win. Tomoka explains to him that her obsession over winning and losing isolated her and it was not until she transferred to Keishin Academy and made friends with the other girls that she realized that winning is not everything. This serves to rekindle Subaru's passion in the sport, and he tells Tomoka that he will protect her basketball and the place she belongs to by continuing as their coach, which moves her to tears. Subaru gathers information about the boy's basketball team from his aunt. The next day he goes to apologize to the girls about everything, and they greet him the same way as when they first met.
女子バスケ部のコーチを辞めろ。昴にそんな警告をしたのは、智花たちと同じ慧心学園初等部男子バスケ部の部員たちだった。彼らの口から『勝負』のいきさつを聞かされた昴は、前日に真帆の見せた焦りの正体に気付く。しかしコーチの約束は３日間。最終日を迎えてしまった上、試合までの短い期間に彼女たちを勝てるチームに育てる指導などできないと、智花たちに告げる昴。美星のバスケから逃げるなという厳しい言葉にも、今の自分にバスケに対する情熱はないと口にする。智花たちの想いも、男子バスケ部員の気持ちもわかる。そしてバスケから離れようとしている自分は、本当はどうしたいのか。そんな複雑な想いを抱えた昴は、偶然、目の前を通りかかった智花を思わず呼び止め……。
