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.

Kumiko and the others prepare for Sunrise Festival. Kumiko and Shuichi talk about Taki-sensei on the way home from school, when they run into Reina.

The band is hard at work preparing for the audition and the competition. Aoi has trouble with her part, to which Taki says, "when will you be better by?"

The band is abuzz with talk about who they'll be going to the upcoming festival with. There's someone Hazuki wants to go with, but that someone is already going with someone else. Meanwhile Kumiko somehow ends up going with you-know-who.

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.

Taki-sensei's proposal relieves the upset within the band, and everyone returns to practicing. Reina no longer isolates herself either, much to Kumiko's relief. But then she sees Yuko, who's been antagonizing Reina, speaking with her.

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.

Kumiko and her buddies head to the pool for one last breath of freedom before their grueling concert band training. There, Nozomi reveals some of what had happened the year before.

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

Only three schools will be selected at the Kansai Concert Band Competition to compete in the Nationals. Will Kitauji High School be one of them?

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 is about to lose her seat competing in the Nationals. But that might not be why she invited Kumiko over.

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

With the competition over and the third-years graduating, Kumiko is left to sort through her feelings: Is it a love of concert band, of the euphonium, or of something else?