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.

A new year is starting at Kitauji Kyoto Prefectural High School, and that means clubs are clamoring to recruit new members. The concert band welcomes newcomers and sets their goals for the season. Will they choose to fight for gold at Nationals?

Now that she's well into her third-year, Kumiko is now facing pressure from teachers and parents alike to choose what she's doing after high school. Concert band members form groups to attend the Agata Festival, but Kumiko has other plans.

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.

Taki decides that the band will choose the euphonium soli player by voting on one final audition. Kumiko then decides that they should choose based on sound alone, and so the two of them audition anonymously.