Mizusawa has finally made it to the first round of the High School Championship playoffs. However, Porky says that they should play without Desk-kun. After looking at Desk-kun's notebook, she agrees that they should leave him out of the lineup. Their opponent is Shoyo High school, representing Kyoto. Will Porky and Desk-kun be able to make peace?

A new found passion has brought Misuzawa back into the fight, as Chihaya herself tries to fight through the pain of her injury.

Arata wonders why he feels so relieved to learn that Taichi lost his match, even as dark memories of a similar feeling at the Yoshino Tournament come back to him, leaving him unable to concentrate fully on his match in the finals. His opponent, Murao, realizes that Arata isn't himself and sees an opportunity, but then...

Harada leads Suo with two wins and one loss as the Master match enters its fourth round. Harada has studied everything about Suo, including the weakness that Chihaya told him about, and he dominates the match with his trademark offensive karuta. Suo remains calm despite Harada's strong momentum, recalling what his aunt, who raised him, said to him when he was a child. Her words are the reason Suo continues to play karuta.