It's hot!
So thirsty...
Which one are you getting?
One, two...
Soda Guy
This one!
Rock, paper, scissors! One more...
So good!
Darn, I wouldn't have lost if we'd competed at butterfly.
Then, next time, want to race using butterfly?
We could race for...
How about the loser has to do any one thing the winner wants?
Sounds interesting! Let's do it!
Okay, it's a promise!
Okay, let's race to the pool!
Hey! No fair!
Hold on, Rin!
The Somersault Turn of Promise!
Yamazaki-senpai's butterfly really is amazing!
Yeah, but he's way faster when he's actually trying.
Captain! This is amazing!
Momo said he was going to swim seriously, and he's super fast!
He's already beaten the team record.
He's incredible.
Do you think he could be—
What are you doing?!
Hey! Are you okay?
That hurt!
Didn't you see the 5-meter line?
I'm just not used to this pool yet!
Well, he'll get better.
You're incredible!
Ow!
Can you go one more time?
Totally! Just leave it to me!
That's it! Don't bump your head again!
All right, let's time you again!
I need to try harder too!
I want to compete in the relay no matter what!
With his current time, he won't be picked for the relay, right?
He wouldn't stand a chance.
Yeah, with how he is now...
But how far he'll get is up to him.
No amount of natural talent trumps hard work.
So... there is but one reason I have gathered you all here today!
What "one reason" do you mean?
No needless back talk!
Yes, ma'am.
Gou-chan, you're being scary!
As prefecturals will soon be upon us,
I shall be conducting a surprise bento check today!
What?
No complaining!
As athletes, eating a balanced diet is part of your training!
My diet is completely balanced.
Then please let me see yours, Haruka-senpai.
It's not balanced at all!
Haruka-senpai, this gets 43 points!
Nanase Haruka 43 Points Simple
Your lunch is too simple!
Next, Makoto-senpai!
That looks so yummy!
Do you really think so?
Makoto-senpai...
Huh?
68 points!
Huh?!
There's nothing but meat in here, and not enough vegetables!
Tachibana Makoto 68 Points Lack of Veggies
Next, Rei-kun!
Certainly! Go right ahead and examine my bento all you like!
See how it's full of leafy green vegetables!
Please also note the care with which the arrangement of the
components was made, based on color theory!
What do you think?
Is this not beauty approaching perfection?!
Rei-kun...
63 points.
That's ridiculous!
You were so focused on the beauty of the food
that you failed to make a balanced meal!
There's not remotely enough meat in here!
You need more protein!
With a lunch like this, your muscles will never grow!
Ryugazaki Rei 63 Points Meat
No!
Honestly, I'm worried about all of your muscles!
Next, Nagisa-kun—
Lookie, lookie!
Tada!
The Iwatobi High specialty Iwatobi Cream Bread?!
It has strawberry jam, marmalade and even chocolate,
all for just 480 yen!
So cheap!
That's expensive!
Plus your juice has no actual fruit juice in it.
It's all carbohydrates and sugar!
But I like that juice.
No buts! Nagisa-kun, zero points!
Don't you have any awareness of the fact that you're an athlete?!
Actually, this problem goes beyond your nutrition as an athlete!
Hazuki Nagisa 0 Points Beyond Hope
You didn't have to say all that...
Don't baby him!
Nagisa-kun...
Remember that you're not just one person anymore!
Not just Nagisa-kun...
All of you are members of a relay team now.
You are four people united as one body!
Gou-chan...
Therefore, Nagisa-kun, you are hereby forbidden to buy cafeteria bread.
Huh?!
That's too mean, Gou-chan!
No, it's not!
Then you should make a 100-point bento, Gou-chan!
Indeed.
We strongly request you show us how it's done.
Well, since you all insist, I certainly can't refuse you.
Very well! As the Swim Club's manager,
I shall do all I can to support your endeavors to develop perfect bodies!
Okay, we'll meet back here in an hour.
Pick out a swimsuit that suits you.
Yes, sir!
Sorry, guys.
I didn't mean to drag you along for this too.
It's fine.
I'd been thinking of buying a new swimsuit anyway.
Gou-san!
Huh?
Do you remember me?
Um, uh, aren't you Captain Mikoshiba's younger brother, Kintarou—
Momotarou!
Mikoshiba Momotarou!
Momo
I'm a first-year in the Samezuka Swim Team!
My specialty is backstroke!
My hobby is hunting for stag beetles!
The biggest one I've caught so far was 8 centimeters!
Um... Excuse me...
My favorite kind of spaghetti is vongole—
Jeez...
C-Can't breathe...
Onii-chan!
So you all came to buy swimsuits?
Yeah. Are you shopping too?
Are the others here?
It's just me today.
Gou-san, what do you think of this one?
Huh?
Don't you think this one is perfect for me, as well?
Well, uh...
Please call me Momo! You don't have to hold back!
Th-Then...
Momo!
Yessir!
How about this one, Momo-kun?
Momo-kun?
What was that for?
Here.
With your rough swimming style,
something like this would suit you best.
That so?
Yup. Because it's thin and light.
What's up?
Oh, nothing.
Well, you guys have fun.
Thanks.
But I want something flashier...
I told you to stop going by appearances!
Now, now, you two...
Soda as always?
You never change.
I haven't had one in a while, so maybe I'll get one, too...
Sold Out
Wanna have a throwdown for it?
Heck yeah!
Rock, paper... One more...
This tastes great after not having one in so long!
That reminds me, I lost the last time we did this, too.
That's right, I lost back then too.
Do you remember the promise we made back then?
Soda Guy
Lose
The loser has to do any one thing the winner wants!
And no hard feelings if you lose!
I know already!
When the second hand reaches 60, we start, got it?
Let's do this!
Crap! If only I hadn't messed up the turn!
I win!
Well, a promise is a promise.
I'll do whatever you ask me, so spit it out.
Hey, don't cry.
I'm not crying! Hurry up and tell me!
Okay then...
Well, give me some time to think about it.
That's right, we did make that promise, didn't we?
Though in the end,
you wound up leaving for Australia before I decided what to ask for.
What about that promise?
Oh, I totally forgot.
I still haven't thought of anything.
Aw, come on...
I guess I'll look forward to asking you next time we meet.
See you around.
Yeah.
Promise, huh?
Well, we wound up meeting again,
so to commemorate our reunion, go ahead and ask me for anything.
Okay, then...
Trade bunks with me.
Come on, we already settled that with a throwdown.
And really? That's what you want for our 5-year promise?
Then, give me half your soda.
Are you gonna take this seriously or not?
Give me some time to think about it.
More importantly, Rin...
Why didn't you ever call me during these past five years?
Did something happen in Australia?
Your letters stopped coming after a while.
I figured you must've hit a wall or something.
That's why I didn't say anything about it when we met again.
But
now...
I want to know what happened.
It wasn't a big deal.
It was exactly what you imagined.
I was studying abroad, hit a wall,
then stumbled and couldn't get back up.
That was all.
I even thought about quitting.
But,
I was saved.
By Haru and the others. By my friends.
Your friends again, huh?
Yeah.
When I swam with them,
they showed me a sight I'd never seen before,
and it made me want to swim again.
That's why,
this time, I swim for the sake of the friends who saved me.
And for my the sake of my own dreams too.
That's right.
You always were a romantic swimming maniac, weren't you?
Shut up.
Wow!
You made all this, Gou-chan?
It looks delicious!
Really? I'm so glad!
It was worth the trouble of going all the way to
the city to buy the ingredients.
I even saw my brother and Sousuke-kun while I was shopping!
Rin and Yamazaki?
Yes.
The Samezuka Swim Team happened to be there buying swimsuits.
I see.
Here! You guys eat too!
Thank you for the food!
Mmm, delicious!
Wait just a moment.
There's something odd about what you just said.
Why were you shopping for ingredients in a store that sells swimsuits?
Well, it wasn't a food ingredient.
More like protein powder?
I used lots in the food, so its nutritional value should be perfect!
These are cocoa-flavored rice balls!
I should have realized it when you said you saw Rin and Yamazaki-kun
buying swimsuits where you were shopping.
Are you still talking about that?
Did you dislike the food that much?
I thought it was delicious!
What other flavors are there?
Um, strawberry and banana.
Strawberry will be good!
Please, no!
Speaking of Yamazaki-san, he was
Rin-san's best friend from before he transferred to Iwatobi, correct?
Yeah.
Then I wonder why he didn't just swim the relay with Yamazaki-san.
They actually did swim one relay race together at the swimming club.
But for some reason, that relay didn't go well for them,
and they never tried another.
That confuses me even more.
They'd already swum one relay together, so why would
he leave his best friend and transfer schools?
You're just like Nagisa.
Huh?
I wondered the same thing you did,
so I asked Rin-chan about it once.
What do you mean you two are better off on separate teams?
Because we know each other too well.
Sousuke is way more theory-based than me,
so we got into a lot of arguments.
In the end, he'd calm down when I'd say the fastest
would win the race,
but it always took something out of my competitive spirit.
So you don't like him?
It's not like that.
In fact, even now, I think he understands me better than anyone else.
But, I do think we're better off not being on the same relay team.
Hey! What's the matter?
You're not getting any better!
Was that one time just a fluke?
That's the slowest time in the Swim Team.
That can't be!
He does have potential, but...
Even if he has potential, it's meaningless if he can't use it.
This is a list of foods that contain the ideal
Iwatobi Swim Club Nutritional Foods List
amounts of protein and vitamins for swimmers!
With deep regret, I left out aesthetic value from my consideration,
and allowed myself to be guided purely by the principles of
sports nutritional science alone!
Impressive!
But Rei-chan, wouldn't it be tough to cook all of this ourselves?
I guess we've got no choice!
Enough with that!
Oh, you boys can be so self-serving sometimes!
I don't think you should be saying that.
I'll come up with a recipe.
Huh?
Haru-chan's up for the challenge!
You can't make it nothing but mackerel, okay?
I know.
Sorry I'm late!
Here's a little reward for your hard work.
Jump right in and eat up!
Huh? What's wrong?
There's no mistaking how high-calorie that is.
My beautiful calculations!
Well, it is a special treat.
So let's put nutritional science aside for now and eat.
There's a famous saying about how one can't
wage battle on an empty stomach!
Yup! No need to hold back!
Thank you for the meal!
But I do want to apologize
for not being able to coach you guys lately.
Huh?
This training regimen...
It's the strength-building regimen
I made to prepare us for prefecturals.
This is impressive!
You've really done your homework, Gou!
Thanks!
This is truly a work of perfection.
Gou-san, I apologize for thinking all this time
that you were simply a muscle maniac!
Oh, it's fine, Rei-kun.
All this time, I'd been thinking you were nothing but a theory maniac!
What? A theory maniac?
It's totally you, don't you think?
Muscles aren't built in a day!
But this training regimen looks really hard!
Yeah, swimming eight kilometers in a single day...
Will we really be able to complete all that?
What are you kids wussing out for?
You can do it!
You're way beyond where you were last year already!
You're gonna make it all the way to nationals this year!
You don't have to make yourself jog with me.
I should do this at least once in a while, to keep myself in shape.
If you say so.
That's...
That Ai... He might really make it onto the relay team!
Hey, Rin...
Between your dream and the relay,
which one's more important to you?
Huh?
They're both important to me, of course.
If you're really serious about competing at an international level,
you can't keep going on about friends and relays and stuff like that.
You should use all your time for your own improvement.
Use every second of every minute to train hard.
If you keep obsessing over the relay,
your dreams are gonna slip through your hands.
There's no time to play at this "being buddies" thing.
You're wrong.
Back when I was young, and even now,
it was because I had friends who saved me, who supported me,
that I've managed to come this far.
I'm who I am because I have friends.
Of course my dream is important to me.
But being able to swim with friends
is the source of my strength.
So even if you try to tell me I'm being too soft,
I'll show you that I can have both.
My dream, and a relay with friends.
I'll swim with the greatest team I can make, and make all of this reality.
In that case...
Count me in as one of those friends.
One of those friends?
I want to swim the relay too.
Sousuke...
But you said relays were...
What, you jerk? What did you just say?!
Stop, you two!
Don't ever insult my dad again.
I didn't say that to insult him.
I'm sorry.
Why'd you swim like that today?
Say something.
I guess for me, swimming really is an individual sport.
When you dive in the water, you're alone.
And it's not like feeling all buddy-buddy makes you any faster.
You're totally wrong!
A relay's all about the team!
Why can't you understand that?
We think too differently about this.
You and I are better off not teaming up.
I swim for myself.
So I want to swim and be responsible only for myself.
It's true that back then, that was the very most I could do.
But, I'm different now.
I get the sense that if I swam the relay with you, I'd understand something.
I don't know myself what that something is, but...
I want to try to find it... That something...
Is that not enough?
You promised you'd give me anything I asked for!
Rin!
Even with that promise, I can't do that.
I'm not the one who decides.
Members are chosen by their times.
Right.
But...
I appreciate that passion in your heart.
I hold the records for both freestyle and butterfly at Samezuka.
If you really want to enter the relay,
win one of the spots with your own power.
So you're saying that if I can beat you,
I can swim the butterfly in the medley relay.
Then let's have a throwdown.
Just like that one time.
Fine by me. I accept your challenge!
We're swimming butterfly.
The distance will be 100 meters.
Let's do this!
That power...
He swims without any hesitation.
That's how you've gotta do it, Sousuke!
Yes!
You finally swam seriously.
It isn't just your heart.
Your strength's for real too.
Thanks to you, I've found my resolve too.
Thank you, Sousuke.
Everyone, listen up.
It's nearly time to submit our entries for the prefectural tournament.
With that in mind, I'm thinking of changing how
the entrants for the relay will be chosen this year.
Normally, the four spots go to the four people with the fastest times.
But this year, whatever your speed,
if you prefer to focus on your individual events,
you don't need to enter the relay.
I'll pick the relay team only out of those who want to enter it.
Of course, it goes without saying
that you need both will and speed to be chosen.
What I'm proposing is probably wrong of me to suggest, as your captain.
I know the best way to do this is to go by fastest times, as we always have.
But I want you to understand what the relay means to me.
I want to swim a real relay with teammates who
really want to be there.
Anything else would feel meaningless, even if we did win.
That's why I want you guys to match my feelings.
So, everyone who honestly wants to compete in the relay, step forward!
We'll start from there!
Hey, hey! When you guys eat an Iwatobi Cream Bread,
where do you start from?
I suppose I'd start eating from its rear end.
I'd start with its head.
I'd start from its right cheek.
What about you, Nagisa-kun?
I'd start by ripping its head off and sucking out
the jam and marmalade from its body!
That's kind of violent.
Next episode: A Resolution's Heads-Up!"
A Resolution's Heads-Up!
I'll demonstrate how I eat one now, so watch closely!
You don't have to demonstrate!