"Aim for 1st place in the nationals!!"
"Fitting together," "staying together"...
We still can't do these things that are only natural
to be able to do at the national level.
I mean, we're still working on the skills that come before them.
Hey, Hozuki.
Don't you dare try and "match" our level, okay?
Huh?
Everybody's saying your and our levels are this and that,
but just play with all you've got!
Of course I will.
If we're going to do this, then I'm going to do it right.
But don't start crying when you can't keep up with me.
What did you just say?!
I could defeat you in an instant!
Go ahead and try!
Ugh, come on!
Why are you two becoming rivals all of a sudden?!
"#10 Near Yet Far" Everyone!
"#10 Near Yet Far" We're gonna start practicing our parts for "Kuon" today.
Um...
Okay, second kotos, Adachi and Sakai.
You two practice over here.
Okay.
Let's do this, Mittsu!
Third kotos, Mizuhara and Kurusu, will be over there.
Let's do this, Hiro!
Yes, yes. Let's...
Kota's cute and friendly,
but I never know what he's thinking...
Not that it matters.
Kudo, you and I will practice over there.
Once I finish practicing myself, I'll switch to teaching, okay?
Thanks, that'd help a lot.
Okay, one more time.
Three, four--
Hey, four-eyes!
Stop playing over me!
Same to you!
You need to keep a steady rhythm!
Huh? Hey, you!
Here. It's a metronome. Try using it.
What's this?
Whoa! Awesome! It's so cool!
Now we can hammer the rhythm into our heads!
Th-This can't be real...
Kota's sense of rhythm is terrible!
We've been off for a while now.
Could he really not have noticed?!
Hozy! Help!
Oh... she's already in despair...
Takezo, can we have a moment?
My koto kinda sounds bad compared to Sane's.
Like it can't produce a clean note or something...
Ah, this might be because you're plucking too lightly
rather than a problem with the koto itself.
Ah, Papuco's so good!
Papuco?
You've never had it?
Huh? Hey--
What's wrong, Kota?
Oh, yeah.
Hozuki and Hiro worked him pretty hard at practice, right?
He's totally beat from it all...
That said, there are a bunch of parts I still can't play either.
I wonder if we can't find a bigger chunk of time to really practice.
Oh, then do you wanna try doing a training camp?
A training camp?!
Wow, a training camp! I wanna do it! Let's do it!
Oh, but our club doesn't have much of a budget,
so it'll probably end up being at school.
We can't get pumped like that!
My uncle has an inn, so I'll ask him if we can use it!
Huh? No, but we couldn't...
Stop being so polite!
But I'm sorry if he says no!
No, no. That's fine! Thank you!
Well then, I leave telling Suzu to you!
Oh... Yeah, no worries.
I've always been bad with Mr. Takinami.
It always feels like he can see right through me,
and he never sugarcoats anything.
But I'm okay now...
So, I'd like to ask your permission to do a training camp.
A training camp?
Give me a break, man. What a pain.
As I thought, you don't want to do it, do you?
That goes without saying, doesn't it?
I see...
In that case...
Please quit as our club advisor.
We've all decided to seriously aim for the nationals,
so it's problematic to have an advisor who's unmotivated.
Please switch with a teacher who's more willing to help us.
If you like,
I can go to the principal or vice-principal right now and--
Hey, wait-- Stop.
I honestly never expected to hear that from you!
Um... I'm serious--
I know. A training camp, right? Okay, let's go!
Huh?
I mean... If I get fired as the advisor, it'll make the higher-ups mad and be a pain, so...
Plus, you guys are interesting!
"Stop"
Wake up, you brat!
Your alarm's making a racket!
Honestly... Your training camp starts today, right?
That said,
to think a day would come when you go to a club's training camp...
Yo, Chika!
You guys better keep a hold of them!
Hey, isn't there anything we can do to practice right now?
Good idea. Let's--
Hey, Kurata!
Might as well put this on while we're here, right?
I recorded you guys' performance the other day.
What?!
Wow! What's that? I wanna hear!
When did you... and why?
You guys are seriously aiming higher, right?
I said this before,
but it's important to face reality.
I-It's awful...
All the awful notes one after another are making me feel sick.
We're in a worse situation than I thought...
We're ruining every note Hozuki plays.
We have so many flaws compared to Himesaka.
The one that's always sticking out and making weird noises...
That's me.
It sounds really bad hearing it from the audience's perspective.
What should I do?
It'd probably sound so much better without me...
But we've won, right?
Huh?
Being able to listen to this now means we've won, right?
I mean, after listening to this, we fully understand where we're at, right?
"Understand" I mean, after listening to this, we fully understand where we're at, right?
"Understand" Now, we're going to go to camp to practice our butts off and improve, right?
"Practice" Now, we're going to go to camp to practice our butts off and improve, right?
"Improve" Now, we're going to go to camp to practice our butts off and improve, right?
"Tournament Victory" A tournament victory!
See? It means we've won!
You're right.
It might be a good thing we listened to this now.
Now that we're going to camp, we can work on anything!
Right!
We won't accomplish anything getting all down about it!
That's a good point!
All right! Let's do this!
"Aoharu Inn" We're here!
"Aoharu Inn" Wow, it's an inn!
Well then, let's go to separate rooms and practice by part.
After that, we'll play together.
Yeah!
We've gotten a lot better, huh?
Our playing is still stiff though.
I feel like I'm just about to grasp something,
but it's just a little out of my reach.
K-Kudo?!
Hozuki, play this part for me.
Show me how it's supposed to go.
That's fine, but...
...aren't you a bit close?
If I'm not at the same angle as you, then I won't be able to see your hand movements!
I see.
One more time.
Huh?
Got it, thanks!
Your sound...
It's really pretty.
But that just means we have to catch up to her.
Hozuki! We'll try our best!
I...
...never want to lose this place.
No!
Your half beats are too sloppy!
It's un, ta, ta, ta, ta, ta. Got it?!
Yes!
If you play out of sync here, it'll really stand out,
so, while we're here, hammer that rhythm into your head!
Yes!
Good luck, my friend.
What should I do?
I don't understand why he's so unable to get this.
It might be... that my teaching-style is bad...
We're going to start playing together soon!
Mizuhara! It's not time for you to come in yet!
S-Sorry!
Don't worry about it. Let's do it once more.
No, you're still too early!
Your tempo's off!
The atmosphere's gone bad...
Hozuki, can we move on to the next part for a bit?
All right, then...
Amazing, Sakai!
Your notes sound a lot better, don't you think?
Y-You think so?!
I think I've kinda gotten the hang of how much strength to use.
You've done it, Mittsu!
It's the fruits of our training!
Okay, let's start from page 14,
line one, measure three.
Three, four--
"Kuon"
The next measure is the part Kudo said he couldn't play...
Ah! S-Sorry, I...
Kudo, wasn't that the part you couldn't play?
Huh?
That's why I got you to play it for me.
Just by watching me play...
That's amazing, Kudo! Since when were you able to...
That's awesome, Chika!
You're so talented!
I was using my voice so much, my throat's all dry.
Good work today.
Um, is Mizuhara all right?
Oh, yeah...
I thought I might have been too harsh with him,
but going easy on him won't do him any good either.
Anyway, how can I get a big chest like yours, Hozy?!
Let me feel!
Huh? Wha--? Stop it!
"Club Application Form Name: 1-B, Koto Mizuhara" At first...
"Club Application Form Name: 1-B, Koto Mizuhara" I thought, if I can help Chika out even a little,
"Club Application Form Name: 1-B, Koto Mizuhara" joining a club didn't seem like a bad idea,
"Club Application Form Name: 1-B, Koto Mizuhara" and I joined without giving it much thought.
You guys hang out with Tetsuki a lot, right?
A friend of a friend is just a stranger...
Anyway, I...
...felt so embarrassed that I'd believed the rumors about Chika and badmouthed him.
At the same time, I looked up to him a little.
I wanted to get closer to him.
Chika!
These guys said you saved them before and wanna thank you.
Um...
Thank you so much for before, K-Kudo--
You don't need to call me by my last name.
Huh?
Being treated so formally by another guy feels weird.
This guy's just embarrassed.
He rarely gets thanked.
I'll kick your ass, you bastard!
Huh? Go ahead and try it!
Uh, um, well then...
Can I call you Ch-Chika, then?
That sounds overly familiar, doesn't it? Sorry--
And you?
Huh?
Your name.
Kota... Mizuhara.
Y-You can call me Kota!
The fact that Chika, who I thought was an awesome guy,
seemed way closer than I was expecting
made me so happy.
That's why I found it so fun that I could bump shoulders
and have a blast with everyone in the koto club.
And that was... enough for me.
But now, it's different.
There's no one beside me anymore.
Chika and everyone else are too far ahead of me.
They're trying to aim higher,
but I'm just holding them back.
What do you mean?
Kota's gone?
He wasn't there when I woke up to go to the bathroom.
I thought he might've gone to the bathroom, too, but he wasn't there.
His things are gone, too.
He won't answer his phone, either.
I think he might've gotten fed up with the camp and gone home...
That Kota...
He's been super down because he's been worked so hard during practice.
Sane!
What should I do?
I knew he was feeling down!
I...
I was so focused on myself, I couldn't support him--
Saneyasu!
Calm down.
Chika...
I'll go look for him outside.
I-I'll go, too!
Me, too!
Kudo!
I'll go after I've told the teacher about it,
so if anything happens, let me know, okay?
Got it.
They're being kinda noisy, huh?
Huh?!
Kota's gone?!
He got fed up and ran, huh?
What should I do?
It's because I was too hard on him!
I'll go look for him, too!
M-Me, too!
Kurusu!
Wha--
It's dangerous for girls to be out at this hour!
You two stay here!
Hey, Kurata!
You idiot, Kota!
When I find you, I'm gonna punch you!
He might've gotten fed up with the camp and gone home...
Shit...
How's it going? Did you find him yet?!
Takezo! No, not yet...
Then I'll go down the road and look!
Takezo, um...
If you go down here, there isn't really anything except a train station, right?
Huh? Yeah.
Adachi?
Takezo, he...
Kota is--!
Shit... Which way?
This sound...
"Aoharu Inn"
Ch-Chika?!
Huh?
What?
Why?
Ouch!
Everyone's worried sick and looking everywhere for you.
Huh? N-No way. I'm sorry...
It's the middle of the night, so I thought no one would notice...
You weren't answering your phone either, so we panicked.
No way. Just because I was gone for a bit--
We panicked.
I'm sorry.
I'm...
...really holding everyone back right now.
Huh?
Because of me, we're not making any progress in practice,
and the piece sounds all over the place,
and I'm causing so much trouble.
Wha--
But I... I'm going work hard!
I'm gonna practice so much more.
I'll practice so that I can catch up to everyone
and then work even harder!
So...
...please don't give up on me!
I...
...wanna stay beside you all.
Ouch!
Ow! O-O-Ow! Hey, Chika!
It's unfair for you to practice on your own!
Huh?
I'll practice, too!
Huh? But then there's no point!
I'm practicing so I can catch up to everyone!
Shuddup!
Chika.
Bastard! If you've found Kota, then tell us!
Sane, Mittsu!
You guys! When did you get here?
Sorry.
We got here when Mizuhara was talking, so we were unsure when to come out...
You, too, Takezo...
Anyway! Kota, you bastard! At least answer your phone!
Sorry, I didn't notice!
That or leave a note!
I'm surprised you guys knew where to look.
Yeah, Adachi said...
If he went down there, it'd mean he was going home, right?
Takezo, he...
Kota isn't the type to do that!
So, we came here.
I heard a voice just now! Hurry, hurry!
Kurusu! Hozuki!
Kota... you're here!
Oh, s-sorry!
You and Hozuki came out, too...
He was practicing!
K-K-Kurusu?! Are you okay?!
H-H-Hiro, I'm s-s-sorry!
I'm sorry! I...
I thought you'd gotten fed up and gone home because I was too harsh with you.
I'm sorry, Kota.
Me too...
I rushed ahead during practice without thinking again...
I'm very sorry.
Wait-- Why are you two apologizing?!
I never once thought those things about you.
I was down about how I bad I was, though...
But anyway,
it wouldn't have been very manly of me to run away just because of that.
Idiot! Stop trying to act so cool!
I thought I told you guys to stay at the inn, though.
We had an escort, so it was fine.
Escort?
Well, well.
You lot are just at the peak of youth, aren't you?
Cutting down on someone else's sleep without a care.
Honestly, everybody's running around on their own.
If you've found him, come back to the inn already.
W-We're sorry.
I'm sorry, guys! And thank you.
Damn right!
Kota!
About what you said before...
Huh?
It's got nothing to do with giving up on you or not...
I'd hate it if you weren't around.
'Morning...
Whoa, your faces!
What? You guys didn't sleep?
Yeah, after what happened yesterday,
we figured out what Mizuhara was struggling with and tried a few things.
"Downbeat" We worked out that he struggles especially with finding the upbeat.
"Downbeat" "Upbeat" We worked out that he struggles especially with finding the upbeat.
But we couldn't think of a good way to practice it...
Mizuhara...
Yes, Mr. Takinami?
A sticky note?
Try and take the sticky note. If you can't, then you don't get breakfast.
What?!
Get... the sticky note... get it...
I did it!
I can eat breakfast!
That just now...
...was the upbeat.
Next time, try touching the sticky note five times.
Once you can do that, try doing it more times and changing the tempo.
Sound and rhythm are things you can't see.
That's why they're so hard to understand.
So burn the image of what we did just now into your mind.
Then hammer it into your head.
Once the sound and rhythm are in your body, they're yours.
Well then, I leave the rest to you, Kurusu.
Oh, yeah.
Th-Thank you, Mr. Takinami!
You can thank me when you can actually do it.
All right, Kota.
Let's get to it!
I won't hold back, okay?
Okay!
Next time, "The Sound We Were Searching For."
"#11 The Sound We Were Searching For" Next time, "The Sound We Were Searching For."