With only the relays left, the festival reaches its climax. Eri, injured from protecting Harima's bald secret during the cavalry battle, bravely steps up as the fourth runner. As she takes the baton, she races against pain, pressure—and possibly her feelings.

Someone draws a heart with Harima and Eri's names on the classroom board. Enraged, Harima lashes out—but when Tenma casually says she supports his relationship with Eri, it hits him like a truck: she never liked him back.

Devastated, Harima believes his only option is to flee the country—on a fishing boat. But the boat's captain, a former manga artist, senses Harima's passion and turns the vessel around. With a pen carved from a tuna bone, he sends Harima back to chase his dreams once more.