next morning, it's back to a 4-man team. mikami's not there cos ashikaga hit him. students boycott her classes. but she refuses to apologise.

training. yokomori's helping out!

now there's a problem with the girls' team too. even her girls boycott training. ashikaga leaves the gym.

ozu looks for her. asks her to help organise another friendly match, but she declines. he then borrows her kendo sword. and tries out a few strokes he's seen on tv. he knocks down some books. asks about her father's job. he was a teacher. she tells him she was brought up by hand (this phrase is taken from dicken's great expectations - ie. got the stick from her dad as a child) the punishment was painful, but she felt her father's love, and did not hate him for it. but why can't she get it right with handling students? they don't see her love, just the pain of the punishment.

kato pops in to tell ozu there's a fight looming. and sees ashikaga crying. ozu says he didn't do it (make ashikaga cry) and leaves kato to handle it.

after work, kato's with ashikaga. ashikaga tells kato she's wrong about ozu. she used to think that their ways of handling students are similar. that's not true. actually, she wants to be accepted as one of the students. ozu just wants to be by their side.

kato returns home. ozu's watching 40-yr old jordan play with the washington wizards, and doing poorly. ozu asks if kato's managed to console ashikaga. he bluffs it out. even hugged and kissed her.

ozu: then why are you home so early? the night's still young.

ozu teaches him some seduction tips. kato feels awkward. asks ozu to use them himself. ozu says if he used them on ashikaga, he will surely take ashikaga from kato.

kato is very upset on hearing this. he's a straight-forward person, and can't stand ozu's smart-aleck ways, making fun of peoples' trust. kato then reveals the cause of his outburst. ashikaga had wanted ozu's advice, not his. even her mom doesn't like him. ashikaga puts ozu's advice on par with her father.

the next morning, ozu leaves a bottle of wine for kato as an apology.

ozu asks shikamatsu to call his daughter to arrange a basketball match. he would have done it directly, but she's not taking his calls. shikamatsu is tickled pink that ozu has a problem with his own daughter.

she calls eri and asks to arrange for a basketball game. eri rejects it outright. shikamatsu then tells him he's really bad at controlling his own daughter

ozu suggests to kato to practise with the girls team. mikami does it all. nagase feels this is not the way to win. mikami gets mad and throws okubo's towel on the floor. the boys tell mikami that okubo's still the 5th member, not him. he leaves, and then the team's back to 4. (or maybe, it should be the other way - the 4 leave, and there's just 1 in the team!)

just then, shikamatsu returns with good news. the game's on. ozu finds the boys to tell them the good news. but they walk out.

imoto: you should tell it to the captain (mikami)

ashikaga, at the same time, gets news of her entire team quitting.

haruka looks for imoto, and tells him her mother was angry with her for going out late at night. he asks her for miaku's number, so that he can contact mikami.

miaku tells imoto that mikami's not playing anymore.

ozu finds ashikaga in the classroom in the dark. she says it's her first time, calling a guy. she's lost. ozu flashback to last night's chat with kato about her.

imoto meets mikami. imoto explains why he's in this school. it was his mother's decision. mikami shares his: he was expelled from his previous school for letting a girl stay over at his house.

imoto: i'd like to do that too

mikami: get to the point. miaku's not here now.

imoto explains why they are playing - for okubo. to win a game for him. isn't that sentimental?

mikami: and i joined because of you all

imoto: is it about okubo's towel?

mikami: didn't the 5 of you play? (implying he's not accepted by the team)

ashikaga to ozu: have i been doing it all wrong? my father gave me his sword on his death bed, telling me not to spare the rod, even if the students hate me, in order to express my love for them.

ozu explains the difference between parent-child and teacher-student relationships. how he's learnt from his experience of taking okubo's handphone - because he was angry with his behaviour (talking on the phone in class). when a parent disciplines his child, that's love. but when a teacher hits a student, that's emotional outburst. because they are not your children. not only that, they have never considered us as parents.

the boys meet mikami. they want to burn something. but no one smokes. so no one has a lighter. except haruka! she promises to stop.

they burn okubo's towel, to symbolise acceptance of mikami into the team. ozu and ashikaga watch them do it. then ashikaga burns her wooden sword, thus letting go of her father's instruction to discipline with physical punishment.

the next day, it's the friendly match.

ozu's daughter is there too, but ignores her father.

the boys are now playing as a team. mikami's not a one-man team anymore.

ashikaga feels that as a teacher, it's hard to lose to the students.

then her girls come in. haruka had told them what ashikaga had done last night.

mikami yields the captaincy to imoto at the end of the game. ozu asks why? after all, they won the match! he walks off.

the boys are puzzled. then kato explains that ozu believes in a system of star players. but the boys had played as a team, so he feels he's been taught a lesson, and feels dissatisfied. yokomori says she can understand how ozu feels now.

girls' game. ozu approaches eri. he tries to speak to her, but she shows no signs of interest. then he gets a call from his ex-wife, asking him to help their daughter. there's something wrong. now he notices it.