Suzuka Ep 22: Kakugou (Resolution)

On the day of the tournament, Yamato is wondering whether he should confess his feelings to Suzuka again but he doesn't want to relive the memory of being rejected by her. Yamato realises that he has not changed much since the time he was rejected so it's likely that Suzuka will not see him in a favourable light. Besides, he knows that Suzuka is just treating him as a replacement for Kazuki and gets more dejected.

Just then, Hattori comes to look for Yamato and tells the latter to warm up now instead of staring at Suzuka. Yamato then asks Hattori what he is doing here and feels down about Hattori's happy mood being in stark contrast with his gloomy state. Hattori asks Yamato if he really does enjoy athletics because he doesn't really seem glad about being treated as a rising running star in his team. He reminds Yamato that he entered the athletics team for Suzuka's sake and wasn't interested in the sport itself at all. When asked about how he feels about Suzuka now, Yamato tries to deny that he feels anything for her initially but realises that he cannot fool Hattori. However, Yamato feels that this is not the right time to broach the issue. Before Hattori can ask further, Miyamoto comes to look for Yamato to warm up for the race.

Hattori congratulates Miyamoto for being the captain but he mocks at himself for not being up to the task. Miyamoto says that if Kazuki was still alive, this post would have been his. He relates the past to them where Hattori realises that the meaning of Kazuki's existence to Suzuka was more than a platonic friend. Hattori points out bluntly to Yamato that he's just scared of being compared to Kazuki, leading Yamato telling him to shut up. When Hattori refuses to stop harping on the issue, Yamato suddenly shouts aloud which makes him the centre of attention. Yamato then reveals that he will aim to be the No.1 athlete in Japan before he goes to confess his feelings to Suzuka.

Yamato is fired up for the upcoming race which is quite different from his usual self. This makes everyone puzzled over his sudden change including Suzuka.

Meanwhile, Miki is complaining to Hattori that she finds herself silly for worrying over Suzuka and Yamato since she thought that things would get worse if Yamato told her the truth about his breakup with Honoka. It turns out that the situation wasn't as bad as she thought. Hattori tells Miki that she should have kept out of their affairs like how he told her before but Miki refuses to listen to his theory. She asks Hattori why he has come to watch the tournament and it's because he wants to see if Yamato makes a fool of himself again.

Yamato sees Emerson again and resolves to beat him or he would never be the No.1 in Japan. During the heat, Yamato decides to eliminate the distractions in his mind and aim for a good time. He finishes first with a time of 10.81 seconds but sees that his teammates are behaving strangely. Yamato wonders if the record was too slow and gets more bewildered when Suzuka reprimands him for being wasting too much energy on the first heat since he can easily qualify for the next round even if he gets a record within the 11-second region. Yamato feels dejected at not being complimented for his effort.

Subsequently, Emerson finishes his heat with 11.09 seconds which is much slower than his personal best of 10.46 seconds. Yamato feels worried since his personal best of 10.81 is far from Emerson's record. Just then, Honoka comes to look for him and encourages Yamato to work hard. At the same time, she can't help but feel that Yamato is drifting further from her as he becomes better at athletics.

Miyamoto informs Yamato that there will not be a final since the next round will see the top 8 based on time records move on to the Tokyo tournament. As such, Yamato will not get to race with Emerson this time. However, he decides to go all out for the semi-finals and even tells his senior that he might not have the energy for the upcoming relay race. With response to this, his senior tells Yamato to get the No.1 placing or else he will scold him for not saving the energy meant for the relay race.

Meanwhile, Suzuka is hiding somewhere instead of watching Yamato's race when Miki comes to tell her about the results. Upon hearing that Yamato broke Emerson's record and was the No.1, she doesn't seem to be particularly thrilled though.

Later, Suzuka goes to congratulate Yamato for getting the first spot but is surprised to see him looking dejected. Yamato passes the result slip to Suzuka where she notes that Emerson was the No.1 and Yamato only held on to that spot for a brief moment since his race was earlier. Suzuka tries to console Yamato but he is not happy at all since he wants to be No.1. Yamato asks Suzuka where his fault lies but she doesn't know about this area. Yamato apologises for asking the questions and decides to seek help from another senior. Suzuka is puzzled over Yamato's sudden fervent for running and wonders what he is thinking of...