Mitsuba team members practice hard under Jigoro. Sayaka assembles a fake judo team from her rich heiress Seishin School classmates, the idea being that she will take care of all the matches. Fujiko in particular is training really hard, and Kojiro shows up secretly to give her tips, saying she is not bad with only 3 months of training. Yawara suspects it might be Kojiro because a persimmon seed wafer, a favorite snack of his, was left behind. Matsuda joins Yawara for a run to tell her that Sayaka will be challenging her at Ajisai, and also suggests that she could build the Mitsuba members' confidence by letting them throw her. Kojiro warns Shinnosuke that they should not overlook the rest of the Mitsuba team (probably meaning Fujiko). At practice, Yawara trains the other members and lets them throw her to teach them timing. Fujiko, however, is giving Yawara a real challenge, having vastly improved. The 8th Ajisai Cup begins, with 16 female colleges participating, including 5-time champ Tsukushi University.
柔は新聞記者・松田のアドバイスもあり、あえて稽古で投げられることでみんなにやる気と感覚を掴んでもらう。かたや正式にお嬢様チームを組織したさやかやほかの強豪チームも猛練習をして大会に備えていた。
