Matsuda tries to set up a meeting with Yawara but she rebuffs him; one of her office friends takes a message from him to meet the next day, Christmas eve, the same time as her date with Shinnosuke. Jigoro’s scheme to motivate Yawara by pasting pictures of Sayaka winning at tournaments on her bedroom wall apparently backfires. However, eventually Yawara trips over volumes of Matsuda’s articles left behind by Jigoro, and when she reads them, she is moved by Matsuda’s passionate support for her. She stands up Shinnosuke at the last minute and goes to meet Matsuda at the café, but it is already closed. When she leaves there by bus, Matsuda spots her and runs after the bus, and she tells him she would pick up judo again and he tells her he won’t quit journalism.
柔道を再開していない柔は、松田が記者を辞めると言う邦子の嘘を信じ、自責の念に駆られる。クリスマスイブに風祭に誘われた柔だが、松田を優先して言われた店へ会いに行く。しかし、店は既に閉まっていて…。
