The scene is back nine days before. The grade captains and their vice are attending a strategy meeting where Mizuki explains what they’ll do during the battle. First off, he says that in the letter with the declaration of war, it’s written that Noroshi’s goal is to destroy Bofurin and will do it at midnight. Once they manage to do it, the town will return as it was in the past. Since they don’t know where they’ll attack, he plans to make a defensive battle to protect the town. Mizuki says they added two rules: the first is about not touching the city until they see Bofurin members still standing. Nirei asks what if they won’t come at the hour they announced and Ume steadily says that’s impossible because when they were in Furin, they never went back on their word. After a question made by Suo, Mizuki replies that the second rule is that Umemiya is not allowed to leave the school grounds during the battle, and if he’s seen around the town, they’ll ignore everything else and destroy it. Since this means that their strongest man is out of the question, most people inside the room are worried, but Ume tries to cheer them up by saying they're lucky because they just need to stand still. It won’t change a thing.

    He says that Bofurin doesn’t exist because of him but because everyone is there. So he counts on them to show their enemies what they’ve got. Everyone is now energetic again, but Haruka sees that even if Ume tries to smile, he has a serious look on his face again and is clenching his right fist.

    When the battle is about to start, Umemiya sees that the chat group created to look for backups, if needed, is full of X. That means that everyone needs help. This thing makes him laugh because it’s like the old times. He says that’s nostalgic and talks with the four kings, asking if it’s the same for them. The truth is he’s talking alone on the rooftop, but he addresses his words to them.

    They are actually thinking the same thing. They laugh too and tell those around them that it was almost the same, minus the fact that, in the past, it was only the five of them. After everyone says Bofurin’s motto, the fight starts at midnight.

    While everyone is fighting, there’s yet another flashback related to the meeting strategy. Mizuki talks about Noroshi: people who worked with Endo and left the school with him. If they had been there, avoiding bitter clashes would not have been possible. His strategy contemplated that the strongest of the area would fight against them: in brief, who was inside that room was included in what he said. Haruka laments that he doesn’t know what these Noroshi look like, which makes Ume laugh because it is what he’s worried about. Mizuki smiles and tells him that he’ll understand once he sees them.

    While Haruka and Sugishita are fighting against Hashirao, the latter realises that Sakura is the same as Umemiya, Takiishi and Endo because he’s still green but, at the same time, he’s like a flower that blooms on the battlefield. Even if Haruka wanted to be Sugishita’s support for this fight, Hashirao switched his interest to him. When Sugishita finds out about this, he has a flashback in which Umemiya tells him he likes Haruka.

    Obviously, Sugishita is not pleased with what he’s just heard and this amuses Umemiya a lot. But he continues by saying to don’t get him wrong, because what he’s seen is that usually Sugishita never shows his emotions outside of fighting. And he adds that he’s happy even if it’s something about a rivalry because the most important thing is that he’s interested in someone else. He knows that Sugishita looks up to him and has always been with him since they met, but he doesn’t want to be his whole world. Ume adds that meeting new people, taking their effect on him, and letting their influences mix so that he can create a new him is important to create a world that can grow stronger and stronger. He says:

“People are made up of the food they eat and the people they meet.”

    And it’s the same for Haruka, whose world has grown a lot.

    While Tsubaki is fighting against Sugichi Genji, a member of Noroshi, the latter says that he’s not interested in Furin, but in Tsubaki himself. Sugichi touches a raw nerve with him because he starts insulting Umemiya. That's why he finds him lame and hates that Tsubaki placed himself under him. The Noroshi member thinks Tsubaki-chan deserves a better spot than the shitty school Umemiya created, so he wants to *save* him. Tsubaki is pissed off because he called Ume a “lame-ass”, but Sugichi continues by saying that he can’t understand that man who chose to be a clown and he questions if he still has a shred of normal humanity in him. Tsubaki stops his speech with a kick, and while he's enraged at those words towards Ume, he remembers something of his past. It was the first time he met Ume. Tsubaki was a junior high first-year student, and he chose to pluck up the courage to stand up for what he loved. That’s why he was bullied and ostracised by everyone. And yet, he decided to fight for his ideals and for himself, because he loved that part of him and didn’t want to lose it again. He began to beat those who raised their hands against him, and there was a time when a group of boys decided to cut his hair. He fought against them and beat them up, but when he was leaving, one of them stood up and tried to hit him with scissors. Tsubaki tripped over the foot of a boy lying on the floor and thought it was the end for him, but suddenly someone kicked the boy away.

    That person was Ume who tells him that he should have learnt in elementary school that he can’t run at people with scissors. Then he looked at Tsubaki-chan and asked if he was fine, but the latter was completely shocked. Ume waved a hand at him worried about his status, since he was not replying.

(HE'S SO ADORABLE AAAAAH ♥)

    Tsubaki-chan thought Umemiya would go away, but he followed him instead. He introduced himself to Tsubaki and said he knew him because everybody talked about him at school. After all, he was the boy who looked like a girl. Tsubaki tried to send him away, believing he was just like the others who mocked him. Instead, Ume was excited about Tsubaki’s strength and wanted to know more about it. The latter was irritated at his words and told him he didn’t choose to be strong because he wanted to, but it was to defend himself and continue to like the things he liked… things such as long hair, pretty nails or long eyelashes. Tsubaki was a little scared to see Ume’s reaction so he closed his eyes, but was surprised when his reply was a single “I thought so”.

    He explained that the girls living in the facility with him had long hair and loved to arrange them as they pleased and were happy while doing it. He added that no one would bother with all that work unless they liked long hair - he couldn’t handle them (don’t worry, my love, you’ll arrange your hair differently in the future xD). Those words made Tsubaki vent, telling Ume about his dream. He was happy and smiled, but realised soon after that the other boy cried admitting that enduring all of that was a hard thing to do. Ume approached him and told him he was amazing because there was something he wanted to do too, and that was why he thought that people who could stay true to the things they loved were super cool. So he extended his hand towards Tsubaki and asked him to become his friend, adding that if anyone would try to hurt him or the things he loved, he would send them flying.

    Tsubaki was lost for words but since he started crying again, he didn’t want Ume to see him and turned the other way around. He asked Ume if he liked those kinds of shirts (he had a shirt with the stamp “Grilled meat meal”) and he said that he did because it made him laugh. Tsubakino dried his tears and, while turning back right in front of him, said it made him laugh too. That’s the end of the flashback, and Tsubaki thinks that since then, Ume has been his saviour, friend, and prince on a white horse, so he would make Sugichi eat his words.

    That shitty Sugichi tells him that’s a pity and that Ume will never think the same way as him. He adds that if Tsubaki were a woman, it would be a different story, so the latter says that it’s not something related to Ume: it’s him who’s turning him down because he hates him. After beating him up, he says that he’s proud to be in love with Ume and nothing else matters because the value of love comes from our souls.

    The fight is still ongoing. Both Mizuki and Momose join Haruka’s group which was reached at first by Choji and some other guys from Shishitoren. Haruka realises that two Noroshi members are standing still, doing nothing if not watching their comrades fighting. He tells them to bring their asses over there, but they laugh and continue by saying that they can fight but they’re waiting to see *that*. Haruka doesn’t understand those words and asks for an explanation. The reply is that it’s true that one of their main objectives is destroying the town, but the most important is crushing Umemiya.

    That’s when Momose realises that the reason why Ume isn’t allowed to leave Furin isn’t that they want to isolate the strongest fighter they have, but because they want to make sure to hunt him down. Then Shakushi adds that their first task is almost over since Endo and Takiishi should be reaching Furin. Mizuki smiles and says he saw Endo and Takiishi and followed them, but they suddenly disappeared. So, he realised that Ume was the real target but didn’t have any proof and since they needed people to fight in the town, they sent the least amount of people with the strongest combined strength to school. Haruka thinks that it means Endo is going to Furin, but there are too many enemies and he can’t leave that place. Instead, Mizuki tells him to go together with Sugishita while they handle everything there. Suzuri, Tsubaki and Kanji are indeed strong, but even an army won’t stand a chance against Takiishi and Endo. Haruka doesn’t want to listen to this, but Mizuki grabs him and says to go because Ume is relying on him. After these words, Haruka convinces himself that’s the right thing to do and leaves together with Sugishita.

    When Takiishi and Endo reach Furin, Tsubaki, Suzuri and Kanji are there as planned. Takiishi is not interested in them and wants to enter to reach Ume, but the latter greets him. He says it’s been ages and to go to the roof with him. Takiishi’s empty expression becomes a grinning face, which makes Endo smile. While Ume tells Takiishi that there’s something he wants to show him, Tsubaki thinks that’s the first time he’s ever seen Ume so mad.

    Once a furious Ume calls Takiishi, this one is too excited and instantly tries to reach him but Endo tries to stop him. Takiishi hits him and Tsubaki explains that even in the past, he’d never let anyone put a spoke in his wheel, be it an enemy or a friend. He adds that when they were first-year students, Ume tried to warn them about him. Endo persuades Takiishi to go to the roof, so he and Umemiya leave the entrance while the latter clenches his left fist. Endo is about to go after them but is stopped by Tsubaki, so he’ll stay there to fight against them.

    Meanwhile, Haruka and Sugishita fight against some other people on their way to Furin. Haruka sees that the latter is injured and not that ready to continue to fight and decides to do his best against them. Sugishita realises what’s happening and that he’s only slowing Haruka down, so he grabs and puts him away, saying to leave with despair in his eyes. Haruka goes away and Sugishita continues to fight up to the point that he’s doing his very best, but can’t go on any longer. At that point, Hiragi arrives to help and finds him lying on the concrete. He heard from Mizuki that Haruka was with him, but he was nowhere to be seen, so Sugishita explained that he went ahead. Hiragi remembers when, while talking with him during his second year, Sugishita said that Umemiya created his whole world. Hiragi is now pretty sure that even if he doesn’t know what led Sugishita to let Haruka go, it had to be a painful choice for him.

    Once Haruka has reached Furin and is fighting against Endo, they suddenly see a flying chair, which means something big is happening on the roof. While the fight continues, Endo reveals to Haruka that after Takiishi left Furin, his being like a blazing inferno was fading away so he did his best to relight that fire until the moment he understood that the only way he had to make him happy was Umemiya. Ume is the only person inside Takiishi’s heart (aside from himself), so, the real reason why Endo messed with Furin is to let Takiishi have fun.

    Endo tries to confuse Haruka with discussions about his deepest fear and at a certain point, he tells him to go with him and that he’ll give up on everything he started that day, plus, he won’t ever touch Furin again. Haruka isn’t interested in something like that, but he’s too shocked to reflect correctly. When he’s about to give up, he has a vision of everyone, because the town he lives in is where he wants to stay, the place where his family is.

(THAT'S SO CUTE, UME'S EVEN PATTING HIS HEAD JHDAJ)

    Thanks to his friends, Haruka doesn’t give up on his battle against Endo, and even if Ume is not there with his body, his words resonate inside of him. He finally understands what having a responsibility means and that Ume’s words didn’t come from his confidence, but from his resolve.

    At the end of the fight, Haruka manages to win and decides to head to the roof together with Endo, while the others return to their posts to ensure that Endo’s men are truly leaving the town. Tsubaki disagrees, but Hiragi tells him that it’s not what Haruka wants, so he asks him to watch Ume and Takiishi’s battle until the end for them as well. Once they reach the rooftop, they hear crashing sounds and what is before them is devastation. Everything on the roof is down and broken, and Ume and Takiishi fight so brutally that they look like two angry gods.

    There’s a flashback of Ume and Takiishi reaching the rooftop. Ume asks what he thinks about it since he’s always liked that place. Takiishi replies it’s more boring than when he left. Umemiya approaches the metal fence and tells him that the view he sees and the sounds he can hear from there are what he wants to show him. Everything related to the town is the reason why he fought against them in the past, and now what he’s seeing and hearing makes him feel like he’s back in time to the moment before they left Furin. He adds that now it’s even worse because he’s stuck inside the school and can’t do anything to help his friends and family. Umemiya never looks at Takiishi but tells him that what they’ve done was painted by Endo, because he’d never indirectly do something (this means he knows Takiishi and Endo a lot! He even uses “painted” related to Endo! Sasuga my leader~!). He continues by saying that their goal wasn’t Furin, but him. Takiishi replies he’s wrong because their aim is not the person he can see at that moment, but him from the past. The person who’d do everything he could to reach his goal, he who burned like a blazing inferno.

    Takiishi adds that after Ume reached his goal, he became as boring as the rooftop as it is now. Ume spreads out his eyes because he understands that Takiishi and Endo dragged the town and its townsfolk into all of that only because they wanted him to turn back time and return to the person he was back then. The only thing he can see from there is his teammates being hit by Endo, who’s smirking at him. Umemiya says it’s weird because he had many things he wanted to tell Takiishi, but he can’t put the words out. Takiishi replies that words don’t have a meaning while a Ume blinded by fury says that’s like this.

    Takiishi realises that in that moment Ume is the same as he was in the past and smiles like there’s no tomorrow. We return to their fight, and while Ume and Takiishi are hitting each other like beasts, Endo and Haruka are like two reporters commenting on what they see. The latter can’t even recognise Ume because he’s never seen him that angry. Endo celebrates that moment because it ended as he predicted: Ume has returned to his old self. So he tells Haruka to watch, as there’s nothing more they can do.

    Haruka is completely shocked by what he’s seeing: he’s seen Ume fighting only once, against Choji, and what he felt was it was more logical and emotional because he could sense his kindness. He thinks that Endo’s words are right and that Umemiya is exactly like a blazing inferno. Endo comments that he’s jealous because Takiishi doesn’t like people, but on the inside of his world, there’s only one person: Umemiya.

(The pictures above are from Takiishi's world)

    It seems that the more Ume hits Takiishi, the happier he becomes. Anyway, Haruka still can’t understand what Endo meant by saying that Ume was like this in the past. Endo replies that when he was in his first year, he was like this: a nasty egoist bastard, more thickheaded than anyone else.

    It was his nature that allowed him to enter Takiishi’s world. Haruka continues to watch the fight and can’t help but feel that it’s like Ume’s distant from him. He’s even worried for him and Takiishi, which makes Endo laugh because he can understand his feelings for Ume, but he can’t forget that Takiishi has never lost against him. They fought many times, but there had never been a clear winner and Ume always tried to bet that if he’d won, Takiishi would join him or acknowledge his goals. Even though it never happened, Ume managed to unite the school and everyone was by his side except Noroshi. That changed Umemiya who became kinder and at that moment, Takiishi decided to leave Furin. Before that moment, Endo had never noticed that Takiishi enjoyed fighting against that nasty version of Umemiya because he was too busy admiring him. If he had realised this earlier, he would have done anything to prevent Takiishi from getting bored. What Endo is saying is that Haruka should be worried only about Ume. Takiishi is always more excited and fights like crazy until Ume is down and has lost consciousness.

    We finally have Takiishi’s point of view. He thinks that aside from him there are two kinds of people, those who are better to eliminate because they’re in the way, and those who give him things he likes. He didn’t care about any of them, anyway. And that’s why he can’t remember their faces or their names. Despite this, two people were always around him, and he didn’t know how to eliminate them. One of them was Endo, and was the person who always brought him the things he liked; the other one was Umemiya, who always tried to block his path. Ume was the first person who for him was annoying and was even the first one who awoke enjoyment in him in something related to human beings. Endo cries and thanks Umemiya for the beautiful show, but Takiishi can’t believe it already ended, because he is having fun after a long time. He even calls Umemiya by his surname and Endo is shocked because that’s the first time he calls him like that. Haruka sits down next to Endo saying it’s not over, and repeats what Ume told him after fighting against Shishitoren.

"No matter how difficult, how irrational, or how illogical it gets… I'll never lose."

    Endo can’t believe his eyes, but soon after he realises that it’s normal for Ume to stand still since he’s allowed in Takiishi’s world. Takiishi can’t pull himself together and smiles like he has never done, but this smile is different because his eyes are sparkling. Ume is a bit shocked when he realises this and smiles.

    Ume is bathed in sweat but tells Takiishi that he got to his head because he never lost to him, and that when he wins, he wants him to tell him about himself. Takiishi tells Ume he’s just as annoying as he was in his first year and agrees. This leaves Endo speechless because he’s agreeing with someone else’s deal. Takiishi, as happy as Larry, asks him what he’ll do for him if he wins and Ume replies with a grin on his face he’ll do nothing because he’ll win this battle.

    Lastly, we have Ume’s point of view. He thinks that in the past he never understood Takiishi even if he wanted to and wanted him to do the same. He only thought about not losing, which led Takiishi to become a shadow. Nevertheless, Takiishi was still watching him with sparkling eyes, which meant he was still after him. Ume continues by thinking that it all started because Takiishi suddenly left Furin and things have deteriorated up to the point he had to use the whole town and its folk to reach him. Ume thinks it’s his fault as well and that Takiishi isn’t the only person to blame. When he decided to change Furin he made a vow for which he would have shouldered all the responsibilities of what may come. That means that he has to win to “never lose”, in that way, he and Takiishi can understand each other. The fight is fiercer, Endo and Haruka are still watching it.

    Since Takiishi is smiling, Ume tells him that it seems he’s having fun, and he replies that it’s because no matter how many times he sends him flying, he always stands up. Umemiya says that it’s normal because his kohai is watching him.

    It starts raining. Ume assumes that Haruka won against Endo and is completely proud of him because he gives him fate for the future, which will be a bright one. He thinks these words smiling and grinning, then he takes a right hook without stumbling back and grabs Takiishi’s hand. Ume, who’s still grinning and has a deadly look in his eyes, thinks that now he has to play his part and surpass the strongest fighter in Furin’s history.

    Takiishi shudders and tries to move away from Ume, but the latter increases his grip and tells him they’ll have a long talk before punching him right in his face with all his might.

    Takiishi is down, but he stands up as the fight continues even if they are both dead tired. He thinks that he used to hate the rain, but for some reason, this time, it felt good. Takiishi smiles and believes his preferences would have never changed, but this time it’s different because Ume’s fists were doing something to his body and he couldn’t understand what… but he has a smiling face. Once exhausted and on the ground, Ume crawls until he reaches Takiishi and asks him what he thinks about their fight. He replies he had fun and Ume opens his eyes wide. He then tells Takiishi that if it means he’s the winner, and he replies that it doesn’t matter to him, so it’s fine if it’s like that. The boy adds that it’s time to get off his body because he can’t see the rain like that, and Ume lies next to him, dog tired.

(Congrats, Ume!! You did well!!! ;_; I was so worried until the end, sigh...)

    Endo retrieves Takiishi and Ume looks at him. Endo looks at him back, but then goes away. Ume, then, tells him they’ll see each other again because he promised Takiishi to see him, which makes Endo shudder. He speaks with a face that looks so happy despite being stained by blood, it’s like he has the same eyes as the times he attended his first year at Furin High.

(OMG He's so cuuuute ajfgsjagd ♥)

    Endo bursts out, saying he almost destroyed Ume’s beloved town and, hates him for telling him something like this, which makes Umemiya laugh because he’s happier than before since he didn’t give a fuck about him.

    Endo is not pleased. Ume then tells Takiishi to keep in mind their promise. The latter replies that he wants an answer to this question: “Do you think that these things we call people are actually fun?”. Both Ume and Endo are shocked at first, but the former smiles (awww) and replies that there are many things you can do to enjoy your time and enjoy yourself, but meeting, talking and being with other people make you find a different kind of enjoyment that you can’t feel if you’re alone. He goes on by saying that if he finds someone who can change him as a person, then his world will expand without him realising it and he’ll become a new and unknown version of him that he ignored. This will lead him to change something he hates into something he loves.

"There’s nothing more fascinating than people."

    Takiishi now understands how he managed to start liking the rain. Ume realises he’s thinking something deeply and tells him the trick to being with someone who’ll change his world, which is calling them by name. So Takiishi realises he’s right and greets him calling him “Umemiya Hajime” which embarrasses him a bit.

(AAAAAAAH I LOVE THIS MOMENT DJAKHDAGKDA)

    Ume remembers he hasn’t given his number to Takiishi and an annoyed Endo replies that he just needs to say it once and he’ll remember it for Takiishi. This skill amazes Ume who praises him. Once they’re gone, Haruka sends a message in the group chat to tell everyone that Ume has won. Umemiya calls him and when he reaches him, the former smiles, showing him a closed fist.

    Haruka is embarrassed but decides to join his fist as well. That’s the end of the arc.

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