Komano and Taichi chose Tsukuba as a starter for the first round against Chiba International High School of Information Sciences, whose team members are all ethnically non-Japanese. Komano and Sumire gather intelligence on Fujisaki, last year's national team champion, and First Akashi Girls' School, including Megumu Ōsaka, last year's western queen finalist. When Taichi notices that the Chiba members are not using correct English and are, in fact, native Japanese, he calls them out on it. The Chiba team is also all beginners, so Mizusawa defeats Chiba easily. Despite their loss, the Chiba team says they learned a lot and promise to return a better team for next year's tournament. Meanwhile, as Arata arrives at Ōmi Jingū to watch Chihaya and Taichi, Shinobu intercepts him.