Everyone at Ryokushou is participating in the Miyama school district's sports festival. Itsuka feels shy and awkward around Nagomu, causing her to adopt a brusque manner toward him. But in his loud cheers of encouragement she feels the warmth of family. Nagomu's father, Heigo, gets overly fired up and ends up hurting himself. Nagomu and Itsuka have to step up to take his and Nagomu's place in the parent-child event. Meanwhile, at Ryokushou, a woman calling herself Itsuka's mother appears.

One day, with Christmas near, a message and a fir tree sent by Itsuka's mother arrive. Remembering back to the broken promises from when she was little, Itsuka is afraid to make another promise with her mother. But Nagomu's words give her a push, and she tells her mother that she'll be waiting. Yuzu yokan causes Nagomu to remember a conversation he had with his grandfather.

The new year begins, and as Ryokushou welcomes it they sell a sweet called hanabira mochi. They only made enough to accommodate their advance orders, but a man without a reservation suddenly appears. After hearing the man's feelings toward his late mother, Nagomu makes a decision to... Later, everyone from Ryokushou goes to Yamakuni Jinja for hatsumode—the first sacred visit of the year.