The Knight in the Area

The match between Enoshima and Yoin begins. Yoin quickly begins forcing Enoshima into offside traps. Seeing no choice, Kakeru is put into the game 20 minutes into the First Half. Kakeru uses the Phi Trick to get past Asuka and passes the ball to Araki, who uses a scorpion kick to put Enoshima up 1:0. Yoin quickly rebounds though. Asuka begins marking Kakeru and forces him to turn the ball over. The ball is passed to Haruki Onimaru who dribbles to Enoshima's corner. He fakes Enoshima out with what appears to be a pass to Asuka, but in reality it's a twisting shot. With no chance to stop the shot, Enoshima finds themselves tied 1:1, and now Coach Iwaki must come up with a new dangerous plan if Enoshima is to succedd. All this time Silva, Mai, and Kakeru's old teammates watch the game from the stands along with Kakeru's family and Ayaka.

The match between FC and SC to decide who will represent the school for nationals begins. Ryuichi fails to show up during the match and the team plays without him. After the first half, SC leads by two points. A player on FC is injured and is forced to stop playing. Kota Nakatsuka, Kakeru's middle school friend, quits the SC team and joins the FC team to sub for the player. The game resumes and Kakeru scores a goal as does SC ending the second half with 1:3 lead by SC. Ryuichi, having lost weight, joins FC and subs in for a player for the final half of the game.

Kakeru is unable to recall what happened when he kicked the ball, leading Nana to suspect Suguru's heart is the cause. At the hospital, Suguru's sport counselor, Ayaka Mine, examines Kakeru and reminds him to exercise for his heart. She secretly tasks Nana to watch for Suguru-like behavior from Kakeru possibly resulted from the transplant. That night, Kakeru learns that the masked stranger is Nana and that he received a heart transplant from Suguru. As Kakeru reads through Suguru's dairy, he discovers his brother's frustration with the forwards in Japan's national team and how he desires Kakeru to fill that position. The next day, Kakeru tells Nana he will enroll in Enoshima High where Ryuichi Araki, a passer with skills like Suguru, is located.

Kakeru displays his skills as a forward by predicting and receiving Suguru's skilled passes. Whenever Kakeru has a chance to score, he changes his footing and hits the ball with his right leg reducing the power of the shot and prevents him from scoring. That night, Kakeru meets the masked stranger and explains how he injured a classmate with his left leg during a soccer match which is the cause to his playing style. That morning on the way to school, Suguru attempts to tell Kakeru he is the only forward able to receive his passes. In the middle of the conversation, they are hit by a truck.