Summary:
At the tournament, we see Emerson Arima, the #1 Sprinter in all of Japan, surrounded by reporters and such. Suzuka is convinced Tsuda would have been able to beat him. Souichi is convinced Yamato could have done it. Suzuka repeats her claim about Tsuda and Arima overhears it. Meanwhile, Yasu tricks Yamato into going to the tournament area and tries to convince him to compete to impress some girls. Once inside the grounds, they notice Suzuka being harassed by Arima and his followers. Arima tells her to apologize and take it back, saying that Tsuda is dead, and that she can't compare him to some dead guy. He continues to state that he is number one, with his crowd also berating her. Yasu tries to walk away, but Yamato sees Suzuka in tears, and steps between her and Arima. He says she doesn't have to apologize. Arima starts to berate him, but Yamato says it doesn't matter, because he's the fastest one of all and he'll beat Arima. Arima gets ticked and tells him there's no way he can win, but challenges him to do so. After Arima walks off, Suzuka asks Yamato what happens if he loses, and Yamato says he'd just have to apologize. Suzuka tells him to think before he speaks, but Yamato says it'll be all right, all he needs to do is win. Suzuka is still surprised he came back. The rest of the team is happy to see him, including Honoka who mentions he skipped three days. Miki is also happy to see him, but when she realizes that Yamato doesn't know who Arima is, she explains that he is the top sprinter. Yamato is stunned, but decides to do his best anyways. Meanwhile, Yasu talks to Suzuka and when she says that Yamato was irresponsible, he replies "Yes, but now all of Arima's anger is focused on him" without saying the unspoken part "instead of on you." Yamato gets ready to start, and Yasu brings Suzuka to watch. Arima gets out to a fast start, and things aren't looking good. Just then though, Suzuka yells "What are you doing, you idiot!", and with that, Yamato speeds up and is running even with Arima. Everyone is shocked. Honoka notices that he caught up only when Suzuka shouted. Arima can't seem to shake him, but near the end, Yamato trips, most likely due to lack of practice. Even so, Arima is aggravated that Yamato made him run so hard, and Yamato vows to beat him sometime soon. Later, Yamato is sitting under a tree, and Suzuka comes to bandage his injured knees. She tells him he lost because he didn't practice, and makes him promise to be at the next practice. Yamato wonders what she meant, thinking he was going to go to practice anyways.

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Finally, a character I can love to hate! A cocky, arrogant athlete who mocks people and speaks ill of the dead. Arima will provide a lot for the anime in that he'll focus Yamato on a goal while providing him with a foil for competition. Yamato almost doesn't even have to beat him - simply making the jerk have to run full throttle would be enough, but I'd guess that Yamato will beat him in the future. It was good though that it didn't happen in this ep, or it would have been just too unrealistic.

I found it greatly amusing that the only thing to spur Yamato on was an insult from Suzuka. Obviously though, she wanted him to win.

The events of this episode aren't going to help him distinguish himself from Tsuda though.

Yasu gives us some GREAT observations, including an on-spot analysis of why Yamato stepped in. His comment was phrased perfectly, and hopefully Suzuka will realize what Yamato did. It seems like it from the knee bandage ending.

Not much else to say on this episode. Looking forward to the next!