Following the incident at the ski trip, Taiga is staying with her mother, and has not come back to school. Ryuuji asks Yuusaku to pretend he was the one who saved Taiga in order to make her story true. Later, Hisamitsu and Haruta take Ryuuji to a ramen shop where Minori has started another part time job. At home, Ryuuji bemoans the fact he is not able to afford further education, but Yasuko tells him he should aim for the best. Ryuuji goes home and finds Yasuko gone to work, as a result of yesterday's discussion. Noticing the hairpin he got for Minori, he puts it away in his box, realizing he would not be able to give it to her. He is surprised to find Taiga on his doorstep and locked out of her apartment, who lied about being seriously ill in order to bond with her mother. When she notices the box with Minori's hairpin in it, she reassures Ryuuji that he will be with her. Taiga tells him that she had a dream about the events that occurred and the "stupid words" she said, and he assures her that, apart from Yuusaku saving her, it was all a dream. (Source: Wikipedia)

Aired on: 3/4/2009