After their successful subscription concert performance, the Umimaku High School Orchestra Club sets their sights on winning the national competition. But with a new lineup of second-years leading, things are off to a rocky start. Only a few violinists turn up for the first morning practice, and Sakuma, the percussion section leader, bluntly criticizes Hatori, the newly appointed concertmaster, and other string members.

Takimoto has been skipping morning practice without explanation despite being newly appointed as the second violin section leader. When Sakuma and other section leaders question her about it, she tries avoids the subject. Later, frustrated second violin members confront her. She responds by walking away, but not before muttering something. Susono is worried and gives Takimoto a surprising suggestion.

On his way home from school, Aono unexpectedly bumps into Takimoto, who is crying alone in pain. As Aono shows concern for his senior, Takimoto slowly begins to speak. He talks about the events surrounding the club member who quit, and his own cold feelings and confusion after no longer finding meaning in club activities. These feelings overlap with Aono's, who once gave up the violin due to his relationship with his father. Aono talks about the pain he felt when he stopped playing, and how his feelings toward his father are different now than they were back then. Aono's words make Takimoto decide.

With two months until the competition, the string instruments are beginning to come together under the guidance of concertmaster Hatori, and the sports festival is upon us. Ritsuko, a member of the inter-club relay team, is inspired by Aono's determination to have fun and give it her all as she competes. However, she is also chosen as the class's leader for the horse-riding battle. Aono is timid, and Saeki, who is also competing in the battle, becomes competitive. Haru, who can't help but root for Aono, who is in a different group, asks him a question that has been bothering her for a while.

There is one month until the competition. With the entire band still unable to agree on an interpretation of the piece, they split into three groups and begin block practice, with Aono ending up in the same group as Sakuma. "Bacchanale" from Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson and Delilah" depicts the love and hate between a man and a woman amidst an antagonistic relationship. It is filled with elegance and charm, anger and sadness, lies and secrets. Haru, who is in a different group from Aono, grasps something from a conversation with Machii, a third-year senior who knows how Haru feels about Aono.

Tachibana, who is in the same group as Ritsuko during block practice, is irritated by the other members of the club who refuse to take the initiative. Ritsuko senses that Tachibana is always conscious of Sakuma, a senior from the same junior high school. Tachibana tells Ritsuko about how he took over as captain from Sakuma at the junior high school orchestra club, which was a regular gold medalist in competitions, and about the bitter experience and regret he had when his own enthusiasm and sense of responsibility didn't translate into results. Tachibana and Ritsuko are tuning their instruments together. Sakuma is playing the timpani in a separate room.

Aono is at home nursing a cold and is haunted by terrible nightmares. The competition is just around the corner, and he should be diving into rehearsals; however, everything is at a standstill. Apparently, the theme of the play has still not been fully grasped by everyone. In several meetings, they are searching for the anger that Samson must have felt, which needs to be expressed musically.

The big day has arrived, and the competition is underway. Old acquaintances sit in the audience, watching over their former protégés. The competition is fierce, and just now, Mr. Ayukawa is criticizing his club members more severely than ever.

The Kaimaku High School Orchestra Club has overcome differences in motivation among its members and discord over interpretations of the pieces they are performing by seriously competing with each other. Now they are taking on the competition, a stage where performances are judged on their merits. They have discovered the "anger" they feel in the story of "Bacchanale," which depicts the love and hate between Samson and Delilah. Aono and his friends play with all their might, filled with emotion and emotion, a sound that can only be produced in this moment. Will they be able to achieve their ninth consecutive national victory?

After the competition is over and there are no club activities, Aono and Haru go out together. Their destination is a music store that Aono has been going to since he was a child.

Ritsuko calls Aono to ask for a favor. She wants to give him a performance of Bach's "Concerto for Two Violins," Aono's mother's favorite, as a birthday present. Just like in middle school, Ritsuko tutors Aono, and Aono teaches her violin. On his birthday, Aono is excited to visit a girl's room for the first time. Ritsuko's mother is curious about Aono, whom she's meeting for the first time. The two begin playing. The sound of the violin holds special meaning in the relationship between Ritsuko and her mother.

Aono, Ritsuko, and Haru. Confused by their fluctuating feelings, the three of them continue to act as usual. Aono receives help from Ritsuko and Haru in his studies and finishes his final exams. The orchestra club's next performance is a Christmas concert held jointly with the choir club. Not only will the choir members sing along with the orchestra, but the orchestra members will also join in on some songs. Aono is embarrassed to sing in front of people and struggles with the unfamiliar songs. Then, a dignified voice resonates. Who is that voice?

Saeki heads to school early in the morning. The sky is at dawn, the air is cold. On a quiet winter morning, the voice of "Ave Maria" playing from his earphones brings back memories of his childhood in Germany with his mother.