Kimi ni Todoke S1E10 - Support

January 21, 2026

This episode starts with showing a sequence of events where Sawako is interuptted by Ume's calling out to her and cheering her on. The first situation is during soccer practice. The second situation is while Yoshida, Yano, and Sawako are in the classroom discussing soccer strategy. The third situation is after school while Yoshida is showing Sawako the proper way to kick a soccer ball by using the inside of her foot. In each situation, Ume cheerfully greets Sawako while Yoshida and Yano have confused looks on their faces because of Ume's behavior. Yoshida and Yano are wondering about Ume's intentions.

The next scene shows Sawako laying in bed before sleeping and thinking about Ume's friendship. She thinks, "I made friends with someone else. It'd be a lie to say I'm trying really hard or something. I am just a little confused. Do most people feel this way... when they make new friends? I'm a little baffled, but still, I'm happy." Sawako then suddenly thinks about Kazehaya. She thinks, "W-Why did Kazehaya-kun come to mind just now? It's not related to what I was thinking a second ago at all! Oh no! I can't fall asleep!"

During the next day, Sawako is in the classroom and she drops her eraser. Both Kazehaya and Sawako bend down to pick it up. They then look up into each other's eyes. They both become nervous at the situation. It is cute to see them awkward around each other. Yoshida asks, "What's up with them?" Yano replies, "Can't you tell? The awkward stage between pupa and butterfly... so to speak." Sawako thinks, "I-I don't know what to do. I feel it's become more difficult to talk with Kazehaya-kun." Ume then comes to the classroom to give Kazehaya a committee handout. Kazehaya remembers about lending Ume a CD and says, "Oh right, the CD. I'll be right back." Ume replies, "Wow, you brought it for me? Thank you!" Sawako is amazed at how naturally Ume interacts with Kazehaya. Ume notices Sawako and waves at her. Sawako thinks, "She's so adorable, kind, and--above all--friendly. She's something special." Kazehaya sees Ume waving at Sawako and looks back. Sawako then becomes flustered. Sawako goes to the faculty office to carry handouts back to her classroom. While she is walking back she thinks, "Kurumi-chan would never lose her composure like me. She's really good... at creating the most natural mood. I wish I were like her..." At that moment, Ume greets her from behind by saying, "Sawako-chan! What's up!" This scares Sawako and she almost drops the stack of handouts. Ume stops the handouts from falling. Sawako thanks her and Ume replies that she's sorry that she surprised Sawako. Sawako then calls Ume by her given name by saying Kurumi-chan. Sawako then doubts herself by thinking, "I just called her by her given name. Was that too forward?" Ume is pleased and says, "You called me 'Kurumi-chan' for the first time! I like it." Ume is trying to gain Sawako's trust so by Sawako calling her by her given name, it shows that Ume is making progress. Sawako then thinks, "She's okay with it." Ume then asks if she can help by carrying half of the stack of handouts. Sawako politely declines. Sawako thinks, "I wish I could be more like Kurumi-chan." Sawako then imagines a scenario where Sawako has the social grace of Ume. In this scenario, Sawako says to Kazehaya, "Kazehaya, here's a crisp handout. Gimme your music CD." Kazehaya enthusiastically replies, "Okay!" Sawako then gives Kazehaya a thumbs-up sign with her right hand while holding the CD in her left hand and saying, "Sweet! Thank you!" Kazehaya, holding the handout in his left hand, makes a thumbs-up sign with his right hand and replies, "Yay!" Sawako then thinks, "A-Are we American?" Ume then interupts Sawako's imaginary scenario by asking, "Are you, by any chance, going through something difficult? If so, please talk to me about it. I'll do whatever I can to help you out." Sawako replies, "Well, it's not like..." Ume then places her hand on top of Sawako's hand and says, "Please let me help you." Sawako thinks, "My role model, Kurumi-chan, is willing to give me advice."

Sawako and Ume are then shown sitting outside on a bench while the boy's baseball team practices. Ume asks, "You can't talk with Kazehaya very well?" Sawako replies, "Yes. Is it because talking to boys is different from talking to girls?" Ume laughs and says, "You're too worried." Sawako is shocked and thinks, "That's what I thought!" Wanting to discourage Sawako from pursuing a romantic interest in Kazehaya, she tells Sawako, "As someone who's known him since middle school, I think... he just can't leave people without any friends alone. No matter who. It literally doesn't matter. He's nice to everyone. Even if it were you, he'd talk to you like normal." Sawako agrees by saying, "Yes, yes. That's so true." Ume, wanting to drive the point she is making home, continues by saying, "So, the fact that Kazehaya talks to you... isn't really anything special. So I don't think you should worry about it too much." Instead of being discouraged, Sawako is encouraged by Ume's words. Sawako says, "I see." Sensing that Sawako didn't interpet Ume's words in the way Ume wanted, Ume continues by saying, "Oh, but... you and Kazehaya have totally different personalities. If we consider that difference, I doubt you and him could really get along. He's way too social for you. Maybe you'd do better with someone who's more like you. Y'know, everyone's got their own place to fit in." Sawako replies with, "Oh, I understand. Is that why you and Kazehaya-kun can talk so naturally?" Ume laughs and says, "Do you think? Kazehaya and I have quite a few things in common, actually." Hearing this, Sawako thinks, "That's amazing! Kazehaya-kun was calling her by her given name." Sawako then says, "You two seem close." With a shocked reaction, Ume replies, "What? Us, close? No way! We're normal." Sawako, shocked at Ume's words, says, "What!? That's normal!?" Ume realizes she has unintentionally given a standard for Sawako to aspire to and is frozen by frustration. Sawako then continues by saying, "I wasn't aware normal was such a lofty standard! I see." Ume is internally frustrated because despite her efforts, her words have encouraged Sawako to continue to talk with Kazehaya. Sawako then thinks, "I didn't know that. Kurumi-chan is normal, it would be normal for me to get nervous around him." Ume then stands from the bench and says, "All right, why don't we go back?" Sawako says, "S-Sure." While they are walking, Sawako thinks, "At first, I couldn't even say hello decently. That used to be my 'normal.'" Sawako says to Ume, "I get it now. Well, Kurumi-chan. I feel like I've been able to act more positive since speaking with you. Thank you." Ume replies with, "What?" Sawako continues by saying, "My slogan is 'step by step.' I'm still nervous, but I'll try harder." Sawako's words secretly infuriate Ume. Sawako parts with Ume and says, "See you later." Ume tries to stop her by saying, "Sawako-chan!" Sawako then says, "If I keep striving, think I can be like you someday? Oh, I know that's an impossible thing to ask for. I'm sorry. Please forget what I just said." Sawako, embarassed, then runs away from Ume. Ume watches Sawako run away in a silent fury. Everything Ume attempted has failed. Ume has encouraged Sawako to strive harder with Kazehaya.

In the following scene, Yoshida and Yano are discussing Ume. Yoshida tells Yano, "Kurumi is like... how do I say this? Well, this is just referring to middle school, okay?" Yoshida then describes how in middle school, Ume would ask her to introduce female students who liked Kazehaya to Kazehaya. Kazehaya would then reject each girl. This led to a situation where each girl who liked Kazehaya would ask Yoshida to introduce her to Kazehaya. Feeling overwhelmed, Yoshida quits introducing girls to Kazehaya. The girls protest, and Ume takes advantage of the opportunity by making the girls form a pact where they agree that Kazehaya belongs to everyone. Ume cries and says to all of the girls, "It's not Chizu-chan's fault. It's not good for the girls in our class to fight so much. If this is what it's come to... it'd be better if nobody went after him!" Yoshida says to Yano, "I normally don't mind when someone counts on me. And when that girl asked him out, she was totally rejected. I figured it wasn't anyone's fault at that point." Referring to the pact the girls made about Kazehaya, Yoshida says, "Seriously, I couldn't care less. I mean it--I couldn't care less. The girls, afraid Kazehaya would become someone's boyfriend, made that pact. Well, so... she's... not a bad girl, for sure, but... her politicking and pact-forming... Whatever, it's a pain in the butt. I'd rather keep my distance." After hearing about Ume from Yoshida, Yano tells Yoshida, "You were totally manipulated, Chizu. Just from that story, I've basically figured out what type of girl Kurumi is. All right. Let's observe the situation and see if things go as Kurumi-chan plans."

Kazehaya asks the boy's baseball team to take a break. He then goes to bring back drinks. On the way, he sees Sawako watering the flowers. Sawako is reflecting on her past conversation with Ume. She thinks, "I said something pretty shameless. I'm embarrassed." Kazehaya starts a conversation with Sawako by saying, "Kuronuma?" Surprised, Sawako says, "K-Kazehaya-kun." Kazehaya gets nervous and thinks, "Crap... I'm the one who called out to her, but I'm getting nervous." Seeing Kazehaya's nervousness, Sawako thinks, "Nervous? Kazehaya-kun?" Kazehaya says to Sawako, "You know, we haven't really talked in a while." Then Kazhehaya thinks, "Wait, what am I saying!?" Kazehaya then says, "I was going to buy drinks. I just happened to notice you. That's all." Sawako thinks, "Oh. Kazehaya-kun was nervous, just like me." Leaving to buy drinks, Kazehaya says, "Later." Sawako is happy and thinks, "He and I were probably thinking similar things." Kazehaya tells Sawako, "It's been a while since we were at Ryu's." Sawako thinks, "Kazehaya-kun, you laughed." At the same moment, Kazehaya says to Sawako, "You laughed. I saw you smile... for the first time in weeks." Happy at Kazehaya's words, Sawako thinks, "I'm glad." Kazehaya continues by saying, "Oh yeah. Mar has grown big. Maybe... this big? He's such a brat. Once he starts running around in the house, it's pure trouble." Sawako says, "Oh really?" Kazehaya continues by saying, "It's about time to build him a doghouse." Sawako imagines the puppy and thinks, "Mar-chan..." Kazehaya asks Sawako, "You wanna come over?" Sawako nods her head yes. Kazehaya says, "But y'know, Mar's such a lonely little baby. I doubt he'd be able to stay in his house." The camera pans up to show Ume watching Sawako and Kazehaya's conversation, shocked about the recent development between Sawako and Kazehaya. Ume calls out to Sawako by saying, "Sawako-chan!" Kazehaya says to Ume, "Kurumizawa!" Confused, Sawako says, "Zawa? Kurumi-zawa? Kurumi-chan?" Kazehaya then says, "Oh, didn't you know? Her name's Kurumizawa Ume." Sawako says, "Kurumizawa Ume?" Kazehaya nods his head and says, "Right, Kurumizawa?" Ume says, "Yeah." Sawako then says, "Kurumizawa Ume-chan." Sawako then thinks back to when she thought that Kazehaya called Ume by her given name. She realizes now that Kazehaya called Ume by her last name. She thinks, "I see. He wasn't calling her by given name. Kurumizawa... Ume-chan. Ume-chan, then. Huh, Am I... feeling relieved?" Ume then says, "K... Kazehaya, can I borrow Sawako-chan for a second?" Kazehaya replies, "Well sure, I mean..." Ume says, "We need to have a girl talk." Sawako is excited and thinks, "A girl talk?" Kazehaya thinks, "Why am I always interrupted... whenever I'm with her?"

Ume and Sawako are walking together, with Ume walking in front of Sawako. While walking, Sawako thinks, "What could this girl talk be about? I wonder where we're going." Sawko says to Ume, "Well, Kuru... Ume-chan." Ume loses her temper and yells at Sawako by saying, "Don't ever call me Ume!" This startles Sawako. Ume then continues by calmly saying, "Kurumi-chan... Please use that nickname." Sawako then says, "K-Kurumi-chan." Sawko then thinks, "I see. The nickname. I thought I was being too forward and upset her." Ume says to Sawako, "Well, to tell you the truth... there's someone I like. I want us to be an official couple, but I'm not that confident. I was wondering what to do about it. What do you think?" Unsure of what to say, Sawako says, "What should you do!? What should you do, huh!?" Sawako thinks, "I know she's counting on me, but I have no clue!" Ume continues by saying, "Long story short, Sawako-chan, I want you to support me." Sawako thinks, "Me? I can help her?" Sawako asks, "Are you sure I can really be the one to help?" Ume replies, "It's not that you can. I think you should." Sawako thinks, "This is... my first time... to be given such a major role." Sawako says, "I-I'll do my best." Ume replies, "Really? I'm glad!" Sawako then asks, "But what am I supposed to do, specifically?" Ume says, "Don't worry. I'll tell you exactly what to do." Sawako asks, "But... if I get involved in this, don't you think I'll ruin the mood?" Ume responds with, "Of course not. He's someone you know very well. Kazehaya." Sawako is stunned to hear that Ume likes Kazehaya. Ume continues by saying, "The boy I like is... Kazehaya, got it?" This episode ends on a cliffhanger because we don't hear what Sawako says to reply to Ume.

Ume is really trying to manipulate the situation so that she ends with getting into a relationship with Kazehaya. Sawako has Yoshida and Yano to help her with Ume. I wonder what will happen next.