S2E04 Somersault Turn of Promise!/Plot

Gou Matsuoka has gathered the members of the Iwatobi High School Swim Club and is conducting a surprise bento check as she wants to ensure that their diet is balanced. The bentos are not up to par, with Nagisa Hazuki scoring the worst. Gou takes it upon herself to show them how to make a perfect bento.

While playing scissors-paper-stone to decide who will get the last can of soda, Sosuke Yamazaki and Rin Matsuoka recall a previous time when they played a similar game. Rin lost a race and promised to do whatever Sosuke wanted. The promise still stands as Sosuke never got the chance to ask Rin before he left for Australia. Kidding aside, Sosuke seriously questions Rin why he stopped contacting him. Rin shares with him the obstacles he faced while abroad and how his friends eventually saved him.

Gou shows the team the bentos she has prepared. While Nagisa likes the food, Haruka Nanase and Makoto Tachibana find it inedible. Rei Ryugazaki asks why Rin did not swim the relay with Sosuke, since they are best friends. Gou explains that the only relay they swam went badly, so they did not try another. Rei becomes more confused, wondering about Rin's transfer. Nagisa tells him that he asked Rin the exact same thing when they were younger. At that time, Rin said that it was best for them to not be on the same team because they knew each other too well.

While jogging, Rin and Sosuke see Aiichiro Nitori swimming alone. Sosuke asks Rin which is more important, his dreams or his friends. If it is his dreams, he should use all of his time for his own improvement instead of obsessing over his friends and the relay. Rin disagrees, stating that swimming with his friends is the source of his strength and he is going to show Sosuke that he can have both his dreams and the relay with his friends. Sosuke requests that Rin count him as one of his friends, too, as he wants to swim in the relay. Rin recalls from their last relay that Sosuke thinks of swimming as an individual sport and that they are better off not teaming up as Sosuke wants to be only responsible for himself. Sosuke responds that he is different now and that swimming the relay with Rin would enable him to understand something, even if he does not know what that something is right now. Sosuke tries to use the promise that is owed to him, but Rin clarifies that members are selected through their timing. Since Rin currently holds both the freestyle and butterfly record at Samezuka Academy, they have a race so Sosuke can potentially win his spot.

The next day, Rin tells the Samezuka Swimming Club that he is changing the way members are selected for the relay. Members can now choose to not participate in the relay as Rin only wants members who are serious about joining. Rin lets the team know the importance of the relay to him and his desire to swim with team members who truly wish to be there. Anything less would be meaningless, even if they won.