Hiroko and Arima ride off together. Hiroko tells Arima that he's not happy with the results of the music competition. Arima tells him that he shouldn't have come to the competition in the first place, since he wasn't there to win anyway. He tells Hiroko that he should try harder in the future, since it's impossible for a hero to break through in the music world. A little boy comes up to Hiroko, and Hiroko asks him what he was doing out there. The little boy says that he saw Hiroko playing for a split second and that he was depressed. He says that Hiroko's smile is fine after his first loss in the competition. The narrator tells the little boy that the competition is a sacred place for music, and that everyone calls him a "ma chine" .