Chapter 3:

It's the day of the big showdown, and Fuuko catches Funakoshi up a tree, planning to skip the whole thing. Fuuko says that their class's first match is against Natsuki's class, so the match is right away. As Fuuko is dragging him down, they look to the side, and catch Natsuki and Yumi kissing(while sitting on the wall). They both fall, and Natsuki accuses Fuuko of spying. Fuuko asks what he's thinking, doing that right before their game, and calls him a pervert. Yumi calmly apologizes for having shown them that, and Funakoshi is just silent.

The game starts, Funakoshi praying that it ends safely, and right away Fuuko gets a basket, after shouting for a pass from Funakoshi. Natsuki is pissed that Funakoshi is helping, and Fuuko smugly says it can't be helped since they're on the same team. Natsuki, determined to win, starts to get lots of points, including dunks, and Fuuko realizes that he's using the power, and Natsuki tells her that if it bothers her, she should use it too. So the next time Natsuki goes for a dunk, Fuuko is so determined to stop him that she actually stops the ball with her face, while her whole body is above the net. Fuuko's nose is bleeding, and the referee calls halftime. Fuuko comments that she kind of failed that time, when she notices all the spectators and other players staring at her, wondering what just happened. They all saw her inhuman jump, and don't know what to make of it, but the day is saved when Yumi calmly asks the referee if she can bring Fuuko to the nurse's room, and everybody lets the matter go.

In the nurse's room, Yumi attends to Fuuko, who demands to know why Natsuki can dunk safely and she can't (the first half ended with her making 12 points and Natsuki 16). Yumi says Natsuki practiced a lot until he got the hang of it, adding that the power seems to be stronger in some people(for example, Yumi's is not that strong). Yumi asks Fuuko not to think to badly of Natsuki, because he's just trying to protect Funakoshi. Yumi tells Fuuko that in middle school, a friend of Funakoshi that had the power was walking down the side of a cliff one day and fell off into the ocean, getting hurt, and Funakoshi feels responsible for it. Fuuko recalls his strange expression when she had said that nobody would be hurt by having such a power, and realizes he must have been thinking of that event. Yumi continues that that's why Funakoshi tries not to pass the power on to other people, and Fuuko suddenly asks if the friend was Natsuki. Yumi asks how she knew, and Fuuko replies that when she was talking about the sea before, Natsuki reacted strangely, and she thought that Funakoshi acted as if he felt guilty towards Natsuki as well. While she says this, we see Funakoshi outside listening, and the whistle for the second half goes.

Back on the court, Funakoshi asks if Fuuko really intends to play the second half, suggesting that it might be better if she rested, but Fuuko says now she has more of a reason to win than ever. She thinks that the three of them(Funakoshi, Natsuki, and Yumi) always seemed to have a togetherness that spurned outsiders, and if she wants to get close to Funakoshi, it's not enough that she win over Natsuki, she has to prove toNatsuki and Yumi that she's serious. The second half, Fuuko is all over the place with the ball, running up the fence to get it, and fending off Natsuki with the "Noseblood Tissue Attack"(you have to see it to understand^_-). Finally, with 10 seconds remaining, Fuuko has 25 points while Natsuki has 26. Natsuki, still determined not to lose to Fuuko, jumps up for a dunk...but is forestalled by Funakoshi, who steals the ball! Funakoshi starts to apologize, saying it was instinct, when Fuuko shouts at him, calling him Ruka, to make a long shoot. He does, but when it bounces off the backboard, Fuuko grabs it and dunks right before the whistle blows! Funakoshi, Natsuki, and Yumi are all dumbfounded while the other people are just amazed that a girl dunked, and Fuuko, hanging off the rim, thinks that she got the hang of it. Funakoshi comes up and calls her amazing, even Natsuki took a month to achieve enough control to do that, and Fuuko apologizes for calling him Ruka earlier, saying she wasn't thinking. He smiles and says it's ok, she can call him that, and he'll call her Fuuko, and Fuuko thinks that this is what she wanted, this smile is what caught her in the first place. Then Natsuki calls her ('Nosebleed Buu-ko') and pats her on the head, telling her that she's just letting herself in for trouble by liking Ruka, he's like a balloon that floats around with no set course. Taken off guard at first(she was ready to fight), Fuuko laughs and says she's ready for anything, while in the background a classmate says even if Fuuko won something, their class still lost miserably. Leaving the court, Natsuki asks Yumi if she told Fuuko 'that story', and Yumi says she thought it would be safe with Fuuko, because she's like Natsuki. While Natsuki is offended at this, she adds that that's why she thinks Fuuko will become good friends with Ruka, and Natsuki asks her if that's really ok with her, and walks away.

All changed, Fuuko hears that Ruka has disappeared, even though he was told about the after game party. She sets off to find him, and Yumi lends her her cell phone to call when she does. She's already checked the old school building, and, riding her bike, she wonders where he went, thinking that even though they became friends, she doesn't understand how he thinks, and agrees with Natsuki's assessment of Ruka as a balloon floating around. She wonders if not just his body, but his personality is anti-gravity as well, and then reflects that she doesn't know the actual origin of his power.

Later, Fuuko hasn't found him, and almost gives up but then decides that there's still a ways to go. In front of her, a little girl loses her balloon, and it floats up to the sky. Fuuko thinks 'lightly, lightly' and then jumps up to grab it, vowing to herself that one day she'll catch him. As the little girl looks on in disbelief, Fuuko stays up in the air...and rises...

On his usual big balloon, Ruka wakes up and yawns, thinking that he'll go home and sleep, then looks up to see Fuuko in front of him, who says Ciao to him, still hanging onto the small balloon and going up!