A big part of this volume is the conflict between Rioh and Tsukasa. For she believes in Tsukasa and wants to rise with him as her coach. After all, it was Tsukasa that believed in Inori before her mom or Hitomi did. Rioh talking bad to him hurts her. So she wants to stick with him even if everyone else will say you should find a coach who had results on the ice. Although her being able to land a double axel on land is one proof of it. Even if the funny part is that being able to do it on land is harder than doing it on ice.
Though for Tsukasa as Hitomi mentions, he will always find the best in others. At the same time, he will find the worst in himself, and words are tough to reach him. In fact, his conversation with Rioh even highlights that because the farthest he went was preliminary. That is something he can’t shake off overnight, and that will stick with him. He is an example of a great coach despite not having the best results of a player to back it up. At the same time, this is the one flaw Rioh has. He wants to be taught by the best, even if he won’t admit it. Though his goals make that clear. His mindset is to catch up to Hikaru, who is a prodigy. He will naturally try to mimic Jun rather than his father for those reasons. His father cares for him, but I can only guess his style of coaching isn’t what Rioh needs. Meanwhile, Tsukasa is the type of coach that will believe in his students. Much like how Inori needed someone to believe in her due to her confidence issues, Rioh needs someone for pure moral support.
Tsukasa’s performance left a big impression on Rioh in many ways. Considering his age, him pulling off a jump is super impressive. As Hitomi mentions, his ice skating is where Tsukasa shines. This is where Tsukasa needs to have more confidence in himself because he delivered a wonderful performance. So Rioh finally can put his trust in Tsukasa. Which is a big thing going forward.
It is interesting to note how important ballet can be for ice skating. No surprise Inori wasn’t aware of this, and the best she can do is build her foundation for it. We all know she will put the effort into it. It is just about her grinding to get to that level. For Mittens, the ability to practice ballet was always there, but she chose not to do it. It makes sense, as kids always want to do the flashy stuff and what builds up to that flashy stuff. It is good for her to realize she can’t change the past. Furthermore, it is really cool to see how Inori, Mittens, and Rioh are pushing each other. Even more so, seeing Rioh have confidence in herself is nice to see, as it shows Inori got his respect. Now we’ve got both Inori and Rioh taking their next steps. Rioh can advance to level 6 and really shows how great of a coach Tsukasa is for him. For Inori she can finally compete against Hikaru.