Taketo dropped out of middle school due to struggles with reading and writing, leading him into a life of delinquency. At 20, he begins attending night school but still finds reading difficult after a year. Encouraged by his friend Miura to sell marijuana, Taketo considers quitting school. Meanwhile, a new science teacher, Fujitake, sees Taketo's curiosity and invites him to join an experiment.

Angela attends night school, supported by her husband and daughter. However, she considers quitting, struggling to keep up with the course work. One day, she visits her teacher, Fujitake, in the physics prep room and is surprised to find her classmate, Taketo, conducting a science experiment. Soon after Fujitake encourages her to join the science club, Angela causes trouble at school

Kasumi, a 10th grader at night school, spends most of her school hours in the nurse's office. When the school nurse, Sakuma, shows Kasumi's writing to Fujitake, he realizes how much Kasumi struggles to leave the nurse's office. As he creates an opportunity for her to step out, Sakuma grows increasingly concerned about Kasumi, seeing in her a shadow of a student she once knew.

Taketo, Angela, Kasumi are now waiting for the science club to be official. As they struggle to build an experiment device, Fujitake invites Shozo Nagamine, a student in his 70s, to join and asks him to help the club with his expertise, which he refuses. One day, Nagamine clashes with younger students in class over differing values, making his involvement with the club seem increasingly unlikely.

With Taketo, Angela, Kasumi, and Nagamine, the science club is officially established. Fujitake suggests they attend an academic conference where high school science clubs present their research. However, when they visit one of the presentation events, they get overwhelmed by the high level. Meanwhile, Mai, who works in a hostess club, sees that Taketo is unusually down.

The members of the science club chose the theme "Recreating a Martian Crater" for the academic conference. They realize they need the computer room, with its taller ceiling, for their experiment. Fujitake asks the computer club chief, Kaname, for permission to use the room, but Kaname adamantly refuses. Meanwhile, Taketo finds common ground with Kaname and tries to persuade him.

JAXA announces the launch of the Shinonome Project, the successor to Hayabusa 2, with Aizawa, Fujitake’s college classmate, appointed as the chief of this cutting-edge project. Meanwhile, at night school, the science club is immersed in their own experiments, using devices they've built themselves. Despite minimal funding and equipment, a chemical reaction starts to happen among its members.

Professor Ishigami holds the power over the budget for the "Shinonome Project." At JAXA, Aizawa is tirelessly working to meet the demanding goals set by Ishigami. Meanwhile, the night school science club is starting to feel the pressure of the deadline for conference registration, and Taketo begins to lose his grip on everything happening around him. Then, one day, an incident occurs.

After Kota destroys the experimental device, Taketo clashes with the other club members. With no one showing up, the science club falls apart. Staring at the broken device, Taketo cries, "I thought I was used to giving up." Soon after, he stops coming to school. Reminded of a similar incident from seven years ago, Fujitake regrets having led Taketo down the same path, and he goes to...