It’s nice every once in a while for my slice-of-life to have some actual plot development in it, especially when it involves Satou Jun and Todoroki Yachiyo, the Working! couple only to Inami+Takanashi in will-they-won’t-they teasing. So ingrained in the show is their hair-pulling futility, that it feels like a HUGE victory when Satou finally, finally asks Yachiyo out for a drink when they both have the day off.
Yachiyo, for her part, is super-excited and super-nervous, as much as someone who never fully opens their eyes can be. She’s wanted to go drinking with a friend for ages, but has no idea what it entails (besdies the drinking, obv).
So she seeks out advice from the staff, along with Kozue, who gets it into the tragically impressionable Yachiyo’s head that new underwear and removing the top layer are of the utmost importance when drinking alcohol. Usually keeping his big sis in check, Souta keeps his distance from this one, but the other ladies are reeled in for their two cents. Yachiyo settles on “normal” underwear, as suggested by the normal-obsessed (and rarely-seen) Matsumoto.
Just seeing Satou in something other than his chef’s jacket, and being reminded how nicely Yachiyo’s katana goes with anything, is an unparalleled pleasure. How many years have we been waiting for this momentous occasion? I was downright giddy. Even better, once Yachiyo drinks, she’s neither a sad nor angry drunk; but mostly the way she usually is, which means she’s prattling on about Kyouko and parfaits as usual…
…Right up until, to Satou’s shock, she changes the subject to something else, of her own accord! To his horror, that subject is underwear, and when he learns where she got her advice, he knows immediately his date’s been tampered with.
Despite this, they both have a good time, because, well, why wouldn’t they? They like each other! Yachiyo earnestly, sweetly thanks him for the good time, and whether it’s the alcohol pumping up that earnestness or intended to have platonic overtones, she wishes he’d stay with her forever. Hearing those words moves Satou to immediate action in the form of a big ol’ HUG and a big ol’ confession to go with it.
And while he blames the alcohol for his forwardness, he doesn’t retract what he said, but sticks by it, every word. At this point, both of these lovebirds are pretty sloshed, and while slinking away, Satou realizes he needs to call a cab for Yachiyo, whose legs have given out. She seems relieved by the chivalrous gesture.
The A-plot was obviously fantastic start-to-finish, but it was also supported by a serviceable B-plot in which Yamada, like Yachiyo, consults most of the staff on a matter of utmost importance to her: how to get Souta to pet her again. The first time he did it cast as spell on her, and she simply wants, nay, needs to be pet more. She tries getting into position, but is asked to move; she ties a chick to her head, but he only pets it; she actually works hard for once, but he only feels her head for a fever.
Finally, Inami (whom Yamada half-joked as her romantic rival) does what Yamada should have done from the start, but couldn’t because of her low standing with Takanashi: simply ask him to pet her. The final twist of the knife is Takanashi being unable to pet her the same way he did the first time, because only Popura can bring out his Petting A-Game. Get your head out of the gutter!
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