The famous Tsubame West High School Festival is off and running, and we get a little taste of everything before settling on Mitsumi’s POV as she watches Takamine continue to struggle with having a much more laid back bro as the president. That said, Kazakami puts a nervous prospective student at ease by making chatting with her about studying.
Sousuke does his thing on the stage, and his uneasiness looks like more than just acting. When Mitsumi is on break, she’s unable to speak to him, and indeed the two never interact this week, which is a bit of a drag. Mika seems ready to hang out, but then two of her middle school friends appear and she ditches Mitsumi, leaving her feeling a little lonely in Tokyo.
Fortunately, Mika is not Mitsumi’s only friend! She visits Yuzuki in the art club exhibition, where Yuzuki is exhausted and disheartened by having to fend off boys who want her name and number. But Mitsumi gives her a much appreciated assessment of her painting of her Yorkie.
When Makoto comes through with her friends, those friends interact with Yuzuki the exact same way Makoto did when they first hung out. Makoto realizes this, and knows it gets Yuzuki down, so she does her best to cheer her up by telling her friends all about her.
When Yuzuki’s on break, the three have some churros on the roof and are soon joined by “Sister” Mika. They all acknowledge that it’s been “just” six months since they all became friends, but Yuzuki thinks it doesn’t seem like it’s been that short a time. Such is their rapport and ease with one another as friends.
The first day ends without incident, but people from Sousuke’s life make the second and final day a little more hectic. First, his mom shows up, for reasons we’re not quite sure of. Within five minutes of arriving, lil’ Keiri wanders off and gets lost. Hey, it happens. I used to wander off so much my mom put a leash on me!
Kei doesn’t panic when he notices his mama isn’t around. He knows she’s headed to Sousuke’s class, so he goes there too, only he’s the first to arrive, and is welcomed by Sousuke’s kind and friendly classmates. They quickly realizes Kei is lost and keep him occupied while his mom and brother are tracked down.
Sousuke has been ensnared once again by Kanechika, only this time to watch his drama club performance. Sousuke’s face is a noh mask of ambiguity throughout, though the way the shots are composed afterwards when he’s watching Kanechika interact with patrons seems…almost wistful. Kanechika is hoping to get Sousuke’s opinion of his performance and script, but Mukai informs him of Kei’s whereabouts and he takes off with him.
Sousuke didn’t even know his mom was coming, and tells Mukai that he’s not great around kids and doesn’t think Kei wants anything to do with him. Mukai assures him, even with his limited knowledge of Sousuke’s family, that his baby bro 1000% cares about him.
Mukai is proven correct when Sousuke arrives in the room, Kei spots him, and immediately bursts into tears and runs to bawl in his legs. Yamada opines that Kei was being a brave trooper all this time, but seeing his little bro broke the flood gates.
He also says Kei takes after Sousuke in that they’re both too considerate to others. Sousuke realizes Kei may have been acting the way he did out of consideration, not disinterest. He picks an elated Kei in his arms and they head out to the hallway to wait for mom.
Corralling their mom falls to Mitsumi, though by the time she finds her Sousuke has already called her to assure her Kei is found and safe. As Mitsumi escorts her to the classroom, Mom notes how nice everyone is and how fine a school it is. But then she happens to cross paths with Saijou Ririka, and the look on Sousuke’s face suggests it probably isn’t going to be an affable affair. Heck, it might not even be cordial!
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