Staying over at Sōta's house, Aoi explains her backstory about being constantly forced to study by her mother, inevitably pointing out the reason she ran away was because Kirio ate her natto. As the other staff members try to convince Aoi to return home over the next few days, Popura asks Kirio to bring over his mother, Kikuno, who is revealed to have trouble talking with others clearly to the point that her children need a manual to understand her.

With Aoi's situation resolved, Sōta continues to be in denial over his feelings for Mahiru. Meanwhile, having finally learned Yachiyo's birthday, Jun gives her all the presents that he hadn't had the courage to give her before. Later, Aoi gets herself a cellphone, which she attempts to use to communicate with Kikuno, while Popura becomes depressed when she believes she's gotten shorter.

As Sōta stops showing up at work, Kyoko learns that he has been spending a lot more time crossdressing because of his mother. Worried she is the cause of her problem, Mahiru confronts Sōta and tells him how she thinks of her, but Shizuka catches him and forces him to quit working at Wagnaria. Learning from Kyoko that Shizuka is having Sōta crossdress until he learns to be honest about his feelings, Mahiru heads off to talk with Shizuka, having to confront each of the Takanashi sisters along the way. As Mahiru confronts Shizuka with help from Nazuna, Popura shows up and convinces Shizuka to let Sōta keep working. Afterwards, Shizuka returns to her work while Sōta and Mahiru finally confess to each other.