Aoi becomes curious about Hiroomi's secret life and drags Popura into stalking him, despite the fact he is completely aware of it. Later, Popura tries to get Sota to treat Mahiru nicer. Tired of Jun's teasing, Popura tries to get revenge on him which does not go to plan. Meanwhile, Aoi acts very clingy around Otoo after he comes back from his recent trip.

Sōta's novelist sister Izumi enters a slump when she assumes he is dating Popura and will stop paying attention to her. She decides to go on a journey where she ends up meeting Mahiru who helps cheer her up. As Sōta looks after Izumi, Nazuna helps out at Wagnaria, which annoys Aoi who believes she is outshining her. After hearing about it, Nazuna puts on an act to make Aoi feel better about herself.

Popura and Jun end up catching colds due to Aoi's clumsiness, so Kyōko calls in two of her juniors, Yohei and Mitsuki Mashiba, twin siblings who don't get along. When Kyōko offers to put someone else in charge of looking after Inami, Sōta becomes upset and falls out with Inami, but Inami soon manages to build up the courage to make up with him.

Mahiru meets a boy calling himself Kirio Yamada, who she believes might be Aoi's brother. As he is able to withstand her punches, Mahiru ends up conversing well with Kirio, who starts developing feelings for her, but Sōta becomes downhearted when he sees the two getting along. He begins acting strangely the next day and ends up bashing his head against the wall, leading him to think he might've become a masochist. Later, Kozue manages to get the waitresses to dress up in animal cosplay.

Jun takes Yachiyo to buy a cellphone, whilst Kozue takes a liking to Yohei. Meanwhile, Mitsuki becomes suspicious of Jun's familiarity with Yachiyo whilst Yamada runs away after Sōta scolds her.

Mahiru finds herself a bit too close to Sōta for comfort when he tries to stop a tower of boxes from falling on her, which leads her to become a bit fearful of him the next day. This turns into a complete freakout after she discovers Sota touching her head whilst she was asleep and stops coming into work. Later, Poplar gets locked in the freezer and initially suspects Jun, but soon finds Aoi just did it accidentally. After Mahiru doesn't show up at work all week, Sōta goes to visit her in Kotori-guise to apologise and exchange phone numbers.

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.