Ichika and Rio go to Okinawa for a school trip. Masuda ends up coming along with one of his seniors at work to be their camera guy on their trip. Rio had been sending pictures to Ryo from their trip, which ends up reminding Ryo of Kai and he gets worried. Meanwhile, Ryo ends up picking up an anime keychain that his coworker Matsushima Arie had dropped and she asks him to not let anyone at work know about her hobbies, and he has something nice to say in return...

Kai goes to the bookstore to buy the new volume of "Forward World." When he gets there, he sees Ryo and immediately tries to avoid him. He remembers what Rio said about her brother to him and feels a little down, but when he goes in to grab one of the copies of the new volume, his hand touches Ryo's hand. Meanwhile, Arie manages to secure the new volume at another store and she runs into Ichika. They realize they have the same favorite character and end up bonding. On her way home, Arie is thinking of Ryo and she realizes something.

Arie tells Ryo that even if she knows that he has a crush on someone else, she wants to do everything she can to get him to like her. Ryo considers the fact that if he went out with Arie, society wouldn't care, but if he were to actually date Ichika, their age gap may end up hurting her, so his heart starts to waver. But then, Masuda who was over at Ryo's apartment to have some drinks with him, also tells him he needs to stop being selfish and be a better person. Meanwhile, Ryo's father finally returns home, and...

A few days after they went flower viewing, Ichika is anxious because she hasn't heard from Ryo since and she decides to talk to Rio about it. Rio tells Ichika that she should try contacting him herself, which Ichika is rather nervous about. Rio tells her that she feels sorry for her brother because Ichika won't make up her mind on how she feels about Ryo. Ichika builds up the courage and finally calls Ryo, but he tells her that he's busy with work and won't be able to talk to her for a while as if he's trying to keep his distance from her...