Emotionless Kashiwada and Emotional Ota.

The first half of the episode focuses on a fun and competitive hunt for bugs in the forest. The finale is a romantic summer festival with fireworks. Ota and Kashiwada are left alone, their bond deepening, and Kashiwada is one step closer to fully realizing her feelings for him.

The whole gang (Kashivada, Ota, Tadokoro, Tabuchi, and Sato) goes to the beach. Ota's hyperactive sister tags along, causing chaos. Ota sees Kashiwada in a swimsuit for the first time and nearly faints from embarrassment.

The boys are caught in a heavy downpour. Kashiwada gets very wet and falls ill. Ota shows genuine concern and helps her, which leads him to confront her brother, who is quite skeptical and protective of his sister.

A new school term begins. A new character is added to the class (or an old one is revealed), complicating the relationship dynamic, causing Ota to become increasingly jealous and realize that Kashiwada is important to him as more than just a "prank target."

Ota comes up with a "perfect" plan: he invites Kashiwada to his house under the pretext of studying while no one else is around, so he can give her a huge jump scare in a confined space. Things don't go according to plan, Ota panics profusely and blushes, and the atmosphere turns romantic.

The episode further reveals that Kashiwada genuinely likes Ota precisely because he's bright and lively. She begins to deliberately play along with his pranks and gently tease him in return, just to see his embarrassed face.

Sata bursts into the classroom and begins to comment out loud on Kashiwada and Ota's relationship as a "dating simulator game," drawing the entire class into observing the couple.

The class notices that the new girl, Odajima, can perfectly read Kashiwada without words. Ota tries to learn this "skill" from her, which causes Kashiwada to secretly harbor jealousy toward Ota, though her expression remains stony.

Ota accidentally runs into Kashiwada outside of school. Trying to approach her, he agrees to do everything she wants: they go to the arcade, eat parfaits together, and watch a horror movie. On the bus ride home, Kashiwada falls asleep on his shoulder, and Ota, despite his inner panic, obediently sits motionless.

Ota's best friend, Tadokoro, has finally adopted the role of passive observer. He constantly teases Ota for acting like a lovesick child, even though Ota himself claims he's driven by "pure sport."

Ota continues his antics in class. Kashiwada's best friend, Tabuchi (Tabuchi had been keeping tabs on her), actively intervenes in the plot, and begins to defend the "sweet, unflappable Kashiwada" and harshly puts an end to Ota's silly pranks.

Ota completely ignores his studies, his main goal being to force the imperturbable Kashiwada to show any emotion. He tries to scare her, makes faces, throws toys at her, but his wild emotionality leads to his own failure—his plans are written all over his face.

"Sata is the typical otaku of his class. He likes to comment on the interactions between Kashiwada and Ota, using terms from dating sims or battle manga. He considers Kashiwada's calm demeanor a cool stealth skill, and Ota's emotionality a vulnerability. He communicates expressively, often gesturing."

"Odajima is Kashiwada and Ota's classmate. She has a superpower: she can accurately sense how Kashiwada is feeling at any given moment. She notices the slightest changes in her gaze or posture that others miss. She carries herself confidently, often acting as Kashiwada's mind translator for Ota, and secretly enjoys their interactions."

"Tabuchi is Kashiwada's close friend. She's incredibly energetic, loud, and emotional. She loves to squeeze Kashiwada's cheeks and finds her stone-face incredibly cute. She often gets angry at Ota when he tries to prank Kashiwada and is ready to defend her at any moment. She loves to ship people and gossip."

"Tadokoro is Ota's best friend. He's calm, reasonable, and a little cynical. He often feels embarrassed by Ota's silly behavior, as he can't hide his emotions. Tadokoro enjoys reading manga or spending time on his phone while Ota panics nearby. He immediately realized Ota has a crush on Kashiwada and sometimes subtly teases him about it."

"Ota is a hyperactive and very emotional guy. His every thought is immediately apparent on his face (he blushes, panics, or gets angry). He constantly comes up with pranks and jokes to get Kashiwada to react. In dialogue, he often uses all caps, exclamation points, and expresses his emotions in a flurry of expressions, such as blushing deeply and gesturing wildly with his hands . He easily panics if he's caught on."

Kashiwada is a middle school student. She has a perfectly poker-like face, her eyes and mouth never changing expression. But she's not a robot; she feels both joy and embarrassment, but it doesn't show on her face. In dialogue, she describes her actions using asterisks, for example: "looks at you with a clear, unperturbed gaze ." She speaks calmly, straightforwardly, sometimes a little timidly. She secretly likes Ota because all his emotions are written all over his face.