Takemoto tells his friends about Morita leaving for USA due to work and that it is not known when he will be back. When the group goes to Morita's room to see the range of high tech equipment inside, Takemoto suddenly asks Hagu whether she hopes for Morita's return and she says that she does not want Morita to return now as he can finish whatever he has to before coming back. This takes Takemoto by surprise as he continues to be in turmoil over Kaoru's question of whether he wants Morita to return. He is also unsure over what answer he was expecting from Hagu in the first place when he asked her that question.Meanwhile, Yamada is wondering if she's such a failure for not realising that Hagu likes Morita despite being friends with her for so long and living with her for 1 year. Mayama tries to console her but she feels that he's making fun of her for being insensitive to the happenings around. The two are actually making pottery for Mayama's work requirements at the university and he jokes that she can asks for anything in return for helping out. Yamada thinks to herself that she hopes to get Mayama if he can grant her wish. In the end, they agree that it's better to leave Hagu alone for the time being since she seems to be rather unsure about love at this stage.
Hagu goes to inform Dange-sensei about Morita's trip and he remarks that Morita is like an overly-packed train where he's bursting with talent and potential. As such, he already knows that it's no use trying to stop Morita from doing what he wants and seems to accept his sudden departure with stride. Dange-sensei reveals that although Morita may seem disinterested in many things, he pays a lot of attention to what Hagu is making especially after he saw her make a giant sculpture despite her being petite which makes Hagu very surprised.
Upon hearing Dange-sensei's words, Hagu decides to buck up and do her best in whatever she does. Takemoto passes by the office and goes to take a look at Hagu who is focused on her painting. Somehow, Takemoto seems to see Morita's serious expression when carving his sculpture as he observes Hagu. This makes him sense a widening distance between him and Hagu and Morita as he thinks to himself that if Hagu had cried her heart out while wishing for Morita's return, this would have made him felt better.
During summer, the shiso planted on Yamada's balcony has a branch split at the top and her mother tells her to remove the broken branch so that the shiso can continue growing. However, Yamada is reluctant to do so as she feels that the leaves on the split branch indicate a form of life and it's not easy to throw them away easily.
Hagu continues to work on her creations with a lot of enthusiasm and this makes Yamada and Takemoto worried whether Hagu's working too hard recently. In order to get Hagu to relax herself, Yamada suggests going to the local fireworks festival tonight and offers to lend Hagu a yukata. Takemoto calls Mayama to invite him and Yamada is very excited at the prospect of seeing him. However, Mayama says that he has a celebration party at work and this makes Yamada very disappointed. Upon seeing this, Hanamoto decides to take advantage of Mayama's weakness of being left out by his friends and the latter falls for the trick and agrees to come for the fireworks festival.
Yamada brings Hagu back home to try on yukatas and Yamada's aunt gives her a mature-looking yukata which emphasizes her assets. Hagu wants to follow Yamada's style but due to her size, most of the yukatas are too big for her and she has to settle for a kid size kimono on the cute style.
Yamada and Hagu are on the way to the fireworks festival by the river where Yamada expresses her doubt over whether she looks good. Hagu, Takemoto and Hanamoto all compliment her for being very pretty but she seems to be unconvinced. When Mayama praises her for looking good, Yamada thinks to herself that she had taken so much effort to doll up just for Mayama's sake and hearing his compliments mean much more than hearing it from others. She hopes to change Mayama's feelings for her little by little but she starts to cry while thinking why she keeps holding on to this dream given the low likelihood of it ever coming true.
A few days later, Yamada sees that the shiso's stem has broken again as it cannot withstand the weight of the split branch but she still cannot bear the thought of removing the split branch. It's the same as her love for Mayama which she can't stop her pining for him...
With Morita's absence, things seem to get a bit moody and serious since he's always fooling around with everyone.
Hagu's response to Takemoto's question was kind of unexpected. It's as if she has grown up overnight and know that there's no point crying over anything. Besides, Morita won't be able to come back or know about her wishes even if Hagu really wants him to return since nobody knows where he has gone. While treasuring her memories of Morita, Hagu has found strength to embark on her creations with renewed vigour. It's no wonder why Takemoto feels left out because Hagu's newfound enthusiasm stems from Morita and they seem to be linked through this strong bond especially now that Hagu knows that Morita has cared for her since a long time ago. It would disappoint Morita if Hagu does not work hard during his absence.
The analogy of the split shiso's stem seems so fitting in Yamada's situation. She knows that it's better to stop pining for Mayama and move on but it's easier said than done since she has loved him for such a long time. And seeing how the shiso had suffered from her reluctance to nip the problem in the bud, I wonder if this will make her realise that the situation would not improve despite her continuing to love Mayama who only has eyes for Rika or she will continue to hold on to the feeble hope.
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