Without a goal, I kept cycling for the past week. I withdrew money from my account and bought all sorts of things from the 100-yen shop. The compass, map and watch are especially useful which allows me to plan my route more systematically. The most surprising thing I discovered through this journey is that I get hungry easily due to cycling. If I don't eat 5 meals a day, I get the feeling that I don't have any energy. To me, the food I consume is as good as gasoline to a car. An unexpected thing is that there are very little places to spend the night in the open. In such a big country, I still find a place beside a tree or wall so as to sleep in peace. This is the first time I've felt this way ever since I embarked on this trip.Takemoto continues to cycle on his trip to nowhere and has to replenish his water supply at people's houses. To his joy, an old man in the countryside agrees to his request immediately without reservations. On the other hand, people who are more well-to-do tend to view him with suspicions and do not extend a helping hand. After a number of times, Takemoto starts to feel that a person's character can be seen from the house he/she lives in and feels that if he is to be described in the form of a house, he hopes to give people the feeling of warmth.
Meanwhile, Yamada brings her new pottery creations to Fujiwara Design where Miwako marvels that she has improved again. Just then, Miwako receives an email from Nomiya which gives Yamada a startle at the mention of his name. Miwako remarks that Nomiya is being bogged down with work and tells Yamada to send an encouragement email to him. However, Yamada doesn't have a handphone so Miwako offers to type the email on her behalf. Yamada offers her encouragement to Nomiya and tells him to take care of his health. Upon hearing this, Miwako remarks that it's boring and says that she can question Nomiya why he left for Tottori without telling her. Yamada grumbles that Nomiya should have told her about his transfer when they last met but she suddenly realises that Miwako has typed her grouses into the email and is unable to stop her from sending it to Nomiya. When Nomiya reads the email from Yamada, he smiles sweetly but when he receives a subsequent email from Miwako who mocks him for liking a young girl i.e. Yamada, he blushes upon reading that it's not a hopeless situation for them (since Yamada does care about him) which leads Yamazaki to think that something is wrong with him.
Hagu is alone in her studio as she recalls how her professors were angry to know that she was not taking part in some competitions or going overseas for further studies. Kouda-sensei even scolded Hagu for being selfish as she chose to waste her talent by returning to her hometown after graduation. With response to that, Hanamoto stood up for Hagu and defended her choice. He later explained to Hagu that Kouda-sensei responded violently to her choice because she did not achieve her goal to be a painter despite putting in a lot of effort. As such, Hanamoto said that it's OK for Hagu to choose what she wants to do as long as she's willing to take up responsibility for what may come as a result. Unknown to Hagu, Morita is standing outside silently. When she senses that someone else is around, she turns back but cannot find Morita anymore.
Takemoto is wondering what he should do as he has used up almost half of his savings and he cannot proceed further without money. When he sees how some people are responding to his untidy appearance, he starts to recall why he set out on this journey and what he was trying to achieve. He finally decides to return home since he is not sure why he is spending time on this trip to nowhere.
Takemoto comes to Matsushima which is the first tourism spot so far during his journey. He feels proud about making it this far since he has to take a train under normal circumstances to come here. Takemoto wants to enter Buiganji Shrine for a look but drops the idea as the entrance ticket costs 700 yen. This makes him realise that he has not bothered to look at the scenery around him since he was focused on cycling throughout the journey. Just as he makes up his mind to visit some shrines, his bicycle's chain breaks and Takemoto can't believe his bad luck.
Takemoto falls asleep at a shrine and later finds himself surrounded by a group of workers who are having lunch. He is very embarrassed when his stomach growls at the sight of their food. One of the workers, Shin-san offers part of his lunchbox to Takemoto but his co-worker, Rokutaro tries to stop him since he made them. This leads everyone to complain about Rokutaro's lunchboxes. Despite Takemoto's reservations, Shin-san still offers the food to him.
Shin-san explains that they are restoration workers who work on shrines in need of repairs so they do not stay in a place for long. As their boss has gone out, Shin-san has taken over the role of the supervisor. Takemoto offers to clean up the mess after lunch and asks Shin-san for a job since he needs money to repair his bicycle.
Shin-san declares that it's probably impossible to repair the bicycle and is surprised to know that Takemoto had cycled from Tokyo to Sendai. The boss returns at this moment and tells the crew that some of them have to go to Kyoto tomorrow due to something cropping up. This will result in a shortage of manpower for the crew in Sendai. Takemoto suddenly asks the boss if he can be hired but Rokutaro objects to it. The boss gives Shin-san the authority to decide since he has been made the site supervisor. Shin-san agrees to Takemoto's request but reminds him that the work here is tough and the salary is little.
Meanwhile, Hagu asks Hanamoto if Takemoto is fine. Hanamoto says that he's not sure about that. When Hagu remarks that she wishes Takemoto will not feel lonely during the journey, Hanamoto comments that this is impossible since loneliness is like waves which come and go where everyone will feel it at some point in their lives. Hanamoto feels that Takemoto keeps reminding him of his past and thinks to himself that he's probably been feeling lonely for a long time since Harada died.
One day, Yamada is going to Fujiwara Design when she bumps into Rika in the lift and doesn't know how she should react. Upon seeing them together, Miwako gets flustered. Yamada breaks the ice and asks about Mayama who is out for a meeting. This makes Rika realise who Yamada is while the latter is rejoicing deep down that she doesn't have to see them together. Rika is praising the quality of Yamada's creations when one of her high heels break. Yamada mends it for her and Rika says that she will bring it for repairs tomorrow. Upon seeing how Rika treasures her pair of shoes, Yamada starts to feel uneasy when she thinks of Mayama helping her to mend them in the past.
Yamada goes to look for Hanamoto and comments that Rika doesn't seem to be taking care of herself. He says that this can't be helped since Rika can't bear to throw away those high heels as they were a gift from Harada. Yamada feels sorry for Rika who is so pretty and yet she seems to be covered with scars after Harada's demise...
Takemoto's observation about people's characters being shown in how their houses look seems realistic. I guess with more things you possess, the more you will be unwilling to let go or trust people. That is why the rich lady did not offer any water to Takemoto as she was worried about him having evil designs while the old lady in the countryside even parted with food although he only asked for water. To Takemoto, he feels that he aspires to be someone who can offer warmth and assistance to those who needs it thus this seems like a sign that he is starting to know what he aspires to be in future.
For Hagu, it must be tough living up to the expectations of others. She feels sorry about disappointing those who believe in her but she's not prepared to give up her own ideals to compromise. Like what Hanamoto says, there is no such thing as a correct answer but as long as you are prepared to bear the consequences of your choice, nothing should stop you from doing what you want.
With regards to Nomiya and Yamada, I get the feel that they might turn out to be a compatible couple in future. They seem to be able to connect at the psychological level despite their pretences on the surface. When Nomiya blushed at seeing Miwako's remarks, he was so cute! I hope the manga will explore the development of their relationship when he returns from Tottori.
Last but not least, I pity Yamada who had to bear the uneasy feeling of seeing Rika and can understand how relieved she was at not seeing Mayama with her. I think that might have been too much for her to bear since she still has feelings for Mayama. However, Yamada can't help but feel sorry for Rika even though she should treat her with animosity since Rika is one of the reasons why things cannot work out between her and Mayama. I doubt I can hate Rika if I am in Yamada's shoes. It just seems as if Rika is living in so much misery so there's no way I can dislike someone who is constantly in anguish.
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