Takemoto starts to work for Shin's team where he earns 4200 yen per day. As he is in-charge of the workers' meals, Takemoto has to wake up at 5.30am to make breakfast and finish the cleaning-up after dinner which makes it a 16-hour work day. However, he is content with this lifestyle since he gets to enjoy 3 proper meals and can sleep on a mattress which he has not done so since he embarked on the self-discovery journey. Nevertheless, Takemoto feels that he isn't of much help to the team because the knowledge he acquired in school isn't applicable in real-life. Thus, he can only prove himself by making good food for the workers who are full of praise for his culinary skills except for Rokutaro who keeps grumbling. This makes Takemoto extremely happy as he doesn't feel that he's sponging on the team for nothing and has a skill which can be of value to them. Shin brings Takemoto to look for a new bicycle which costs 43,000 yen so he has to work for 10 days in order to come up with the money. Since he has spent 2 days with the workers, Takemoto would have to stay for another 8 days before resuming his journey. Although Takemoto was full of apprehension when he left his apartment, he feels at peace now when he sees the happy faces of the workers.
Meanwhile, Hagu is in anguish over what to do with her future while Hanamoto looks on worriedly. Morita is also concerned about her but he chooses to brood over it alone instead of talking to Hagu.
Rika goes to Fujiwara Design for work matters and asks Miwako about when Yamada will be here. Miwako gets flustered and tries to sound out why Rika is looking for Yamada. It seems that Rika wants to get Yamada to make some pottery for her but Mayama didn't want to introduce her to Rika by saying that Yamada is busy. As such, Rika has no choice but to go through Miwako instead. Just as Miwako is unsure of what to do, Yamada runs into the agency and exclaims that she made some really nice pieces of pottery. When Rika calls out to Yamada, the latter is surprised by her presence.
Mayama goes to Hanamoto for advice since Rika wants to work with Yamada and he's really uncomfortable with this situation. Miwako had suggested that Mayama should let Yamada see him with Rika so that Yamada may give up. Hanamoto feels that this is a feasible option but Morita pops out from nowhere and says that this won't work since Rika doesn't treat Mayama as a prospective suitor. This will boost Yamada's confidence that she still stands a chance. Mayama clarifies that Miwako's advice wasn't meant to be interpreted like this as she had said that Yamada might get disappointed with him if she sees how hard he's trying to please Rika.
Yamada is thinking about her conversation with Rika and wonders how Mayama speaks of her in front of Rika. At the thought of Mayama expressing sympathy for her, Yamada decides to shake off this pessimistic thought because she knows that he is not this kind of person. In fact, his evasive attitude in preventing Rika and Yamada from meeting should be a gesture of goodwill to make Yamada feel better.
Mayama reveals that he's getting confused about the whole situation where Hanamoto says that this is normal since people may not understand themselves at times. Hanamoto feels that Yamada's obsession with Mayama could be infatuation at first sight but Mayama doesn't know how to change her mindset. Morita suddenly comments that he knows about Mayama's concern for Yamada but it might be in Yamada's best interests for her to learn how to cope. Hanamoto questions Morita for not doing anything to help Hagu which leads the latter to change to his cheeky self and escape from having to answer this question. Hanamoto doesn't understand why Morita has to put up a pretence when he cares for Hagu but nobody knows that Morita is adopting this stand because of Takemoto's presence.
During dinner, Takemoto is elated to see everyone enjoying the food he cooked and feels at ease when he is of use to others. This leads Takemoto to feel that it might be good to stay on so that he can continue to be happy. Suddenly, Rokutaro scolds Takemoto for being a hypocrite by smiling all day long and the latter should have left long ago since he made enough money for the new bicycle. This sours the jovial atmosphere at the dining table where the workers realise that Takemoto should have continued with his journey. Takemoto explains that he didn't have any purpose when he started riding on his bicycle since he was lost about not having any concrete plans about his future. He realises that he can hear the sound of the fridge's motor again just like what prompted him to leave his apartment when he faced the empty fridge.
Rokutaro mocks Takemoto for wasting his good fortune by agonising over such trivial things. In actual fact, Rokutaro had to work since he was 16 and didn't have the time or luxury to think about such things. As such, he gets irritated at the sight of Takemoto since the latter gives him the feeling that he's just a spoilt brat. Just then, the boss returns and stops Rokutaro from ranting further because it is not acceptable to grumble about his circumstances as if the others are living privilleged lives. The boss then tells Takemoto to leave tomorrow so that he can find out how far he can cycle instead of wasting time with them here. Takemoto then thinks of the boss' words about the fact that there might not be an answer waiting for him but he can try to go as far as he likes so that he feels contented.
Shin comes to look for Takemoto at the beach and takes him along for a game to test his guts. They head for a wooden bridge where the spaces between each plank is so wide that someone might fall into the river if he misses his footing. Shin says that Takemoto is scared because he keeps looking downwards. All he has to do in order to overcome his fear would be to look forward but he still has to look at his steps sometimes. Shin compares this walk to stepping on the white lines of the zebra crossing but Takemoto feels that Shin is too relaxed about this. Shin says that he has been walking on this bridge since he was a child. Although he is scared of heights, he actually made himself walk on this bridge while he was young so as to convince himself that he wasn't scared of anything. Shin almost fell from the bridge if not for his school bag which saved him.
Takemoto and Shin comes to a shrine where the latter tells him to draw a divination lot since Rokutaro has come to pay for him as an apology for what he said during dinner. Rokutaro tries to hide his uneasiness while Takemoto accepts his apology readily. On the way back, Takemoto feels that walking on the bridge is no longer as scary as it seems.
The next day, Takemoto reveals that he plans to go to Wakkanai in Hokkaido (the northern point of Japan) where his colleagues give him some parting gifts. Just as Rokutaro is going to send Takemoto to the shop to pick up his new bicycle, Shin brings his old bicycle fitted with some bags at the side for Takemoto so that he can save his money for his meals. It is revealed that Shin also took part in a self-discovery journey while he was in university which was how he met his current colleagues. Shin also advises him on how to cope with his journey which makes Takemoto feel very grateful and promise to return to see them on the return leg. As he bids farewell to his new friends, Takemoto continues his journey and is not as concerned about finding an answer like he was initially...
As usual, a very good episode with lots of thinking points. First of all, Takemoto's view about feeling happy when he is of value to others strikes a chord. Well, if you do not feel that your work or life is helping anyone or has a value, there is no way you can be happy. It's as if you are living your life in vain. Previously, Takemoto was lost because he didn't feel that his presence mattered to anyone. However, during his work at the shrine, seeing how happy people were when they ate his food convinced him that he's useful after all. I can identify with that to a certain extent but I also think that it's better not to harp on this too much especially in terms of work because nobody is indispensable. From my personal experience, even though I may have been important to a company during my employment there, leaving would not be so serious that the operations come to a stall. As such, I've learnt that it's probably better not to overestimate my importance and not belittle myself too much. It's really hard to strike a balance.
Talking about Morita's attitude towards Hagu, he is concerned for her but he doesn't do anything to help her. Hanamoto cannot understand his attitude but I guess Morita wants to be fair to Takemoto. Morita knows very well that he can take advantage of Takemoto's absence and probably be together with Hagu since they both have feelings for each other. However, Morita treats Takemoto as a close friend so he can't bring himself to make use of Takemoto's weak point for his personal interests. That is why he has to distance himself from Hagu even though he cares and wants to help her. I'm sure he must be torn between friendship and love so he chooses to evade Hanamoto's question even though he was providing advice to Mayama with a serious look just seconds ago.
Last but not least, the bridge seems to be an analogy with reference to life. On one hand, you can't be looking at your feet when you walk since this will make you fearful of progressing. On the other hand, if you look ahead only, you might fall. That is similar to life when you can't be harping on the current situation and should try to move on so that the future holds better prospects. On the other hand, focusing too much on things which have yet to materialise will result in wastage of time in the present which leads to the inability to achieve the things you aspire to do in the future.
Every time I watch Hachikuro, there are so many things to consider and a lot of times, I see a reference to what I'm experiencing at the moment or may have gone through before. Although I'm not involved in any love triangles now, I find the troubles of the characters very real and easy to understand. Anyone who's been through school, love or work should be able to identify with the themes presented in this anime.
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