Chapter Summaries

Sogo Doma tricked Sonoko Machida into bringing sample copies of Utaha’s new book to his home, then found Utaha absorbed in a game with Umaru. Sonoko confronted Utaha about being blackmailed, while Umaru readily blamed Sogo, who remained unconcerned.

• Sogo Doma pressured Sonoko Machida into handing over the sample copies by claiming Utaha was waiting for them and accusing Sonoko of not caring about her.
• Sonoko realized Sogo had guessed she planned to deliver the copies by asking Utaha to meet her, and reluctantly brought them to the Doma Residence.
• Sonoko found Utaha Kasumigaoka playing a game with Umaru and was surprised by Utaha’s uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
• Sonoko told Utaha that she had been worried after hearing a reader had blackmailed her, and Utaha awkwardly agreed that Sogo had acted that way.
• Umaru backed up the accusation by saying Sogo had taken Utaha’s phone and covered her mouth, while Sogo stayed unbothered.

Sonoko Machida warned Utaha Kasumigaoka and Umaru Doma that Utaha’s final volume would stir up controversy, though Utaha remained satisfied with her ending. At the Doma residence, Utaha fulfilled her bet by wearing a bunny girl outfit, and she and Sogo Doma shared a kiss.

• Sonoko Machida brought Utaha Kasumigaoka advance copies of her final volume and warned that its release would cause controversy.
• Umaru Doma became distracted by Machida’s warning, took the advance copies to her room, and left Sogo Doma and Utaha together.
• Sogo Doma told Utaha he wanted advance copies to share with his many acquaintances and asked when she would fulfill her bet.
• Utaha put on the bunny girl outfit for Sogo, and they shared a chocolate biscuit stick before kissing.

Sogo Doma and Utaha Kasumigaoka teased each other about their relationship while she wore a bunny girl outfit, but Umaru Doma’s arrival interrupted them. Umaru and Utaha then asked Sogo what he thought of the final volume they had written together, only to learn he had not read it.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka challenged Sogo Doma over his claim that Mr. Knight’s ulterior motives were her fault, and he praised her bunny girl outfit.
• Sogo Doma joked that he had changed from an Onion Knight into a class that followed the princess, then called his words a confession to Utaha Kasumigaoka.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka teased Sogo Doma and declared that he was hers before Umaru Doma called for them from downstairs.
• As Umaru Doma came upstairs, Sogo Doma used a curtain to conceal Utaha Kasumigaoka’s bunny girl outfit before Umaru entered the room.
• Umaru Doma said she and Utaha Kasumigaoka had found nothing inappropriate in their final volume, and Sogo Doma admitted he had not read it.

After Utaha Kasumigaoka's controversial third volume sparked public outrage and social upheaval, Sogo Doma took her in at the Doma Residence. Utaha and Sogo confessed their feelings and began dating.

• Sogo Doma reassured Utaha Kasumigaoka that her book had not caused couples to break up, though it had helped some people recognize their sexuality.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka found an angry crowd outside her apartment, so Sogo Doma invited her to move into the Doma Residence.
• Shibuya passed a bill permitting same-sex marriage, while Umaru Doma worried about the unexpected consequences of the book she and Utaha had written.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka told Sogo Doma she wanted to write a new story, and he kissed her as they discussed its protagonist.
• Sogo Doma told Utaha Kasumigaoka he liked her, and they agreed to become boyfriend and girlfriend.

As the final volume of Love Metronome continued to drive readers toward yuri and fuel public backlash, Sogo Doma struggled to keep Utaha Kasumigaoka safe at the Doma Residence. He began to suspect that Umaru’s role in creating the book’s plot had been far more significant than he realized.

• The final volume’s influence kept growing, prompting readers to search for its author, Utako Kasumi, and turning former critics into devoted yuri fans.
• Sogo Doma had Shaqiang erase Utaha Kasumigaoka’s personal information online, while Utaha remained hidden at the Doma Residence after readers found and swarmed her old apartment.
• Sogo worried that Utaha could eventually be recognized by a reader and decided they needed to divert attention from the final volume.
• Sogo wondered whether Umaru had come out after remembering Ako Tamaki’s claim that she was U, M, R’s wife.
• Sogo asked Utaha whether she had noticed the final volume’s strange power while discussing its plot with Umaru.
• Utaha asked Sogo whether he also believed the final volume had magic, as its influence had already helped bring same-sex marriage legislation in Shibuya and prompted protests in Ginza.

Sogo Doma learned that Umaru’s opinions had helped inspire Utaha Kasumigaoka’s influential final volume, which favored romance between its female leads. To counter its effects, Sogo began writing sugary romance, but the work’s strange influence reminded him that he belonged to the abyss.

• Sogo Doma asked Utaha Kasumigaoka how Umaru Doma had influenced her plot, while Umaru announced that lawmakers in Ginza were discussing same-sex marriage.
• Umaru explained that she had thought Naoto was unworthy of Sayuka and suggested many plot developments focused on the two female leads instead.
• Sogo realized Umaru’s ideas had helped shape Utaha’s final volume and decided to counter its influence with sweet romance.
• Sogo shut himself in his workroom and rapidly wrote romance using borrowed memories and his own additions.
• As Sogo sensed a chaotic influence in his writing, he recalled an octopus twisting into an S and a B and reassured himself that he was ordinary.

Sogo Doma tried to reassure Umaru that she was not responsible for the impact of Utaha’s final volume, but Umaru proudly revealed how many girls she had recruited into gaming. The chapter left Sogo stunned by the size of Umaru’s gaming team and her plans to bring in even more players.

• Umaru arrived while Sogo was trying to take responsibility for the ideas she had shared with Utaha, and Sogo argued that Utaha alone had decided how to write her story.
• Sogo reminded Umaru that Utaha’s popular final volume had made her famous, while Umaru worried that the readers’ reaction had distracted Utaha from games.
• Umaru said she had introduced Mai to video games and formed a team with Mai and Ako, alarming Sogo because Ako had once been Umaru’s online spouse.
• Umaru revealed that Erina wanted to join the gaming team and listed Secretary, Rindou, Momo, Kinokuni, Kaoru, and girls from her class among its players.
• Sogo asked whether Umaru was building a harem, and Umaru insisted that she was only helping girls enjoy gaming.

Sogo Doma reassured Umaru Doma that he would address the effects of Utaha Kasumigaoka’s final volume with a story promoting an opposing ideology. He explained that he planned to write sugary romances about a devoted male lead and an emotionally intelligent female lead, leaving Umaru skeptical about his approach.

• Sogo Doma worried that Umaru Doma’s suggestion had influenced Utaha Kasumigaoka’s final volume and helped fuel public support for same-sex marriage.
• Umaru Doma said her all-girl gaming team regularly topped the PVP rankings, while Sogo Doma doubted that ordinary players could challenge him.
• Sogo Doma set aside the gaming discussion and told Umaru that he would handle the situation surrounding Utaha’s final volume.
• Umaru Doma was surprised that Sogo Doma had written a long piece, and the two teased each other about his laziness and his “rotten apple” metaphor.
• Sogo Doma described his story as sugary romances featuring a devoted male lead and a highly emotionally intelligent female lead, and argued that devoted men could end up with everything.

Sogo Doma and Umaru teased each other about boys, luck, and romance, while Umaru revealed she had used hair wax to sabotage his hair. The chapter ended with Umaru criticizing the long title on Sogo Doma’s laptop as he defended it as a light novel trend.

• Umaru explained that Tomoya Aki fit the contradictory, insecure-and-arrogant type and said he had stopped attending school after Sogo Doma intervened.
• Umaru called Sogo Doma the single-for-life type, and their argument escalated into a playful scuffle.
• Sogo Doma discovered that Umaru had put hair wax on her hands to turn his hair into a bird’s nest.
• Umaru noticed the long title on Sogo Doma’s laptop and questioned it, while Sogo Doma defended long light novel titles as a trend.

Sogo Doma defended his absurdly long light-novel title to Umaru by explaining how it could attract readers. Their argument about whether Saitama became strong because he went bald ended with Sogo using Umaru’s hair wax on her too, leaving both siblings with bird’s-nest hair.

• Sogo explained to Umaru that a long, attention-grabbing title could make readers choose his book over Utaha’s.
• Umaru boasted that her special hair wax would make Sogo strong enough to defeat any enemy with one punch if it touched water.
• Sogo and Umaru argued over whether Saitama became strong because he went bald, with Umaru claiming baldness was the cause.
• Sogo said he was already strong but admitted he could not jump from their house to the moon like Saitama.
• Sogo found Umaru’s hair wax and styled her hair with it, giving her the same bird’s-nest hairstyle as his.
• When Umaru challenged his claims about Saitama, Sogo replied that he was only a storyteller and knew nothing about him.

Umaru confronted Sogo about sabotaging his appearance and questioned why so many women had moved into their home, while Sogo defended taking Utaha in for her safety. She then accused him of having a troubling habit of bringing women around, listing several of his acquaintances.

• Umaru revealed that she had tried to ruin Sogo's image with hair products, and Sogo angrily demanded to know why.
• Umaru explained that she was suspicious of Sogo's closeness with Utaha and worried that women kept moving into their home.
• Sogo defended Utaha's move by pointing out the danger posed by her obsessive readers, and Umaru admitted she could not rest easy if Utaha lived alone.
• Umaru said she still could not trust Sogo's character and listed Kazusa, Mai, Teacher Kirisu, Ako, and others who had come to the house.
• Umaru asked whether Sogo knew the housekeeper Aoyama, and Sogo reflexively answered with her full name.

Sogo Doma and Umaru Doma argued over whether his bringing girls home made him a harem protagonist and whether he was behaving responsibly toward Umaru. The dispute ended with Umaru lamenting that Sogo had stolen her Water-Activated Hair-Loss Wax and put it in her hair.

• Umaru accused Sogo of having a harem-protagonist setup and said she needed to ruin his handsome image to protect Utaha.
• Sogo rejected the idea that the girls he brought home were victims and threatened any boys or men Umaru might bring home.
• Sogo argued that mature men would respect Umaru’s studies and not distract her, then told her she could no longer play games.
• Umaru pointed out that Sogo had encouraged her gaming despite her being at a crucial stage and having perfect exam scores.
• Umaru said Sogo’s looks were his only advantage over harem protagonists, then complained that he had stolen her hair-loss wax and put it in her hair.

Sogo Doma distracted Umaru Doma from plotting against his appearance by convincing her that a past hair-washing incident had been terrifying. As he approached to wash her hair, Umaru revealed she had found a book Sogo had hidden.

• Umaru said she wanted to reduce the number of girls she considered Sogo's victims, and Sogo changed the subject to the antidote for her hair wax.
• Sogo offered to wash Umaru's hair and hinted that she had forgotten a dark memory from an earlier wash.
• Umaru grew frightened and concluded that Sogo had once used her as a hair-washing test subject.
• Sogo admitted to himself that he had never washed Umaru's hair and used the story to unsettle her.
• Sogo insisted on washing Umaru's hair, and Umaru said people who promised to be gentle usually broke their word.
• Umaru revealed that she knew this from a book Sogo had hidden, leaving him shocked and asking when she had found it.

Sogo Doma tried to deal with Umaru Doma after she read his hidden manga, but Utaha Kasumigaoka and Mashiro Shiina turned his messy hair into a joke about fashion. The chapter ended with Mashiro sincerely wanting to copy the hairstyle.

• Sogo carried Umaru downstairs to wash her hair after discovering she had read his hidden manga.
• Utaha praised their messy hairstyles and suggested Sogo keep his bird's-nest look as a fashionable expression of individuality.
• Umaru joined Utaha in urging Sogo to keep the hairstyle, while he tried to argue his way out of it.
• Mashiro asked whether Sogo and Umaru had been electrocuted, then called the hairstyle cool and asked to try it herself.
• Sogo told Mashiro that she and Utaha shared a sense of aesthetics, and Mashiro smiled at finding a kindred spirit.

Sogo Doma tried to stop Mashiro Shiina from copying his hairstyle, only to discover she wanted to draw it as an example of a deliberately unflattering look. After the joke, Sogo carried Umaru to the bathroom to wash her hair, and Utaha misunderstood their intentions as Mashiro watched in confusion.

• Mashiro asked whether Sogo, Umaru, and Utaha would keep their hairstyles, then revealed she wanted to draw them as models.
• Mashiro explained that Sogo’s hairstyle would make a manga protagonist look cooler by making him seem like a clown, and she had hoped Sogo or Utaha would model it.
• Sogo tried to persuade Utaha to get the hairstyle, but she refused and called it a bird’s nest.
• Sogo carried Umaru to the bathroom to wash her hair, while Umaru called for Utaha and Mashiro to rescue her.
• Utaha misunderstood Umaru’s pleas and told Mashiro to return to her room.

Utaha Kasumigaoka misunderstood why Sogo Doma was taking Umaru to the bathroom and tried to protect her. Sogo revealed that Umaru had put water-activated hair-loss wax in his hair and that he had taken it from her, leaving Utaha and Umaru convinced he was still awful.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka believed Sogo Doma was forcing Umaru to bathe with him and persuaded Umaru to tell Mashiro Shiina they were rehearsing.
• Mashiro Shiina returned to her room, and Utaha confronted Sogo about forcing Umaru.
• Sogo pointed out Umaru had given him a bird's-nest hairstyle, while Umaru insisted she had done nothing wrong.
• Sogo threatened to make Utaha try the material in their hair and warned Umaru not to interrupt.
• Sogo revealed that Umaru had used water-activated hair-loss wax on him and that he had taken the wax from her.
• Utaha and Umaru agreed that Sogo was awful when he asked if he was really that bad.

Sogo Doma brought Umaru Doma to the bathroom to test her hair-wax antidote and wash her hair, while Utaha Kasumigaoka watched. The chapter ended with Umaru enjoying Sogo’s head massage so much that Utaha wondered whether it was really that comfortable.

• Sogo reminded Umaru that she had given him the antidote, then explained to Utaha how it neutralized the hair wax’s water-triggered reaction.
• Umaru warned that her hair wax could make Sogo permanently bald, but Sogo refused to trust her and insisted on testing the antidote.
• Sogo applied the antidote to Umaru’s hair while teasing her about using increasingly frightening methods.
• Sogo began washing and massaging Umaru’s head, and Umaru eagerly asked him to continue despite her earlier protests.
• Utaha watched Umaru enjoy the massage and wondered whether it was really that comfortable.

Umaru and Utaha learned that Sogo had written a first draft meant to lessen the fallout from Utaha’s final volume, and they went to his workroom to read it. Instead, Umaru teased Utaha about the contents of Sogo’s computer, and Sogo caught them before they could explain themselves.

• Umaru asked Sogo whether she had really lost her memories before, and he teased her while washing her hair.
• Umaru asked whether Sogo’s new writing could reduce the impact of Utaha’s final volume, and Utaha learned he had already completed a first draft.
• Utaha asked to read Sogo’s draft, and Umaru joined her; twenty minutes later, Sogo was left washing antidote out of his hair alone.
• Umaru and Utaha went to Sogo’s workroom, where Umaru revealed that his draft was on the desktop and joked about searching his computer for adult material.
• Sogo entered the workroom and found Umaru and Utaha teasing each other, then explained that men washed and dried their hair faster than women.

Sogo Doma confronted Utaha Kasumigaoka and Umaru Doma after catching them trying to search his laptop, but his truth-inducing stare made them reveal their suspicions about his hidden adult videos. Their talk about a signed manga by Kashiwagi Eri left Sogo worried that Umaru had gotten the wrong idea about him.

• Sogo Doma called out Utaha Kasumigaoka and Umaru Doma for changing the subject, then demanded to know what they had been discussing.
• Umaru accidentally admitted that she and Utaha wanted to find secrets on Sogo's laptop, and Utaha blurted out that they expected to find adult videos.
• Sogo denied keeping such videos, but his stare made Umaru reveal that she had found a signed manga by Kashiwagi Eri hidden among his belongings.
• Utaha and Umaru discussed Sogo's connection to Kashiwagi Eri while Sogo explained to himself that the manga was a piece of nostalgia and worried about his image.

Sogo Doma tried to explain that he had brought home Kashiwagi Eri’s manga to support her, while Umaru Doma and Utaha Kasumigaoka teased him about his past and his suspicious familiarity with its contents. The chapter ended with Sogo insisting he had read the plot for its artistic merit, accidentally insulting everyone who had read it.

• Sogo Doma said he had supported Kashiwagi Eri by accepting a copy of her manga, and Umaru accused him of secretly getting close to its artist.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka revealed that Kashiwagi Eri was a beautiful girl, prompting Umaru to recognize her as the girl Sogo had once tricked into apologizing by showing her panties.
• Umaru and Utaha questioned Sogo about the old incident, and Umaru let him off after he said he could not remember what panties Eri had worn.
• Sogo scolded Umaru for trying to find porn on his computer, but Utaha caught him out when he instantly recalled Airi’s father’s name, Akizuki Kozo.
• Sogo claimed he had read the manga’s plot only to support Eri and appreciate its artistic merit, leaving Utaha offended by his suggestion that other readers viewed it with a dirty gaze.