Chapter Summaries

Shizuka Hiratsuka reflected on how teachers could contribute to student bullying and reconsidered her past treatment of Yukino. After an awkward conversation with Utaha Kasumigaoka, Yukino woke up groggy in the girls' dormitory and asked where she was.

• Shizuka Hiratsuka watched the unconscious Yukino and reconsidered Sogo Doma's thoughts about Yukino's ambitions and self-actualization.
• Shizuka realized that a teacher's attitude could encourage classmates to isolate students like Rumi Tsurumi and Hikigaya.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka entered with a basin of water, and Shizuka awkwardly asked her what she thought of Yukino.
• Shizuka and Utaha stumbled through an increasingly awkward exchange about Yukino, romance, and Shizuka's troubles.
• Yukino woke to Shizuka and Utaha, recognized them, and asked where she was.

Yukino Yukinoshita woke after three days unconscious and panicked about stopping Yuigahama. Utaha Kasumigaoka spun a story that Yuigahama's cooking had caused a zombie apocalypse, and Yukino was left questioning what had happened and where Sougo Doma was.

• Yukino Yukinoshita woke and immediately worried that she had to stop Yuigahama.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka told Yukino she had been unconscious for three days and claimed the outside world had fallen after Yuigahama's cooking became a biological weapon.
• Utaha and Shizuka Hiratsuka persuaded Yukino that zombies surrounded them and urged her to look outside through binoculars.
• Utaha claimed Yuigahama's cooking had erased the others' consciousness, while Yukino remained unconscious for three days.
• Yukino asked where the others were and then specifically asked where Sougo Doma was.

Yukino Yukinoshita woke up believing she had been unconscious for days and questioned Utaha Kasumigaoka and Shizuka Hiratsuka about Sogo Doma. Their teasing and evasions convinced her the zombie incident was real, until their explanations unraveled and she confronted them for making fun of her.

• Utaha Kasumigaoka implied that food was scarce and urged Yukino Yukinoshita to eat the last ration, while Shizuka Hiratsuka backed her up.
• Yukino Yukinoshita's stomach growled, and she asked whether Sogo Doma was absent because of her.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka's reaction and Shizuka Hiratsuka's earlier words led Yukino Yukinoshita to believe Doma had also been a victim and that she herself was responsible.
• Shizuka Hiratsuka clarified that she had only said seeing was believing, prompting Yukino Yukinoshita to suspect they had arranged a zombie for her to see.
• Utaha Kasumigaoka blamed Shizuka Hiratsuka for arranging Hayato to dress as a zombie, and Yukino Yukinoshita challenged Hiratsuka for scaring children.

Shizuka tried to guide Yukino and Utaha into a girls’ talk, but their conversation veered from Yuigahama’s cooking to friendships and celebrities. Yukino began to reveal which celebrity Utaha liked, leaving Shizuka’s question unanswered.

• Shizuka argued that people should find paths suited to their talents, while Yukino insisted that hard work could overcome a lack of talent.
• Utaha asked whether Yukino could make friends through hard work, then explained that meeting Sogo and Umaru had changed her view of social talent.
• Utaha revealed that Yukino liked Mr. Pan, and Yukino admitted that she admired his strength beneath his cute appearance.
• Shizuka asked Yukino which celebrity Utaha liked, and Yukino began to answer.

Shizuka Hiratsuka tried to help Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka grow closer by encouraging them to speak honestly about their preferences. A misunderstanding over Utaha’s interest in Mai Sakurajima left Yukino questioning why liking the idol was considered an issue.

• Shizuka Hiratsuka reflected on her reasons for arranging an exchange between Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka.
• Yukino revealed that she had seen Utaha looking up news about Mai Sakurajima, and Shizuka assumed Utaha liked the idol.
• Shizuka urged Utaha to admit her preferences and suggested that people might judge her for liking a female idol.
• Utaha used the misunderstanding to conclude that Mai Sakurajima’s reputation might be poor, while Yukino apologized for exposing her searches.
• Shizuka defended Mai’s reputation, but Yukino challenged her suggestion to set certain issues aside.

Shizuka Hiratsuka tried to bond with Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka by pretending she knew Yukino’s favorite celebrity, Mr. Pan, but learned that he was a panda. Utaha turned Shizuka’s mistake into a joke about their generation gap, leaving Shizuka protesting that she was not yet thirty.

• Shizuka claimed Mr. Pan might have faced bad rumors in the entertainment industry, and Yukino and Utaha revealed that Mr. Pan was a panda.
• Shizuka admitted she had pretended to know Mr. Pan to find common ground with the girls.
• Utaha argued that Shizuka had mistaken Mr. Pan for a new idol because of their generation gap, and Yukino accepted the explanation.
• Shizuka insisted she was not yet thirty, but Utaha and Yukino continued teasing her about the age difference.

Sogo Doma pressed Hachiman Hikigaya to share the story behind his isolation, while Hachiman struggled to make sense of Doma’s chuunibyou claims and odd friendliness. The conversation ended with Doma criticizing Hachiman for agreeing that he was a bad person.

• Sogo Doma called Hachiman Hikigaya the Great Demon King and urged him to share a drink, claiming it was wheat juice.
• Hachiman avoided drinking and agreed to talk about his story instead.
• Sogo asked how Hachiman had become a shut-in who could not make friends, then denied coming at Shizuka Hiratsuka’s request to change him.
• Hachiman accused Sogo of putting on an act around Hayato and the others, but Sogo said he considered Hachiman a friend.
• Sogo asked whether Hachiman feared him and said Hachiman was right to, since he was not a good person.
• Sogo complained when Hachiman agreed with him and said that was why Hachiman had few friends.

Sogo Doma and Hachiman Hikigaya discussed whether Sogo had changed the children’s relationships and why Hachiman remained alone. Sogo challenged Hachiman’s ideal of friendship by asking whether he could promise never to betray a friend.

• Hachiman questioned Sogo about his arrogance and suggested he had affected the children, but Sogo denied doing anything to them.
• Hachiman said Rumi Tsurumi was still alone, and Sogo pointed out that Hachiman had Yuigahama by his side.
• Sogo argued that friendship could begin through contact and even through threats or incentives, citing Hachiman’s admission that they were friends who had met once.
• Hachiman objected that friends should support one another and never betray each other, and Sogo asked whether he could promise never to betray a friend.

Sogo Doma challenged Hachiman Hikigaya’s belief that friendship required unwavering loyalty, arguing that trust was built through time, mutual understanding, and goodwill. He then pressed Hachiman to explain why he had become withdrawn, but Hachiman remained reluctant to discuss his past.

• Sogo asked Hachiman who he would choose in a life-or-death dilemma, and Hachiman said he would reject the conditions rather than choose anyone.
• Sogo argued that loyalty depended on the stakes involved and that demanding no betrayal placed a shackle on friends.
• Sogo asked why Hachiman expected others to promise loyalty when he would not make that promise to a stranger himself.
• Sogo explained that feelings, goodwill, and support could build loyalty through shared time and mutual understanding.
• Sogo admitted he had mainly wanted to hear Hachiman’s story as amusing drinking material and asked why Hachiman had become withdrawn.
• Hachiman avoided answering, and Sogo offered him tea while preparing to make him tell the story.

Sogo Doma tricked Hachiman Hikigaya into drinking strong liquor disguised as oolong tea, then recorded his drunken fantasy about being General Hachiman and defeating the Great Demon King. The conversation ended when Hachiman firmly rejected the idea that the Demon King had abducted Princess Yuigahama.

• Sogo Doma served Hachiman liquor disguised as combustible oolong tea, and Hachiman drank it without realizing what it was.
• Sogo Doma kept Hachiman drinking while recording him, and Hachiman called himself General Hachiman and challenged the Great Demon King.
• Sogo Doma suggested that Hachiman needed a reason to defeat the Demon King, and Hachiman decided to rescue a kidnapped princess.
• Hachiman argued that he could save Princess Peach despite not being a plumber, then became upset when Sogo Doma called him Dead Fish Eyes.
• Sogo Doma suggested that the Demon King had abducted Princess Yuigahama, but Hachiman decisively refused.

While drinking tea with Sogo Doma, Hachiman Hikigaya admitted he kept Yuigahama at a distance because he feared mistaking her kindness for special affection. Sogo told him a story about an office worker who broke from his routine after missing his train stop and suggested Hachiman could choose to indulge himself and change course too.

• Hachiman insisted Yuigahama could not be a princess, then said he would not let her be kidnapped because kind people should be treated kindly.
• Hachiman admitted he hated kind people because he mistook their kindness to everyone for kindness meant only for him, and said that was why he avoided friendship with Yuigahama.
• Sogo challenged Hachiman for wanting to join the in-crowd without taking action, then told him about an office worker trapped in a monotonous routine.
• Sogo described how the office worker missed his stop, reached a seaside station, and became a bear after seeing unfamiliar scenery.
• Sogo suggested the office worker could choose to indulge himself without waiting for God’s arrangement, then compared him to Hachiman.

Sogo Doma got drunk Hachiman Hikigaya to talk about his past feelings for a girl and persuaded him to reconsider what he had seen as her kindness. When Hayato Hayama and the others returned, Hachiman mistook Hayama and then Tobe for the Great Demon King because they were blond, and called Yuigahama Princess Yuigahama.

• Sogo Doma urged Hachiman Hikigaya to take a chance rather than assume he knew what would happen.
• Sogo Doma steered Hachiman into discussing Princess Yuigahama and the girl whose kindness had once hurt him, recording his drunken answers.
• Hachiman said the girl had replied quickly to his messages and told him to go to bed early, and Sogo Doma avoided explaining what those gestures meant.
• Hayato Hayama and the others returned to the dormitory and found Hachiman hugging someone's thigh while protesting that the girl had been gentle.
• Sogo Doma identified Hayama as the Great Demon King, and Hachiman accused the blond-haired Hayama before calling Yuigahama Princess Yuigahama.
• When Tobe entered, Hachiman also mistook him for another blond Great Demon King.

Sogo Doma egged a drunken Hachiman Hikigaya into confronting Hayama and the others with a sword. Back at the dormitory, Yukino Yukinoshita encouraged Yuigahama to keep learning to cook, while Ebina apologized for intervening; Ebina then asked about Miura.

• Sogo Doma described Hayama and the others as blond demons and encouraged Hachiman Hikigaya to punish them for Princess Yuigahama.
• Doma handed the drunken Hachiman a sword, and Hayama and the others backed away as Hachiman staggered toward them.
• After the courage test, Yuigahama returned to the dormitory and was relieved to find Yukino recovered.
• Yukino urged Yuigahama not to give up cooking, while Ebina objected that Yukino was pressuring her.
• Utaha pointed out that Yukino had been trying to help, and Ebina apologized for misunderstanding her intentions.
• Ebina asked what would happen to Miura now that Yukino was awake.

Shizuka Hiratsuka dodged questions about Miura and went to check on the boys, where Sogo Doma had coerced Hayato Hayama and the others into drinking with Hachiman Hikigaya. The chapter ended with Tobe asking whether Doma was demanding a token of allegiance.

• Shizuka Hiratsuka claimed Miura had probably recovered and sent Utaha Kasumigaoka with Yui Yuigahama and Ebina to check on her.
• Yukino Yukinoshita criticized Hiratsuka for giving alcohol to Sogo Doma, and the group discussed his threats and unfiltered remarks.
• Hiratsuka changed the subject and said she would check on Hayama and the other boys.
• In the boys' dorm, Tobe and the others drank with Hachiman Hikigaya while Doma pressured them to join Hachiman's side.
• Doma split an empty beer can with a finger-blade gesture, and Tobe asked whether joining required a token of allegiance.

Sogo Doma got the boys drunk and recorded Hayato Hayama drunkenly revealing that he liked someone called Yukinoshita, while Hachiman and the others teased Tobe about his blond hair. Shizuka Hiratsuka arrived and confronted Doma about the underage boys drinking, but his claim that they had chosen to drink left her uncertain.

• Shizuka Hiratsuka entered the boys' room and found Hachiman berating Tobe for dyeing his hair blond while Hayama and the others drunkenly agreed it did not suit him.
• Hachiman teased Tobe about blond men being prone to NTR, and Tobe wondered whether Hayama would be stolen from by another man.
• Sogo Doma asked Hayama who he liked, and Hayama said it was Yukinoshita before abruptly changing the subject after Hiratsuka coughed.
• Hiratsuka demanded to know what was happening, and Doma argued that he had not forced the boys to drink.
• Doma offered Hiratsuka tea and insisted the boys had drunk voluntarily, leaving her to wonder if they had been curious about alcohol.

Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka found Sogo Doma and a drunken crowd in the boys’ dormitory, while Sogo dodged questions about how Shizuka Hiratsuka got drunk. Yui Yuigahama arrived to apologize for Miura, leaving Yukino about to ask about Yui and Ebina.

• Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka arrived at the boys’ dormitory and found Shizuka Hiratsuka and the others drinking heavily while Sogo Doma remained sober.
• Yukino asked Sogo what had happened, and he questioned why she and Utaha had come before they discussed her clash with Miura.
• Sogo claimed he had evidence that blondes were loser dogs, then complained that Hiratsuka had barred him from staying in the girls’ dormitory.
• Yukino pressed Sogo to explain Hiratsuka’s drunken state, but Yui Yuigahama arrived and interrupted them.
• Yui apologized to Yukino and Utaha on Miura’s behalf, and Sogo mocked Miura as a blonde loser dog.
• Yukino told Yui she did not need to apologize and began asking about her and Ebina.

Yui Yuigahama visited Sogo Doma, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Utaha Kasumigaoka to apologize for Miura, and Sogo explained how social standing shaped the labels people gave Yukino and Hachiman Hikigaya. The conversation left Yuigahama and the others considering why their classmates described the two loners differently.

• Yuigahama was surprised that Yukinoshita had memorized Ebina’s name, and Kasumigaoka learned that Yukinoshita deliberately remembered people she might meet.
• Doma teased Yukinoshita by calling her Hirano Yukinoshita, then complained that he could visit the boys’ dorm but was barred from the girls’ dorm.
• Yuigahama explained that Ebina had asked her to apologize for Miura, who had been upset because classmates compared her to Yukinoshita after Yukinoshita transferred away.
• Kasumigaoka questioned why Miura would resent the comparisons if Yukinoshita’s absence made them easier to bear.
• Doma connected Yukinoshita’s reputation as aloof to her high standing at school and contrasted it with the gloomy labels classmates used for Hikigaya.

Sogo Doma explained why Yukino Yukinoshita was treated as a counterpart to Miura by discussing status, forcefulness, and how people idealized what they had lost. He linked the comparisons to Sobu High’s poor showing on the last regional joint exam, leaving Yukino and Yui Yuigahama to consider what had happened.

• Sogo Doma asked Yui Yuigahama to compare how people treated Yukino Yukinoshita and Hachiman Hikigaya, and pointed out that Yui had known more about Hachiman than she let on.
• Yukino identified attitude as the difference, and Sogo explained that Yukino’s top grades gave her the standing to act forcefully, while Hachiman lacked the capital to do the same.
• Sogo said students had elevated Yukino’s status and chosen the popular Miura as her counterpart, then explained how people missed what was gone and idealized it.
• Sogo suggested an event tied to the group had prompted the comparisons, and Yui revealed that Sobu High had been badly beaten in the last regional joint exam.

Yui Yuigahama apologized to Yukino Yukinoshita on Miura’s behalf and asked Sogo Doma to help her check on the boys in their dorm. Doma joked around and revealed that his efforts had led to the chaotic gathering inside, then Yui concluded that he had been acting for Hachiman Hikigaya’s sake.

• Yukino accepted Miura’s apology through Yui, while Doma and Utaha Kasumigaoka teased Yukino about her generosity.
• Doma suggested going to the girls’ dorm, but refused to help Yui call Hikki and the others out of the boys’ dorm.
• Yui realized Doma had caused Hiratsuka-sensei and the others to end up in a lively gathering with Hikigaya at its center.
• Doma retold his story about an office worker and guessed that Hikigaya had become a bear, prompting Yui to say that Doma and Hikigaya understood each other.
• Yui explained that Hikigaya had told her Doma’s methods inspired him to find a way to help a little girl, and Doma accepted her interpretation.

Yukino and Utaha revealed that Sougo had succeeded in changing Rumi Tsurumi’s situation, though Rumi had chosen not to fit in with the group. The conversation then turned to the drunken boys and Shizuka Hiratsuka, leaving Yui wondering what had happened inside.

• Yukino told Yui that Rumi had chosen not to join the group, and that Sougo’s plan had succeeded.
• Sougo argued that personal choices had no right or wrong answer, prompting Yui to worry that Hikki might avoid making friends.
• Yui asked what had happened when Sougo and the others turned into bears, but Sougo refused to explain and suggested asking them the next day.
• Sougo invited Yukino and Utaha to play training-camp games, but Utaha warned that leaving Hiratsuka with the drunkards could lead to trouble.
• Yukino and Utaha implied that the boys were drunk and questioned what Hiratsuka had become, while Sougo speculated that she had found her prey.