Miho and the others finally get around to doing tankery, and practice moving to and firing at a target. They hit a snag when Hitomi is unsure of what shell to load, but manage to hit it.
Miho and Emi are impressed with Chihiro's prowess as the gunner. The latter gets annoyed when Hitomi is proud of Chihiro, insisting Hitomi needs to try harder herself, while Hitomi complains. Emi mentions that they are working as a team, with specific roles; Emi is the driver, Chihiro is the gunner, Hitom is the loader, and Miho is the commander.
Miho proposes coming up with a team symbol, saying that her sister's team has one, and Hitomi is quite enthusiastic.
The next day, Miho sees Chihiro and Emi talking, something she says is an uncommon sight, but Emi tells her to listen to what Chihiro has to say. Miho then hears that Hitomi might quit tankery, and while Chihiro suggests that this sounds like a surprise, she says it has happened before.
A flashback ensues of Hitomi asking to join Chihiro in soccer, Chihiro's sport of choice, saying that it looks "cool". Hitomi, however, not only fails to kick the ball, but falls flat on her face in the process, as Chihiro recalls that sports are not her forte.
An unspecified number of days later, Hitomi fails to show up for practice, and knows that this is not the first time. Stopping by her place to find out if anything's wrong, Chihiro finds Hitomi working on a uniform, and searching for a reference. Shortly thereafter, her interest has shifted to idols.
Chihiro says that Hitomi goes through many phases as far as her interests go, and they must keep her occupied so that her interest does not fade away. At that point, Emi comes in with some illustrations, and no one can think of any particularly strong praise to give them.
The other three confer under a tree, with Miho wondering what they can do, but Emi saying that if she lacks commitment, she should just quit. As Emi's answer depresses Miho, Emi turns to Chihiro for suggestions, only to find that Hitomi has not stuck with anything before. Emi grouses about how Hitomi is "such a pain," and is "selfish" for quitting like that, but while Miho is shocked, Chihiro sighs and says that this time, Hitomi's bad habits are the problem.
Chihiro does, however, add that if they lose a person, they won't be able to do tankery anymore, an interesting observation, and one that goes a long way in explaining why Miho is not in favor of leaving others behind. Miho has a deep understanding of how valuable each member is, especially in a team as shorthanded as Oarai.
Miho, likely following such a line of logic, decides to come up with something that there's only four of, and that all four of them can find together. Whispering to each other, Chihiro is enthusiastic about something that forces Hitomi to work together with the others, but Emi is more skeptical.
The four of them go to the tank at Miho's house, which is "a big hunk of steel" with parts that are, at minimum, the size of a bowling ball. Miho proposes using something like a screw, but Emi says that they can't carry that around. Their search turns up nothing, but Hitomi decides to come up with something on her own, making it by hand if necessary. Miho, horrified at how this will likely lead to Hitomi getting sidetracked, proposes that they do tankery together, but Hitomi decides to go home, having gotten a burst of inspiration.
The next day, Hitomi makes something that looks like a four-leaf clover. She gives one to Miho and offers another to Chihiro, while Miho laments that they don't talk much about tankery anymore.
Miho shows it to Emi, who's a bit surprised with Hitomi's talent, but insists that Miho talk to her. Hitomi walks by, saying that she's going to go make the rest of them, and Emi storms off, not seeing any point to staying around.
While walking home, Emi grouses about Chihiro is not saying anything, before noticing Hitomi in the park.
Back at school, Chihiro learns about Emi storming off from Miho, and they sit down together. After a bit of awkward silence, Chihiro returns to her story from before. She recalls that, like Emi, she told Hitomi that she was selfish for quitting something because she wasn't good at it, reducing Hitomi to tears and causing her to promise to find something that she's good at and can stick with. Chihiro knows they need Hitomi, and knows that she has to say something, but doesn't know what.
Miho shows Chihiro the accessory Hitomi made, and Chihiro's impressed. Miho says that someone with a passing interest couldn't do this well, and that Hitomi worked hard on it, for their sake.
Emi, walking in with Hitomi, confirms this, saying that she found Hitomi in the park and interrogated her, learning that she's been practicing to break her habit of quitting hobbies. Hitomi apologizes to Chihiro for making her worry, saying that she wanted to surprise the others, and make her talent with handiwork useful to them. Chihiro says that she's the one who should apologize, and that she wants to do tankery with Hitomi. Miho and even Emi are pleased, and Chihiro tells Hitomi not to cry.
Chihiro decides to call it a day, but Emi says she has an idea. She says a throat mic- which the narration points out are useful for communicating inside a noisy tank- is the perfect thing, being small enough to carry around, coming in a set of four, and fitting Hitomi's accessory. The others praise her, but Emi gets quite embarrassed, insisting that it's just an idea.
As the sun is setting, and they decide to bring the four throat mics, someone, pulling a suitcase, greets Miho, asking if she's not home yet. Miho recognizes the voice and the speaker as her older sister, Maho. In a bit of a minor note, Miho calls Maho by her first name rather than "Onee-chan" or the possible equivalent, "Sis", which seems like an odd choice forthe translators.
The omake shows Miho with Blank White Eyes, getting extremely excited that her sister is coming home. Considering that most of the sisters' encounters in the anime were awkward, seeing them meet on good terms is quite touching.
This chapter was an interesting look at the team dynamics. It seems as though there's more interaction between the members, than among Anglerfish Team, and their personalities play off of one another better. By contrast, in the main series, there was relatively little interaction between Hana and Mako, and between Yukari and everyone besides Miho.
Next Installment: Emi's antipathy towards Maho threatens to drive a rift between her and Miho.
