We open the chapter at the Hanazono Mansion, where Mei and one of the other maids are carrying baking supplies. The other maid trips, but Mei skillfully manages to catch her with her knee while grabbing the supplies the maid dropped. The other maid, Mai, looks adoringly at her and apologizes for always troubling her.
Her good mood is spoiled, however, when Rentarou arrives to free Mei's hands.
Hahari and Hakari are both out of the house that day, so Rentarou and Mei have made a date to bake cakes. Mai plans to sabotage Rentarou's baking in the hopes of causing Mei to be disllusioned with him. Mai also intends to bake a spectacular cake of her own. Sure, she recognizes that she's likely to make several mistakes, but if it's for her dear sister, she's confident that she can bake a fantastic cake. This sentiment is promptly spoiled by her tripping a second time.
As Rentarou prepares the condiments, Mai decides to swap out the sugar with salt. She is quickly distracted by Mei, however, causing her to spill what she's pouring. When Rentarou calls out to her, Mai slips backwards. Rentarou manages to catch her in time and—ZING!!
Mai, who has deliberately avoided looking at Rentarou's face until now, is mortified to realize that he's very good-looking. She tries to remind herself that Rentarou is still taking her sister away from her and jumps away... only to end up slipping again.
Mei apologizes for the trouble Mai has caused. Mai introduces herself as Mei's little sister. Rentarou is pleasantly surprised, but Mei tells him that she doesn't have a younger sister. Mai says that because they serve the same mistress and Mei is her senior as a maid, that's basically the same thing as them being blood related. They even have the same last name, though Mei points out that their names are written with different kanji.
Rentarou tries to help Mei clean up, but Mai jealously jumps in and tells him to keep his hands off. She tries to pummel him, but Rentarou is so used to Karane that the beating feels more like a puppy trying to play. It also doesn't help that Mai keeps catching herself wanting to be held against Rentarou's chest. Mei gives Mai's head a smack, knocking her out.
After putting Mai on the sofa, Mei explains that Mai is the granddaughter of the previous head maid and chose to work at the Hanazono Mansion after seeing Mei at work one day. She only recently graduated junior high and became an official maid the past spring. Mei then leaves to finish cleaning up while Rentarou stays to keep an eye on Mai.
Mai is touched when she wakes up and sees he was keeping watch, but insists that he'll never get her approval to be Mei's lover. This leads a verbal battle where they each brag about how much they know about Mei, something that embarrasses Mei when she returns to the room.
Rentarou is confident that he can come up with a trillion more things to say about Mei, but pretends to have run out when he sees how desperate Mai is to win despite having legitimately run out of things to say. He asks to call it a draw, which Mai agrees to, but says that he won't get her approval unless he can defeat her.
Mei receives a phone call from Hakari, revealing that Hahari has gotten a blister. Mei declares that she'll send a car at once while Rentarou laments that he can't just run there. When he sees Mei fretting over the situation, he says they can take a rain check on the baking and urges her to go pick up Hahari. A grateful Mei leaves. Mai compliments Mei's dedication to Hahari, which Rentarou agrees with, accidentally revealing that he hadn't actually run out of things to say.
Mai demands to know why he threw the match, and Rentarou gives his reasons: He saw how important Mei is to her, even when Mai admits that if she doesn't approve of him, she'll keep trying to get in his way. Rentarou is undeterred; he wants both Mei and Mai to be happy. This flusters Mai, particularly when he admits that he enjoyed talking about Mei with her and wants to meet up with her again. He isn't sure if he's actually hitting on her, but he does find her charming.
Mai finally admits to being in love with him, too. In the same panel, she backtracks, saying that she wants to join the family so she can keep an eye on him and also go on dates with her "sister".
Tropes:
- Backing Away Slowly: Mei's reaction to walking in on Rentarou and Mai exchanging brags about her.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Mai has appeared in the background numerous times before now.
- Crush Filter: Mai ends up seeing Rentarou through this, complete with sparkles, flowers, and a Gaussian filter.
- Faux Horrific: Mei and Rentarou react to the news that Hahari has a blister with the same horror that one would have if they learned a loved one lost a limb. Mei even opens her eyes when she hears it.
- Foreshadowing: Mei's backstory would've prevented anyone from her biological family from knowing what became of her, so it shouldn't make sense for Mai to be her blood relative.
- I Let You Win: Rentarou fakes being out of brags about Mei so that he and Mai can end the competition on a tie. He hadn't intended for her to realize it, but seeing Mei's dedication to Hahari made it slip out.
- Relationship Sabotage: Mai's goal for this chapter. Her attempts to implement it backfire when her clumsiness not only hinders her own ability to bake a cake for Mei, but also leads to Rentarou having to save her, resulting in her falling for him, too.
- Tap on the Head: How Mei knocks Mai out.
