At this point the drill with Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is very well-established. Longer, occasionally serious arcs interspersed with multiple episodes of lovable dorks being lovably dorky. We’re solidly in one of those interludes now, and the last two episodes have enthusiastically embraced the concept. Presuming this season runs two cours as the first three did (though the last two were only 21 episodes) there’s one more significant arc on tap. But it doesn’t look as if it’s going to start next week.

First up, a follow-up to last week’s three-way lovefest. Azz, drunk on euphoria at Iruma having called him his best friend, calls a meeting of the Misfit Class. Ostensibly to declare that everyone is Iruma’s friend and to offer his (rather scary) definition of what that means. In truth this seems mainly to be a chance to declare that he and Clara (that part has to gall him a bit) are Iruma-kun’s best friends while everyone else isn’t. I’m actually surprised everyone was as agreeable with that as they seemed to be. Especially Lead-kun and now Purson, who have reason to feel closer to Iruma than the rest of the class (apart from you know who and who).

When it’s pointed out that Garp and Agares are more like “friends” with the Class B girls and that makes the misfits their “best friends”, Azz and Clara do circle the wagons around Iruma. Then everyone tosses Iruma into the air like 300 times for no reason and stresses him the hell out. At this point the focus shifts to Lead, who’s feeling rather salty that everyone else seems to be making progress on the fiirtatiion from except him. So he calls a boys-only meeting to strategize about how he can get closer to Nee-san, which is met mostly with bemusement.

Lead actually does have a fair bit to be salty about – he didn’t even get any skinship in the “Lilith’s Carpet” performance (unlike Sabrock, for example). The whole “Nee-san” think is more fitting with Lead-kun than anyone else, because he basically gets little brother-zoned by everyone in the class. Half-humoring him, the others offer some date suggestions but it’s pretty clear Lead is nowhere near ready to swim in that end of the pool yet. Once that becomes obvious he suggests a treaty where all the guys swear not to put the moves on her.

That all goes out the window though, thanks to an assist from Clara. She overhears Lead talking to himself about getting Elizabetta’s contact info and being utterly tactless, she just asks Elizabetta on Lead’s behalf. With that success Lead has manages to climb one tiny step on the road to adulthood. But he’s still too much of a kid to have any idea what to say to her, even in a text message – and so convenes another meeting to try and figure that out.

Su…ki…ma