Ah yes, a shout into the wilderness that is the Shinigami Bocchan post.  We didn’t any new piano masterpieces this time, but we did get another rock solid episode.  The usual formula was very much at work here – a fluffy intro, a meaty plot insert, and a romantic flourish.  Quite the sandwich that is, though this time there was a little hot sauce on top with that twist at the end.

For fluff, it’s Caph and Viola joining Alice for a little gal party at her (very) humble abode.  I never did quite understand why Alice slept in a shack when even the detached estate is still a honking big house (nor why she couldn’t just use one of the spare bedrooms after her roof caved in).  The episode proper kicks in when Daleth shows up at the main house, pretty much literally pining for Walter in the rain.  There can be no question she’s fallen hard, and his guileless chivalry does nothing to discourage those feelings.  She knows her way around the house already – she says she used to spend a lot of time there “when it was lively”.  But Walter replies that his father has been in the hospital for a very long time, and his mother doesn’t like people (with one exception that we know of).

Sharon is very much on the mind here, as Alice finally confronts Rob about what she’s learned.  Rob is pretty non-committal – He admits that he covered up what really happened, and that he saw the witch sisters take Sharon away, but claims to know nothing beyond that.  He also talks about the bonds of affection between Sharon and his old master (Ginga Banjou).  He was the one who found Rob at his lowest ebb and offered him a job – the rest is history, as they say.

Daleth, meanwhile, seems to be trying very hard to turn over a new leaf (I think we can guess what the impetus is).  She goes to Zain to make peace with him, telling him that the two of them ought to be friends because they can help each other.  Zain is understandably skeptical, but when she challenges him to ask Bocchan for himself, Zain realizes the witch is telling the truth.

Back home Caph is once again visiting the detached estate solo, this time as part of a mini-surprise party Bocchan is throwing for Alice’s 2nd anniversary at the house (Caph doesn’t quite grasp the concept).  When that party is over Alice (and Bocchan) return hime to find her roof caved in – which Keto promptly offers to fix when she shows up (this is all rather more a mundane process than one might have expected from a witch – she even breaks a nail).  But the new pad does look like quite a considerable improvement over the old one.

Finally, Hugo runs into some of his old pickpocket gang while tagging along with Caph and Zain.  Their ridicule of the circus angers him and Hugo gives chase, but they run into a strange duo before he can catch up.  One of the pair (Fujiwata Natsumi) looks like a young boy, and his silent companion about Rob’s age.  But whoever they are, they make quick work of the pickpockets in the name of “just scaring them a little”.  Entrances like that aren’t set aside for one-off characters, so this is obviously a significant moment even if it’s impossible to guess why at this point.