Episode 4

Synopsis
Ryuuichi and Hayato advance to high school, and thanks to Kotaro, Hayato joins the Babysitting Club. Ryuu falls ill, and the chairwoman, Saikawa, and Kotaro all help him recover.

Act One
Ryuu indirectly speaks to his father and mother, telling then that it really feels like spring. Hayato walks down the hallway, saying goodbye to Ryuu. Ryuu smiles as he turns and tells his parents that they are now high school students. Every transitioning high schooler must choose a club, so the bulletin board is completely covered in flyers for each club. Ryuu had drawn a poster for the Babysitting Club, but there is little room left on the board. Naturally, Ryuu is sticking with the Babysitting Club. He walks towards the daycare center, and Kotaro stops coloring and calls to him. Kotaro slowly runs towards him with his arms outstretched, but the other children sprint to Ryuu and jump on him, causing him to fall down.

Ryuu drops the poster, which lands on Kotaro's head. Usaida squats down as he looks at the poster and reads what it says. Ryuu asks Usaida to take it off Kotaro's head before reading it. Usaida asks Ryuu where he will put it up, and Ryuu explains that the bulletin board is full. The children ask to see the poster, and Usaida decides that on their walk, they will visit the high school clubs. Usaida prepares to leave, and Ryuu calls after him. He tucks the poster into his pocket as he catches up with him and the children.

Ryuu is rather embarrassed to follow the children and Usaida through the halls. The children hold hands as they do a parade and dance. Ryuu cowers and and blushes in embarrassment from the attention. Kirin eagerly opens the drama club door and calls out to her mother. Yayoi, dressed as a creepy ghost, greets Kirin, but she stuns her daughter and the other children. She asks Kirin if she does not recognize her own mother, and Ryuu tells Yayoi that she is scaring her. She apologizes to Kirin and turns to Ryuu. She congratulates him for reaching high school and takes his hands, asking if he would like to join the drama club, as she feels that he has special talents. Ryuu stutters and looks over to the other students. The drama club members are mesmerizing the other students with their marketing techniques, and Ryuu admits that he almost believed Yayoi. He politely apologizes to Yayoi, explaining that he is busy with the Babysitting Club. Kotaro pulls on Ryuu's pant leg and points to the other children, who are running off in search of sweets. Ryuu calls out to the children and then to Usaida. Usaida and Midori turn around, and Ryuu sees that they have special FX makeup. Meanwhile, the children run down the hallway, and Umi exits into the hallway as well. Takuma and Kazuma call out to their mother as they run into her arms. She asks what the two are doing, and Ryuu explains that they are taking a look at all the clubs. Taka and Kirin sniff the air, noting that there is a sweet smell, and the children quickly run towards the source of the smell. Umi is glad to see that they are having fun, and she excuses herself, as she has her own club to get to.

Kotaro holds onto Ryuu's hand as Ryuu tells the children to wait. He sniffs the air and sees that there really is a sweet smell. Kotaro stops and stares at an ant that has wandered into the building. Ryuu tells Kotaro that somehow an ant has gotten into the building, and he is surprised that Kotaro noticed something so small. Usaida squats down beside Ryuu and Kotaro, but Ryuu suddenly realizes that as they are staring at the ant, they are losing track of the children. Ryuu orders Usaida to take off his makeup as he goes after the children.

In the kitchen, the Cooking Club apologizes to the children, explaining that the cookies are not ready yet. Inomata, who is part of the club, informs them that they are children from the Babysitting Club. Ryuu enters the kitchen, asking if anyone has seen any little kids run around, and the children happily greet Ryuu. Inomata angrily scolds Ryuu for letting the children carelessly run around. She urges him to watch over them more carefully, as it will be too late if something bad happens. Inomata then realizes that she must have scared the club members and the children. She turns around, and sure enough, everyone is stunned. Inomata blushes as she apologizes for raising her voice. One of the Cooking Club members says that she showed that she really cares about them. The members tell her that they had thought she was quiet, but they had just seen a cool side of her. Ryuu apologizes for disturbing the club, and he tells the children that they should get going. The children argue that they have not received sweets yet, but Ryuu sternly says that there will be no sweets. The president of the Cooking Club suggests that Ryuu join the club, as they would love to have a cute boy around. One of the members reminds her that he must be busy with the Babysitting Club, much to the president's disappointment. Ryuu carries Taka, who is throwing a tantrum, as he walks with the children down the hall. He reflects on his current situation with clubs. He knows that the Babysitting Club is technically his club, but he begins to have doubts. He tells Taka that they will be looking at the Baseball Club next, which calms him down. Ryuu and the children go outside, and one of the members of the Soccer Club asks if he is still doing the Babysitting Club. He comments that it must be tough before running off to do drills. Taka eagerly watches the Baseball Club during practice and glimmers with excitement when his brother looks at him. However, Hayato quickly looks away, upsetting Taka, who yells at him for being ungrateful that he came all the way to see him. The other club members tease Hayato, causing Hayato to hit Taka. Ryuu apologizes to Hayato for interrupting practice, but Hayato dismisses his concern, bluntly stating that the team is weak. Hayato says goodbye to his brother and instructs him not to be selfish around Ryuu. As Hayato returns to practice, the Baseball Club members say that they had heard his comments about the club, and they continuously tease him. Ryuu watches other athletes during their run, and he does not even notice when Kotaro pulls on his pant leg. Kotaro looks at the trail of ants and then at his brother. He then looks towards the Baseball Club, where Ryuu is looking. Usaida also watches Ryuu stare at the club. The children then call Ryuu's name, asking where they are going next. Ryuu decides to put up the club poster and asks Usaida to take care of the children. He asks Kotaro if he would like to come, but to his surprise, Kotaro shakes his head. Ryuu awkwardly runs towards the bulletin board, as he did not think Kotaro would refuse. Usaida thinks to himself that it might have been a little cruel to bring Ryuu on this walk. He then asks Kotaro, who is running somewhere, where he is going.

Ryuu tries to place the Babysitting Club poster in a corner of the bulletin board. He then squats down and buries his head in his arms. He feels that Kotaro is doing better without him than he realized. He sits in silence until he hears Hayato's voice. Hayato, who is carrying Kotaro, asks Ryuu if he should give his club form to him. Ryuu tells him that he should give it to the Baseball Club advisor, but Hayato denies applying to that certain club. He then hands him the piece of paper, where he had formally signed up to join the Babysitting Club. Hayato informs him that he wants to do both clubs, and he can make half the meetings. Ryuu asks Hayato why he is joining, and Hayato explains that his idiot brother is there. He then holds Kotaro out to Ryuu, saying that he had recruited him by pulling on his leg during practice. Hayato says that Kotaro figured that he was depressed, so he tried to do something to help. Ryuu holds Kotaro as he hears the children's voices. He turns to see the children running towards him with small bags. Taka and Kirin tell him that they received cookies from Inomata, and that they wanted to give them all to Ryuu. They hold out their cookies and encourage him to cheer up. Ryuu turns red as he suggests that they all eat the cookies together. Ryuu stands up and asks Usaida if it was really obvious that he seemed depressed, and Usaida admits that perhaps he did show that he was unhappy.

Everyone sits together on the daycare center as Usaida, Ryuu, and Hayato don matching aprons with their names on them. Ryuu looks at his apron in admiration as Hayato calls it lame. Inomata sometimes brings cookies to the daycare center, but the children struggle to bite through the hard cookies. Hayato comments that he could break a tooth on them as the children try to eat them. Inomata angrily says that they do not have to eat the cookies.

Act Two
Ryuu slowly opens his eyes as he wakes up, and he notices that something feels heavy. He sees that Kotaro is fast asleep on his chest. He gently wakes Kotaro up, but realizes that his voice has changed. Kotaro rubs his eyes as the chairwoman suddenly barges into the room, scolding Ryuu for staying in bed. She orders him to get out of bed immediately, but gasps when she sees Ryuu fall onto the floor. Ryuu struggles to get up and lift Kotaro off his chest, but he repeatedly slips. Saikawa congratulates Ryuu, as he has seen his voice has changed, but the chairwoman smacks him with her cane, and Saikawa explains that it was simply a joke. The chairwoman instructs him to fetch a thermometer while Ryuu says that he simply needs rest. She glares at him, sternly stating that patients will do as they are told. She then takes Kotaro away, telling him that if he also caught a cold, it will be double the trouble for her. Kotaro is dismayed as he clings to the door. The chairwoman tells him to stop standing there, as they have to make medicine for Ryuu. Kotaro agrees to follow her if it means that his brother will get better. Ryuu struggles to climb back onto the bed, and as he pulls the blanket over his body, he notes that this is his first time sleeping in this room by himself. He hopes that Kotaro does not call the chairwoman his insulting nickname of "Shaggy." Meanwhile, Kotaro points at the chairwoman and calls her "Shaggy." The chairwoman, who is holding a wool blanket, demands whether he is referring to her hair or the wool blanket, but Kotaro simply calls her "Shaggy" again. The chairwoman unravels the blanket over Kotaro, which covers him. She explains that they need to warm Ryuu up from the outside, and also on the inside. She instructs him to follow her, and Kotaro slowly walks behind her with the blanket still on his head. The chairwoman rather aggressively chops a lemon in half, causing Kotaro to picture a demon lady. She hands Kotaro half a lemon and a cup, telling him to squeeze out juice from the lemon. She plans to add honey and water to make a nice drink for Ryuu. She makes rice gruel while Kotaro sits on the floor. He shakes the lemon over the cup, but sees that nothing drops out. Kotaro refuses to let the chairwoman squeeze out the juice. Eventually, he manages to muster up enough strength to get a single drop into the cup. The chairwoman instructs him to fill the cup with enough juice to cover the bottom of the cup, and Kotaro continues to squeeze out juice. The chairwoman opens the drawer to see that she has a lemon juicer, but she allows Kotaro to continue juicing the lemon himself. Kotaro finishes his squeezing, but when he stands up, he knocks over the juice. The chairwoman hands Kotaro the other half of the lemon, suggesting that he try again. As Kotaro squeezes, the chairwoman cleans up the spilled juice and notes that Kotaro is one determined child.

The chairwoman brings the rice gruel on a platter and asks Saikawa how Ryuu is doing. Saikawa explains that he is now sleeping; his fever is still high, but it is lower than what it was in the morning. Saikawa asks if he should wake him up for dinner, but the chairwoman figures that he must be exhausted. Saikawa gently closes the door as Ryuu begins to dream about his family. He sees his parents about to leave on a trip. His parents say that Ryuu is responsible, so they have nothing to worry about. Ryuu argues that he is not responsible, and tries to convince them to stay. His mother admits that she feels bad for leaving everything to him, so she picks up Kotaro from Ryuu's arms and suggests that the two bring Kotaro along with them. She tells Kotaro that it will be his first time on a plane, and Ryuu's father informs Ryuu that the three of them will return soon. Ryuu begs his parents to stay as he pounds on an invisible wall separating them. He continues to plead as they close the door behind them, begging them not to take Kotaro with them too.

As the door closes, Ryuu tears up in his sleep. Kotaro, who sees that his brother is crying, places his hand on his face and attempts to wipe away his tears. Ryuu wakes up to see Kotaro. He starts to tear up and make a sour face, asking why Kotaro's hands are stinging his eyes. The chairwoman then enters the room and explains that some lemon juice must have gotten near his eyes. She hands him a cup with a hot beverage, telling him that Kotaro made it for him. As he drinks it, he thanks the heavens for not taking Kotaro away from him. Kotaro blushes and smiles as Ryuu pats his head and thanks him. Ryuu admits that Kotaro's warmth has helped him get through this. The chairwoman picks up Kotaro again, saying that he must leave, much to Kotaro's confusion. He tells the chairwoman that Ryuu had drunk the medicine, but the chairwoman tells him that he still needs rest. Ryuu says that he does not want Kotaro to catch his cold, but Kotaro is dismayed. The chairwoman instructs Ryuu to eat his rice gruel and then take a nap while Saikawa offers to make him ice cream. After eating dinner and ice cream, Ryuu sleeps in peace knowing that because of the warmth, he will not have anymore bad dreams. Kotaro curls up under a chair as the chairwoman slams her cane on the ground and demands how long he will stay under there in depression. Saikawa holds out some ice cream, trying to entice him to come from under the chair, but Kotaro continues to pout.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Ryuuichi Kashima
 * Hayato Kamitani
 * Kotaro Kashima
 * Taka Kamitani
 * Takuma Mamizuka
 * Kazuma Mamizuka
 * Kirin Kumatsuka
 * Usaida Yoshihito
 * Midori Sawatari
 * Yayoi Kumatsuka
 * Umi Mamizuka
 * Inomata Maria
 * Morinomiya Youko
 * Saikawa Keigo