A very young Ritsu sticks his hand into a giant water bubble with glee. This is little Mob's doing. Mob assures him that he will be able to do this someday too… Ritsu awakens with a start. It's dark-thirty. He was having a flashback. Downstairs, he tries with all his might to bend water from the kitchen faucet.
Reigen is conducting a seance. It goes south fast: his greedy client pulls a knife on him in frustration. Reigen knocks the guy out cold with a flashy pirouette punch: self-defense. Mob wants to know if his actions at Black Vinegar Middle School also count as such, then laments the unconscious destruction he caused. Reigen reassures him and advises Mob not to suppress himself.
Mezato confronts Mob with her suspicions about the Black Vinegar Middle incident, but the boy refuses to spill the beans. When Mezato gives up and leaves, Kurata realizes it wasn't caused by aliens and asks Mob on a date to help her find other espers.
Onigawara and company resolve to find the one who humbled Hanazawa—a student from their school!—and make him their urabanchō (behind-the scenes gang leader). They approach the Body Improvement Club for clues about the mystery teenager, as the Muscle Bros actually know who he is! Gouda is unwilling to divulge, though, and tells them to get lost.
Speak of the devil; Mob walks right past them. Ritsu catches the shouting delinquent in the act of apologizing to Mob for using him as bait… and grossly misreads the situation. It gives him an idea on how to make the school more comfortable for his brother. He shares it with the Student Council later.
After school, he encounters a strangely-dressed fellow scouting espers. The man hands him a business card, apparently mistaking him for his brother. His name is Mitsūra, and he offers Ritsu the chance to meet others like him at his Awakening Lab. The address on Mitsūra's card turns out to be... an apartment complex? Inside, however, is a vast lab indeed, full of scientists milling about. The other espers are upstairs, and their powers are underwhelming at best: Rei Kurosaki, who can guess the right card from a special deck of cards with 60% accuracy; the Shiratori twins Kaito and Daichi, who can read each other's minds but no one else's; Gō Asahi, who can produce a weak tongue of flame from his finger; and Takeshi Hoshino, who can bend spoons, but only with extreme effort.
Mob and Tome sit on a bench, engaging in some wholesome people-watching (and possible esper spotting). An adult esper catches Mob’s eye; the man’s energy sickens him. Mob elects not to point him out to Tome.
Student Council President Kamuro comes home to his mother and older brother, both of whom emotionally abuse him. He calls in Ritsu before classes the next day for help with a plan, using the younger student’s far tamer idea as a framework. Together, they disassemble all the girls' recorders, shoving the mouthpieces in Onigawara’s desk and schoolbag. When Onigawara shows up in class, the two accuse him of perverted acts using them. The entire class turns on him.
Back at the Awakening Lab, Ritsu, consumed with guilt over his actions, leaves in a huff after attempting—again—to bend a spoon. Mitsūra notes that the spoon is not just bent, but mangled. Ritsu sees a green balloon-like thing hovering over his home's front gate...
Tropes appearing in this episode include:
- Abusive Parents: Kamuro’s mother, who endlessly criticizes the teenager for his lack of academic perfection. His older brother, who seems to fill a parental role, might as well count—he joins in on the abuse and turns up the heat.
- Asshole Victim: Onigawara. He gets better.
- Deadpan Snarker: Ritsu’s internal monologue. He mostly keeps it to himself, but unleashes on Reigen in this episode.
- Fan Disservice: Onigawara gets a glimpse of a female student’s underwear after being framed. The student’s face and the horrible situation (not to mention everyone’s age) make this a solid case.
- Frame-Up: Kamuro’s sick twist on Ritsu’s original plan to discipline delinquent students, which didn’t actually involve falsely labeling them as sex offenders.
- Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: Ritsu to Kamuro.
- Hidden Depths: Who knew the school's banchō was proudly nursing a perfect attendance record for two years? This episode shatters his streak.
- Shout-Out: Of the poses Ritsu strikes while trying to bend the water from a running faucet, one is used in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and the others all point to different series. The water bending itself is also one.
- Trash of the Titans: Kamuro retreats to his room—brimming over with piles of bagged trash—to escape his mother and older brother's endless harangue. In exhaustion, he belly-flops onto it and sighs; it's implied that the trash covers his bed as well.
- Twin Telepathy: The Shiratori brothers. Ritsu snarks to himself that their power is less useful than email.
