Rentarou is walking through a park, thinking of how much his girlfriends would like it there. To his surprise, he sees someone fishing and approaches, wondering if it's a river or a lake. As the chapter title implies, it's actually just a puddle.
Rentarou wonders what you'd fish for in a puddle as the girl turns around to face him, causing a ZING!!
Girlfriend #19 explains to Rentarou that she's fishing for... herself. After all, it's her reflection in the water, right? Rentarou politely tries to discern meaning from her words, coming to the conclusion that it's important to face yourself. Girlfriend #19 gives a noncommittal answer before introducing herself as Uto, a wandering bard of sorts.
Rentarou is impressed to meet a wandering bard in this day and age, and asks what she does for food. Uto points to her lunch bag in a tree, where she tossed it to keep it safe while she took a nap. The trouble is, she has no way to get to it. When Rentarou asks why she threw it up there in the first place, Uto suggests that perhaps it's "a gift to the forest". Rentarou points out that that's just littering before climbing the tree to get it for her.
As thanks, Uto offers him a ballad with her ocarina. Rentarou quickly notices that her playing is terrible, and so are both her lyrics and singing. Is this girl really a bard? Nevertheless, he understands that it's a sincere gesture and finds himself smitten. When she gives him a confession at the end of the song, he accepts. Uto is pleased, and finds the fact that he has 18 other girlfriends to be good fuel for her songs.
Despite having an enjoyable day together, Uto says that she is ultimately a wandering bard and can't stay. Rentarou muses to himself that he's taken his daily life with his girlfriends for granted, and there's no guarantee that that will be the case for all of them. He promises to never forget Uto and vows to be a home for her to return to.
The very next day, Rentarou is resolved to tell his other girlfriends all about Uto... and realizes that she's walking in front of him wearing the junior high school uniform. Uto reveals that she was referring to the form her soul yearns for when she called herself a wandering bard, causing Rentarou to realize that Uto is a Chuunibyou.
The chapter ends with Momiji offering a massage to the comic's artist.
Tropes:
- Foreshadowing: There are a number of hints that Uto is not the bard she claims to be.
- She introduces herself as a wandering bard of sorts.
- She is not very good at playing the ocarina, singing, or writing lyrics.
- Self-Deprecation: One reason Rentarou agrees to not force Uto to stay is that the manga's artist only has one dominant hand, and if the author insists on having every girlfriend as a regular character (thus forcing her to draw all of them all the time), he'd probably be infringing on her human rights.
- Won't Take "Yes" for an Answer: Uto confesses her feelings to Rentarou at the end of her song. He accepts, but Uto continues with her confession anyway.
