Bark At The Night

Plot Summary

Ohana takes a look at the hot spring rankings

The latest issue of the Hot Springs Magazine has been published, along with the Kissuiso's and other inn's rankings. Unfortunately the Kissuiso does not fare well, and only recieves a 5 out of 10 rating. It was criticized for being too retro, old-fashioned and served bland food. The staff is very irritated by this, but Sui quickly silences them and tells them to get back to work. Ohana takes it upon herself to try contacting the person who reviewed the Kissuiso.

Ohana then learns from Denroku that all the hot spring inns in the Yusonagi area, including the Kissuiso and Fukuya, scored poorly in the rankings. Also, another bigger, more expensive and fancier inn is being built nearby very soon, this causes trouble for exisitng inns like the Kissuiso. Sui later tells Ohana that Ohana should just accept the review, there's nothing she can do about it, and should continue to improve herself. But Ohana refuses to accept the review, believing that the Kissuiso is the best.

Satsuki greets Ohana

Ohana takes a train into the city one day, leaving a note behind saying she will "fest it up" (something Ohana made up). On top of that a number of customers start calling in and cancelling their reservations. Somehow Ohana finds her way to the magazine's main office, and finds out who reviewed the inns. It turns out to be her mother, Satsuki.

Ohana is clearly upset

Satsuki is happy to see Ohana again and takes her out to eat. Ohana feels betrayed that Satsuki would write the review without ever visiting the . Satsuki also says that she ended up dumping her boyfriend since focusing on work was more fun. Satsuki also tells her that the rankings and article was all politics, that somebody high up wanted the Kissuiso to rank poorly. Ohana then tells her mom about all the times she was sad, lonely or angry whenever Satsuki bailed on her, how Ohana always kept it in and never complained because the reason was always related to Satsuki's work. Ohana begs Satsuki to come stay at the Kissuiso for one night, and write what she really feels about the inn, regardless of whether it gets published in a magazine. Satsuki refuses because she is too busy.

Ohana awkwardly says hi to Ko

Ohana realizes that since she's in town she should visit Ko-chan. Ohana sends a few text messages and figures out that Ko is working at a nearby mall. Ohana goes there and runs into him, unfortunately a female co-worker seems to be flirting with him. Ko catches up with Ohana and they grab a drink together. Ko tells Ohana that he does not like the female co-worker back, so it is unrequited love. Ohana cannot bring herself to tell Ko-chan how she feels and gets depressed over this. Ohana ends up running out in the rain, without an umbrella, she runs into a pole and is found by Minko and Tooru who were driving a van. Ohana breaks into tears, having felt so many emotions in one day.