Looking up at old construction equipment, Ryūgū Rena starts to ask, "I wonder how much effort is needed . . ." as the scene reveals her standing near an abandoned van in the dump dressed in a black track-suit as Sonozaki Mion, Furude Rika, Hōjō Satoko, and Maebara Keiichi look on. She concludes: ". . . for a person to become happy." She suspects a chain-reaction of misfortune that, once started, proves impossible to stop. As Rena continues her soliloquy, the scene reveals a number of taped-up garbage bags on the ground. Through one of them a bloody hand had torn out. Rena concludes that escape requires great effort, and through that effort one may finally grasp happiness. Rena concedes that she does not expect others to accept her definition of happiness.

She starts to flee, but Keiichi calls out to her. She runs to the top of the van and loudly proclaims, "Then let's begin!"

As the higurashi c ry, Mion, dressed in a t-shirt and gym shorts, looks about the outside of the school armed with a large water gun. Keiichi runs towards her demanding that she "prepare" herself. She responds "lame!" but he deftly dodges her first blast. He gets next to her and promptly blasts her in the face. From the window watching school children who include Tomita Daiki and Okamura Suguru cheer. One boy announces that only Rena and Satoko are left. As Mion slumps soaked and defeated, Rika watches with a towel and the boys cheer Keiichi to do his best.

Standing next to a bucket with three extra water guns, Satoko gives her trademark derisive laugh and asks where all "the energy you had" went. Keiichi and Mion look at her from around a corner while other students watch from the windows. Satoko mocks her opponent for not knowing how many shots she has left.

Rena, the target of her derision, huddles with her one water gun as Satoko predicts that Rena does not even have enough water left to reach her. Rena tosses away her pistol as she announces that she had planned to run to this place when she ran out. She reaches through a break in the boards of the side of the building to pull out a fresh water gun. Keiichi remarks to Mion that Rena is very good. Mion cautions him that her opponent is "the holy child of traps."

As Satoko and Rena face one another, the scene uses classic cut screens as they "dialogue." Satoko announces that Rena's gun was also important to her. Rena checks her gun to discover it jammed. Satoko explains that if one adds a little sand then fires it, one can quickly clog a water gun. As she concludes with her laugh, Keiichi and Mion express their admiration. Satoko continues her banter and does a chibi dance of victory. Rena laughs and calls her "still naïve." Satoko demands to know why, and Rena asks her if she recalls the rules for getting shot: "If you're hit by a water gun's water, then you're shot and lose." With that, Rena smashes the gun against the side of the building and tosses it to throw the water on Satoko.

Keiichi now appears screaming, "Rena!" He fires, and Rena runs towards the fallen Satoko. She reaches Satoko's bucket of fresh water guns. Keiichi discovers that one of his is now empty. They draw on one another. Dramatically, Rena confesses that she, "knew it'd end up one on one!" As expected in stand-offs, they banter back and forth. Then, in dramatic split-screen fashion, they charge.

Both land to find themselves wet. Satoko and Rika ask Mion who won. Mion laughs and declares that both were brilliant, and she cannot declare a winner. She triumphantly declares that the "battle" will be settled on a later date to the cheers of the watching school children. As Mion basks in the praise, and Satoko joins her, Keiichi dramatically demands, "wait a moment!" Rena also agrees that she cannot let that slide. As Keiichi and Rena dramatically rise, Keiichi states that he will agree to a rematch, but "Mion, Satoko, and Rika-chan!" Rena completes his statement by asking if they are prepared for their punishment game. Mion "gulps," Satoko "thumps" (ドキ・doki), while Rika happily "Nipaa~s." Their eyes sparkling, Keiichi and Rena laugh evily.

At Angel Mort, dressed as one of the waitresses, Rika greets Keiichi and Rena. Rena enters Cute Mode bordering on full Take Home (お持ち帰り・omochikaeri) Mode while Keiichi looks lasciviously. Sweating and shaking, Rika complains that it is "embarrassing" when Keiichi stares at her. Tomita and Okamura, who suddenly appear, agree that Rika's cuteness is "too much!"

When Keiichi scolds the two, they direct him "over there!": Mion dressed in her uniform serving "cheesecake!" Keiichi, Tomita, and Okamura reacts as expected, though without nosebleeds, until Rena appears in full Cute Mode. Accepting her punishment, Mion blushes and mutters that this is the "greatest misfortune," as Satoko walks buy with a tray of cakes, since she had intended to force Keiichi to wear her uniform.

Satoko looks at them utterly embarrassed. She meekly warns Keiichi and Rena to be prepared for the next punishment game. Keiichi, Tomita, Okamura, and Rena all react as before, though Rena moves into Take Home (お持ち帰り・omochikaeri) Mode. Irie Kyōsuke spins in while bathed in anime lights to deny her that. He will be the one to "take her home." Keiichi demands to know where he came from as Rena chibi rages in protest. Over an external view of Angel Mort, Rena's blows upon Irie are heard with his cries. Inside, a chibi Satoko flees from a chibi Irie pursuing her with his stethoscope while being pursued by a raging chibi Rena past the legs of woman protesting to a man about the restaurant being "full." After a few off-screen thuds, a chibi Rika flees from a chibi Iria--with two "bumps" on his head--who is also pursued by chibi Rena.

The woman calls out to "Reina-chan," .'']]and remarks on the coincidence of meeting her at Angel Mort. Rena stops, turns normal, and politely refers to her as "Rina-san." She playfully protests to "Reina-chan," that the maître d', Sonozaki Yoshirō, has told her that Angel Mort is full of customers. She asks if she can at least buy a cake. Inspecting the many available, Rina asks Rena, "Didn't he like simple ones like shortcakes?" then asks her which she likes. Rena returns to Cute Mode in anticipation. She points to one, and Rina agrees to purchase two shortcakes and one petit trianon.

Keiichi walks home with Rena with their bikes. He explains that he use to live in an urban environment but never had as much fun as he had this day. Rena agrees that she feels the same way, and she then reveals that she moved to Hinamizawa a year previously. Keiichi muses that since every day is so fun, it is scary to think that it may fall apart one day. Rena responds that when one falls, one falls no matter how cautious one is. Rena announces that she will go "treasure hunting" again. Keiichi chibi marvels that Rena "still" wants to have fun that day. Rena invites him, but Keiichi "passes" given that the weather seems to be changing. He advises her to go home as well, but she replies that when she feels this happy, she is sure she will find "something cute."

That evening, Rena approaches an abandoned van. She enters through a window and closes it behind her. The van contains a number of "cute" things such as dolls and stuffed animals. It starts to rain outside. Rena looks at the ceiling in the van where she tapped a map of the constellations. As she looks at them, the rain becomes heavier. She looks out of the window with sadness. She has a flashback to eating with her father. The flashback shifts to her eating an ice cream treat in an outside cafe. Rena's mother asks "Reina-chan" if she remember the man who had watched a movie and had dinner with them. Rena asks if his name is "Akihito." Her mother asks her if she likes him. Rena pauses, and her mother presses the point: "Hey, Reina-chan, whom do you like better, Mommy or Daddy?" Rena quickly answer.png.pngs, "Mommy (お母さん・okāsan)!" Her mother then asks if she and "Daddy" were to live in different homes, in which house would "Reina-chan"wish to live. Rena "ums," and her mother quickly explains that she is considering divorcing Rena's father and marrying Akihito. As Rena looks surprised and her eyes well up, her mother reveals that she is pregnant.

Rena angrily replies that she will not go to her mother's house: "Daddy's house is my house!" Over a flashback of her mother with her lawyer, Rena vows, "I don't want to see you again!" In the flashback, her mother protests that if she stays with her father her life, "will now be," but Rena interrupts her: "Don't call me Reina so easily!" In the rain, Rena breaks objects with a golf club.

Back in the van, Rena tells herself that she cannot think herself unhappy.

The rain continues and a wet Rena arrives at home. Her father welcomes her and wonders why she did not carry an umbrella. Rena explains that it was very sunny in the morning. Her father places a towel on her head and gently rubs her hair, then invites her to come to the living room to see "something cool." Rena finds a beautifully furnished living room. She asks her father what happened, and he replies that he wanted to feel "a little refreshed" after a year of living in Hinamizawa. Rena agrees, then her father reveals that Rina chose the furniture. Outside, in the rain, sits the older furniture. '']]Rena quietly asks him if he plans to throw them away. As he reveals that he felt that "now might be a good time," Kenta-Kun lays on the heap.

He ask Rena if she might run an errand for him after school the next day. He ordered two jackets from a clothing store in Okinomiya and asks her to pick them up for him. She asks if Rina picked them for him. He sheepishly admits that she did.

In the store in Okinomiya the next day, a shop assistant apologizes to Rena for the delay in the delivery of the jackets. Rena goes to a café to wait. As she enters, Hōjō Teppei gleefully torments two men who owe him money. Rena orders apple tea as Teppei expresses his extreme disappointment at the amount they can repay. He hands it to a woman with him, who is seen from the back, to count it. She reveals that it is only the principle. Teppei rants at the insult to his woman, then makes a grand exit to use the restroom. The woman offers to loan them the money to pay off the interest they owe Teppei. "The interest is high," she genially offers, but it will be better than dealing with Teppei. He returns to ask if everything is settled as the two eagerly sign.

Teppei sits next to her and addresses her as "Ritsuko." He asks her how she is doing with her "husband" in Hinamizawa: "How much do you think you can squeeze out of him." The woman replies that she heard that her target's ex-wife paid him a lot of "consolation money" (慰謝料・いしゃりょう・ishyarō). She claims that he has "50,000,000 円 in the bank!" Rena cannot help but overhear this conversation. The woman boasts that the man buys her whatever she wants. She teases Teppei that her target is not "stingy" like he is then rhetorically asks if she should become "serious" with her target. Teppei reminds her that her body cannot be satisfied by anyone but him. Teppei asks her what her plan is, and she explains that she will use Teppei to force her target to pay him off. Rena hears all of this as her tea remains untouched.

The two in debt return to announce that they have completed the paperwork. Teppie happily invites them to join him in obtaining the loan. As he leaves, he tells "Ritsuko" to pay the café bill. Teppei and the two debtors leave to encounter Kasai Tatsuyoshi entering the café. He moves out of the way as Teppei sheepishly excuses himself. The women, who is by now clearly revealed to be Rina, bows to Kasai and greets him with a "long time no see." He barely acknowledges her and makes his way to a seat.

He end up sitting at a table adjacent to Rena's. Rena looks at the woman paying the bill and recognizes that she is, indeed, Rina. Kasai calls to the manager to pick a daily special dessert. Rina opens the door as Sonozaki Shion enters. As Shion watches Rina exit, the manager apologizes to Kasai that they do not have it, but they can make it for him. Kasai growls that if he does not have it, he should just say so. A chibi Shion interrupts Kasai to indicate that the manager is willing to make the treat for him, then chibi slaps him repeatedly on the back. Kasai relents, and Shion asks to manager to make her one as well.

Rena stares then hears Shion ask if her name is "Rena-san." A chibi Shion waves to her and wishes a "konnichiwa." Rena acknowledges her as "Shi-chan." Shion notices that Rena is alone and teasingly asks if she is "waiting for Kei-chan." Rena asks who is the man with Shion. Shion introduces Kasai, who is, "kinda like my bodyguard." In chibi-mode, Shion claims if her life is in danger, he will save her, but Kasai responds that he will not. Shion chibi grimaces.

Rena asks Kasai if he knows the people he passed. After a pause and Rena's insistence, Kasai reveals that the man is "Hōjō Teppei": "an ill-mannered junkie." Rena asks him about the woman, and Kasai identifies her as "Mamiya Rina," which he believes is her "hostess" name. He confirms that her real name is "Ritsuko." As Rena looks expressionless, Kasai explains that she is a hostess at one of the bars on "Flower Road." Rena quietly asks him what type of people Rina and Teppei are. Kasai responds that Teppei is probably Rina's pimp: "They're dangerous, so you shouldn't get involved with them."

"How dangerous?" Rena asks. Kasai explains that he does not involve himself in a "woman's personal life," but Rena insists. He tries to deflect, but Rena demands to know. This surprises Shion as well as Kasai. Shion asks him to tell Rena since, "It doesn't seem like she's just asking out of curiosity." Kasai relents and explains that the two are "dangerous," and live their lives off of threatening others and gambling. He then notes that they play a "badger game." When Rena asks what that means, Shion quickly explains that it is an old blackmail scheme where a girl hooks up with a guy, then another guy comes in to demand compensation. Rena's eyes widen as Shion explains the con. Kasai scolds Shion for describing it in that fashion. He insists that men sometimes get tricked by women, and chibi Shion teasingly asks who is the woman that tricked him.

Kasai turns away ashamed, and chibi Shion calls out to the manager to also bring a dessert for Rena. However, she and Kasai notice that Rena left without ever drinking her tea. As they wonder why she left, Rena runs down the street. She observes Teppei entering a taxi after embracing Rina. Her expression turns to anger.