Okarun's Resolve

Steeling himself to mend things with Momo, Okarun heads toward Class B, only to falter at the sight of her laughing alongside Miko, Kei, Jiji, and Ririna, and he slips away, though Momo catches the movement. Elsewhere, Rin and Bamora tell Kinta that Momo is back to normal, and he rushes off convinced she wants to see him, brushing aside Rin's warning to give her space. Bamora tags along, both of them wondering where Okarun has gone.

Unable to approach Momo in class, Okarun shadows her as she chats with Miko and Kei, hunting for a private moment. He squanders every opening, then sinks onto a bench berating himself for hesitating. Recalling how Momo failed to place Aira, he dreads being met with the same blank stare. As he rises to leave, he glimpses her with her friends and instinctively dives out of view, only deepening his self-disgust.

Later Okarun spots Momo alone and seizes the chance, but after he rounds a corner he finds her waiting, fully aware he has been following her, and she asks whether he has something to say. His claim that they were simply walking the same way collapses when the route leads only to an emergency exit, and a second excuse about sleep deprivation fares no better. When Momo orders him to face her, Okarun bolts, prompting a chase that ends with her locking him in a headlock and demanding the truth. Catching that she has pushed him to tears, Momo lets go, while he insists he was not crying. She admits that, though she cannot recall him or Aira, Jiji called them close friends, and she felt an odd relief sensing his presence at her classroom door. Given the floor, Okarun confesses they were never truly good friends and tells her she owes him no attention, yet vows through tears to earn that friendship himself and asks her not to speak to him. Momo makes him turn and look her in the eye, but he glances away, leaving her upset.

Too nervous to speak with Momo, Okarun resorts to stalking her through the school. Kinta and Bamora introduce themselves to her against Rin's advice. Momo confronts Okarun and admits she felt relief on first seeing him, partly because Jiji described him as a treasured friend. Okarun weeps and insists she not force herself to befriend him, wanting to build the bond himself this time. Momo offers comfort, but Okarun remains too embarrassed to meet her gaze.

Titled Okarun's Resolve, this twenty-page chapter continues the Six Curses Arc under the Ultimate Yokai Saga. It centers almost entirely on the awkward reset of Momo and Okarun's relationship, leaning into comedy and vulnerability as Okarun struggles to act on his earlier vow.