This week’s episode starts off with something I don’t think anyone was expecting.  Shu and Inori return to school, which I was only half-expecting due to the whole Shu-joining-the-Undertakers and getting-arrested-by-GHQ thing.  But apparently that doesn’t matter to Gai!  Anywho, Shu and Inori are on the train on the way to school and Shu is just as nervous about returning to school as anyone in their right mind would be after being arrested by the government.  When they finally arrive at school, Shu and Inori are changing their shoes when several boys from their class harass Shu about being arrested by GHQ.  As usual, Shu becomes a whibbling mess under the boy’s harassment, but a young woman with blond hair appears and scolds the boys for being rude to Shu.  The hastily apologize before scurrying away, leaving Shu both embarrassed and confused.  When he makes it to his classroom, he hesitates before entering the room and everyone stares at him, though it’s hard to tell whether it’s in shock or confusion.  The young woman from before – whose name we eventually find out is Arisa Kuhouin – enters the room and asks Shu if the GHQ employees treated him well.  This surprises Shu, but Arisa continues on, saying that it must have been a nuisance to be interviewed, but that they have to cooperate with the government.  This causes his classmates to crowd around him and ask him tons of questions about what it was like in GHQ and what caused him to be arrested in the first place.  It appears that someone – perhaps Gai or perhaps Makoto, we’re not sure – informed the public that Shu was only arrested because he accidentally picked up a cell phone that was of importance to the rebellion movement.  One girl even asks Shu if all of the GHQ male employees are all gay like she heard they were, which just completely throws Shu off.  Seeing that things appear to be going well, Arisa excuses herself from the classroom.

Later that day, Shu, Inori and a couple of his classmates are sitting in his “secret spot” where he first met Inori discussing classes.  His friend Hare transfers him the files for an upcoming class and is surprised to see that Shu is quite a bit more personable ever since he got back from GHQ.  What she doesn’t realize is that it’s likely because being at school is way less stressful than launching an all-out attack on the government and trying to keep several hundred people from dying all at once.  Either way, Hare asks Shu if something has changed and he says no, but he does ask what happened to Yahiro.  Hare doesn’t say much and then we skip ahead to after school when Inori and Shu are already at home.  Inori calmly asks why Shu is worried about Yahiro when he betrayed you and Shu admits that he’s not sure why, but he can’t just abandon his friend like that.  Suddenly, Shu is bright red and flailing all over the place as his mother – who decided to strip down to her undies in the hallway – enters the room.  She’s surprised by Shu’s reaction, as well as to see Inori sitting there, but she doesn’t say anything.  Inori promptly bows to Haruka and thanks her for allowing her to stay there and for allowing Shu to take care of her.  Shu then launches into an incredibly rambly explanation about how Inori has an abusive older brother, so he took her in to keep her safe.  Of course, as he rambles, he starts contradicting himself and saying that Inori’s brother is cool before scolding himself for thinking that.  Haruka laughs at Shu’s rambling and embarrassment before asking Inori what she’d like for dinner, which surprises Shu.  After dinner. Shu is helping his mom pick out an outfit for some gathering she has to go to and Haruka asks him if Inori is special to him.  Shu admits that Inori is incredibly strong, but that there’s something about her that he wants to protect.  Haruka simply smiles and doesn’t say much else since she suddenly spots a dress that she wants to wear to the party the following day.  Despite his protests, it seems as though Shu is happy to have his mom home for once.

While all of this is going on, we see Gai in a small meeting with his associates, going over the cost of their continued rebellion.  His second in command informs him that after their last attack, they lost a lot of funds and that they can’t continue to fight the way they are without some sort of outside financial support.  Gai isn’t too thrilled with the idea, but he does get an idea of where he can get the money from.  Meanwhile, we also see Daryl, his assistant and Makoto being practically yelled at by a very enthusiastic sergeant who has now taken control over them.  Apparently, since the whole Leucocyte thing blew up in everyone’s faces, they were sent to work with another group in the GHQ military.  Makoto doesn’t seem to mind, but Daryl does.  The sergeant goes on to say that they’ll show Japan that the country can’t survive without GHQ at the helm, though I’m a bit wary of what his plans are.  We also get a look at Arisa – who just so happens to be in the shower – reflecting on the fact that she doesn’t want to take over her grandfather’s business once she graduates high school.  Her grandfather’s business appears to be funding rebellion groups to take down GHQ and while she’s aware of what is expected of her, she doesn’t like it.  Of course, she doesn’t voice any of her concerns about this to her grandfather.  The following night, we see a large and luxurious private yacht in the middle of the ocean, far outside the reach of any Endlaves and missiles that GHQ has.  It appears that Arisa’s grandfather is holding a large party to discuss their opportunities to take Japan back from GHQ.  As expected, Gai and Shu have snuck on board, taking the role of two waiters for the evening while gathering intel.  It also seems like Gai has a secret plot in the works, which wouldn’t be unlikely.  The two of them stroll around the party until Shu accidentally bumps into Arisa.  Of course, she’s surprised to see him and she goes to chase after him, but Shu tags out and lets Gai deal with her.  Gai flatters Arisa by saying that she reminded him of someone, but that’s quickly turned into an insult when he says that she reminds him of his old pet armadillo.  Arisa becomes enraged and storms off, leaving Gai to approach her grandfather.

Gai gives Arisa’s grandfather an opportunity to buy and fund the Undertakers in their mission to overturn GHQ’s control on Japan.  Her grandfather seems intrigued, but isn’t ready quite yet to make the deal right then and there.  Meanwhile, we find out that this new sergeant or whoever that is in charge of Daryl has gotten intel informing him of the whereabouts of a meeting to overturn GHQ.  Basically, someone leaked the location and time of the party Arisa’s grandfather has going on.  He decides that the only course of action is to use land missiles on them; except he’s going to push them on their sides and fire them from land straight at the ship instead of firing them into the sky.  As usual, Daryl’s job is to position them, which he’s not too happy about.  On the ship, Shu realizes that his mother is there at the party and panics.  He tries to find a hiding spot just as his transmitter to Tsumugi starts ringing.  Tsumugi frantically informs him of the missiles that are headed towards them and Shu declares that he can’t just leave everyone on the ship to die.  Instead of running, he finds Gai and informs him of what’s going on.  Gai tells Shu to meet him on the deck of the ship and Shu agrees, though he doesn’t seem to expect that Gai already has a plan for this.  Turns out, Arisa can still produce a Void and Gai intends to use her Void to get out of this mess.  He tricks her into closing her eyes and allows Shu to get in and make eye contact before withdrawing her Void.  With her Void, Shu is able to completely destroy the missiles as they hone in on the ship and leaves everyone inside completely unaware of what is going on outside.  In an attempt at being dramatic, the new sergeant launches all of the missiles, but Shu is still able to deflect all of them with ease.  Gai smirks and says that even a coward can be powerful at times (he’s referring to the fact that Arisa won’t speak her mind and instead tries to protect herself with a barrier).  When Arisa awakens, we find Gai with her, as if he was keeping an eye on her health and we also find out that Arisa’s grandfather decided to purchase the Undertakers and finance their missions, which is good news for everyone involved.  The following morning, we see Shu and Inori leaving for work, though Shu squawks at his mother to put on some clothes before coming outside.  She obeys his wishes and retreats inside and Inori comments on how Shu really seems to have fun with his mother around.  Shu agrees that he does, but he also admits that he’s actually kind of happy to be able to use Voids to protect those close to him.  Before the end of the episode, we see Haruka opening a small wallet with a picture of herself, Shu and the mysterious young girl who has a tie to Inori.  Shu and the girl are still children and Haruka smiles before asking the girl in the picture whether they still need to protect Shu or not.

Opinions:  This was really a very interesting episode.  I’m glad we finally got to meet Shu’s mother and that she’s as laid back as she is.  At the very least, Shu deserves to have a relaxing home environment.  Meeting Arisa was interesting as well.  It was sweet of her to defend Shu like that when he returned to school, but I have to wonder if she had any ulterior motives in doing so because of her grandfather.  Either way, it was nice of her and I’m not one to complain.  The whole scene on the ship was incredibly well done and I have to admit; it’s probably a good thing that Arisa is a bit of a coward.  Her Void saved the day and allowed Gai to get the financing he needs to continue his battle against GHQ.  Though I’m really intrigued about the photo that Haruka had.  She obviously knows the girl that has some sort of connection to both Shu and Inori, but we still don’t know what that connection is.  I also have to wonder if – because of her comment – she knows that Shu has the King’s Mark and is fighting with the Undertakers.  I think it’s a very interesting twist they made to the storyline and I wonder how Shu’s mom will play into things later on.  Also, am I the only one who actually feels sorry that Daryl got stuck working under that big oaf of a man who’s too loud and incredibly obnoxious?

Score: A/A+