Well, Hibiki holding back for so long after the kiss was a pleasant surprise. She really has grown in personality since the series started. It was nice to see that HiFuMi has that much faith in Kosukegawa, and he almost told her the truth, though he chickened out at the last minute. I'd like to think he'll tell her eventually.

Sora got exactly what she deserved. She wanted to see "Black," she got it. Zero/Hibiki all but completely eliminated her offensive capacity in a single blow. Stupid overconfident bitch.

What bothered me was how easily Sumire convinced Botan. Sumire's argument was thinner than tissue and Botan didn't even argue. Sumire bases all this knowledge off of what Botan reported back to the clan (pretty obviously assassins now), but compared to what Kosukegawa, her fathers, and Kannami know, Sumire and Motoko's grandmother don't know a thing.

They think that Motoko will be further isolated the more people she meets as life continues onward, but from what we've seen, the opposite is true. HiFuMi have been surprisingly more and more capable of taking over right on the spot, and generally, only the people who know her very closely can even tell the difference. That's pretty much Kosukegawa, Motoko's fathers, Izuru, and increasingly Kannami (who has little interaction in comparison). The more they have been getting out, Motoko has been less isolated than ever before, not more.

I can't believe how stupid Botan is to believe someone who has less experience with Motoko than Botan herself does.