Episode 7

**"Higashira Isana Doesn't Know What Love Is"** (Higashira Isana wa Koi o Shiranai, 東頭いさなは恋を知らない) is the seventh episode of My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex anime series.

## Summary

A flashback shows Yume failing to leave a love letter in Mizuto's shoe box. She'd contemplate how to give it to him throughout the day until finally giving him the letter after school. Surprisingly he accepted her offer to become her boyfriend.

Isana gets a threatening letter that someone knows her secret and will reveal it unless she meets them at a specific place. When Isana heads to the place, a restaurant, it's revealed that Yume and Akatsuki were the culprits. Sitting at a table, Yume apologizes for Akatsuki's "prank", but Akatsuki still insists they know of Isana's secret that she likes Mizuto, which she openly admits. Irked by the confession, Yume explains to Isana that Akatsuki meant that she knows Isana likes romantically and not in terms of friendship. Their claim is proven when they show Isana a video of Mizuto sleeping, and Akatsuki whispers something in her ear, causing her to blush. To her admission, Mizuto was Isana's first crush, and to progress things, Akatsuki offers Yume and herself's help to make Isana become Mizuto's girlfriend. Isana, however, declines, reinforcing she's only Mizuto's friend, but seeing parallels of how she was in middle school toward, Mizuto. Yume gives a motivational speech, and Isana admits she'd like to admit he likes her. Once that was settled, they all planned to start their "mission" the next day.

The following day, Akatsuki and Yume observe Isana's time with Mizuto to find a weak point of his. Soon, they observe as Isana reads a book on a ledge, and Mizuto quietly reads his book. When Mizuto walks away, Akatsuki notices that Isana's underwear is showing, and once Mizuto returns, he stoically tells Isana about it. Embarrassed, Isana heads to the restroom and regroups with Akatsuki and Yume. She learns that Mizuto likely doesn't consider her boyfriend material, and Akatsuki believes they'll need to get physical for Mizuto to "appreciate her womanly charm". Later, Isana returns to the library, where Isana follows their advice, but fails miserably. Back in the restroom, they debrief over the situation, and Yume suggests that Isana be true to herself. Akatsuki agrees, but claims that her lack of confidence isn't healthy for her either. Hence, Akatsuki suggests that she give Isana a makeover. After she gets her makeover from Akatsuki, Isana returns to Mizuto, but he rejects all of Isana's advances toward him and gives her a noogy. Despite this, Isana has Mizuto comb her hair, which is a success in their book.

Afterward, at the restaurant, Isana is told that she should confess her love to Mizuto, which she's hesitant to do. Still, Akatsuki persuades her to do it with a motivational speech, and Yume chimes in with her own speech too. Later, Yume learns from Akatsuki that Isana is set to meet with Mizuto behind the school at 5:00 pm the following day to confess her feelings for him.

The next day around the scheduled time of the meeting, Isana gets some lip gloss prepared by Akatsuki and is given a pep talk by her and Yume. Mizuto then arrives and immediately claims he's figured out why he's been called out there and suggests that Isana say her speel. She does, and while Mizuto confesses they have a lot in common, he cannot accept her confession because he has prior commitments to another he's interested in and apologizes for it. Internally, Yume contemplates why Mizuto denied Isana's feelings. The day after, in the restroom, Akatsuki and Yume confront Isana about why she's hanging out with Mizuto after he rejected her. Isana claims although he broke her heart, it doesn't mean they can't continue being friends.

## Characters

* Mizuto Irido
* Yume Irido
* Akatsuki Minami
* Isana Higashira