Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi: The World's Greatest First Love

Onodera begins work at his new position at Emerald, and is harshly introduced to their production "cycle" by being thrown into the mess of their burned-out phase, in which everyone appears brutally overworked and exhausted. He is shocked to find them transformed the next day into composed and energetic people who spiritedly show him the basics of manga editing.

As Onodera continues learning the ropes of manga editing and publishing, his interactions with Takano become more tense and uncomfortable. Takano eventually realizes who Onodera is, later revealing his identity to Onodera as his first love from high school, bringing back memories of being used and tossed aside, even though, as Takano explains, they were fuelled by a gross misunderstanding. He is left conflicted in regards to his true feelings toward Takano.

After Takano and another staff member have a heated argument in the Emerald office about an underprinted publication, Onodera sees the two of them later having a seemingly friendly conversation in the lobby, stirring a sense of jealousy within him. Perturbed by the fact that this bothered him, he begins avoiding Takano even more, prompting Takano to confront him about the situation before it begins affecting their capacity to work together.

The author that Onodera has been overseeing suddenly falls ill along with all of her helpers near the publication deadline. He rushes to the distant Hokkaido to assist her personally, despite protests from his superiors. As the entire editing staff stands on the end of their nerves, Onodera barely makes the deadline with the finished manuscript. He later falls asleep on the train with Takano, and finds himself sleeping in the same bed as Takano the following morning, flustering his emotions and pushing him further into refusal to open himself to Takano.

This episode introduces a new set of characters - Chiaki Yoshino, a male author who releases shōjo manga under the female pseudonym Chiharu Yoshikawa; Yoshiyuki Hatori, his manager and childhood friend; and Yuu Yanase, his chief assistant, who is on rough but unclear terms with his manager. Hatori's increasing coldness toward Chiaki begins to take its toll on their friendship, and when pressed on personal matters, Hatori becomes distant. Chiaki later sees Hatori and Yuu in an alley having what he interprets as an argument between lovers. Growing distraught with confusion that begins to affect his ability to write, Chiaki slowly realizes his feelings for Hatori. However, Hatori later confesses his love for Chiaki, much to his surprise, along with admitting that he had changed Chiaki's management behind Chiaki's back, fearing that his confession would put their relationship on bad terms. This forces Chiaki to admit his own budding feelings.

After an onsen trip, Chiaki is burned out and can hardly concentrate on work. The emerging love triangle between him, Hatori and Yuu compounds his inability to focus as well. Later on in Chiaki's apartment, Hatori informs him that he must attend an upcoming party because his manga will be made into an anime and he must meet the people in charge. Hatori offers to pick a suit for Chiaki, but Chiaki prefers to go shopping with Yuu instead, sparking jealousy in Hatori. After Yuu leaves, Hatori makes tries to kiss Chiaki, upon which Chiaki pushes Hatori away because he feels that Hatori is moving too fast. This upsets Hatori and he leaves. During the party, after meeting the anime staff, Chiaki sees Hatori surrounded by many women, including Ichinose Erika; a top writer who is known to have taken a liking to Hatori. Chiaki, feeling that Hatori is comfortable with the writer, becomes jealous and promptly leaves the party with Yuu. Hatori eventually arrives at Chiaki's place because he still needs to discuss some corrections with Chiaki's manga. Chiaki smells perfume on Hatori; feeling that the writer at the party may have gotten too close him, he becomes angry. Hatori reassures Chiaki otherwise and also confesses his jealousy about Chiaki and Yuu, feeling that Chiaki favors Yuu over him. Chiaki also reassures him and Hatori tells him that he loves him, and will continue to tell him until he can never forget. The morning after, Yuu admits to Chiaki that he is in love with someone, but when Chiaki asks who the person is, he simply says that Hatori knows the person well, leaving Chiaki puzzled and confused.