I think that V5C2 is pretty clever.
The first half of it being very predictable in how everyone would move and act is a good way to contrast with Ayame, who we know as someone being predictable. The mask cracking slowly as it goes on is also a good device, though some may see it as overdone due to how it's a slow reveal. However, I think that was done intentionally, once again being an analogy to Ayame's true issues being there, but only brushed off, until it's revealed. Sensei protecting Shuro at the end is a nice twist, being an unaccounted for brush-stroke, or a plot twist by a writer who didn't think about it until it dawned on them.
The second half would naturally be a metaphor for a mask slipping, the theme of it ultimately being that even the best masks come off. Ayame's true appearance having her hair over her right eye is a nice touch to her having her vision stuck by what's past the mask, painfully aware of her tunneled vision. But everyone's mask gets cast off, Shura's in how her penname is revealed, Niya in showing herself as more than a slacker, and everyone else wearing a face of defiance when their mask of terror is broken. My favorite part of the story is how Kurokage's appearance is recreated by Shuro's new fable. There's a good touch in how Shuro becomes more than just a member of Nature's Beauty, but for a moment we see who she really is, and that's a child who lets her fantasies run wild which is then reflected in her art. I want to have her as a student really badly because I want momotalks with her. But I'm also incredibly biased on that. The last major element's an interesting use of Responsibility, and having two different meanings. Ayame, wearing the dead mask of an office that consumed her. Nagusa, reaching out to the mask to tear it off.
TL;DR I really need Shuro as a student, PLEASE, Kim, it would be really cool.