Satoko leaves school and continues convincing Teppei that she is being bullied by the village. The game club members begin protesting outside of Child Welfare Services. Wishing to protect Satoko, Teppei invites Öishi to the house to explain the situation. Satoko secretly sedates Öishi and injects him with H-173. Öishi acknowledges that Satoko is being treated well and begins to suspect that the rumors of abuse are an attempt to target Teppei as a victim of Oyashiro's curse. Öishi decides to further incite the villager's hatred of Teppei to use him as bait to apprehend the culprit behind the curse. While scratching his neck, Öishi vandalizes the Furude Shrine.