Kouichi visited Mei in the hospital, sat next to her for a while and talked to her.

Soon Dr. Muneyoshi approached him.

Kaito: Mr. Sakakibara, I have both good and bad news for you.

Kouichi grieved
Kouichi: Alright start with the bad one.

Kaito: The worst-case scenarios have come true, your wife will most likely not be able to speak.

It is also possible that she will have problems with hand control.

I am so sorry, I tried my best to make her be affected as little as possible.

Kouichi: No, I am the one who should be grateful that he is alive thanks to you doctor, you should not apologize for anything.
How about the good one?

Kaito: Today, more brain activity was read, and it is possible that she will awake soon.

Kouichi: Doctor, when will Mei wake up?

Kaito: It's a matter of weeks

Kouichi: Tough luck.

Kaito: Some therapy might help her regain the power in her hands or even the ability to speak.

However, it's a long and expensive process.

Kouichi: I understand, anyway thank you doctor for what you did for her.

Kaito: There is no need to thank me, it is my duty.

While returning home, Kouichi encountered Naoki, Sakakibara tried to strike up a conversation with him however Naoki ignored him.

Sakakibara went on, and Muneyoshi entered the first better store.

Kouichi, after some time, received a text message saying.

- I'm being followed, what do you want?

Kouichi read the message and tried to call Naoki.

He didn't answer, hiding in a clothing store.

Without noticing it, Kento Sakai's brother Kouji was walking down the street, Kouji Sakai was quite similar to Naoki, causing the car following Muneyoshi to follow Sakai.

Naoki, noticing that the car had left, exited the store.

He managed to lose them, however, the driver spotted Kouji Sakai, who resembled Naoki from a distance.

The car approached him and, almost in the middle of the day, kidnapped Kento's brother right in the center of the city,
The sound of gunfire from a Tommy Gun was heard shortly. After a few minutes, a speeding car dumped Kouji Sakai's lifeless body on the street.
Naoki walked past his body, looked at it, sighed, and moved on.

At night, Naoki went to Kouichi's house, which he inherited from his grandparents.

A sleepy and tired Kouichi opened the door for Kouichi.

Kouichi: Muneyoshi-kun? It's 2 a.m.!

Naoki: I couldn't before, the situation is bad.

Kouichi: Well, this incident from today?
Were you their original target?

Naoki: Yes, but it is possible that you and Mei will also be on their target.

Kouichi: Mei has not yet awakened from her coma, it will be a bit difficult.

Naoki: Therefore, we must take matters into our own hands.

Kouichi: I don't suppose you mean….?

Naoki: Yes, we have to eliminate them ourselves.

The Hironiwa clan has dealt with the leader in prison.

Therefore, it is necessary to neutralize them.

Kouichi: But…

Naoki: It's either them or you.

I can try to attack them myself, but I may not be able to do it.

I need someone to help me.

I thought about asking Ayane for help, but I don't want to endanger her.
I'm giving you a choice.

Kouichi: All right, I'll do it.

Naoki: I'll see you tomorrow in Yamegawa.

In the 3-3 classroom, the atmosphere was grave.

Many people sympathized with Sakai, some sincerely, some not.

The exception was Nae Hiiragi who walked up to Kento and whispered in his ear.

Nae: Admit that you deserved it, not your brother.

Kento tried to hide his grief and anger

Kento: Shut up

Nae: Did you say something?

Why don't you say it a little louder?

Kento ignored Nae, and walked away from everyone.

Nae, however, followed him.

Kento: Will you leave me alone?

Nae: I think you'll be joining your brother soon.

Kento: What?

Kento and Nae were walking past the stairs, Nae took the opportunity to push Kento down the stairs.

Kento survived the fall however he broke his leg.

Nae: You are lucky, but remember that you slipped.

You report me , then I will report you too.

Kobayashi still has the video and photos from that day.

Kento: Fine.

Shun Iwamoto and Noriko Gotou arrived first to help Kento.

Noriko: Can you walk Sakai-kun?

Kento: No, I think my leg is broken.

Nae: Break the second one.

Ai: Nae!

Nae: Just kidding.

Ai: Kento was very lucky to have survived the fall

Nae: Do you feel sorry for him?

Ai: The curse killed his brother, and in addition, he broke his leg!

What he did was wrong, but that doesn't mean he's some kind of trash!
Don't tell me you were the one who pushed him off Nae.

Nae: Sakai-kun wanted to get away from me and slipped, an unfortunate accident indeed.

Later at the hospital, Ayane visited Kento.

Kento: Kobayashi-san?
What do you want?

Ayane: I know that your accident was not an accident.
Nae Hiiragi wants to kill you and Takana-kun.

Kento: I know, but what can I do?

Ayane: Fuyutsuki-san will work with us.

Takatsuki-kun and Iwamoto-kun probably will too.

Kento: What are you going to do?

Ayane: We must somehow isolate Nae from our class.

Kento: Will it accomplish something?

Ayane: I am beginning to suspect that Nae may be an extra person.

Kento: And it is not too late?

Ayane: in 1998 the curse was successfully broken, now it can also succeed.

Kento: Just what exactly did they do then?

Ayane: I will know soon.

Take care.

Kento: Thank you Kobayashi-san, no one has ever been so kind to me after what I did.

Ayane: Everyone deserves a second chance, by the way, now we are dealing with something much more dangerous.

In the meantime, Ai met with Rika.

Ai: Rika! Rika!

Rika: Ai?

Ai: I need to tell you something...

Rika: Please tell me.

Ai: I didn't tell you this, but Nae was in a psychiatric hospital for a long time.

I didn't want to tell you this, but I regret it.

Nae started acting strangely after she left, as if she wasn't herself.

Rika: I think everyone has probably noticed that.

Ai: I don't know, perhaps she is possessed?

Rika: I don't know, it's possible.
Or it was the curse that changed her behavior.

Ai: We'll agree on what to do tomorrow?

Rika: Yes, I'll call Ayane later today.

Naoki waited until nightfall to call Kouichi.
The two got on and drove to Yamegawa, to a summer house owned by Hiiragi.

This bungalow had an exit to an underground weapons bunker that had existed there before.

Naoki came out after a while holding two Bergmann MP18s, and threw one to Kouichi.

Kouichi: Do we have to do it?

Naoki: We don't have a choice.

Kouichi: Does it even work?

Naoki: We can try

Naoki and Kouichi stepped outside the bungalow and fired a round from their guns.

Surprisingly these guns still worked.

Naoki: Tomorrow there is supposed to be a convention of the Hironiwa clan, then we will strike.

Kouichi: What if somebody calls the police?

Naoki: We need to do this quickly

Naoki noticed that Kouichi's hands are trembling

Are your hands trembling?

Kouichi: I-I don't want to kill anyone

Naoki: If Mei had been in your shoes, we would have already had it over with.

Kouichi: Mei did not kill anyone. And she wouldn't want to kill anyone either.

Naoki: Are you sure she didn't kill anyone?

Kouichi: Yeah I guess?

Naoki: So you are wrong

Kouichi: Huh? Mei killed somebody?

Naoki: Did she not tell you?

Kouichi: No

Naoki: She was the one who killed my father.

Kouichi: Wasn't that you?

Naoki: No, I almost died then.

Kouichi took a deep breath, and after thinking about it for a while, confirmed that he was participating.