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Arg!

This episode continues directly from the previous. Satoko holds her head screaming while her classmates including Tomita and Okamura watch in horror. Keiichi tries to comfort her, telling her who he is and asking if she recognizes him. She recoils and screams "help me!" and "I'm scared!" repeatedly. Some distance away, Rena, Rika, and Mion watch stunned with Rika holding her ears. Finally, Rena rushes over to Satoko and Keiichi and tells him he needs to back off. He stands as she tries to comfort her. She is able to place her hands on Satoko's shoulders. Satoko sobs for "Ni Ni" to come and save her. Rena repeatedly apologizes to her; Mion covers her mouth as her eyes fill with tears. Rena adds that they are sorry they could not do anything for her. Keiichi, with tears in the corners of his eyes, looks away in frustration. Rika stares horrified.

A subdued Chie Rumiko opens the door to the classroom then startles when she sees the situation. She rushes to Satoko and Rena to ask what happened. After a pause, Satoko rises laughing. She claims that she merely got into a little tussle with Rena over a part of their lunch. She then happily spins claiming it was all a joke. As she continues, Mion looks down in frustration. She finally whispers that it is all because they are powerless to stop it.

The bell rings, and Satoko taps her shoes in place as she prepares to leave. Rika calls to her. She takes Satoko's hand and asks her to come home with her. Blushing, Satoko reminds her that she lives with her uncle now and there is nothing she can do about it as she pulls her hand away.

Back in the classroom, Keiichi sits on the teacher's desk staring at the blackboard while Rena sits at a desk staring at the floor. Rika slowly enters. When he asks her where Satoko is, she shakes her head sadly. He curses the inaction of the Child Welfare Services, but Mion reminds him that Satoko previously made a false report. Their brief argument is interrupted by an angry Shion demanding to know why they are all just standing around. She ignores her sister's question as to why she is there and, instead, demands to know if they plan to just wait until Satoko is killed.

Rena agrees that they cannot simply wait and see what happens. When Keiichi wonders what they should do, such as filing yet another report with Child Welfare Services, Shion suggests they simply beat Teppei. This causes Keiichi to startle then flashback to him attacking Teppei with a baseball bat. This is interrupted by Rena yelling that that is not the proper way to handle the situation. Shion snaps back demanding to know what Rena suggests, then she tells everyone that Satoshi asked her to take care of his sister. Sweating, Mion asks her to calm down. Shion reminds her that she is the head of the Sonozaki Family and should use her influence to save Satoko. As Mion looks helpless, Shion continues that she knows why her sister will not: their "demon grandmother" refuses to have anything to do with the Hōjō family due to the Dam Construction War. Mion looks down blushing in shame.

Denouncing the rest of them, Shion starts to walk away declaring that Satoko is like family to her, her little sister, and she plans to go out and murder Teppei. As she nearly completes her Dramatic Exit, waving her hand at them with her back turned and sarcastically uttering, sayonara (さよなら), Keiichi tells her to wait. When she turns and demands to know if he intends to stop her, without looking at her, Keiichi asks if she thinks Satoko will thank her for killing someone to save her. Shion does not care if Satoko will thank her; it is enough that she will be happy. Keiichi turns to her and advises that she will simply end up regretting it and hating herself. With Rika listening, Keiich angrily suggests that she will realize that what she really wanted was everyone to return to the world where they were happy. As Rika watches with growing surprise, Keiichi explains that is she murders someone, that world goes away.

He strides towards her while lecturing that Satoko will blame herself for Shion's actions. He concludes with his face near hers that murder will be the one mistake there will be no turning back from. Undaunted, Shion demands to know his suggestion. Not waiting for a response, she swears at him to shut his mouth and get out of her way. Keiichi moves around her and bars the exit, vowing not to let her pass. She calmly accepts this and responds grabbing a chair and threatening to beat him with it. Mion yells at her to stop, but Keiichi addresses Shion directly and confesses that she is correct: he does not have a better plan, but he is sure they can think of one.

She warns him again to get out of her way. He begs her to believe in her friends, and to believe in him. He vows that he will save her.

She demands to know why she should trust him as she brings the chair down and the scene shifts to the horrified Rena, then to the floor. Blood starts to drip on it. Keiichi tries to boast that it is nothing, and she will have to kill him to get past him. Keiichi conjures up a flashback montage of happy moments of The Club in game competition as he insists that he wants to live in a world where they can all live and play together. Shion to startles and stops as she realizes that Rika now stands defiantly in front of Keiichi. Rika addresses her in her Adult Voice, telling her that people cannot live without hope. She insists that this world has not lost hope yet even if she does not recognize it. With his head bowed, Keiichi asks Shion to trust him, which finally causes her to look ashamed.

She places the chair down. The scene shifts to her sitting alone in the chair facing the window. The rest look at her from a distance. Keiichi, holding the side of his head, turns to Rika and thanks her. In her Child Voice she happily replies with a "nipaa!" Still looking out the window, Shion sarcastically ask Keiichi to tell her that he does not plan to just stand their after his speech. As Rena applies pressure and a bandage to his head, Rika, in her more Adolescent Voice, tells Keiichi that while the world may appear to be a "dead end," it is not yet. Rena encourages him that if they all work together, they can make a miracle happen. Still in her Adolescent Voice, Rika adds that it they doing just that will be enough.

Keiichi looks up and declares that they will all go to the Child Welfare Services Center. This causes Shion to turn to him and demand to know what sort of idea that is. He insists that they know what is happening. Rena agrees that there is no way they know the situation Satoko is in. This convinces Mion that they can attack the issue directly. For her part, Shion dismisses it since she heard that once the Child Welfare Services render a decision, it does not change its mind. She predicts failure; Keiichi reminds her that they will not know if they do not try. Rena runs to her and asks her if she will join them. With a sigh, Shion relents.

The scene changes to a view outside the Center. They sit in a waiting room with posters that read such encouragement as "Be a Foster Parent" and "You are Not Alone! If something is not right, call us!" Keiichi gripes about the wait, but an adult voice asks him if he is "Maebara-san." A man announces that someone will now speak with him. In a smaller room, with tea politely placed on the table, a woman pages through a note book and listens to Keiichi explain that he believes she received a call from the school the day before. He explains that they have come to offer more details. Officious Glasses-chan politely asks, "more details?" Keiichi explains that Satoko may have said that nothing happened out of fear of her uncle. Shion stands and angrily asks if she plans to "monitor" Satoko until she dies. Officious Glasses-chan calmly, and officiously, offers that her is still being worked on. This causes Shion to angrily grit her teeth; Rena asks rhetorically that the woman means they are not ignoring Satoko but are "working on the case." She then asks if that is not the same thing as doing nothing. Somewhat affronted, the woman insists that a social worker from the Center contacted the Hōjōs the previous night, and she promises that they will intermittently check on them to ensure she receives "the proper level of parenting care." This responds causes Shion to explode, mocking the phrase, and demanding to know if she has any idea what is happening in the home. For her part, Mion glares at the woman.

Officious Glasses-chan apologizes for misspeaking. She meant to say that they will ensure she receives the proper level of care "from her guardian." Keiichi interrupts to insist that Satoko was fine living on her own without him. Since her uncle came into town and dragged her away, he demands to know if that is not technically kidnapping. She calmly quotes Article 821 of the Japanese Civil Code that states that children must live with their legal guardians. When Shion snaps back questioning how such a "sleaze ball" could become a guardian, Mion quietly explains to her that he became the legal guardian when her parents died. When she looks down and admits that she does not know what article states that, the woman immediately responds, "Article 818."

Mion then argues that this "guardian" willingly abandoned his child for over a year. When she asks what the Child Welfare Services have to say about that, the woman, officiously, responds that she cannot answer.png.png due to confidentiality, but she insists that they did ask the family to explain what happened. Frowning, Rena asks that because they were satisfied by this explanation, they decided to "monitor" them. Officious Glasses-chan officiously reminds her that she said they are still working on the case. Keiichi adds that she was abused by her aunt and uncle the previous year as well, then sarcastically asks if she has that written down in her notebook as he leans across the table.

She calmly but firmly closes the notebook and responds that she cannot answer.png.png that due to confidentiality but insists that they are taking everything into consideration. Shion angrily suggests that they are doing nothing because of Satoko's previous false report. Remaining calm, and officious, the woman responds that they will make the decision that is best for the child in question. Shion explodes, swears, slams her fists on the desk, and directly warns her that if something happens to Satoko, she will regret it. Officious Glasses-chan maintains her demeanor while Mion tells Shion to stop since she is only hurting their case.

They both withdraw, and Keiichi continues that he does not know what her uncle sounded like on the phone, but she should not be fooled by him.

She assures them that she will pass that on to the case worker. She stands and formally bows as she thanks them for coming in that day to talk to them. Keiichi can only sigh in frustration.

They all sit outside in a small playground: Keiichi and Rika sit on swings; Rena stands holding on to the support of the swings; and Shion and Mion sit on the railing of the simple fence around it. Shion remarks that she feels that the woman did not listen to anything they said. Rena tries to be encouraged that the woman promised to pass a message along to the case worker, but she then somewhat sadly tries to insist what they did was not for nothing. Shion asks why they cannot simply talk to the case worker directly. Mion does not know, but she suspects it is because case workers have a pretty tough job. She then turns to her sister and suggests that case workers encounter a lot of people who warn them "they'll regret it."

Since she has more experience talking to city officials, Keiichi wonders if it would be better for her to talk to them rather than he. Shion adds that they only talk to her because she is the head of the Sonozaki family. She reminds them how they were all treated when no one knew who Mion was. Mion tries to sheepishly laugh.

As they walk across a bridge Keiichi wonders out loud what they should do next. Rika gently says his name, and they all stop and look at him. He apologizes that he made so much fuss but cannot actually do anything.

Rika responds in her Adult Voice that she does not believe him; she believes that he will be the one to save Satoko. For that reason, she does not believe him when he says he can do nothing. In her more Adolescent Voice, she reminds him that he said he could tear apart fate "like wet paper." Tears start to fall on the ground at her feet as she begs him to put and end to it. She looks up at him with tears streaming from her eyes and renews her beg that he save Satoko.

Keiichi pauses, looks up, then smile and castigates himself for believing he let himself give up just because of what happened that day. As the music turns upbeat, he explains that Rika's words opened his eyes, and he now knows how important it is when people believe in him. He then rallies them. With drama, and a sudden gust of win and sunset, he reminds them that if this was a Club game they would all be losing. Mion giggles at this, then takes over his speech, reminding them all that Club members never give up. Rena agrees, and even Shion smiles, but she does ask, as the scene shifts to the newspaper in the Maebara gate, what it is they will actually do.

The caption over the newspaper reads, "Thursday, June 16, 1983."

During lunch period, Keiichi dramatically slaps his hand against the blackboard and demands that everyone pay attention. He describes their class as like a family and rhetorically demands to know if they will let one of their family suffer. He describes what he and the Club are already doing: fighting head-on but following the rules. Mion and Shion stand in turn proclaiming that they will fight in the open according to the rules. Tomita is surprised by "fight," and Keiichi dramatically stands on Chie's desk and emphasizes that they will follow the rules.

Meanwhile, Chie walks the hallway towards the classroom. She hears Keiichi's exhortation and then sees him standing on her desk through the door's window. Keiichi retells how the Club visited the Center and were dismissed with the promise that they would write down that "five classmates asked us to protect her." He declares that five are not enough; he needs all of their help. Chie stares through the window in shock, but she does say his name as she starts to open the door. Behind her, Rika calls out her name. She turns, but Rika strides right up to her as she tells her that everyone is trying to help Satoko which causes Chie to recoil. Rika then stares at her intently as she switches into her Adult Voice and explains that while she has no power and cannot do anything without help, she can stop Chie if she tries to stop them. Chie sighs, relents, then asks Rika to try not to get anyone hurt as she kneels down to Rika's level. "Promise me that." Rika brightens and thanks her.

Inside, Keiichi calls to have everyone meet up in Okinomiya after school. Chie enters the room with Rika following and asks that everyone wait. When Keiichi asks if she is actually going to try to stop them, she replies with a simple, "no," then adds that "teacher will be coming with you."

With first a view of the outside of the Child Welfare Service Center, the man who previously spoke to Keiichi and the rest, now sweats and asks how they can help them today. Keiichi responds that they have come to speak about Satoko; the man stammers as he asks how many are with Keiichi. Keiichi responds that it is Satoko's classmates and teacher for a total of sixteen. The scene shifts to a paper cup of tea as Center Manager Harayama addresses them in a much larger room. He, officiously, summarizes that they have informed the Center, previously, of the situation, and they are not only "monitoring" the case, they are "actively working on it." Unimpressed, Keiichi notes that this is despite them knowing about the abuse Satoko suffered the year before. Harayama calmly pages through his notebook and replies that they received no confirmed record of Teppei's abuse, only that of her aunt, Tamae. Shion reacts in shock. As the students look at one another is surprise, he continues that they received no reports of Teppei's involvement. Rena protests that that may simply be because Tamae's abuse overshadowed that of Teppei. Harayama responds by making a note of it in his notebook. Mion questions him about Teppei abandoning her for a year. He replies that it was explained by him having to work out of town in order to support her. He then adds that Satoko denied abuse when they directly asked her. Keiichi grits his teeth in frustration as Harayama concludes that the Child Welfare Services has determined Satoko can continue living with Teppei.

Rena slaps the desk, looks up, and glares at him. Undaunted, he genially requests that they continue to watch over the both of them and give them a chance to start their life together over again. As he sips his tea in conclusion, Shion stands and demands to know if he listened to even a single word they said. He replies that he has and they will remember that so many came to support Satoko. All will be taken into consideration as they make a decision. Shion asks him if he will take responsibility should something bad happen to Satoko. She then curses at him and vows that if Teppei leaves the tiniest scratch on her, they are all dead. On this, Chie scolds her, and Shion resumes her seat. Mion asks him when the decision will be made, and he gives the waffling answer.png.png that they need to "carefully review the situation" to make such an "informed decision," and he hopes that these answer.png.pngs will prove sufficient for them today.

Outside, as they file out, Shion remarks that this is like the Dam Construction War. Her sister agrees but observes that the kids with them were not involved in that. Rika observes that it is the spirit of the community that makes Hinamizawa great. Mion then repeats the saying that if one is attacked, then two respond, if two then four, et cetera. Rena asks her what proverb it is; Shion responds for her that it is something their grandmother use to say. Keiichi agrees that it makes sense to band together to take out an enemy.

Tomita interrupts to ask him if this means the Center will do nothing. Keiichi agrees that it looks like they are willing to let Satoko just suffer. Okamura says that he is a neighbor and can attest to Teppei's behavior. Tomita, then other students, vow that they must work harder to save her. Inspired by this, Keiichi declares that they will continue the next day with even more people.

In her Adult Voice, but with an expression that causes When They C ry Wiki to put down the mocha, Rika suggests that this is the power to tear apart fate.

After a wipe to black, the higurashi c ry as the scene focuses on a road in Hinamizawa. Ōishi Kuraudo walks towards the viewer. He smiles.

Adult-Voiced Rika returns to announce the fourth chapter.