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Arg!
After the completion of the ritual, Rika smiles and bows to the clapping audience. Mion suddenly grabs Satoko by her hand and rushes off with her as Satoko protests about being treated as a child. This leaves Rena alone with Keiichi. She turns to him and suggests that they should go as well. He asks her what is happening, and she happily replies with a blush that it is the cotton drifting.
The river already has numerous balls of cotton floating down it. Rena hands a ball of cotton to Keiichi and instructs him to follow her lead. She first touches the ball to her forehead, tapping three times, then her heart, and then her stomach. She instructs him to repeat those movements while giving thanks to Oyashiro-sama. When he asks who that is, she explains that it is the guardian deity of Hinamizawa, and they should give thanks to him. She then touches the ball to her forehead and repeats "Oyashiro-sama, thank you" three times. Keiichi repeats the name and then stares at the ball of cotton in his hand.
The two let their cotton balls drift away. Still blushing, Rena rises to announce that they are finished. Keiichi suggests that they should find Mion and the rest. Rena volunteers to find them, since they must be close, and runs off to the surprise of Keiichi. While leaving him with his hand outstretched, Rena keeps running as she tells him that it is fine.
As he walks alone, Keiichi sees Jirō. He starts to call out to him, but then sees a smiling woman approach him speaking. Not wishing to intrude, Keiichi walks away. Some distance from him, Rena stands watching with sad eyes.
The calendar shows June 20, 1983. After an establishing view of the school, the scene shifts to the toilet from which Keiichi emerges. His teacher stops him to tell him that there is a visitor for him. Keiichi walks out to encounter the smoking Ōishi Kuraudo. 
The man pleasantly confirms Keiichi's identity. When Keiichi asks him who he is, the man replies by observing how hot it is outside, and since his car has air conditioning, they should talk inside it. When Keiichi hesitates, Ōishi turns, shows him his badge cover that reads, "Gifu Prefecture Police," and assures him that he does not "bite." Though irritated, Keiichi swallows his protests.
Inside Ōishi's car, he tells Keiichi to let him know if it is too cold. Keiichi ignores this banter and asks him what he wants. Ōishi passes him a photograph of Jirō and asks what Keiichi can tell him about the man. When Keiichi wonders why as he says Jirō, Ōishi notes that Keiichi does know him and then adds that Jirō was seen speaking with him and his friends at the festival the previous night. Keiichi again swallows his protests. Ōishi then shows Keiichi a picture of Takano dressed as a nurse and asks if he knows her. Keiichi replies that he does not know her name, but she was with Jirō. Despite the air conditioning, Keiichi sweats. Ōishi asks him when he last saw them, and Keiichi responds that he saw them at the end of the festival, but he did not talk to them. When Ōishi asks Keiichi if he noticed anything strange about them, Keiichi demands to know if anything happened to them.
Ōishi sighs for a moment, then explains that before he answer.png.pngs, he wishes to know if Keiichi believes in curses. Keiichi scoffs at the idea. Ōishi laughs as he reveals he hoped he would receive that answer.png.png from a "city kid." Over Keiichi's demand to know why that is important, Ōishi darkly explains that many people in the area do believe in curses, Oyashiro-sama's curse in particular. As Keiichi repeats that phrase, he recalls Rena explaining the ritual to him.
Ōishi continues that it started four years ago when the dam Construction Manager was murdered and dismembered by six of the contruction workers. Keiichi startles and recalls the magazine he discovered at the dump. Ōishi continues to explain that five of the workers were caught, but the main culprit and the victim's right arm were never found. He then stresses that that was only the beginning. The next year, a man who supported the dam project was swept away by rapid waters and drowned while on vacation. His wife disappeared, and while most believe she drowned, Ōishi stresses that her body was never found.
Keiichi sweats as he listens in stunned fear.
Ōishi continues to describe the sudden death of the Shinto priest of the shrine. That day, his wife drowned herself in a bog. Keiichi fearfully repeats as a question that the man died of a sudden illness and his wife committed suicide, but Ōishi continues that the following year, which was last year, a woman was found beaten to death.
Keiichi angrily asks by means of retort if just because someone dies every year people claim there is a curse. He starts to insist that they must be coincidences, but Ōishi sternly interrupts him. He reiterates that all four of the incidents occurred on the day of the Watanagashi Festival. This revelation stuns Keiichi. Ōishi repeats this as sweat dribbles down Keiichi's neck. For this reason, Ōishi continues as the scene pans over the pictures of Takano and Jirō, the villagers believe that someone will die from Oyashiro-sama's curse on the day of Watanagashi. When Keiichi asks if the same has happened this year, Ōishi reveals that Takano and Jirō both disappeared.
Desperate, Keiichi tries to insist that they simply went off someplace together. Ōishi explains that her car is still parked in the festival lot while his bicycle was found. Keiichi starts to slump as he ponders this; Ōishi continues to explain that the police believe they were both involved in some incident. He laments that despite their efforts to investigate, the villagers prove reluctant to talk to them about anything connected with Oyashiro-sama. When Keiichi asks him why he has come to him, Ōishi darkly notes that everyone will explain their dissappearances as casualties of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Keiichi finds the idea of a curse ridiculous.
Ōishi quickly turns look at him and tell him that he agrees. He then suddenly yells angrily that divine punishment and curses do not exist. He catches himself, apologizes, then turns up the air conditioning. He continues calmly that it is because Keiichi does not believe in curses that he needs his help. Keiichi agrees to help but remains unsure as to how. Ōishi encourages him to notify him if he sees or hears anything suspicious.
Outside of the car, he hands Keiichi a folded piece of paper that contains his phone number. After Keiichi takes it, he orders him not to tell anyone, especially Mion or his friends, that they talked. This angers Keiichi, who demands to know if Ōishi implies that they had anything to do with the incident. Ōishi calmly assures him that he does not, but since they do not know who might be involved, he does not want anyone in Hinamizawa to know they have talked. He then tries to explain that by keeping it a secret, they do not hurt those who want to believe in the curse. Keiichi agrees then asks his name. Ōishi gives his name and specifies that he is a member of the Okinomiya police. He offers Keiichi the right to call him "Kura-chan," but Keiichi addresses him as "Ōishi-san."
After Ōishi takes his leave, Keiichi watches him drive off. He looks at the folded piece of paper for a moment, then puts it in his pocket, and then walks away.
Inside the classroom, Rena excitedly announces that the victim was killed in the lounge with a rope. Cards are turned over to reveal that she is correct. The scene reveals her playing a game with Mion, Satoko, and Rika. Both Rika and Satoko are impressed with her skill at the game. Mion asks her, then, who is the murderer. Rena proclaims it is "Mii-chan." Mion turns over the card to reveal that it is Rena, to Rena's surprise and disappointment.
Keiichi enters the room which elicits Satoko's immediate teasing rebuke for being late. He sheepishly apologizes and explains that he was called to the teacher's office. Rika stands up on her chair and happily asks him if he got into some trouble, then pats him on the head as she comforts "poor, poor Keiichi." Mion adds that the game was so intense she did not notice his absence. She then turns toward Rena and announces that since she got the lowest score, she faces the penalty for losing. While Rena laments, Mion happily announces that "Kei-chan" also faces the penalty. When he angrily protests, Satoko genially proclaims that to hide from a battle is most horrible, and he must accept his fate. Swearing, Keiichi asks what the penalty is. Mion informs him that he must run errand for them. She hands him a linst of groceries. When he protests that it is just a list of things she needs to buy, she snaps back that "Club Rule 7" states he must accept the penalty no matter what.
That night Keiichi fitfully sleeps. He awakens and swears, then turn on the light over his desk. He flips through the magazine he found.
The calendar reads, "June 21, 1983."
At the school, the bell rings. Keiichi yawns, which Rena gently notices. He explains that he stayed up late watching television. When she asks him about lunch, he buries his head in his arms and states that he will take a nap instead. When he does, Satoko immediately appears with a box of toys that includes a toy katana and teases that he could not think she would let the opportunity slip her by. Keiichi quietly warns her that if she messes with him, he will get mad, "really mad." Disappointed, Satoko complains that his response take all of the fun out of her plans.
While he tries to snooze, Mion and Rena talk over lunch. He hears them discuss how "they" were missing the entire day after. Mion explains to Rena that this means "it" happened the night of the Watanagashi Festival. Rena wonders if it is Oyashiro-sama's curse, to which Mion speculates that they may have been "demoned away (鬼隠し・onikakushi)." This causes Keiichi to open his eyes.
As the higurashi c ry, Keiichi walks home. He repeats to himself Mion's term "onikakushi," wondering what it means. A horn startles him, and he sees a car. Ōishi calls to him from the car, compliments him on his "timing," then invites him for a short drive.
The scene shifts to Angel Mort, a primarily dessert restaurant staffed by young women dressed in a fashion that forces When They C ry Wiki to reach for the smelling salts. Keiichi does blush when served by the waitress. He watches her walk away as Ōishi rhetorically asks him if he likes the restaurant. This startles and embarrasses Keiichi, but Ōishi merely adds that everyone enjoys the place, though not for the food. Keiichi gathers himself and interrupts Ōishi's musings to ask him what onikakushi means. Ōishi replies that it is something one hears in the area. He explains that it means to be stolen away by a demon and disappear. It is similar to being "spirited away" (神隠し・kamikakushi). Keiichi repeats the phrase kamikakushi as Ōishi continues to note that in the past, people feared Hinamizawa since they believed demons live there. Sweating, Keiichi asks him if he means the demons from Hell (地獄・jigoku). "More like the kind that eat people alive," Ōishi replies. Laughing a bit at the absurdity, he explains that there are many stories of monsters that wander into the village and eat people.
He asks Keiichi why he asked about it. Keiichi explains that he heard Rena and Mion talking about it, and they said that if Oyashiro-sama was involved, then the two were "demoned away." Ōishi thinks a moment then asks if he did tell Keiichi about the first incident. Keiichi replies that that is the one where the murderer is still on the run. Ōishi asks him if, hypothetically, he is not but was "demoned away." He then notes that the following year, the woman's body was never found. As a server smiles whilst using the cash register, Keiichi counters that the following year involved two people they know died. Ōishi insists that it is the same since all they found was the woman's suicide note and her sandals.
Keiichi then asks about the woman who was beaten to death the year before. Ōishi explains that they did catch the murderer, a drug addict, but after his arrest, a child under the victim's care went missing. He continues to explain as he picks up his spoon from his coffee saucer and brings it to his neck, that the accused slit his own throat. Keiichi asks as a clarification, that every year someone dies and another goes missing. Ōishi confirms this. Keiichi asks why Rena and Mion did not tell him this. There is a flashback to Rena curtly responding that she does not know. Back in the present, Keiichi repeats her name, the Ōishi speculates that the two did not want to worry or scare him. This surprises Keiichi, but Ōishi continues that if every year someone gets cursed and another gets demoned away, then technically they are still waiting for the curse to fall on someone.
The calendar shows "Wednesday, June 22, 1983."
Keiichi walks with Rena. She asks him if it is true that his father is an artist. He replies that every room of their house is being slowly swallowed by his studio. Smiling, Rena insists that she wants to see since she bets that she will find something cute as she enters Cute Mode.
Keiichi stops walking suddenly, and asks Rena directly if they have been lying to or hiding things from him. Rena replies that they have not, but Keiichi insists that they have. When she ask what he means, he turns to her sharply and declares that he knows she is hiding things from him.
As the higurashi c ry, Rena turns curt and calmly replies, "Fine, Keichi-kun (じゃあさ・Jyāsa, Keiichi-kun). Then are you lying about anything or hiding anything from me?" Keichi startles, and Rena calmly repeats her question. Keiichi denies that he is lying or hiding anything from her.
"That's a lie (嘘だよ・usodayo)," she calmly observes. Wary, Keiichi asks her why she thinks he is lying. Still calm but curt, she replies that she knows what he did. She states that he hid something from her at the dump. There is a flashback to Keiichi quickly hiding the magazine he found. When he tries to explain, she continues that when he skipped the Club activity, he really did not go to the teacher's office. He tries to ask how she knows, but she persists by stating that he talked with an older man in his car. "Who was he?" she asks. He tries to pretend he does not know. She rhetorically asks why a stranger would want to talk to him. Stammering, he tries again to claim he does not know. She continues to ask what they talked about. When he yells at her that it had nothing to do with her or Mion, she suddenly explodes screaming "LIE!"
Keiichi steps back stunned, but Rena makes a rather salacious grin as she now calmly insists that she did everything correct and worked really hard. She then steps close to him and adds that some people have to work really hard to be happy. With her eyes blazing blue, she insists that she has worked really hard and gave it everything she had for a very long time.
Keiichi sweats and grits his teeth in fear. Rena calmly turns away from him, walks a few paces, then in her normal voice suggests that just as he has things he wishes to hide, so does she. She turns back to him with a smile and suggest that they continue since it is becoming chilly. As she continues walking, Keiichi can only stand watching her stunned.
At his home during the evening, Keiichi lies on his bed stairing at the ceiling. He is interrupted by his father calling to him stating that he has a phone call from a bookstore. Suprised, Keiichi takes the call. Õishi apologizes for calling him so late. In the back ground, his father sits drinking a beer and snacking in front of the television. On the phone, Ōishi laughingly apologizes that when his parents answer.png.pnged the phone, he pretended that he was from a bookstore.
Keiichi tells him to wait a moment. The scene shifts to his room where he has moved the phone. Ōishi explains that since their talk he has done some digging, When ask in to what, Ōishi responds into his friend Rena. He apologizes that the story may be boring, and if it does bore him, he should tell him to stop. Keiichi insists that he wishes to hear it.
Ōishi explains that Rena lived in the suburbs of Ibaraki prefecture until last year. Keiichi responds that he knows that she moved to Hinamizawa, but Ōishi adds that just before she moved, she was suspended from her school. She broke all of the glass windows at her school. She was diagnosed with dysautonomia and given medication and counseling. He continues that he discovered something interesting in the notes taken by her counselor: she contantly brought up Oyashiro-sama.
This stuns Keiichi as he recalls Rena touching the cotton to her forehead as she thanks the god. Ōishi continues that she claimed that Oyashiro-sama visited her every night, standing next to her pillow and staring down on her. Keiichi asks that since she never lived in Hinamizawa before, why would she bring that up. Ōishi quickly corrects him that he discovered that the Ryūgū family came from Hinamizawa, and they moved away when she finished elementary school. Ōishi asks him if he is alright and should they stop. Before Keiichi can answer.png.png, he hears knocking on his door. He turns startled, but his father asks him to open his door. Keiichi apologizes to Ōishi that his father is calling him, and Ōishi concludes their call with a reminder that he should call him if he learns anything new.
His father begs him to open the door since his hands are full. Keiichi opens his door to discover his father happily holding a tray of either tea or coffee with small cookies. 
Keiichi asks him what it is for, and his father teasingly orders him not to play with him. Keiichi angrily asks what he is talking about, and his father dottingly notes that "Rena-chan" is there.
This naturally surprises Keiichi, and he denies that she is there. Smiling, his father tells him that he does not have to lie to him since she came over to hang out with him.
Keiichi gasps stunned.
Recovering, he asks his father if she saw her. He replies that he told Rena to head upstairs to his room. Keiichi asks him when that happened, and his father thinks and replies that it occured a couple of minutes after he received his phone call.
Keiichi steps back and closes his door to his father's protests.
He looks at his open window into which a breeze blows. He says outloud that Rena came to his home. He imagines her feet slowly ascending the stairs. He realizes that his father told her where his room is located. He imagines her feet slowly walking the hallway.
He realizes that she heard him talking to Ōishi.
In a flashback to him talking on the phone, he focuses on his door slightly slid open. Rena peers through the gap.
Her eye blazes blue.
Adult-Voiced Rika returns to announce the fourth chapter.
