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Arg!

The episode opens with Satoko's finger snapping from the previous episode. Various students including Rika's trio of "chans," scream at the results.

In the realm of the time fragments, Eua sits on her throne smiling as she observes a fragment. The teenage Satoko appears lying on the floor nearby.

She awakens as the opening music and title sequence begins.

There is an arial view of Okinomiya. In the bookstore, Rika confesses to Satoko her dream which she wishes to share with her. Satoko stares at the book with depressed resignation. She tosses the book back onto the pile and storms out of the store with Rika hurrying after her protesting that she has not finished.

Outside, Satoko stares at a closed window barrier and tells Rika that she is not as smart as she is, and she hates studying. Rika insists that she also hates studying, but together they can, only for Satoko to turn and snap at her to shut up for a bit and let her finish. As Rika reacts in sweating surprise, Satoko calmly, but firmly, explains that even if they are accepted, she will not be able to keep up with the academics. Rika looks down in sadness. Satoko continues that the fine ladies would never befriend a girl like her. However, she continues as she stares at the barrier, Rika will fit in well, and she will be surrounded by friends. Rika reacts by shaking her head, but Satoko continues that she does not want to be left alone. Rika insists that she does not have to worry since she is her best friend and she will be by Satoko's side. Satoko turns her head away. Rika continues that after they get in, since she will remain her best friend, she will not let Satoko be alone. She ends with her promise, but Satoko angrily interrupts with the Higurashi staple of "you're lying!" She then angrily tells Rika what "together" really means to Rika: they will study for exams "together," because Rika finds it boring to do so alone; they will go to the posting of exam results "together," since it is "sad" to go alone; and they will go to the bathroom at night "together," because Rika gets scared. Bumping Rika, Satoko insists this is "all" that Rika means by "together."

Rika's eyes shake as she haltingly tries to correct her. "Hey, Rika," Satoko sarcastically interrupts, then she notes that being able to accomplish anything with effort is a talent in and of itself. With a flashback montage, she reminds Rika that when she tried to ride a unicycle or walk with stilts she failed. In the flashback scene, Satoko excels. She reminds Rika that she could easily accomplish those feats while Rika struggled in vain. As Rika stammers, Satoko more calmly lectures that everyone has things that they simply cannot do no matter how hard they try. Satoko concludes that no matter how hard she will try, she will never excel in school. Rika watches in horror as Satoko's fingers quiver as she insists that she does not even want to try, and she hates it. She concludes that she cannot endure the pain she must suffer to help Rika achieve her "dream."

She continues, as she stares at the sky, that once they enter school, Rika will forget about her. Rika looks down and asks why Satoko says all of this. Satoko ignores this question and demands that Rika decide between her and her "fancy school." Rika retreats protesting that she does not understand why Satoko is so upset. Satoko ignores this and directly asks her to choose if she will have a fun and happy life with her in Hinamizawa, or will she abandon Hinamizawa and her both. In her Adult Voice, Rika apologizes that she cannot pick just one. Turning more to her Adolescent Voice, she insists that she wants both the school and Satoko.

With a close up of her mouth, Satoko sighs. She then turns and calmly steps up on guard rail and turns towards Rika. She rhetorically asks the shocked Rika if she told her to pick only one. She then falls back, and a passing truck, surrounded in anime sparkles, runs towards her as she sighs: "But you always have to be so stubborn." As she slowly falls in silence in slow motion, she rationalizes that it will be much harder than she thought.

Her left hand snaps.

The truck graphically obliterates her spraying her blood all over Rika. The scene focuses on the lamp post as the sound of tires screeching and adults shouting is heard, only to shift to the plane of time fragments with Eua sitting on her throne smilingly as she watches one fragment. Near her, a bright light appears that resolves into another fragment. She touches it and laughs as the scene focuses on it to reveal Satoko waking up with a startle. She finds herself next to the still sleeping Rika in the home they shared. The paper calendar reads, "June 16, 1984."

The scene shifts immediately to Satoko's hand pulling on Rika's in the forest. It resolves to them still in their pajamas. Rika rubs her eyes as she asks where they are going while protesting that it is still so early. Satoko ignores her protests and takes her to a cliff as she declares they made it in time to see. Rika emits a "Mi" as the piano music plays and she sees Hinamizawa illuminated by the sunrise. She asks Rika if it is not stunning. Rika, with the gentle piano music entering, agrees that it is. Satoko continues to laud the beauty of the village than explains that that is why she asks if, hypothetically, Rika would ever want to leave. When Rika reacts with surprise, Satoko calmly insists that all of this beauty will go to waste.

Rika smiles and tells her that she read her mind. Rika claims that Satoko is her best friend. As Satoko excitedly begins to ask that since that is true, Rika interrupts her to also excitedly explain that she knows Satoko will support this dream she has. As she bubbles about the dream of leaving Hinamizawa together, she notices that Satoko is holding a kitchen knife in her right hand. She asks Rika what they have just been talking about. Rika tries to move away, but Satoko hold her hand firm as she explains that she just said how foolish it would be to let Hinamizawa's beauty go to waste. She insists that this will lead to divine punishment and Oyashiro-sama would weep. Rika insists that Oyashiro-sama did weep when she knew that she was trapped, and she is sure that she would want her to be able to leave.

Satoko raises the knife and denounces Rika as hateful and sinful. She brings the blade to her own neck as she sarcastically notes that Rika considers herself a miko of Oyashiro-sama, and then she cuts into her neck.

Her fingers snap.

Eua snickers with satisfaction as she views this floating fragment. Another appears directly in front of her. In it is an arial view of the school to then focus on Rika's desk as she scribbles algebra. Satoko's hands snatch away the preparation book as she demands she stop and insists that is is not like her. Others students, which include Keiichi, Rena, Twin Tails-Chan, Head Band-Chan, Tomita Daiki, Glasses-Chan, and Okamura, watch in surprise. Satoko tosses the book to the floor. Rika insists that it is Satoko who is acting strange. Keiichi and Rena walk up to them to ask what is wrong since they never fight, but Satoko politely, but firmly, replies that it is none of their business. Keiichi insists that they are all friends, and Rena offers to hear them out. As Rika picks up the book and returns it to her desk, she politely, but firmly, replies that they cannot help.

As she returns to her work with the book open to geometric figures, Satoko glares at her. She angrily grabs the book and ferociously tears it to shreds to the protests of Rena and Keiichi. Undaunted, Rika returns to her writing. "You really are stubborn, aren't you," Satoko sighs. She drops the torn book, grabs a pencil from Rika's box, aims it at her own throat, and her finger snaps.

Now lying on a couch looking up at the fragment, Eua giggles with satisfaction. More fragments appears as she happily compliments the "child of man" for being so entertaining. A lone higurashi c ries on a tree. At the water wheel, Satoko and Rika argue. Satoko demands to know why Rika does not understand, Rika insists that she cannot, Satoko charges her as she insists that she is doing this because she cares for her. They push at one another back and forth as Rika asks why Satoko will not support her dream. They both accuse the other of not understanding as Rika pushes forward and the two fall into the water.

Satoko's fingers snap.

Eua sits up on her couch as she pokes away one of the fragments. She laughs as she stands that she has yet to be bored by Satoko's actions. The adolescent Satoko lies on the ground. She comes to and sits up holding her head. "Stupid Rika (梨花馬鹿・Rika baka)!" she grouses. Eua laughs and explains that Rika lived through endless years to fulfill her wish. She reasons, as she walks towards Satoko, that these ages probably only served to strengthen her resolve to leave Hinamizawa.

Satoko asks her what she means by the ages, and Eua explains that "that cat" was trapped within Hinamizawa for about a hundred years. Satoko does not understand; Eua kneels down to her level and reiterates that Rika has longed to fulfill her dream for one hundred years. Satoko asks if by "cat" the woman means "Rika." She stands and protests that Rika was not "trapped" for a hundred years. Eua also stands and laughs that she and Rika are the same. Rika has merely looped reliving the same time for far longer. As Satoko reacts, Eua further explains, with a view of the calendar reading "June 22, 1983," that Rika longs to escape the Hinamizawa of June, 1983. Satoko repeats the year and then recalls that it was the year they fought the Yamainu. When she insists that they banded together and won, Eua walks past her as she notes that that is certainly how Satoko perceived it. "The cat," however, live through countless loops to achieve that single victory. She points her staff at Satoko dramatically as she explains that the many fragments that start to appear hold the records of each world "the cat" visited. She suggests that they can consider them the price Rika had to pay for her final victory. Satoko stares at them in suprise and amazement; Eua invites her to have a view.

A fragment appears before the stunned Satoko. It emits light which blinds her. She finds herself, still covering her eyes, in a room. She sees the blood spattered Keiichi with her brother's bat raised over his head. He appears to bring it down on her. She reacts in fear, but the bat passes through her to impact on the head of Rena. As he repeatedly smashes Rena's head, the terrified Satoko asks him what he is doing. She scurries away, and her hand comes into contact with the bloody mess that was Mion's head. As she says her name, she is bathed in light and finds herself sitting on Eua's throne.

She holds her head in her hands as she asks if Rika experienced that. Featherline, sitting on her couch across from her, laughs and assures Satoko that she only saw a short excerpt of "the cat's" long tragedy. The fragments surrounding them aline in a circle and float above them and out of view. "So it is," Satoko agrees as she admits that she never imagined that Keiichi could be so terrifying.

With a view of a hand ripping away June 17, 1983 to reveal June 18, then subseqent days as the scene becomes obscured by blood spatters, Eua explains that all of these fragments are a result of "the cat's" hundred years of travel. Many times, she continues, Rika lost hope that she would escape her spiral of tragedy. Like Satoko, she agonized over the futility. Satoko calmly observes that it is difficult to make go the way you want no matter how many loops you travel. With resignation, she admits that she thought that living in loops was a power that would be guaranteed to grant her wish, but now she realizes it is not that simple. Eua laughs as she reclines on her couch and responds that if one gives a monkey a typewriter, it will eventually reproduce Hamlet in its entirety. She reassures Satoko that her wish will be granted, but as to how long that will take, she cannot say.

Satoko closes her eyes as she responds that she has begun to understand. Eua sits up with a surprised "Hō?" Satoko opens her eyes and explains that in order to change Rika's opinion, she must educate herself further. When Eua asks how she will do that, Satoko observes that if these are all of Rika's fragments, then she will watch everyone. Eua reminds her that to do so will take a hundred years. Satoko replies that that is not a problem.

Eua taps her staff on the floor and uses it to stand as she laughs again. She declares Satoko very entertaining as the fragments start to rotate around her and the seated Satoko. Satoko touches one as she vows she will not let Rika win. The light engulfs the scene. . . . . . then resolves with the sad Main Theme playing as Keiichi runs down a forest path holding Satoshi's bat. Rena walks with her cleaver. Keiichi trips and turns to Rena and demands to know if this is what "Demoning Away" is. As she continues to walk towards him, Rena pleasantly insists that she has no idea what he is talking about. With the higurashi c rying, the scene transitions with light. ..

. . . to resolve to Keiichi desperately talking on the payphone to Ōishi. He is afraid to turn around. The detective desperately tries to get him to look, but Keiichi starts scratching his throat with the expected gory and results as the scene fades into light. ..

. . . to bodies being stacked in a military vehicle outside the Irie Clinic. There are soldiers in HAZMAT suits. One asks someone if he is a citizen of Hinamizawa and his name and address. Keiichi sits with a gas mask on and responds that he knows he lives here, and then gives his name as he turns his head. He sees the body of an old man being taken out on a stretcher. He looks in shock to see that, piled in the van, the bodies include Mion, and Rena. When the soldiers try to lift the stretcher to deposit the body, they misjudge the distance and drop him on the ground. Keiichi stands, and the soldier interviewing him yells at the soldiers to show respect to the man. The two quickly apologizes. Keiichi's eyes widen as he stares at the truck. A closer view from above reveals the bodies also include Oryō, and Kimiyoshi. Keiichi screams as the scene fades in light. . . . . . to Takano confronting Jirō with Okonogi and various Yamainu around them in a room in the Irie Clinic. Takano calmly explains that the Hinamizawa Syndrome is a bomb with a lit fuse, and some people in Tōkyō want to see it explode. Jirō protests with the predictable results. The scene shifts without a transition to Rika questioning Irie in his office with Okonogi present. She asks Irie who killed them; Irie replies that, based on the situation, clearly someone within the organization did it. He laughs and looks at her and suggests that he will be the prime suspect. Rika, in her Adult Voice, acidly replies that he is the only one who could have killed Jirō in that way. He protests his innocence as Okonogi watches in silence. He insists that he is sure some in Tōkyō have heard of H173, but he insists that all those samples were destroyed as the light heralds another transition to. ..

. . . Hanyū's voice declares "that's right." The scene resolves to her talking to Rika whilst Rika sits in the window. Hanyū continues that Takano is the one who kills her. In her Adult Voice, Rika protests that she does not understand why Takano kills her. Hanyū "Au~Au~"s in response. Rika continues that since she is the "Queen Carrier," her death will result in a disaster, and for that reason, the Irie Clinic and Yamainu protect her. Hanyū can only again "Au~Au~"s in response as light engulfs the scene. ..

. . . to resolve to a door opening in the Irie Clinic to reveal the child Satoko. She walks down the staircase to see her brother lying in his bed. She lowers her head outside the window and states that she has come to say goodbye. She turns away and says "Sayōnara, Nī-Nī."

She opens her eyes which blaze. The scene fades into light. ..

. . . to resolve to Satoko sitting on the throne with her normal eyes and surrounded by innumerable floating shards. Eua is heard to giggle and jokingly complain that she has grown tired of waiting. Satoko raises her right hand and the fragments disperse. She explains to the standing Eua that she now knows the rules of Rika's endless tragedy. With a bemused "Hō," Eua asks her what she intends to do. Satoko places her hand on her chest as she responds that she realized something: even though one can live in loops, one cannot escape the damage done to one's mind. Eua confirms this: while the power grants one endless existence, it does not promise a preserved mine. She continues that it would be correct to say that the power does not make one immortal. Satoko asks if this applies to Rika as well; Eua reminds her it is as she just witnessed. After "the cat" tossed the dice in an endless attempt to change her fate, by the end she lost her will to fight and nearly gave up. As she speaks the fragments depict scenes that include her performing the Watanagashi Ritual Dance, and talking to Chie.

"Therefore," Satoko interrupts seriously, she just needs to break Rika's will again. She clutches at the knot of her "sailor" uniform as she vows to do it. She grins as she vows that she will make sure Rika gives up entirely. Eua laughs and asks how she will do this. Satoko stands and asks her to confirm that every time she loops everything becomes reset with the only thing persisting being her memory. Eua confirms this. Satoko asks if she can make it so that Rika's memory also persists through loops. As she walks toward her, Eua admits that that is possible: "The horn that granted the cat power was damaged, but mine is not." She raises her left hand and the fragment stop floating. She announces that she grants Satoko the new power that when she now dies after "the cat," both will return to the same fragment. Satoko asks her to confirm that she will be chasing the same Rika forever. As the fragments move again and depict scenes that include Rika enjoying the Salon at St. Lucia, Satoko suggests that if she recalls correctly, the "damaged horn" is what prevents Rika from remembering the events of her death. Eua confirms this: Rika will not remember the hours preceding her death, and, therefore, will not remember the cause of her death.

Satoko continues to ask if Rika dies, she will die shortly after, and their memories will be preserved and sent on to the next fragment. A fragment depicts her embracing Rika in the main hall of St. Lucia then snapping her fingers causing the chandelier to fall as she confirms that Rika will not remember the events surrounding her death.

"I'll make fine use of that, Rika," Satoko declares with a grin. She vows to excel in the battle of will and succeed in breaking hers. Eua compliments her on being such an entertaining subject. Satoko responds that she may have given them the grandiose title of "one who lives in loops," but, in reality, this is nothing more than a contest of endurance. She starts to walk away as she explains that her wish is just to live a happy life with Rika in Hinamizawa. With a flashback to her holding Rika's hand on the path as Rika resists seen previously in this episode, she explains that Rika's wish is the direct opposite. The scene then flashes back to her angrily ripping up Rika's preparatory textbook as she adds that Rika does not care about her, she only cares about leaving Hinamizawa. With a flashback of the two pushing one another near the water wheel, Satoko concedes that their wishes directly oppose one another. Eua sits in the chair as she watched Satoko walk away. Satoko continues her monologue by vowing to Rika that she will not let her win. Eua pleasantly smiles as Satoko declares, "my love for you is so great . . ." With a view of her eyes wild that When They C ry Wiki cannot do justice in description, she finishes, ". . . it will ensure that you lose!'

Adult-Voiced Rika returns to announce the next chapter.