Episode Title:
The Misaki Stairs, Part 1
Episode Description:
To cheer Yashiro up, Aoi tells her of No.2 of the Seven Mysteries, the "Misaki Stairs", a staircase outside the art room of the school where the fourth step is the entrance to the world of the dead. Anyone who enters is then shredded to pieces and has their blood dripped on the staircase at twilight. The next day however, Yashiro discovers that Aoi's very existence has disappeared in the school, from her items to even everyone's memories of her. Frightened and confused, Yashiro seeks out Hanako's help, and Kou also reveals how his classmates Yokō and Satou are missing. Hanako guesses that the students have wandered into "boundaries", areas of the Far Shore where apparitions and forgotten things reside separate from the Near Shore, where the living stay. Of the seven boundaries in the school that link to the spirit world, one of these gateways is the fourth step of the Misaki Stairs, guarded by the second mystery. The three venture into the Japanese shrine-like environment of the boundary. They are greeted by a phone call from the mystery herself, introducing herself as a schoolteacher named Misaki that died here, and requests that they find her body parts. Finding one body part will open a single gate for them reaching towards the top of the boundary. Should they fail to do so within the time limit, a huge pair of scissors starts chasing them, along with faceless Japanese dolls. They resolve to destroy No.2's yorishiro, a precious object that gives power to the mystery, so that she will relinquish her boundary. As they approach the final gate, Yashiro wonders who is the one making the phone calls if they need to find "Misaki"'s body for her.
