04
Koyomi and Yotsugi land at the base of the mountain, where they are surprisingly met by Ougi Oshino. She talks with Koyomi for a while about his current situation and his upcoming confrontation with Teori. Koyomi and Yotsugi begin their journey up the mountain. The two discuss how they will be able to rescue Koyomi's sisters and Suruga. Koyomi hopes that they'll be able to sneak past Teori and get them without him noticing, but Yotsugi is doubtful of that plan. She expects that Koyomi will have to convince Teori to let them go, as this is how Koyomi normally deals with his opponents. Yotsugi then briefly explains how she was created. Back during their college days, Yozuru, Teori, Meme, and Deishu Kaiki did a project to create and artificial shikigami from the corpse of a human, under the direction of Izuko. Yozuru and Teori both fought for 'ownership' of Yotsugi, but in the end, Yotsugi chose to stay with Yozuru. This led to a falling out between Yozuru and Teori. Yotsugi discloses that the reason she is telling Koyomi this is because, if things were dire, he could choose to hand over Yotsugi to Teori in order to resolve the situation. Koyomi refuses to consider the option. He instead instructs Yotsugi to find the hostages, and use her power to immediately get away, while he distracts Teori. Yotsugi points out that if she were to leave, Koyomi and Shinobu would be left helpless before Teori. Yotsugi halfheartedly suggests offering Shinobu to Teori, which Koyomi refuses. Yotsugi points out that Koyomi's desire to have the hostages rescued while not being willing to give up either Yotsugi, Shinobu, or himself shows a lack of maturity. She then suggests that if she were to get close enough to Teori, she could use her powers to kill him before he has a chance to react. Koyomi is shocked at the suggestion. He wants to preserve what humanity is left in Yotsugi, and if she were to kill Teori, she would lose it. The two reach the shrine, and observe Teori. He is sitting on the offertory box, folding origami. Koyomi realizes that he is counting time with that: once the box is full of origami, time is up. Koyomi decides to use his simple decoy plan, and Yotsugi leaves to sneak in through the rear of the shrine. As Koyomi is preparing to confront Teori, Shinobu appears from his shadow. She tells him that she doesn't care if he is no longer human, so if Koyomi is about to die, she'll turn him into a full vampire. Koyomi then confronts Teori. Teori reveals that both he and Yozuru have a curse upon them that prevents them from walking on the ground. He then says that his reason for kidnapping those close to Koyomi was so that he could kill Koyomi. However, Teori is perplexed at the situation. He knows that he is there to kill Koyomi, but why him? On paper it seems like Teori is the best person to oppose Koyomi, almost as if he were cast for the role. He can't help but feel that someone else has manipulated events so that it would turn out to be him fighting Koyomi. While this conversation is taking place, Yotsugi is shown searching the shrine for the hostages. Koyomi is angered by Teori's musings on the situation, but Teori points out that Koyomi's anger merely fits the role that he had been cast. The two of them are following their scripts. He tells Koyomi to find Meme, as he is the one who could bring balance outside of the casting or script. Koyomi replies that he has searched, and asks Teori if he knows where Meme is. Teori replies that he does not. Teori drops a final origami into the offertory box, and it fills up. Teori gets ready to fight Koyomi, stating that he's sick of being manipulated and used like a pawn. Teori then appears to be talking to someone other than Koyomi. It is revealed to be Yotsugi, who appears in front of Teori. Yotsugi uses her powers and kills Teori. Koyomi is shocked. Yotsugi reassures him that he had nothing to do with her decision. Even if there were a way to save everyone, she decided to do it because she is a monster, in her own words. She tells Koyomi to not end up like her. Karen, Tsukihi, and Suruga are found in the offertory box, and are taken back to Suruga's house. Taking an external view of things, Koyomi realizes that the point of this incident was to create a rift between him and Yotsugi. He was disgusted by her actions. Later, Koyomi visits Hitagi Senjougahara's house, who surprises him with chocolates. He remembers that today is Valentine's Day. Koyomi and Hitagi discuss the previous day's events and what they mean for his future. Hitagi surmises that things are fine for now, and that worrying too much about the future isn't all that great. He should just focus on living his life. After returning home, Koyomi enters his sister's room and finds Yotsugi sitting on Tsukihi's bed. Yotsugi explains that she was won by Tsukihi in the same claw game that Koyomi played the previous night, though Tsukihi needed only three attempts to get her. She goes on to say that both Yozuru and Izuko realized that the point of the previous day's incident was to create a rift in between Koyomi and Yotsugi, and as such, they should oppose whatever party that is causing these incidents. Therefore, until balance is achieved in the town, Yotsugi will be living in the Araragi household, which will serve to help Koyomi and Yotsugi reconcile. (Source: Wikipedia)
12/31/2014
