Yushi takes an interest in Kuri and Shiro and meets their adoptive mother, Akane, a spirit beast who guards the nearby Shinto Shrine. She explains that Kuri’s real mother was abandoned by her boyfriend when she became pregnant with Kuri and eventually came to hate him. The only love Kuri ever received was from Shiro, a stray dog. Kuri’s mother eventually murdered Kuri so Shiro mauled her to death before himself being beaten to death as a mad dog...