Shun stops going to school, and his friends in Group 1 secretly start looking for him. Saki and Satoru set out for Shun's home village of Pinewood, only to find it isolated by the authorities and Shun's house destroyed. Later at night, Saki confronts her parents about what really happened to the village but they have been forbidden to tell her the truth. Soon after, Saki is visited by Maria, who reveals to her she and Mamoru learned that several Impure Cats (不浄猫, fujō neko), which are used to eliminate troublesome children are being maintained at the school, and two were freed to hunt down Shun. Saki flees to warn him and encounters one of the Impure Cats.