In Enma Cho. Tsuzuki is lying on the ground among the cherry blossoms. Tatsumi shows up with some tea. {Tatsumi: "You'll get a cold if you fall asleep here."} Later, they are sitting at a table beneath the cherry trees.

{Tatsumi: "Under the sunset, these flower petals seem like pink snow. We have cherry blossoms here every season. What a luxurious place."
Tsuzuki: "Do you really think so?"
Tatsumi: "Huh?"
Tsuzuki: "It's only because flowers wither eventually that we think they are beautiful. People, too..."}

Tsuzuki touches the watch around his right wrist. Tatsumi looks concerned. Tsuzuki gets up and quickly says it's nothing. He leaves, since they have a mission briefing later.

In a dark room, Watari is showing them slides of the ten victims in the recent Kyoto homicides. All the victims share one similarity - a chunk of their hair has been cut off. Konoe tells Tsuzuki and Hisoka to go to Kyoto and help Watari with the case investigations.

Watari is showing the two shinigami around Kyoto.
{Watari: "It's currently maple season, and the good weather makes it the perfect touring season. Kyoto is my birthplace, so if you want to go sightseeing, let me know."} [He then proceeds to name several of Kyoto's famous food products.]
Hisoka: "Watari-san, aren't you from Osaka?"
Watari: "I grew up in Osaka, but I was really born in Kyoto. That's why my kansai-ban sounds weird."}

Tsuzuki cuts Watari off, asking him the real reason they are brought here. Since Kyoto is Watari's district, it's unusual for someone outside of it (aka Tsuzuki and Hisoka) to come along for the trip. Watari confesses it's because he wants to show them something. He takes out a plastic bag containing several strands of silver hair, originally found on the hand of one of the victims. Watari notes the color of the hair, and the two are instantly reminded of Muraki.

At a university, in the medical section, Muraki asks a group of female nurses (medical students?) where he can find Professor Satomi. After he leaves, the nurses gossip about how pretty he is, and whether he is a clone created by Satomi. Later that night, in the university’s affiliated high school, two girls lock up the library door and start on their way home. Mariko's friend Maki makes fun of her for believing in ghosts. When they pass by the university, Maki tells her that the university is rumored to be working on illegal human cloning. Mariko doesn't believe her, but when she looks up at a lighted window, she sees a dark shadow.

[In Japan, some colleges have their own affiliated high schools. Usually, graduated high school students who wish to enroll in colleges, as they have done to get into high school, must take entrance examinations. Public universities require both a national exam and another exam prepared by that university. Private universities require only one exam provided by that university. However, some colleges with affiliated high schools allow students with top grades there to enroll without additional examinations.]

In his office/lab, Professor Satomi is doing an experiment on keeping a heart beating. He fails, however, and comments how he needs more samples.

Muraki is staying with his friend Oriya, who runs a place called "Ko Kaku Rou”. Inside, Oriya is making some tea for Muraki.

{Oriya: "You're helpless. Don't you ever stop and think about what you're leaving behind for the people who have to clean up after you? How many people do you think there are so far?"
Muraki: "Nine, probably. Oriya, this tea is turbid."
Oriya: "Of course. And it's ten people."
Muraki: "Sorry about that. But with your power, it's easy to take care of it. On the surface, Ko Kaku Rou is a fancy restaurant, but in reality... It's a secret brothel for important politicians. Being the owner of this brothel, you can easily cover up the incidents using your good connections."
Oriya: "That's true, but still..."
Muraki: "I'm greatly indebted to you."
Oriya: "Geez. Why do I have someone like you as my friend?"}

Later, they are standing in the yard outside. Oriya says he has heard about the police finding some hair at the crime scenes. {Muraki: "Silver hair as thin as silk. Whose hair do you think they belong to?"} Oriya wonders if that's all right for Muraki, to which Muraki responds he is not stupid enough to get caught by the police.
{Muraki: "It's only a sign."
Oriya: "A sign?"
Muraki: "Yes. It's a sign to help the person I love to find me more sooner."}

Somewhere else. Watari is holding a map and trying to find the place they are staying for the night. [Strangely enough, none of the streets on the map are labeled. O_o;] Tsuzuki starts to image what kind of hotel it is and how he's going to enjoy taking a good shower there.
{Tsuzuki: "Hisoka, I'll wash your back for you."
Hisoka: "Do it yourself. I like to take a shower by myself."
Tsuzuki: "How cruel."}

They round a corner and finally find the place... a very worn temple. Later, Watari is working on his laptop, Tsuzuki is complaining on how stingy Tatsumi is, and Hisoka is out shopping for their dinner. Watari shows Tsuzuki that the silver hair's DNA matches Muraki's. Watari also wonders why Muraki, who is a perfectionist, would forgot to erase all evidences from the crime scene. Later, Tsuzuki wonders why Hisoka is taking so long.

Hisoka is walking back to the temple. He wonders if he had bought too much food, but thinks Tsuzuki will finish it anyway. Suddenly, he looks up and sees the red moon (tm). He notices a sandal falling from the long series of stone steps to his right. When he looks higher up the stairs, he sees blood, a woman's dead body, and someone's feet standing on long strands of hair. He drops the grocery bag. His eyes widen as he realizes the blood-soaked man on top of the stairs is Muraki.

{Muraki: "Oya, oya. It's you again?"
Hisoka: "Muraki."}

Muraki provokes him more with words. {Muraki: "Thinking about 'like' and 'love' in her mind and dying like an idiot, she is just a worthless doll."} Angered, Hisoka charges at Muraki. However, Muraki captures his hands and twists them behind his back.
{Muraki: "You're too naive and angers too easily. That's why I say you're still a kid."
Hisoka: "Let me go..."
Muraki: "It seems like you need another lesson. On that day, the moon is as beautiful as tonight's moon."
Hisoka: "Stop..."}

Luckily for Hisoka, Tsuzuki shows up before Muraki has a chance to do anything. Muraki lets go of Hisoka and says he will take Tsuzuki to a place where they can talk. Tsuzuki promises Hisoka he will take care of it and leaves with Muraki.

The two end up at Oriya's place. Tsuzuki wants to know if Muraki is the murderer behind the homicides. Muraki confesses, adding that his goal is to lead Tsuzuki to him. Tsuzuki gets angry and attacks Muraki. Muraki catches his blow easily and restrains him. {Muraki: "You're so adorable. Because I love you so much, I want to drive you insane more and more. To make a pile of corpses in front of you..."} Muraki turns and notices Tsuzuki's watch. {Muraki: You wear your watch on your right wrist? Is this because you're left-handed? Or maybe it's to hide the wrist scars?"} At that, Tsuzuki goes limp and in shock. Muraki leaves the room.

Later that night, Muraki is studying some reports and smoking. In the reports, Muraki's grandfather detailed the conditions of the patient, including the first suicide, how the body function responds, and the last suicide which leads to the patient's death. {Muraki's grandfather: "January 1st, 1925. The patient survived his eighth year, never taking any food or fluid..."}

In the library, Maki asks Mariko to deliver a book to Professor Satomi. Mariko agrees. When she goes to Satomi's office, she sees Muraki there. As she leaves the building, she wonders whether Muraki is assisting Satomi on the illegal cloning project.

In the office, Satomi thanks Muraki again for helping him with the projects, and asks for more samples. Muraki shows him a picture, taken from his grandfather's reports. The patient in the picture has survived eight years without any intake of food or fluid. In fact, the man is still alive, looking the same as he has been 72 years ago on the night of his suicide. [The scene zooms up to the picture, showing an old, tattered photo of Tsuzuki lying on a hospital bed and covered in bandages.]

Elsewhere, Tsuzuki is depressed. He tells Hisoka about Muraki's plans and wonders how many more innocents will continue to die because of him.

Muraki enters an underground laboratory, equipped with security card entry and mechanical doors. He looks up at the huge tank. {Muraki: "How do you feel, Saki? Is it cold and dark inside?"} The object in the tank turns out to be a human head. {Muraki: "I'll have your body soon. When the time comes, Saki... it will truly be your death!"}