In the rural village of Hinamizawa, Keiichi Maebara grows close to Satoko Houjou, a younger classmate still grieving her brother Satoshi, who vanished a year earlier during the annual Watanagashi festival. As Keiichi steps into a big-brother role for her, Satoko's abusive uncle Teppei returns to claim custody and drags her back into a household built on cruelty. This third arc of the When They Cry mystery turns the unease around Hinamizawa's yearly deaths onto the Houjou family and the curse said to follow the local god Oyashiro-sama.