Description

The Misaki Stairs, Part 2 The three encounter the body of a hideous doll, its parts assembled by them. They are then greeted by the caller, a beautiful woman dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, whom Hanako recognises as No.2 of the Seven Mysteries. As No.2 tries to make the doll walk, it fails and she shows them the bodies of all those who wandered into her boundary and failed to accomplish the same task she made them do, now carved into faceless dolls. Hanako and Kou begin fighting against her, but they are at a disadvantage due to the area being her territory, hence amplifying her power. Deducing that the deepest part of the barrier is likely to be below the submerged ground where they had been standing on, Hanako pushes Yashiro off a cliff, and she awakens in a sunlit shrine. Yashiro finds an exercise book with diary entries written in sloppy children's handwriting, where every entry contains teacher's comments from "Misaki". Each page details the child's growth as she becomes more cheerful and outgoing, and her handwriting improves as well. About halfway through, the teacher's comments disappear and each entry begins recording a day where Misaki doesn't return to the shrine, as well as an incident where a teacher fell down the steps and died. The book ends on a chilling note as the child decides to "make a Misaki". Just then, No.2 arrives, and despite Yashiro's pleads that Misaki would never wish for her to do such a thing, remains stubborn and determines to slice her up, but Hanako arrives to protect her. Yashiro successfully locates a photograph of a class of schoolchildren and Misaki in the shrine as No.2's yorishiro and destroys the seal upon it, causing the boundary to collapse. Returning to the school, Hanako reveals the real identity of No.2 to be a talking fox statue called Yako, and kisses Yashiro on her cheek, calling it a "protective charm". Kou, who had been turned into a stuffed doll, is left forgotten.