Koyomi and Yotsugi land at the base of the mountain, where they are surprisingly met by Ougi Oshino. She talks with Koyomi for a while about his current situation and his upcoming confrontation with Teori. Koyomi and Yotsugi begin their journey up the mountain. The two discuss how they will be able to rescue Koyomi's sisters and Suruga. Koyomi hopes that they'll be able to sneak past Teori and get them without him noticing, but Yotsugi is doubtful of that plan. She expects that Koyomi will have to convince Teori to let them go, as this is how Koyomi normally deals with his opponents. Yotsugi then briefly explains how she was created. Back during their college days, Yozuru, Teori, Meme, and Deishu Kaiki did a project to create an artificial shikigami from the corpse of a human, under the direction of Izuko. Yozuru and Teori both fought for 'ownership' of Yotsugi, but in the end, Yotsugi chose to stay with Yozuru. This led to a falling out between Yozuru and Teori. Yotsugi discloses that the reason she is telling Koyomi this is because, if things were dire, he could choose to hand over Yotsugi to Teori in order to resolve the situation. Koyomi refuses to consider the option. He instead instructs Yotsugi to find the hostages, and use her power to immediately get away, while he distracts Teori. Yotsugi points out that if she were to leave, Koyomi and Shinobu would be left helpless before Teori. Yotsugi halfheartedly suggests offering Shinobu to Teori, which Koyomi refuses. Yotsugi points out that Koyomi's desire to have the hostages rescued while not being willing to give up either Yotsugi, Shinobu, or himself shows a lack of maturity. She then suggests that if she were to get close enough to Teori, she could use her powers to kill him before he has a chance to react. Koyomi is shocked at the suggestion. He wants to preserve what humanity is left in Yotsugi, and if she were to kill Teori, she would lose it. The two reach the shrine, and observe Teori. He is sitting on the offertory box, folding origami. Koyomi realizes that he is counting time with that: once the box is full of origami, time is up. Koyomi decides to use his simple decoy plan, and Yotsugi leaves to sneak in through the rear of the shrine. As Koyomi is preparing to confront Teori, Shinobu appears from his shadow. She tells him that she doesn't care if he is no longer human, so if Koyomi is about to die, she'll turn him into a full vampire. Koyomi then confronts Teori. Teori reveals that both he and Yozuru have a curse upon them that prevents them from walking on the ground. He then says that his reason for kidnapping those close to Koyomi was so that he could kill Koyomi. However, Teori is perplexed at the situation. He knows that he is there to kill Koyomi, but why him? On paper it seems like Teori is the best person to oppose Koyomi, almost as if he were cast for the role. He can't help but feel that someone else has manipulated events so that it would turn out to be him fighting Koyomi. While this conversation is taking place, Yotsugi is shown searching the shrine for the hostages. Koyomi is angered by Teori's musings on the situation, but Teori points out that Koyomi's anger merely fits the role that he had been cast. The two of them are following their scripts. He tells Koyomi to find Meme, as he is the one who could bring balance outside of the casting or script. Koyomi replies that he has searched, and asks Teori if he knows where Meme is. Teori replies that he does not. Teori drops a final origami into the offertory box, and it fills up. Teori gets ready to fight Koyomi, stating that he's sick of being manipulated and used like a pawn. Teori then appears to be talking to someone other than Koyomi. It is revealed to be Yotsugi, who appears in front of Teori. Yotsugi uses her powers and kills Teori. Koyomi is shocked. Yotsugi reassures him that he had nothing to do with her decision. Even if there were a way to save everyone, she decided to do it because she is a monster, in her own words. She tells Koyomi to not end up like her. Karen, Tsukihi, and Suruga are found in the offertory box, and are taken back to Suruga's house. Taking an external view of things, Koyomi realizes that the point of this incident was to create a rift between him and Yotsugi. He was disgusted by her actions. Later, Koyomi visits Hitagi Senjougahara's house, who surprises him with chocolates. He remembers that today is Valentine's Day. Koyomi and Hitagi discuss the previous day's events and what they mean for his future. Hitagi surmises that things are fine for now, and that worrying too much about the future isn't all that great. He should just focus on living his life. After returning home, Koyomi enters his sister's room and finds Yotsugi sitting on Tsukihi's bed. Yotsugi explains that she was won by Tsukihi in the same claw game that Koyomi played the previous night, though Tsukihi needed only three attempts to get her. She goes on to say that both Yozuru and Izuko realized that the point of the previous day's incident was to create a rift in between Koyomi and Yotsugi, and as such, they should oppose whatever party that is causing these incidents. Therefore, until balance is achieved in the town, Yotsugi will be living in the Araragi household, which will serve to help Koyomi and Yotsugi reconcile.

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As Yotsugi's words sink in, Koyomi remains unfazed. He reasons that his experiences as a vampire must have come with a price. One that he should have to pay. Yozuru commends Koyomi for his acceptance, but tells him that while there is no way to undo the progress of his transformation, there is a way he can stop it from progressing further: he must no longer use his powers as a vampire. Yotsugi informs Koyomi that he can still use his blood to feed Shinobu, but he shouldn't do it too often, and not to the point where he gains any powers. Yozuru warns him that if he were to progress further toward being a vampire, she would have to kill him, as is her duty as a specialist. This raises Shinobu's ire, and she tells Yozuru that if Koyomi were to die, the restraints on her would be released, returning her to her status as lord of the vampires. She would use that power to kill Yozuru. Yozuru accepts the challenge. Yotsugi, not wanting to see the others fight, urges Koyomi to never use his powers again, in order to keep things the way they are. Reluctantly, Koyomi promises to stop using his powers. Internally, however, he has doubts as to whether or not he can. He knows that if someone he cares about were going to die he wouldn't hesitate to use his powers to save them. Later, as Koyomi and Yozuru are discussing the reasoning behind her focus on killing immortal apparations, Yozuru receives a call from Izuko. Yozuru tells Koyomi and Yotsugi to go to Suruga's house immediately, to check on his sisters. They arrive to find not only Koyomi's sisters, but also Suruga missing. In their place is a series of paper cranes. Yotsugi explains that the bird shape indicates that the kidnapper is after Tsukihi, the phoenix. They meet back up with Yozuru, who explains that the man behind the kidnapping is Teori Tadatsuru, an apparation specialist and doll master. Like Yozuru, Teori is a specialist who focuses on killing immortal apparitions. Yozuru warns Koyomi that he can't use his powers as a vampire to solve this, nor can Shinobu. Koyomi remarks on the costs of his vampire power usage, likening it to divine punishment. Yotsugi and Yozuru disagree, stating that the kidnapping happening the day Koyomi finds out he transformed into vampire is much too coincidental. Koyomi and Yozuru then discuss possibilities for Teori's motivations, and who he is as a specialist. Yozuru says that Teori doesn't hold much in the way of convictions, only that he finds apparitions to be beautiful. Teori himself is an artist, and as a specialist he goes around like Meme, mediating between apparitions and humans. Yozuru then reveals that Teori's true targets are Koyomi and Shinobu, and as Teori operates outside of Izuko's network of specialists, Meme's assertion that Koyomi and Shinobu are harmless means nothing to Teori. The group then looks through the paper cranes, and finds one with Teori's location: the North Shirahebi Shrine. Yotsugi and Koyomi prepare to jump to a location near the mountain where the shrine is. Yozuru will proceed to the shrine on her own, but she tells Koyomi to do things when he feels it's right, and not to wait for her.

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Koyomi narrowly avoids letting Tsukihi see that he has no reflection. The pair are then caught by Karen, who proceeds to beat them up. Later, Koyomi explains his discovery to Shinobu. Shinobu concludes that Koyomi has indeed turned into a vampire. Koyomi protests, pointing out an injury to his toe that had been inflicted by Tsukihi earlier. It hadn't healed, which it should have if he were a true vampire. Shinobu corrects him, saying that while it hadn't healed much on the surface, the toe actually had been broken, and it was the bone that had been healing. Shinobu suggests that Koyomi see a specialist, Yozuru Kagenui. Koyomi agrees, but doesn't know how to contact her, or Yotsugi. Shinobu then suggests contacting Kaiki, and using him to get through to Yozuru, but Koyomi refuses on account of his past grievances with Kaiki. Shinobu finally suggests Izuko Gaen. Both she and Koyomi have reservations about getting involved with her, but they agree that their options are limited. As Koyomi picks up his phone to contact Izuko, he sees that she has already messaged him. She tells him to go to an arcade at a certain time that night. Tsukihi then storms into Koyomi's room and berates him for leaving her to deal with Karen by herself. She demands that he apologize. Koyomi instead instructs Tsukihi to convince Karen that the two of them should sleep over at Suruga Kanbaru's house that night. He reasons that if he's going to be involved with Yozuru and Yotsugi, Tsukihi might be in danger, as she is still an immortal phoenix. Tsukihi reluctantly agrees. That night, Koyomi and Shinobu go to the arcade, where they find Yotsugi as a motionless doll inside of a claw machine. She is unresponsive, resulting in Koyomi having to play the game in order to get her out. It takes him twelve tries. After claiming Yotsugi, Yozuru appears, and the group discusses Koyomi's situation at the ruins of the abandoned cram school. Yozuru examines Koyomi's toe, and shows him that it is completely healed. Koyomi is surprised, as it healed much faster than it had been earlier. Yotsugi points out what time it is, and Koyomi remembers that a vampire's powers are stronger at night. She also mentions that vampires are healed by moonlight. As Yotsugi analyzes Koyomi's foot, Yozuru runs another test on Koyomi, breaking two of his fingers. Koyomi is stunned, but Yozuru explains that vampires are able to consciously heal their injuries if they concentrate on them. Through some effort, Koyomi heals his fingers. With the tests done and analysis complete, Yozuru and Yotsugi reveal their results. Yotsugi explains that currently, Koyomi is slowly turning into a vampire. Koyomi is unfazed, stating that due to his encounters with other apparitions, he has turned into a vampire many times before, albeit on a temporary basis. Yotsugi then explains that it is because he turned into a vampire so much that he is now becoming a vampire. Or rather, he became accustomed to being a vampire, which is why his soul is starting to lean in that direction. Yozuru says that while this sort of thing isn't unheard of, Meme Oshino couldn't have predicted it was going to happen. Yotsugi goes on to explain that an aggravating factor was the incident with Sengoku and the snake god. During the intervening time when Sengoku was lording over the shrine, Koyomi used his powers as a vampire every day in an effort to save her. Koyomi accepts the situation, and asks for what he should to do to undo the progress of his transformation. Yotsugi replies that there is no way to fix it.

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The arc opens with Koyomi Araragi and Shinobu Oshino musing about the true nature of Shikigami doll Yotsugi Ononoki. Koyomi supposes that as an apparition, Yotsugi isn't well suited to life among humans, in spite of her attempts at being human-like. She was, after all, created from a human corpse, by other humans. Shinobu disputes this, saying that the human parts of Yotsugi's nature are because she needs to interact with humans, rather than a desire of hers to become human. Koyomi goes on to consider the nature of apparitions in general, concluding that apparitions are the way they are because people believe them to be so. Koyomi's monologue concludes by foreshadowing that this arc is the beginning of the end of the series. The story begins with Koyomi being woken up by his sisters, Karen and Tsukihi Araragi. Koyomi realizes that the next day is Valentine's Day, but Karen exclaims that he doesn't have the time to worry about that, as his college entrance exams are coming up soon. Karen leaves to go on a run, instructing Koyomi to prepare a bath for her. After Karen leaves, Koyomi and Tsukihi discuss why Karen hasn't joined any athletic teams. Koyomi states that Karen is a talented individual, and that by committing herself to just karate, and her half of the Fire Sisters, she is letting her talent go to waste. While Tsukihi is annoyed that Koyomi would suggest breaking up the duo, she admits that she realizes that Karen will leave on her own, to do her own thing. Koyomi recognizes the need for his sisters to wake up and be more mature about how they conduct themselves. After preparing the bath for Karen, Koyomi decides to use it for himself. He is caught by Tsukihi, who also plans on using the bath. The two briefly argue over who should get to go first, before compromising. The two bathe together. Tsukihi mentions that Nadeko Sengoku was recently released from the hospital after her ordeal as a snake god. Koyomi responds neutrally. While he is happy that Nadeko turned out okay, he knows that it's for the best if he stays out of her life. Moreover, Koyomi realizes that without a god, the shrine area will continue to accumulate dark spiritual energy, which in turn will cause more apparition problems for his town. He resolves to do his best to put things in balance before leaving for college. Tsukihi is concerned with how much pressure and responsibility Koyomi holds for himself, telling him that he shouldn't worry so much. Koyomi then realizes that his own reflection isn't showing up in the bathroom mirror. As if he had become a real vampire.

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