Tsukimonogatari Season 1 Episode 3

Yotsugi Doll, Part Three

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.