the Garden of sinners Chapter 4: garan-no-dou. (The Hollow Shrine)

November, 1998: Shiki meets a boy named Tomoe Enjou, a runaway who claims to be a murderer. Shiki allows Tomoe to use her apartment as his hideout, but one day, Tomoe sees his mother whom he's sure he's killed.

March, 1995: Mikiya Kokutou meets a girl who has a mysterious gaze and falls in love with her. That April, he's reunited with her at his high school entrance ceremony. The girl's name is Shiki Ryougi. Meanwhile, the city has been rattled by a series of bizarre murders. There are no known links between victims, and the motive is unclear. An astonishing secret awaits Mikiya, but he doesn't find out until three years later...

In February 1999, a string of murders has Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou on edge. These crimes share a disturbing resemblance to a similar set of homicides from 1995, when Shiki and Mikiya first met, and awaken a dark, murderous desire that has laid dormant within Shiki's soul ever since then. With Shiki under suspicion due to her involvement in the past killings and supposed resemblance to the killer, she and Mikiya set out to find the true perpetrator. In the midst of their separate investigations, Mikiya grows increasingly concerned with Shiki's well-being and hurries to find the one responsible in order to protect Shiki from her own impulses. With the lead he receives from his cousin, police investigator Daisuke Akimi, Mikiya is led into the underbelly of Mifune City, as the salvation of Shiki's soul lies in his determination to prove her innocence once and for all.

July, 1998: One night, Mikiya helps a girl lying doubled over with stomach pains. Around that time, a number of dismembered bodies are found throughout the city. The murder victims are torn apart so badly that they don't seem like the work of a human.