Synopsis: Masayuki invites Tarou and Makoto to go to the abandoned hospital near the dam, the very place where Tarou and his sister were kept eleven years ago.

Makoto is shown playing an electric guitar in his room. Meanwhile, his eccentric looking grandmother has a guest. She performs some sort of ritual.

Tarou is at Masayuki’s house. He tries some virtual reality device that make’s one feel as if flying. Mayasuki tells him that the head mounted device is equipped with a gyroscope, used to maintain orientation. Tarou finds it amazing. He asks if Masayuki plays with it a lot. Masayuki replies he doesn’t. He says it’s not so much a game compared to therapy. Tarou asks Masayuki if has a condition. Masayuki tells him he only has a small fear of heights. He thought he could get rid out it with virtual reality. Tarou then asks if it would be possible to cure it that way. Masayuki tells him it is, by intentionally experiencing the cause of the phobia. Tarou says he remember it’s called “exposure”.

Masayuki’s dad arrives. He works for Japan Bio Tech and has lived in Suiten for three years. Masayuki then tells Tarou that he is only afraid of heights, Tarou’s must be much worse. He asks if Tarou still feels frightened. He also asks if Tarou dreams about the incident. He says it’s no wonder Tarou has weekly counselling. Tarou says he doesn’t think it’s still necessary. Masayuki then suggests that Tarou undergo phobia exposure and go to the place where he experienced the trauma. He says it’s raining but they might be able to go to the old Kameura village behind the dam some other time. The hospital where Tarou and his sister were kept is located there. Tarou thinks about it. He hasn’t gone back since it happened.

Tarou arrives at home. He assists his mother, who is cooking, a bit. He asks her if she still dreams. She replies that she is on medication so she no longer dreams. She says sometimes the incident from eleven years ago seems to be a dream.

At her school the following day, Miyako while chatting with her friends, sees an apparition that looks like Tarou and his sister. She stares at it blankly. Her friend interrupts her and asks if there’s anything wrong. Miyako replies it’s nothing.

During Tarou’s counselling, Dr. Hirata asks if Tarou is afraid of his sister. Tarou replies that he could never be afraid of her but he is always scared of something. He then asks the psychologist about exposure. The doctor replies that it is effective for some patients. The method however is not without criticism. He says Tarou’s case is more complicated. Exposure would be impossible. Dr. Hirata then tells Tarou that he’d like to meet his parents in their next session.

Masayuki is waiting for Tarou outside. He asks if Tarou has decided already. Tarou tells him he agrees. Masayuki then instructs him that they will meet at the Kameniwa shrine at one o’clock, Sunday.

Masayuki leaves the school somehow feeling proud of himself. He looks at the shadow the school building has cast on the ground. His expression changes to that of fright. He looks up at the building and remembers something from the past. It seemed someone Tarou fell off a building. Tarou’s finger trembles. He tries to dismiss it as just acrophobia.

On the set date, Tarou goes to the shrine. He finds that Masayuki is already there. Masayuki tells him that he is waiting for someone else. Moments after, Makoto arrives. He frowns when he sees Tarou and tells Masayuki that he must be mocking him. He asks why Tarou is there. Tarou tells him he didn’t know he would be there either. Masayuki tells the two to calm down. He says it’s exploration so the more people, the merrier.

Makoto scowls at Tarou and announces that he’s not going. Masayuki calls him chicken. This angers Makoto. He grabs Masayuki by his jacket.

The man who seemed to be Miyako’s father notices something outside.

Makoto holds Masayuki by his shirt over the edge of the steps that lead out of the shrine. Masayuki looks down. It’s a long way to go. Makoto tells him that he has no qualms about killing someone. Tarou tries to stop Makoto, telling him that Masayuki is afraid of heights.

A metal pail is suddenly thrown near them. Miyako has come. She tells them that the place isn’t a playground. She leaves and Makoto pulls Masayuki away from the edge. Masayuki asks Makoto again to go with them to the hospital behind the damn. Makoto insists he doesn’t want to go. He is about to leave but Masayuki tells him it could be related to his father’s death. Makoto eventually relents, on the condition that Masayuki wouldn’t bother him anymore. Masayuki agrees. Tarou, however, says he doesn’t want Makoto to come. Masayuki tells him to stop making more trouble as it’s settled already.

Miyako watches as the three boys enter a path behind their house. The man with her asks if something happened. She tells him it was nothing.

Masayuki tells Makoto and Tarou that it might take an hour and a half to get to the hospital. Makoto tells him it won’t take that long. Masayuki asks if Makoto has gone there but Makoto does not reply. Masayuki then asks Tarou if he and Makoto have talked to each other properly. Tarou says they haven’t. Makoto says they see each other sometimes though. Masayuki asks if it’s outside school. Again, Makoto does not reply but he tells him that he and Tarou are relatives.

The path where the three followed was the same path that Tarou saw in his dreams, the same path that Tarou tried to explore on his own. He remembers the spot where he saw the creature that took the form of his sister and the spot where he saw the giant in his dreams again. Tarou does not feel comfortable. He averts his eyes from those places.

Masayuki suggests they take a short rest. Tarou and Masayuki sit on a log. Makoto asks if Tarou’s mother is alright. Tarou pauses for a while then replies that she isn’t getting worse. He then asks about Makoto’s grandmother. Makoto says he doesn’t know. He doesn’t see her. Masayuki finds it weird since Makoto and his grandmother live together. He then says he’s surprised that Tarou and Makoto are related. The three of them coming was a good idea. Makoto comments that Masayuki just wanted to fill the third spot. Tarou asks about it. Masayuki only replies that the three of them going has a meaning

He explains that he did research on the incidents at the hospital. Some other events occurred there, apart from Tarou’s case. Makoto asks if he means the curse story. He says it’s ridiculous. Tarou doesn’t know about that story.

According to the students Masayuki interviewed, the dam was built thirty years ago. It caused a third of the water supply to dry up. Back then, high schoolers would go to the old village for kimodameshi, a test of courage. A year after the dam was built, three teenagers went to the hospital and found a secret underground chamber. It was like a prison inside. One of them entered a room and saw somebody there. They ran away but the one who went in the room later died.

The three reach the top of a hill marked with some stone monument. Tarou has seen that place in his dreams too. Masayuki says the place is called Kamen Rock. Their destination lies beyond. From that place, Masayuki notices that dad’s company from a nearby mountain is visible.

Tarou, Makoto and Masayuki reach the old village behind the damn. Everything is covered in soil and rock except for a few structures such as the hospital. Tarou wonders why he agreed to go. Makoto asks if they should go inside. Masayuki asks Tarou if it would be alright. Tarou tries to convince himself that it isn’t a scary place. It’s just where his sister died.

Masayuki mentions that the guy who was kidnapped and kept at that place (Tarou) is finally there, so as the one who’s father died a week after (Makoto). Makoto then asks him why he is there with them. Masayuki replies that he’s killed someone before. Tarou and Makoto look shocked somehow. Masayuki says that they have different backgrounds but irreversible things happened in their lives. He then says something about having a friend. He goes inside. Makoto comments that nothing changes. He follows. Tarou is left outside. In his mind, he could hear the drone of flies.

Anyway, it’s amazing how events in the previous episode foreshadow facts revealed in this episode. When Masayuki looked down from the bridge, I thought he saw something horrible. It turned out he was afraid of heights. And oh, he and Tarou are friends already. Tarou did came to his house to play. Still, I find Masayuki creepy.

Ghost Hound is said to be a story about two worlds. Up to this point, the other world is not yet revealed. I wonder how they are going to merge that concept with all the psychological stuff that is happening.

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