Ep. 12: Mari's newborn celebration, Ako's hospital encounter, and Ako's father's tanuki encounter

12

Mari invites friends to celebrate her sister's birth. Ako, Reiko, and Yuuma debate gifts until Sho shares a Norwegian tale about a black fairy swapping a human child for its own. The fairy tale involves parents using oil and fire to trick the fairy into returning their son, with a metal spoon serving as protection. The friends bring sweets instead, mistaking a relative's request for beer for the story's events. Meanwhile, Ako visits a hospitalized boy who cannot speak. They bond over pictures of Hokkaido, and he invites her to go together when he is healthy. Ako's health declines from late-night visits. In a trance, she enters a forest where the boy speaks and reaches for her. He withdraws his hand, urging her to return, and vanishes. She collapses and learns he died after throat surgery. Finally, Ako recounts a story about her father encountering a tanuki disguised as a kotatsu, which leaves him with hairy knees.