Yomi no Tsugai is a marvel of consistency. That’s exactly what you expect given the pedigree – I don’t keep using “sasuga” about this show without reason. Measured, consistent pacing. A bit of exposition every week, delivered in naturalistic fashion. Some eps have had more action than others but when it’s there, it delivers impact. And against all of that an underlying vibe that all this doesn’t make sense. You put the pieces together and they don’t look right – a reflection of some very important pieces still being missing.

Still – every week we do get a piece or two, so as not to get discouraged. The standoff between Team Yuru and Team Kagemori in the parking garage (Kuroya’s daemons, it turns out, are too big to fit inside) is resolved when Yuru agrees to go to the Kagemori estate to meet Asa. Jin flat-out refuses to bring her to where they are, which is understandable. But even if “trust” isn’t quite the word for Yuru going with them, it’s still a big leap on his part. Jiro the Softbank dog is on their tail, and will eventually follow them all the way to the estate. Kotetsu the smartphone cat relays the location to Jin and Hana, much to their dismay.

What’s striking about this to me is their reaction. Yuru being captured by the Kagemori – which from their perspective would appear to be what happened – seems like a disaster. But the two of them are very chill about it. Dera just says “Papa has to go pick up his son” and Hana asks if he wants Mama to come too (he declines). Why aren’t they more alarmed? The impression left is that these two don’t consider the Kagemori much of a threat if they get serious – which isn’t totally consistent with the events of the first four episodes.

When the Yuru party arrives at the massive estate, Migi and Hidari can’t sense any daemons until they get inside a barrier – and then it’s overwhelming. They’re greeted by a Kagemori named Asuma, who has a sort of priestly look about him. Asuma immediately comes across as big trouble – possibly the big trouble – and not just because Ishida Akira is playing him. Jin is extremely wary of him, for starters, and sternly rebukes the idea that his “guests” should go with Asuma. He’s one to keep an eye on, that’s for damn sure.

Eventually Asa is roused to go and meet with Yuru. Gabu declines to see the guy who put two holes in her. Gabu bugs me – the disconnect is strong with her. She casually tears people in half and then gets played for moe points – it’s odd, to say the least. As for Asa, judging by her reaction to seeing Yuru it’s hard not to immediately go to “brocon”. Those requests for hugs are a little too insistent. Yuru and Asa smalltalk about Japanese food (yeah, it is too salty on the whole) but then he gets to the point – where the hell are their parents? I would think the other burning question for him would be “Why did they leave me behind?” but that one isn’t addressed here.

Here’s what we know, if Asa and Jin aren’t unreliable narrators. The twins’ mother came from Okinawa, and once the parents were settled outside the village she wanted to go back and see her parents (who assumed she’d disappeared while hiking in Tohoku – which is the first time we’ve placed the village geographically I think). A dragon keeper from the clan was dispatched to guard the parents, but all three of them disappeared on the flight from Tokyo. Yuru immediately suspects the guard, which makes perfect sense. And Jin doesn’t deny the possibility – or the responsibility for having “lost” the parents.

It’s possible that Jin is lying – to Asa too – or even that he believes what he says and is being lied to himself. But the other shoe that drops suggests otherwise. From the start there’s been a feeling of a dark matter element to the plot – some third party that was impacting events. Clearly such an entity exists, not allied with either the Kagemori or Higashi Village. They want the twins, Asa at least – her head, specifically – and choose this moment to attack and try to steal her. Invariably Asa and Yuru are going to wind up fighting together, but are the Kagemori and Dera (and the village)? After what happened in the premiere that’s hard to imagine happening so easily, but this episode’s events suggest that the possibility is very real.