After a year at boarding school Shion Sonozaki flees the oppressive institution & secretly returns to her hometown in the mountains telling only her twin sister Mion of her arrival. Though the Sonozaki family has kept the sisters apart to prevent conflict over who would become the next family head Mion & Shion have remained close
- close enough that Shion can easily impersonate her identical twin. When Shion encounters Satoshi Hojo in town he is completely taken in by her Mion disguise. & Shion is quite taken with him... As she spends more time as Mion Shion learns that Satoshis kind face masks a terrible pain. His parents were one of the few couples in Hinamizawa to support the controversial dam project. When the construction was put on hold the Hojo family was seen as an enemy of the town & Satoshis parents were the second pair of victims claimed by Oyashiro-samas curse. Forced to move in with his abusive in-laws Satoshi & his sister Satoko are at the mercy of his aunts temper...