After parting ways, Saki goes to a convenience store, where she encounters a man who compliments her appearance and invites her to a karaoke box.

In the karaoke box, he gives Saki alcohol and MDMA and rapes her, lying to her that he is only doing it because he loves her, while she believes that he is simply having consensual sex with her.

Having lost her home, Saki drops out of high school and pursues a life with Hayato, who has accumulated eight million yen in debt at a local heroin bar.

She vows to help pay back the debt to the bar owner, Mr. Obata, who threatens to kill Hayato if he does not repay.

Hayato convinces her to abort the pregnancy, and she soon finds herself returning to Kumagai, who, unimpressed with her body modifications, forces her to do increasingly degrading things to make the money she needs.

The following day, Saki realizes she is pregnant again and decides to carry the baby to term, vowing to quit drugs and change for the better in the process.

Saki builds up some savings to help with the cost of her unborn child, which she stores in a duffel bag in a public coin locker.

Shindo L claimed he "originally had Kafka in mind" when he thought up the title, inspired by the short story of the same name, drawing comparisons to the dark themes and plots surrounding transformation.

However, Wanimagazine editors wished for a happier ending, which led him to draw the dream sequence as a form of compromise.