Bakemonogatari EP5 - Mayoi Snail, Part Three

While waiting for Hitagi to arrive, Koyomi begins to find out more about Mayoi's life. She is the only child of a couple that had undergone a bitter divorce. Mayoi was put under the custody of her father, and had any contact with her mother deliberately cut off to the point where Mayoi could barely recognize the face of her mother. Hitagi then arrives and apologizes to Koyomi. She reveals that Mayoi does not exist, as she is actually dead. As a ghost, she can only be seen by those who have a subconscious desire not to return home. As a result, Hitagi could not see Mayoi and didn't say anything because she feared that she might be "different" again. The information Oshino provides helps them find Mayoi's mother's house, but it is a vacant lot; however, Mayoi is happy and disappears, saying she's finally home. Afterwards, Hitagi admits that she is in love with Koyomi, and she is deeply intrigued by his desire to help anyone in need. Koyomi responds to her feelings with the precondition that they would not hide things from each other. At the end of the episode, Koyomi runs into Mayoi again, who states that she has been "promoted" from a lost soul to a wandering spirit and that she'd like to visit Koyomi from time to time.