Nuriko brings Miaka a gift right before the planned trip to Kutou to retrieve Tamahome. It's a statue of a man and a woman together. Nuriko explains that they're "Love and Friendship Dolls," currently popular among girls in the city. Apparently, if you write your name and your lover's name on the dolls and bury them without being seen, then the two of you will remain together forever. Miaka asks and Nuriko replies that it's all right since they don't work if you're homosexual. (We see "Hotohori" and "Nuriko" written across the backs.) Nuriko tells her to hurry up, and Miaka writes the names on the appropriate statues. As she holds them before her, there is a sharp crack and the statues split down the middle, falling into separate halves on the table as a frantic Nuriko tries to assure his Miko that it means nothing he must have bumped them or something.