Sayuri listened to Hitomi’s story seriously until the end, and by then the coffee and sandwiches were long gone. It was already almost closing time; they couldn’t stay and talk much longer. The other customers had all already gone home, and the employees who were left were giving the two of them slightly annoyed looks. Turning on the TV placed up near the ceiling, a baseball game was being broadcast.
“An amusement park, huh—” While feeling slightly uncomfortable, Sayuri digested Hitomi’s story. Apparently, the alternate dimension— or whatever she spoke of— can be thought of as the hearts of people who get lost inside. It was a dream, or a place where their spirits were mixed together, or something. Things happened, like watching someone else’s dream on a monitor because of crossed wires or something...
Sayuri felt like she could make a guess, somehow, as to why the alternate dimension was an amusement park. She hadn’t been in the prenatal phase, but while her daughter was still in her belly, she must have also felt that moment in the past that had changed Sayuri’s life for good. The amusement park, where Sayuri was strangled by her abominable childhood friend... That left a strong image, and it must have been inherited by Sayuri’s daughter, turning that dimension into an amusement park.
While thinking that, Sayuri asked something absentmindedly; “Well, saying I believe your story for now. What do you want to ask of me, then? Are you unsatisfied with something, Denkiya-sa— ...Hitomi-chan?”
“If you’re talking about satisfaction, then I’m unsatisfied with all of it. I don’t understand any of it... It couldn’t be helped that I, an outsider, was caught up in all this by chance, though.” Without looking at the TV, Hitomi faced Sayuri directly. “I didn’t think you’d believe me. Not with a story this stupid.”
“Yeah,” Sayuri sighed. “If I was to believe your story, then the culprit who set the shrine on fire, and who probably killed my daughter and the others would be that Kurashima-kun, or whatever he’s called. But even if you told the police, I don’t think they’d believe you.” “The weapon would have been a knife or something similar, if they looked for it they might find it... So wouldn’t the culprit be revealed, eventually, if they searched the scene of the crime, anyway? I hear that the Japanese police are excellent, after all.” At the scene of the fire, a corpse that was several boys and girls blended together was found... If someone just listened to the outline, it would sound mysterious, but if they didn’t think of the alternate dimension stuff, then it should just be a normal incident. Kurashima Yuudai, Saba Torii, Kagamimori Utena, and Mishiro Kousuke were dead. They wouldn’t figure out if the victims died in the fire, or were killed before that without further investigation, but seeing as how the culprit Kurashima Yuudai is dead, the case is already closed.
If the police investigate with due diligence, then they should reach a realistic explanation for the whole thing. The complicated mess of bodies will be properly untangled, and sent to the bereaved families for their funerals. They’ll most likely decide something like the intense heat of the fire melted the bodies together by coincidence. And with that reasoning put on it, the incident will end.
So that corpse, those are the leftovers that the monsters didn’t touch...maybe? Just that was thrown back into the world, like trash. There was no one to eat Hitomi, so she came back whole. That was probably it, though the fact that Sayuri could only make conjectures vexed her.
“I think I know what Kurashima-kun’s— or whatever he’s called— motivation was, too.” When she said that, Hitomi’s eyes turned into circles. Sayuri laughed bitterly, and lowered her head. “It was probably my fault. A looong time ago, I was an idol. It probably doesn’t look that way, does it? I retired quite a while back, and now I’m just an old lady; you can find those anywhere.”
“You’re plenty beautiful even now, though,” Hitomi reassured her.
“Nothing will come of it, even if you praise me... Hmm, you don’t know anything about Hanemori Joururi, right? I don’t think any of the young kids these days would know, after all.” The Kagamimoris,’ the richest family in town, scion— now the head of the family— was involved in the scandal that ended Hanemori Joururi. He was probably trying to erase the past. It was taboo to speak the name ‘Hanemori Joururi,’ especially in this town. There was no way to know about her, especially in the younger generations.
Hitomi tilted her head, troubled, as she asked Sayuri, who was lost in thought: “You’re talking like this is about someone else. You’re Hanemori Joururi, right?”
“Yeah, well, that is true.” To Sayuri, her idol years were something that she didn’t want to remember. So whenever she did, she was put into a bitter mood. It’s already in the past, so she did think of it like something that happened to someone else. To think that she had worn cute outfits, and danced and sung on stage... It was unbelievable, like it had happened in a past life.
“When I was around your age, I got scouted by someone from a TV station in the city. I debuted with a lot of fanfare, and went on, just like that, to become a huge success without any trouble; I became a celebrity in one go. No matter what channel you flipped to on the TV, it would’ve been filled with talk about Hanemori Joururi.” Sayuri already wanted to smoke another cigarette, but she was out. Enduring the urge, Sayuri talked vaguely. “Around then, computers— or actually the internet— weren’t widespread at all, yet. There was no such thing as smartphones, either. The only thing there was to reflect the outside world was TV. Its influence was staggering, although I didn’t really feel it at the time.” At the time, she had just been an ignorant girl— the Sayuri of that time, Hanemori Joururi.