“I don’t think Kagamimori-san was the one bullying Torii-san,” Hitomi murmured abruptly. “I mean, Torii-san didn’t seem like she resented Kagamimori-san at all. Instead she tried to protect her, and held her while they slept... It looked like she loved her.” Hearing those words, Sayuri raised her head. Hitomi simply watched Sayuri with pure eyes, concerned. “Sure, Kagamimori-san might have hated Torii-san. She was the real daughter of the idol Utena looked up to. The daughter of the woman she had thought was her mother... And in fact, Kagamimori-san wasn’t connected by blood to Hanemori Joururi at all. She was a fake, they weren’t family.”
“Isn’t that why she resented my daughter and bullied her... Because she hated my daughter, who had what she wanted?” Sayuri asked. “Didn’t she persecute my daughter because she was jealous and bitter?”
“I don’t think Kagamimori-san was that big of a fool,” Hitomi disagreed. “She was a very level-headed girl, although I didn’t get to talk to her properly much... She had a dream, fell in love, and lived her life as best she could. She put in effort, straightforwardly, like a story’s protagonist. Such a girl wouldn’t bully others over something as dull as unjust resentment,” she said.
This is a child’s opinion, an idealism, Sayuri had thought. But somehow, she could understand what Hitomi was trying to say: Utena wasn’t the one who was bullying Torii. Rather, it had been those who were around her. Utena was the daughter of the Kagamimoris, and this town’s princess. There was probably no end to the people who were trying to get closer to her, flattering her and trying to curry favor. Those guys acted like they knew Utena’s complicated mentality, and...
“Kagamimori-san is a girl without a hidden side. She wouldn’t have lied,” Hitomi explained. “She even revealed her dream of being an idol to me, someone whom she’d basically just met. Her circumstances probably leaked out into her surroundings.” It didn’t look like Hitomi could say for certain, though, because she hadn’t been that close with either Utena or Torii, and at school she’d kept her distance.
Utena admired idols— or just Hanemori Joururi in particular— and her real daughter had been attending the same school. She had what Utena wanted; the impertinence! Utena should have hated her. For the sake of our lady, let’s beat down that eyesore. Let’s bully her, kick her down, and ridicule her. Someone among Utena’s hangers-on had thought those things. In the age before the internet, there was no stopping the tide of rumors. No matter how taboo the name “Hanemori Joururi” was, in our town... That was in the past, and it had nothing to do with the children. They had fun investigating this and that, and bringing circumstances to light, before starting their attack.
Torii was a slightly weird girl that lived deep in the mountains. She was a pitiful girl who only had a mother. She was timid, and didn’t fight back. On paper, she was good prey. As long as there’s an excuse, people will start the cannibalism known as bullying, endlessly and forever. It was enough to make one think that the monsters in the alternate dimension, who firmly decided their share and only ate what they needed to, to be more upright and honest.
“This might also just be my imagination, but I wonder if Kagamimori-san talked to Torii-san in school, or something,” Hitomi pondered. “Trying to ask about her mother, Hanemori Joururi? She tried to interact with your daughter proactively, talking with her a lot and getting along with her... Kagamimori-san would be honest and open with relatively anyone, I would think.” Hitomi let out a sigh, sounding somewhat tired. If what she was talking about was true, then this would be right after she just escaped from an alternate dimension. There’s no way she wasn’t exhausted, but it was far too late to touch on that subject. She probably couldn’t move on without tidying up the stuff she didn’t understand.
“Kagamimori-san’s followers wouldn’t have been able to stomach that, I don’t think,” Hitomi continued. “So they set their eyes on her because they thought she was conceited, and attacked her... But at the same time, Torii-san must have thought that Kagamimori-san ‘might be my little sister.’”
“Utena-chan was younger than Torii, after all. If Utena-chan really believed that Hanemori Joururi was her mother...” Sayuri trailed off for a moment. “Then, I see, that would make Utena-chan her younger sister.”
“But in reality, they weren’t connected by blood, though. That would be why Torii-san loved Kagamimori-san like a little sister,” Hitomi concluded. As for Kagamimori-san, if Torii-san hadn’t known much about Hanemori Joururi... She probably just felt like she’d taken a loss, having talked to her and gained nothing.”
“I didn’t tell her anything, after all,” Sayuri said. “Not about Hanemori Joururi.” It was all just Hitomi’s imagination, but if Sayuri thought of it that way, there were parts that made sense: Like, why Torii treated Utena kindly, when she was supposed to have been bullying her. Of course, there’s no way she didn’t feel anything after being abused. But, if it was just her followers, and Utena herself didn’t bully her at all... She might have had complicated feelings about it, but Torii shouldn’t have hated Utena that much, if at all. Torii was a kindhearted girl, who would want to raise the eggs of birds she found, and would put a blanket on her mother when she fell asleep while working. Actually, it wasn’t like Sayuri was a very good mother, either... Maybe Torii wanted the warmth of family, and so tried to get closer to Utena, even if she was hurt; even if she bled. Even if they weren’t related by blood, she had tried to love Utena, her little sister.
“Thinking of it that way, the aftertaste is just a little bit better...” Hitomi admitted. “That would be it, though. Sorry for talking for so long.”
“It’s fine. It looks like it’s closing time already, too...let’s take our time going home.” Hitomi smiled, and Sayuri gave a large yawn. Looking outside, it was already completely dark. The two of them should probably be heading home. Together.
“The girl Kousuke liked, I have a feeling it was Torii-san—” Hitomi said sadly; apparently, she wasn’t done talking. “I want to think that the girl wasn’t one of Kagamimori-san’s followers that took part in the bullying. Kousuke was always together with Kagamimori-san, so Torii-san would be the only one close enough, and she was a good person with a pure heart... You two really are related. Torii-san was beautiful, just like you, Sayuri-san.”
“Wouldn’t it be fine to just say that it was you, Hitomi-chan?” Sayuri said. This girl was still at the age where she enjoyed talking about love. I’d rather she talk about this than a gloomy alternate dimension beyond understanding, or a sad story about bullying. Thinking that, Sayuri gladly rode the subject. “Well, even if you thought about it now there’d be nothing you could do. There’s plenty of men in the world. I...don’t think you should be falling in love with your childhood friend anyway, speaking as someone who’s tried that and failed. ...hm? What’s wrong?”
Sayuri’s voice might not have reached her, Hitomi was in a daze and wasn’t replying. Her eyes were looking somewhere far away. “............” She put on a strangely symbolic expression that somehow lacked humanity. It might have been because of the cold, but she was trembling an awful lot, and Sayuri was worried. She was probably tired, it was about the right time— they couldn’t stay in this cafe much longer. We should end it here, and go home, Sayuri thought.
“I’ll go settle the bill,” she told Hitomi. “Can you wait for me outside? Or should we stay together?”
“Sorry. Can we stay together, for just a little longer?” She sounded too lonely, so Sayuri sat back down. Hitomi was still a frail girl. She needs someone to support her. I can at least be someone to talk to, Sayuri thought. She had nothing else to do, too. Although, this might be considered meddling. Sayuri wanted to give this child love; at least, enough to make up for what she didn’t give to her actual daughter.
“This must also be some sort of fate... From now on, you can call on me if anything happens,” Sayuri promised. “I’ll help you, Hitomi-chan. Are you really alright? Your eyes don’t seem to be focusing?”
“I’m fine,” Hitomi told her. “Although, I’ll need to be careful on the way home. If I stumble the wrong way, I could get run over by a car. I just had my life saved earlier; I have to take care of it.” If they knew that, when they died, they would be sent into a bizarre alternate dimension, where they would be played around with by monsters before being eaten, anyone would want to live as long as possible. “Don’t worry too much about me. It might be because I’m tired, but I can feel my consciousness going dim... Really, I’m fine.” Hitomi firmly raised her head, and gave a human smile. “I was just watching a little TV.”