Art by Kyosai Kawanabe
A wavering wraith of karmic retribution Art by Kyosai Kawanabe
A wavering wraith of karmic retribution
on a wandering path of wretched fate.
Thoroughly despised and fractured,
a set of two mirrors facing one another.
Coming forth from the darkness where time intersects,
your grievance shall be avenged.
Hell Girl Two Mirrors Ima nanji ka oshiete
Hell Girl Two Mirrors Yume to itte dakishimete
Haikyo no machi ni mioboe ga aru
Anata to mekutta shashin-shuu no naka
Doushite hitori atashi wa hitori
Sugu ni sugu ni yume nandato kizuku
Gareki o hashiru nanika kettobasu
Yume kara sameru deguchi o sagasu no
Hayaku ikanakya hayaku ikanakya
Dokoka de anata no koe ga shiteru no
Ugoite-iru toki no naka shika eien nante mienainda
Ima nanji ka oshiete
Yume to itte dakishimete
Tomari-kaketa atashi no kokoro o ugokashite
Onegai
Tonari ni anata wa iru
Tabun chigau yume o mite
Taiyou nanka iranai
Anata no egao ga ima koishikute
Mouth!
On that day, I resolved to banish this person to Hell.
That Person's History
Half a Year Ago
Rina, are you ready yet?
We can't afford to be late on a day like this.
I know!
Just wait a minute!
But what do you see in him anyway?
Pops!
I mean, this wonderful young lady is willing to take a blockhead like you.
Please! He's the one who's willing to take a girl who's almost an old maid.
Dad!
Masato.
Yes, sir?
Please be good to my daughter.
I would ask the same.
Man! I'm really not cut out for this sort of thing.
I know.
But it's like I can finally be an adult now.
You're thirty-five, aren't you?
Even when I hit twenty, and then thirty, I never really felt like an adult.
Once you have a child, you'll grow up, whether you like it or not.
We had settled on next spring for our wedding.
That's true. We had settled on next spring for our wedding.
I was happy.
Miss Takeda, outside line three. It's from your father.
All right. Thank you.
Hello?
Oh, hello? Sorry for bothering you at work.
There's actually a serious matter I need to discuss with you.
Would you be able to come straight home today?
I'm planning to see Masato today...
I know. But it's really important.
Can't this wait until tomorrow morning?
Please.
All right. I'll try to get home as soon as I can.
Thank you. Sorry about this.
Oh, then I'll see you.
My father was not his usual self.
It gave me a sense of foreboding.
My mother?! Why?!
Now, please calm down and listen to me.
How could I possibly be calm about something like this?!
My father said he was going to take in my mother.
My mother, who had become disabled in a car accident
and now needed nursing care.
Not only that,
but the accident was supposedly due to her own heedlessness.
I only have hazy memories of my mother.
That's a tasty looking dumpling.
This is because she ceased to be a part of my life That's a tasty looking dumpling.
before I had really become aware of things.
The one thing that I'm clear on is that I...
...have no memory of my mother smiling.
Her departure was not to a distant foreign country,
but to be with a different man.
But I only learned that after I was in middle school.
She brought that accident on herself, didn't she?!
You're being too nice, Dad!
She has no relatives.
She only has us.
Won't you please be understanding of her?
I don't understand! I don't even want to understand!
Rina...
My father had not removed my mother from the family register.
According to the welfare office, if my father didn't take her in,
they said my mother would be placed in an institution.
You're free to take her in, but you look after her!
Rina.
I'm not helping whatsoever! Rina.
Rina!
Takeda
Welcome home.
Okay, you're almost in bed.
Rina.
I'm coming in.
I won't demand that you care for your mother,
but she's going to be living with us and above all, she's your mother,
so at least go say hello.
Michiyo, it's Rina.
Knock.
What? Knock.
Do you people come into people's rooms without even knocking?
I will have you know,
I will not behave ingratiatingly just because you have taken me in.
You people took me in at your own discretion.
I do not recall ever asking for such a favor.
Hey!
I'm sorry.
Dad!
We'll be careful in the future.
As long as you understand.
Ms. Kitazaki, the care manager, came to visit us
to go over my mother's nursing care plan.
Michiyo Takeda
Your wife is still 63 years old,
Michiyo Takeda so she will count as a Category II insuree.
Michiyo Takeda Under this plan,
Michiyo Takeda you cannot receive nursing care services except for specific diseases.
She was at fault for the accident herself,
so you won't be able to apply for nursing care insurance.
Then...
Even if you were to acquire the services of a professional,
your family would have to pay the full amount.
You still seem to be in good health, sir,
and I'm sure your daughter could also help out on weekday nights and on her days off,
so I really can't say much here, other than to ask you to do your best.
If it were me, I wouldn't even want to go near an old woman like that.
Children sure are fearless.
One Month Ago
Miss Takeda.
Yes, sir?
What's going on with the fax to Mr. Hashimoto over at Joto Bussan?
Oh!
I'll get it done right away.
It doesn't matter now. I did it already.
What's happened to you?
You've been making too many careless mistakes lately.
Pull it together.
I'm sorry, sir.
My mother's tyranny was still ongoing.
What's wrong?
My back itches.
Scratch it.
Hurry!
My father had visibly grown haggard.
And unable to leave my father to such a fate,
I wound up taking care of my mother, after all.
Not hot enough!
Hot!
It's too hot now!
Are you trying to burn me?!
I'll sue you for abuse!
You can't!
Oh, look how soiled the room's become!
Hurry up and clean it up!
It's your own fault that your cooking was too hot!
Now, for today, we're covering urban legends,
so we've invited some experts on the subject.
Urban Legends
First up, we've got this.
Hell Link First up, we've got this.
Right now, people everywhere are abuzz
with rumors of a mysterious site called Hell Link.
If you access the Hell Link site at the stroke of midnight
and write in the name of the person you want retribution against,
Hell Link
Hell Girl will supposedly grant you that wish. Hell Link
Ms. Omori, were you aware of this?
No, I've never heard of it.
Maybe I'll write in Mom's name. No, I've never heard of it.
Don't say things like that, even as a joke!
...a friend who had been bullying high school girls
suddenly stopped coming to school.
Why do you let her push you around? suddenly stopped coming to school.
...apparently asked the police to initiate a search.
Hey.
Whose girl are you?
Someone's girl.
What's your name?
Kikuri.
I see.
Hey, what's that?
What is it?
Nothing.
It's nothing at all.
Really?
Really.
Send
Michiyo Takeda Send
I had my doubts, but I sent in my mother's name.
You called?
She was Hell Girl.
The rumors were true.
She said that if I wanted to banish my mother to Hell,
all I had to do was untie the thread on the straw doll.
However, if I did it, I would also go to Hell after my death.
All that remains is for you to decide.
A Week Ago
Postpone it?
Yeah, because I figured your family's going through a lot, so...
Sure, we're going through a lot,
but it's not bad enough to postpone the wedding.
Let's just see how things go for a while.
What do you mean by "see how things go"?
Well, that's...
Are you saying we should wait until my mother dies?
I never said that, did I?
Then, what did you mean?
It's not like that...
His parents had begun to express their disapproval. It's not like that...
His parents had begun to express their disapproval.
I'm sorry.
Stop that.
Apologizing to me doesn't do any good.
I'm sorry!
I said, stop that!
Then take her and go away somewhere!
I'm sorry.
I owe Michiyo a debt of a lifetime...
Rina...
You're not Michiyo's daughter.
When she learned that she was unable to have children,
she made an offer to my father, who wholeheartedly desired a child.
For his sake, rather than adopting a child,
she suggested having another woman bear my father's child.
After struggling with the idea for a time, my father accepted her offer.
And the child that was born was me.
I was an idiot.
I thought that Michiyo also rejoiced at your birth,
but that was not the case.
That was probably Michiyo's way of testing me.
Michiyo changed after that.
She ceased to open up to me or to anyone.
And she ended up leaving.
My father had secretly continued to see my mother even after that.
It seems he tried to bring her back home somehow,
but she refused, rebuking my father and continuing to trouble him.
And then...
You hypocrite.
You keep dropping in on me all year round just to pity me!
That's not it!
I know.
You don't care about what's going on with me.
You just want to reassure yourself.
You're only in love with the idea of continuing to care for your pitiful wife!
Michiyo!
I've had enough of this!
I'll put you out of your misery, once and for all!
Michiyo!
I'm the one who turned Michiyo into the person she is today.
I'm responsible.
But now I've dragged you into it...
What about my real mother?
She passed away.
About ten years ago.
All that remains is for me to decide.
You came again?
Give me that.
No.
Gimme.
I can't give this away.
No.
Why not?
I just can't.
Takeda
The straw doll wasn't where it was supposed to be!
I couldn't find it, no matter where I looked!
It's no use.
What happened?! What did you do with it?!
Give it back to me! I need it right away!
It no longer belongs to you.
What?
Do you remember?
You used to love this place.
I wanted to come here one more time.
I wanted to come here again with you.
Won't you forgive me?
Forgive?
I want you to forgive me
and give your blessings to Rina that she was born into this world.
You're serious about this?
Yes.
I want my memories of us to remain beautiful.
Pretty, isn't it?
So pretty...
Rina is precious to me.
I can't let it go on any longer.
So I want to hear you say it once...
That you...
That you forgive Rina and me.
I'm begging you.
I cannot say it.
To forgive you...
To acknowledge her...
I could never do it.
No matter what?
Please forgive me!
Dad?
This is how it should be.
As it should be...
The old woman's awfully quiet.
There's no trace of the person she was in life.
Maybe it was Hell, in its own way.
For that old woman, too.
I consign this grievance to Hell...
Dad...
Wait for me.
I think my father saved me and also saved her.
I remembered it.
In her life, devoid of all hope,
if this were the sole thing tethering her humanity,
perhaps I would be able to forgive that person.
But I will never, ever be able to ascertain that now.
Kouhei Takeda Your grievance shall be avenged.
Kouhei Takeda
Asaki yume-miji towa ni nageki mo sesu
Tsuki no hikari
Kokoro terashi-dasu
Moyuru hana no mai michishirube
Karami-tsuku ayamachi no uta
Mune o shimeru
Hatenu kawa ni te o sashi nagasou
Omoi tsumeta koto no ha ai ni somete
This inn holds memories for me.
Do you remember, Miss?
I was a speed demon back then.
Yes, you were a speed demon.
Who knows what would have become of me if I hadn't met you.
What a nice bath.
Yeah, the same as it was back then.
Nah, maybe it's changed a bit.
Next time, "Hell Amidst the Steam, Lodging for Travelers".
Hell Girl Two Mirrors Hell Amidst the Steam, Lodging for Travelers Next time, "Hell Amidst the Steam, Lodging for Travelers".
Hell Girl Two Mirrors Hell Amidst the Steam, Lodging for Travelers