[ There's a long silence wherein she just looks at him, turning the question of how much to say over in her head. Hunter has never been forceful in his inquiries about her, but he still hasn't let them go, either. It's a very different kind of persistence from Utena's.

She wonders, if Utena had ever asked her, or if she'd ever pressed her to finish the thought she'd started to voice on so many nights as they'd looked into each other's eyes... how much she really would have revealed to her.

Eventually, once she's settled on her analysis of how much anything is worth saying, she gives a succinct, carefully worded answer. ]

Once you've been pierced by the dozens of swords of an angry mob, you find that most other experiences lose their edge.