Honda, Kyouko

本田今日子

Kyouko is Tooru's mother.
In her youth, Kyouko was a troublemaker who skipped classes and was disowned by her parents after a gang fight. She harbored hatred for her family because her father believed she had no place in the world, while her mother cared only for the family's outward image. She also led an all-female suicide gang. Within the group, she was known as "The Red Butterfly," a nickname derived from the legend that the tail lights of her motorcycle resembled a bright red butterfly dancing when she rode at night. Eventually, Kyouko moved on from that life and secured employment.
At some point, Kyouko fell in love with a student teacher named Katsuya Honda, which helped her leave her gang. After she was beaten by her gang members and disowned by her parents, he defended her and proposed marriage. They married shortly thereafter and had a daughter, Tooru. Katsuya became a positive influence in her life, and they tackled difficulties together. However, when he died of illness, Kyouko fell into a deep, depression-like sadness, neglected Tooru, and nearly committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea, hoping to reunite with Katsuya (Kyouko had never seen the ocean before, so Katsuya had taken her there one day). Just as she was about to jump, however, Kyouko regained her senses upon seeing a girl and her mother by the seaside; she returned home and found little Tooru waiting for her at the door, much like Katsuya had greeted her. Kyouko then vowed never to disregard Tooru for any reason; she raised Tooru alone, in addition to caring for Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, Tooru's best friends.
When Tooru disappeared one day as a young child, Kyouko was in hysterics, even going so far as to threaten the police if they failed to find her. After Tooru was eventually found by Yuki Souma, who had heard Kyouko's description of the girl and led the confused child home, Kyouko was overjoyed.