EVENING OF DAY 2

[photonement]

[When Mahiru knocks at Aya's door, there's a strange subtle spring in her step. She's sobered after the death, sure, Aya saw that gloomy atmosphere with the story of a lifetime line, but somehow it's like there's this huge weight off her shoulders.

It probably has something to do with the actual lack of camera strap on her body. She just takes out her memory card from her pocket and hands it to Aya.]

Here they are!

((OOC: No masterlist of nice pictures yet because day 2 was such a wild ride but there are lots of gory pictures of Kuzuryuu's body somewhere in the early middle))

---

Pekoyama
Mioda
Tanaka

I really have no excuse for dragging things out like this! Unless that child were completely okay with you knowing, though, what else could I do? Certain players were always gonna figure out our situation, and then where would we be? I hope you understand now - I trusted all of you after what happened. And since you trusted me, if anything came up like at the trial, we could talk it out. Plus I knew none of you had power roles...

Except maybe Tanaka. This is my signal from beyond the grave to spit that out. My ghostly hand is gripping your throat. Gently, though. I won't choke you. Even though understanding you was hard, I think of you as a friend too. You've been really kind to everyone. Keep it up. You don't have to rain hellfire on the whole earth or anything. Another sixteenth of your true power should be just fine.

Ibuki, you've been the most fun friend I've ever had in my whole life. And if you see Mikan or Hiyoko again... will you break the news to them? They'll love your music. I got the feeling Hiyoko really wanted to figure out how you could be friends.

Peko, I don't deserve all the kindness you've shown me, and you don't deserve to be reading this. You're the strongest woman I've ever known... When all this is over you should try to give that Sakura Ogami a run for her money. This isn't your fault, is it? We're all people who deserve to live our own lives. Never forget. I hope you can smile for a picture someday.

Everyone please take care of each other and the children the best that you can, then help the others in our class for me
--Mahiru Koizumi

---

Aya-chan
I've really let you down. You were the person who made me want the most to keep living here, even if I didn't have a power, because just being yourself is good enough. It's okay if you can't keep up the bunbunmaru times on your own. There are people who can help. I want you to get enough sleep every night. Some spearmint tea will help you ward off nightmares if that ends up being an issue after all this!
--Mahiru

---

Otori
Now you know for sure you can trust everything I said. If you're reading this, it looks like I've paid the price for getting so irrational. Are you grateful for that or not? More than anything, I wish it didn't have to be that way (doubting you even now), and we could have met under better circumstances. At least you might get to be second place now!
--Koizumi

---

Comments

[photoshot]

[ in contrast, Aya's... tired. and, despite her efforts, definitely looking shaken. she tries her best to smile as Mahiru knocks, opens the door wider to let her enter. ]

Ayaya, let's take a look. [ definitely expecting less smiles for today's batch, yes. ]

[photonement]

[Well... if you look at this photo of Kyoya and Miko talking, their expressions look sorta like smiles. The Pines twins are super proud of completing their investigation but that photo has been taken from rather far away so their bodies say more than their faces. Carnival Mori??? Eh, those shots didn't come out so great.

And...]

There are a lotta shots of people calling Missile a good boy.

[photoshot]

And he definitely is! What an unexpected champion, I don't think any of us could have anticipated that reveal... [ she has like an entire page full of headlines, HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE. ]

[photonement]

I sure didn't. This is just -- he dug up a bone. Can we work that into the headline tastefully?

[GOD AYA YOU CAME UP WITH SO MANY GREAT ONELINERS she's chuckling to herself more sincerely than icon, reading them]

[photoshot]

I doubt it! Sometimes the tasteless headlines are the best ones.

In this case, however... [ hmmmMMM hilarity or tact, that is the question. it's a tough choice. ]

[photonement]

Depends who you're lampooning. "Sakaki instead of Kuzuryu didn't see it coming" is probably outta line, but I don't think a lotta people would mind "Captain Levi's Plan Goes Up In Smoke".

Before I forget--wanna do that whole letter thing? I wrote mine right before I got here.

[photoshot]

No, even I'm not sacrificing respect for brevity when it comes to mention of the dead.

--And have you? Of course. I'll be glad to accept.

[photonement]

[So Mahiru produces the three sheets of stationary covered in more curly feminine handwriting. Now back to work...]

Doggedly. God. Even I've gotta admit that's pretty much gold right there.

[tragically Mahiru died not knowing about princess Kenny so she did not take out that sheet of paper.]

[photoshot]

Everyone loves a good pun, I just don't know if anyone would be in the mood to appreciate it.

[ ... yeah she admits she's pretty tempted to take a peek once Mahiru leaves. privacy what privacy.

but ultimately she doesn't. she'll miss that handwriting, though. ]

[photonement]

[Good crow. Best friend.

Mahiru frowns too, and spends a long quiet minute or 2 whipping together a total of 3 copies on Levi's speech.]

Being the moodmaker is a hard thing. That kind of person has to stay very careful... because the thought for a second that manners aren't necessary, everybody else sees that and starts letting themselves go feel the same way. It's impossible for people who are completely serious and self-denying to work hard together all the time, though.

So maybe the best way is to have both things... you know? A proper work ethic to maintain happiness in mundane life, and a higher cause to believe in too.

[Shaking her head and turning away to pick up a fourth sheet of paper.] I go around talking about a higher cause but all I mean is [--??--] basically making people happy with my photography. You probably think about more spiritual stuff all the time in Gensokyo.

[photoshot]

Unless you're a shrine maiden or a Buddhist or a Taoist like Prince Miko, I don't think being from Gensokyo means being particularly more or less spiritual than being from the world outside.

But I have to admit, your approach to photography is... refreshing. I haven't really considered using pictures to actually make people happy. [ OUTRAGED, MOSTLY... ]

[photonement]

Oh, I see... [Mahiru really understands way too little about where Aya comes from. Is she actually a hardcore cosplayer? Mahiru wants to be more credulous but that's so much... She could have days ahead to work it out. Not that she will.]

It makes sense for your technique to be a little different since you're on the scene day-to-day. There are a lot more technical concerns in those cases so I'm glad I don't always have to do that kind of work... for me, I'm lucky enough to have a policy that I don't retake photos. And outside of a completely constrained situation like this I don't delete them either. Getting angry is like setting something on fire; you don't have to do much else to make sure it's never the same afterwards. A happy moment is different... after enough time has passed, remembering exactly how it felt is so hard that dwelling on the details helps a lot.

[photoshot]

[ as far as touhou outfits go, hers isn't too outlandish!... maybe. the geta are worth notice. ]

It's probably less technical and more--I go for what would provide the most impact. A newspaper's gotta sell. Tengu ratings and paper competitions can be cutthroat. Setting something on fire is the best way to rise up in a blaze of glory.

Taking photos for remembrance... I might've done that before. But it may have been so long ago I've forgotten when.

[photonement]

So long ago that you forgot what to remember... hah, kind of ironical.

[Though Mahiru is imagining this amount of time as less than ten years, that possibility is almost sadder than the natural erosion several centuries have wrought on Aya. Within the already isolated and close-knit tengu/gensokyo community, such harsh competition persisted... maybe even fatal.]

Makes sense, though; we don't take pictures of ourselves a lot, do we? I just have a couple ones from Mom... You can look at a group shot without yourself in it, sometimes, and feel really alone.

I'm really glad I can rely on you for that kind of record, Aya-chan. What happens here is bad, but still, I never want to forget any of it.