compnetwork | A mostly useless video post; backdated to the 20th

Entry tags:

A mostly useless video post; backdated to the 20th

[He spent three hours staring at his (now mostly functional) watch, rehearsing this a hundred times. Shouldn't it be fine?

Unfortunately, no, thanks to the TRIHARDO virus. The feed opens to a sterile white room and a bandaged up redhead, who seems to be doing his best to appear confident and normal despite the lingering rasp in his voice. ~~haha! "normal"~~]

A-a-ano, ahh, hello, it's— No, that's stupid, I mean to say— er, no, I, um—

You don't have to do this if— a-ah, ehhh, umm... I... I-I... uhh.

...

N-nevermind. I forgot what I was going to ask. Ahah... [No! TRY EVEN HARDER. TRIHARDO.]

Wait! [Cue an emphatic gesture for "WAIT."] No, ahh, that wasn't true..! I would really appreciate it if someone could get something for me!

Or— uh, if you can sew, that would be great too.

Ahh, uhh, I'll do anything I can in return! Ahh, no, that was worse than when I practiced... Eh? Did I leave the video go—

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... You wouldn't have had to come back for me.

["Revive me," he wants to say, but it's almost too impossible for him to believe, even now. It shouldn't be. Returning from death was a casual occurrence in the afterlife. But knowing that this world followed the logic of the living world challenged his already weak perspective on "everyday" death.

He shouldn't be here. This world and its gods didn't protect the inhabitants from death.]

I was... I was dead.

[There's a quiet but sharp intake of breath. She'd... honestly hoped that he had forgotten. That he had simply been under the impression he was knocked unconscious for a moment.

But in hindsight, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?]

...I'm sorry. I didn't realize... you knew.

I did. I knew I was going to...

[Death and Otonashi are well-acquainted. The truth of that circumvented fate could never have been anything but obvious.]

But I didn't know that... you would--that I could wake up again. You...

[The incomplete thought lays heavy in the air. She came back to save him.]

[She lowers her head in thought. Her friends back home had known, of course-- they had been there to see her power themselves. They had all agreed to help protect and guide the growth of her power.

However, it was also one that she had so wanted to keep secret, even in this world where people had powers even greater than those she had originally gained when the Dragon Stream was first disrupted. Being able to stave off death is not a power that should be used lightly, but even still, she had done so twice now in Hinoto-Ri, and been caught both times.

The woman before, the Death - she seemed to understand Aoi's power instinctively. But now that the time had come, could she-- should she explain it?]

...

I... think you understand, too. That power of mine... It would be better if people didn't know about it.

[Her voice is very quiet.]

I've... been saying that it--it was a close call.

[Indeed, he seemed to understand the gravity of such a thing. Even in a world where death was inconsequential, he never saw it as quite the same trivial ordeal that most others did.

So easily could people begin to see death as a fleeting inconvenience instead of a permanent end. Otonashi had witnessed that shift.

Not again. Not here.]

But my friends from the afterlife... they might see through it. [Perhaps not. Maybe nobody would press him further on the impossibility of his survival. Like Hizumi, maybe they would focus on his self-sacrificing nature and its role in both Aoi and Otonashi's hospital stay.]

[That... would be a problem, wouldn't it.]

If there's any way at all for you to hide it... please. I--

...I probably shouldn't have used it then. It's... not a power that should be used lightly.

[She knows she's being selfish, imposing this request upon him even though in the end, it is her fault he has to worry about it in the first place. But at the same time...

She doesn't regret bringing him back in the slightest.]

Yeah. [It's unclear at first just what he's agreeing to or affirming as he presses his lips together in a hard line, thoughtful.]

I... don't want you to have to use it again. Not on me or anyone else. I'll do what I can to keep that power safe, but... if I have to tell them, at least, I'll make sure they understand why.

[It's the least that he can promise. It goes without saying that this will be kept from Noda, especially, due to the purple-haired boy's volatile nature.]

...That's all I can ask.

[It's her own fault that it came to this, after all.]

...This power... inspired wars in my world. I want to help Hinoto-Ri grow, but if people here were to find out about my power...

[...The same events could repeat, just as they had in her own time.]

I don't want to cause another battle. Not because of this.

I'll do what I can. I really owe you...

[It's a debt that he's not sure where to begin repaying.]

Ah... people would covet a power like that. Everyone would want it for themselves, wouldn't they? The power to revive dead allies...

But you-- you can't use it without cost, can you? [Her eye. There had been no injury sustained to it, and yet she had been clutching it, visibly in pain. The eyepatch is the final proof, isn't it?

Something happened.]

[She shakes her head.]

Please don't think of it that way-- [She pauses to give a few more coughs.]

--I don't regret bringing you back. Even though it's dangerous, I... didn't want you to die.

[And then he mentions the cost, and she nearly brings a hand to her eye out of reflex, although she stops the movement.]

...It's a small price to pay.

Hah... But that's how it is.

[He appreciates her role in saving his life, of course. But him being here still leaves that burning question. She says it was only a small price, but--]

... What was it?

...They call this power... the power of the Bodhisattva's Eye. So whenever I use it, my right eye begins to hurt. Naturally, the more I use it, the more pain there is.

However... the damages aren't permanent. [Or at least, they haven't been so far.</i] As long as I leave it alone, it should heal on its own...

[Defying death must bring excruciating pain, then.]

Bodhisattva's Eye... I'm glad you're the holder, then. I don't know of many people who would be responsible with a power like yours.

[He's not even sure that he would be. His intentions would be good, but a power to force death itself to bend--

It's hard to comprehend at all.]

We should probably rest though, shouldn't we..?

Well... I'm not so sure about that. [Truthfully speaking, she'd used it many times to save only the people who happened to die in front of her. It isn't a very fair system, but...

It's the most she can do.]

...Probably, yes. Avitus... will probably worry about us enough as it is.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A mostly useless video post; backdated to the 20th

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]

[Private]