[Video public]

[helenchanted]

Ahh...uh...

[Miki is trying to keep a straight face but this is harder than she thought.]

...umm I think that Minami is gone. W-well no. Not 'I think'. I know she's gone since her room is occupied by someone else, so I guess she returned to our world...

[Her best friend is gone but she...she doesn't think she could leave herself just yet. Not with what she's gained here.]

I kinda need to clear my mind a bit...

Anyone want to do something?

Comments

[greatseal]

I usually use a digital camera or my cell phone... [It makes it a lot easier when she's moving around. The scanned ones she did to back them up just in case something ever happened... They're too important to risk losing.]

But that sounds good to me!

[helenchanted]

I use...[Hold on, she'll bring it from her room since she forgot to bring that out.] This!

[It's old, and ugly and so very early 1990's, but this was one of Miki's first presents so she hung out to it since then.]

[greatseal]

Wow, a Polaroid! [Minako doesn't think she's ever used one of those before...] That would save you time on developing.

[helenchanted]

It did! Sadly, it got harder and harder to find the film.

[Now then, Minako, are you read for this adventure in photography.

And on the first page, there is but a single image, delicately covered in a thin plastic film. It is the only photography she has of her, Shinjiro and Akihiko as kids. This image was not taking with her camera since she got that after being adopted, the photo is slightly blurry. There's a yellow burn mark on the far right of it, she had it on her when the fire started.

But despite the fact it's near impossible to actually see what it is, it's the most precious one she has in book.]

[greatseal]

[Minako's gaze lingers on it for a moment, noting the burn. Only one photo... Briefly, she wonders if Akihiko has this one too... or if the mark meant it was probably gone.

...She decides to focus on the image itself instead, and an obvious question comes to mind.]

He's really had that hat for this long?

[helenchanted]

[She laughs quietly at that.]

Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't born with it.

[She waits for Minako to turn the page. When she does, there will be pictures of Miki and Shinjiro very out of focus for the most part, or a finger in front. Someone was trying out her new camera, or getting one of the others to hold it for her when she took pictures with Shinjiro. There are also pictures of the Sanada family; the couple appears to be old, but happy.]

[greatseal]

...Are these your parents?

[This illustrates another hole that came out of really only knowing her friends less than a year. She didn't know anything about Akihiko's adoptive family. She knew they existed, but that was from the rumor mill and not anything that he'd ever said to her. When he brought up past events he'd only ever spoken about his time at the orphanage, and Miki.

Maybe they'd never been close. But in Miki's photograph, they looked happy.]

[helenchanted]

Yes. Okasama passed away a few years ago...

[She takes a small breath to calm herself down least she cries after just a few photos, and instead offers Minako a smile.]

...I am very grateful for everything they allowed me to accomplished. [She points to a picture of her winning her first tournament at a young age, her adoptive mother is (at least in Japan) very uncharacteristically cheering her on. You can even spot Shinjiro in the far end of the seats; even if hes' blurry, that beanie hat of his gives away who he is.]

[greatseal]

They seem like good people.

[She's glad Miki had such a good experience with her adoptive family. It's definitely something she deserved.]

[helenchanted]

They are.

[The next few pages look like life in the mansion; the Sanadas were no doubt rich for having planned to adopt both of them at such an older age. There's sometimes utterly pointless shots of just pieces of her room, or pictures of much younger self taking a photo via a mirror.

Then it slowly starts inching school life...and a surprising amount of Shinjiro photographs.

He's smiling. Or at least compared to how he is now for the most part, smiling a lot.]

[greatseal]

These are good pictures. Have you shown them to him yet?

[considering they still exist, maybe she hasn't...]

[helenchanted]

Not yet.

[But from her tone of voice, she's go some sort of plan, and it'll be forthcoming soon.]

[greatseal]

You definitely should. They're worth sharing. Show them to Akihiko-senpai, too.

[helenchanted]

[She just laughs.]

Actually I want to make copies for the both of them. [She looks down at her pile.] well...just a selection.

[Because the 'put stuff on Shinji while he's sleeping and see what I can get away with' has a little to many pages of trophy collection. On the other hand, if you wanted to see how deep of a sleeper he was...]

[greatseal]

[She.... has first-hand knowledge of that already, but that might be too much information.] I'm sure they'll appreciate it!

Wow I thought I had tagged this.

[helenchanted]

[She grins.]

Exactly! I want them to see what they both did for me...

[And before she gets too emotional, she lets Minako turn the pages again. It appears they've entered the SEES phase...part one. It's just her, Mitsuru, and Shinjiro. Well mostly both of them since Miki is taking the pictures.]

[greatseal]

It must have been pretty different with just you three... Are you very close to Mitsuru-senpai? She relies on Akihiko-senpai a lot.

[helenchanted]

Hmm...I'd say not as close to her as I am to Minami or Aigis, but Mitsuru-senpai has always been a mentor figure to me. [She laughs.] I think I relied on her more than she did on me...

...but I did repair her bike and cook her meals when I had the time. Nothing as fancy as the store-bought ones she'd bring to the dorms once in a while, but at least they were made with fresh produce, or as Jiji would say...

[Here she purposefully lowers her voice to try and match his.]

None of that crap they pack in there.

[She stops speaking for a while and thinks before speaking again. There much she'd like to know about Minako's world too...]

So she relied on Aki huh....are they dating?

[Miki why is this the first major question you ask about Minako's world, that's terrible.]

[greatseal]

[Minako just laughs, a little...] I asked her something like that once too, but it didn't seem like she'd even thought about it... Maybe they're a little too alike, in some ways?

[Not that she wouldn't ship it, but... Somehow, she doubts Akihiko would be able to notice even if Mitsuru did have feelings for him.]

[helenchanted]

[YOU GO GIRL Miki is enjoying the fact that you just went and asked her outright.] Ha ha ha! That reply sounds so much like her...a true professional in all aspects of her life!

Wait so...Aki is that bad with dating?

[greatseal]

[Should she really be telling his sister things like this? Well... it's not exactly uncommon knowledge back home, and if anyone needs an intervention, it's Akihiko.]

There's a group of girls that likes to follow him around, but he doesn't know how to handle them at all. Half the time I'm not sure he gets what they're really after.

[helenchanted]

[She looks at Minako for a few seconds, her mouth frozen in a disbelief before she bursted out laughing.]

Ha ha...I-I'm sorry. It's just that I had a similar problem too...although I knew exactly what they wanted. It must drive the girls up the wall that Aki doesn't have a clue...although it's their own fault for not telling him anything outright!

[You have no idea how dense your brother is about love Miki. NO idea. Yet the image of her brother being surrounded by all these girls and not understanding why is just too amusing...yet she suddenly shifts gaze and her voice is much more serious. Almost...annoyed.]

Of course, that entirely depends if were they doing it just because he was popular, or because they actually liked him....

[Uh-oh that's pure sibling worry coupled with her own bad memories.]

[greatseal]

Well, I don't think he talked to any of them enough for them to really know him... Although, some probably had real crushes. [And sometimes she just felt bad for the girls, considering Akihiko never even bothered to learn the names even of the most persistent ones.] But, you had fans following you around?

[...Were they boys or girls?]

[helenchanted]

...That bad huh. [Wow she had a lot of work to do, then.]

Yeah. I didn't call them fans before either. I guess when you start winning tournaments you attract a lot of crowds...the good and the bad. I have to admit...all the attention did get to me. I wanted to be everyone's friend...I never had any as a child...to be surrounded by so many and be the popular girl at school...

[She shakes her head again, grinning. The memory isn't as painful telling her now.]

Fortunately, Minami grounded my feet down to the earth again and helped me realize that a hundred false friendships were not worth a single true friend. I purposefully lost a tournament that year to see what would happened. She was right; the minute I wasn't the best, they don't look at you the same. A guy I had liked just wasn't around anymore...

[Miki looked at Minako again before speaking.]

I won back all my titles a few months after, of course. The fans came back, but that's all they were to me then...fans.

[greatseal]

Popularity isn't bad, but not if you're going too far just to attain it...

[She's guessing there's more to Miki's story, but there's no point making her recount a bad time when she gets the gist of the story already.] I'm glad you and Minami are such good friends.