( open ) Reminiscence ＊ Photographs Lost in Time

[adoringpast]

WHO: you and sena, later on
WHERE: his dreams
WHEN: 8/20
WHAT: Sena falls into the abyss and you have to save him, unfortunately.
WARNINGS: allusions to stalking, kidnapping, and generally creepy behavior because canon sena be like that sometimes

[ you'll find yourself in a pitch-dark location, with the only source of light a flashing red one at the end of a hall. the light keeps blinking in and out at slow intervals at first, so it should be tempting to follow that light instead when it does come on. the other way's a dead end though, so there's really no other way than forward, even if the trip would take more or less 15 mins, as if it's just dangling in front of you like a damn lure just so your legs can get some exercise.

the source of light came from inside a door, the sign above flickering the words darkroom in use. if one can listen closely one can hear tiny sounds of water splashing and paper being printed, so there should be someone working inside?

the door opens as if on its own accord, red light flooding your vision and blinding you momentarily until your eyes adjust to the darkroom. it's rather cramped, with a table that contains various equipment used to develop photographs during the old days.

there are three stacks of photography paper, all seemingly blank, along with a two sheets of papers taped to the table. the first one is a set of instructions on how to use the equipment, though since this is only a dream it'll only list down the most basic procedure - just douse a sheet of photography paper into a basin full of chemicals for a few moments until an imprint appears, after which you put it up with clothespins on the thin lines of rope above you for a photo to form. just basic stuff. the second piece of paper contains another list, this time indicating the photos that you are to expose and develop using the equipment provided - 1) family photo, 2) sheet music, and 3) makoto yuuki (5).

there's a framed photograph of a certain bespectacled boy nearby as a reference, in case you don't know who the third request looks like, how weirdly convenient. actually the red-tinted walls are covered with various photos of said boy, but you shouldn't worry about that right now.

well, then. time to get to work. will you go through the stack of papers that said past past, present past or... yumenosaki academy? ]

Comments

[thesettingsun]

[What the fuck, Sena.

There's nothing to be done except follow instructions. Shuji looks over the stacks of papers before settling on 'Yumenosaki Academy' to start developing photos from. Sena's own past is too personal for Shuji to root through, but what his other self did isn't a reflection on him.

What does the first picture he develops show?]

cw strangulation? lordt

[adoringpast]

[ are you sure about that other self thing, shuji? because the photo will soon show an image of izumi in his summer school uniform, wrapping his hands around tsukasa and choking him, but it's more of a style from The Sampsons than anything. still, it can be rather a shock to see.

the following words also fade in: "Come on, just come over here. I really won't bully you, okay? ♪ ]

[thesettingsun]

[Oh, that's... that's unpleasant. Especially since Shuji knows Tsukasa and is on friendly terms with him.]

I think that qualifies as bullying by anyone's standards...

[But it's still past Izumi, not current Izumi. None of this is his fault. So it's just onto the next picture, business as usual.

...after he takes that picture down and puts it face-down where he doesn't have to see it. Not Makoto, not sheet music, not a family photo, therefore it's getting forgotten Forever.]

[adoringpast]

[ forgive and forget, huh... good idea. if only sena's able to do that to his own self, rip.

the next photo that'll develop is a photo of makoto!!! this time looking very young, around seven years old or so. he's smiling at the camera as serenely as he could, but even an idiot would notice that the smile is forced as hell. oh well, that's the child modeling life for you. ]

i am so sorry about this

[promisedyou]

[ This sure is very unfortunate... but also, screw the rules, you can't tell me what to do, meta text!! Instead of immediately following the instructions, she's going to make an attempt to investigate instead and see if she can do anything else besides what she's told.

So, as an experiment: what happens if she makes an attempt to remove any of the images of the poor bespectacled boy off the wall? Because she is absolutely going to do that. Let's go. FIGHT THE POWER......!! ]

are you ever sorry, len

[adoringpast]

[ people really out here trying to defy meta... mio can try anything on those photos, but it's as if they're made of very indestructible material; they simply could not be destroyed whether by being ripped off or be burned, like they were stuck to the wall with super-duper-ultra glue.

no one is allowed to tarnish this beautiful boy's face and figure, after all.

ever. ]

thinks about it long and hard...... no

[promisedyou]

[ Look, if you give something that can be potentially messed up... Mio is absolutely here for it. Especially since this is the creepiest shit. It reminds her of yanderes that she'd see in those anime and manga. Disgusting.

Realizing that she can't really do much else here, she decided to go through the papers, starting with the Past past. Which is a dumb name. She thinks it's dumb!!! ]

exactly

[adoringpast]

[ in that case, buckle up. this is going to get ugly... maybe.

past past is a stupid label, yes. there's nothing that can be done about that. this pile is actually a bit smaller than the other piles, all of them blank for now, waiting to be developed. ]

[pronounces]

[ there have been all kinds of strange dreams in recolle lately, but this one gives nazuna a really, really bad feeling. he steps into the dark room anyway, though, pulling the door shut behind him and letting his eyes adjust properly. it's too dark to properly see the pictures on the wall, at least, but he looks at the stack of papers.

past-past, present-past or yumenosaki academy.

it's probably not the right choice. he and sena have talked about their memories, but even nazuna's kept things under wraps. the curiosity gets to him: nazuna slowly picks up the first picture from yumenosaki academy and sets it in the liquid. ]

[adoringpast]

[ the photo that will show up is a bit boring, at first glance - it's just a runway at what seemed to be a school gym, decked with silver and white. no one seemed to be there...

but the back of the photo says otherwise, with tiny handwriting to make these words fit on the paper.

"Little, clueless, silly Yuu-kun… was the only one who looked at me with eyes that sparkled like jewels.

He praised me. You’re so amazing, he said.

I want to be like you, Izumi-san. So innocently.

I was so happy, Yuu-kun.

But… if you turn into someone like me, you’ll just be repeating the same mistake, Yuu-kun.

I knew that, but his innocent praises got to my head… as a result of that, I only watched as Yuu-kun sunk into the bloody pond until his neck.

So I thought I shouldn’t let that happen the second time, but…

Despite acting like I’m better than him as a senior, I guess in the end I was still a brat."

there's also a #1 scribbled at the corner of the paper, indicating that there might be another photo that goes along with this. ]

[pronounces]

[ it's probably bad form to touch a picture that's just developed, but nazuna's thumb strokes over some of the words in the background of the picture. izumi sena, mizuki sena... seeing either of them like this is strange. he seems so vulnerable, and like always, it comes right back to makoto yuuki.

it's nice to be loved, to be admired. nazuna certainly understands that: his juniors are precious to him, and having his siblings look up to him is one of the best feelings in the world. it's almost an innocent desire, in a way. to want something so simple as to just be loved.

he spots the #1 after a moment of contemplation, brows knitting together. well...only one way to see what's next, right?

he takes another picture and starts to develop it. ]

[adoringpast]

[ the next photo doesn't connect with the first one nazuna found, but it's one of sena and a yawning leo this time in an empty classroom that's orange-tinted with the setting sun outside; leo's sprawled all over the the floor with his latest competition while sena looks exasperated as ever yet doesn't want to leave, like so.

there's more writing at the back, this time a series of staffs with music notes on them - a composition entitled A Little Sena Izumi as written on the top. looks like you've found the sheet music, at least. ]

[idolworship]

( it's going to ... take him a minute to catch his breath, but thankfully not as much as he realistically would need given this is only a dream. but once he takes in the scene and catches sight of the instructions, sees the boy framed on the wall as well as the labels . . . hm. he isn't sure who this is, really, but he's not sure he wanted to know this much arguably alarming information about someone very likely within his circle of acquaintances.

finding no other options but to do as the instructions say, he chooses to develop the present past. )

[adoringpast]

[ look... there's nothing to be worried about. for now, anyway.

the present past is a good choice: the first photo that'll appear is a photo of a dark-haired sena looking like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide with a bit of blood streaking down from a deep gash from his cheek; the feathers of an arrow that's been shot can be seen from this angle, along with a silver-haired boy who looks just as shocked as sena, a bow in his hand.

welp, congratulations. you've retrieved a memory of one of sena's near-death experiences. ]

[idolworship]

( his first reaction is concern; he recognizes sena instantly, especially since he'd just seen him black-haired not too many weeks ago. the second is . . . a different sort of concern, albeit still prenatal, since he knows for certain sena does have a general connection with yumenosaki and makoto, and he doesn't recognize the other boy.

still, it's not as if this location is ... too weird just yet. a little unnerving by via ambiance, but not particularly incriminating. and so, miai being miai, chooses to give him the benefit of the doubt; sena's connection to this might be coincidence too, after all.

though this doesn't seem to be one of the photos requested by the list, it still feels a shame to just discard it. miai chooses to hang it up, and then...

hm. he really is curious now, though, to whom this dreamscape is connected. he chooses to develop from the yumenosaki pile next. )

[adoringpast]

[ such alumni... like gacha, miai will "pull" a photo of sena and leo together in knights uniforms in an empty classroom, with leo on the floor and sena looking like he's So Done talking with this weird, yet doesn't want to leave.

the composition of A Little Sena Izumi shows up at the back of the photo as well, though incomplete because you can only fit so much in a single photograph. a photo is worth a thousand words indeed. ]

[matchbreaker]

Oh... I like this lighting.

[ It's dark, and with her ability to see in the dark, Elda can't help but feel weirdly at home in here. That said... a dark room. The chemicals smell, and within here, it really gets into her head. In that regard, even if she did come in here... She doesn't really want to linger? So she does have her objective, but her first thought is- ]

Hey, someone was sloshing around in here before, right? Someone here?

[adoringpast]

[ finally, someone who likes the eerie atmosphere of this certain dream. unfortunately there's not a peep in the room, the sloshing sound only coming from the chemicals in the basin as if someone had come along and refilled it, the liquid rippling in the container before someone had disappeared into thin air.

weird. ]

[matchbreaker]

[ Huuuuuuuh...

...

Well let's try the door to leave again even though she just came in, it can't have locked her in here, right? ... Right? ]

[adoringpast]

[ of course she'd be locked in. the darkroom is in use again, after all.

there is a small glass window on it, but the outside only shows eternal darkness even with elda's exceptional night vision. like there's literally nothing out there. ]

sorry

[unlightmusic]

[W o w, whoever this person was... their focus on Makoto was... really... intense. She was going to be consumed by hypocritical heebie-jeebies as she examined the area, but then a label catches her eye.

... Yumenosaki Academy?

That's the name of that other school, right?

The school that person transferred to, right?

Fuck those other boxes, this one's more important. Maybe Angie's in the background in some of these? Was the person this dream belonged to even friends with Angie in that life? It can't be that he hated Angie and bullied her, right--

Ah, yes, wait. She was supposed to do something here, right? Right. There was a set goal here, but she couldn't help but be a bit selfish in her approach. Ends justify the means, anyway. If the photo didn't have anything on the list, but Angie was in it, surely the dream owner wouldn't mind if she kept it for herself! As long as she got the photos the list asks for, its okay to have a small personal sidequest! Yeah! Nothing wrong with trying to find clues about her own past!

She'll take one of the blanks from the Yumenosaki box and place it into the liquid, praying to RNGesus.]

no youre not

[adoringpast]

[ RNG DON'T FAIL HER NOW

she's going to get a photo of what seemed to be sena and an orange-haired boy in those blue school uniforms, but they don't seem to be at the school that suzu's expecting. instead they're right outside a hospital building, with sena dragging the boy along impatiently and the boy whining in his wake. ]

like 20% sorry its there ok

[unlightmusic]

Tch.

[Can she just lie down on the ground now and let the dream earth slowly reclaim her?

But, wait... this orange-haired dude... looks familiar? He kind of resembled that Ruka girl in her memories, and putting two and two together... That was Leo, wasn't it? So that relation wasn't a coincidence, after all? The fact that the connection between Kimisaki and that Yumenosaki school only strengthens her curiosity, so she'll drop in another three from the Yumenosaki box. ANGIE, ARE YOU IN ANY OF THESE? ANGIIIIIEEEE---]

[openhanded]

[... Well, this seems a bit... weird and atmospheric. But, hey, he's here to help! Probably. Entirely on accident...

Whatever the case, he's very good at following instructions. Sorey begins gently filtering through the piles, starting with the present past pile first. He's looking for that family photo he's supposed to develop. So far he's just seeing a lot of this other guy, though-- this is looking like Sorey's own camera roll, which is three quarters Mikleo and one quarter adorable ragdoll cat pics.

Sorey has a close family he loves very much, and a cousin too, but in his past life his biological family was all dead. Sorey is very conscious of what family means to him and the different forms that word can take. He wonders what it means to Sena, who was the last person he saw before falling in.]

[adoringpast]

[ the present past pile only has the photos of sena's adventures in retrospec, including the one time he almost died because of a bomb from last august's nonsense and gorging himself in ice cream which sorey had already seen from a couple months too.

he'll find the family photo after a few more tries - or at least it seems like it: sena's smiling in the foreground, but his father and mother are shown as shadowy figures in the background, as though they've been shaded out.

at some point a disembodied voice from sena himself pipes up from out of nowhere. ]

That doesn't look like a family at all, do you agree?