hold your pretty head high ( open )

[antepone]

Who: Mira, you. A few closed prompts.
What: the eventening
When: throughout the event.
Where: all over Umui.
Warnings: death. gore. will update with more!
Notes: lmk if you want a starter. i'll also match format!

august 5-9.

[ In some ways, it feels familiar. She's not really thrilled about that; the fear of succumbing to something she can't control is terrifying. Something pricks at the back of her mind, flashes of an old memory clawing to the surface--

beneath the ground, surrounded by darkness and decay and the slow sound of something heavy growing closer

--she closes her eyes and shakes her head. Focuses on other things. She doesn't dare go back to Enso; she doesn't know if she'd infect others who, luckily, haven't been. Her food's running a bit low, but she's still got quite a bit. So. If she sees someone around, she'll come over with a smile. She's a little dizzy from walking so much, but she manages to not fall over. ]

Are you hungry?

[ ... of course, aside from trying to take care of people, she's... not doing much of that for herself. Often, she has to take a break to curl up somewhere quiet. Mira's started coughing up flower petals, and that? Seeing the blood-soaked violet petals?

It's terrifying. So much that she's not particularly aware of much else. ]

august 10-16.

[ It's getting much worse.

The flowers grow along her skin, bursting forth around her wrists and throat. She's in a lot of pain, and she doesn't really move from her spot near the mana pool on Umui. She can't move, exactly. Not without a lot of hurting. Still, she puts on a brave face, sits up (visibly wincing, naturally) if she notices someone coming along. ]

How are you doing?

[ It's a foolish question, but. It's fine. ]

Comments

[antepone]

I-it does.

[ Her heart hurts when she sees the petals drop into her hands. Hifumi said she didn't need to say anything--and it's something she's glad for; Hifumi is kind. Hifumi... does not deserve this at all.

None of them do. ]

Where... it's easiest.

[shogis]

[ she's silent for a moment. where it's easiest. is any of this really easy to talk about? not really. but...somehow, with akira, it was. and mira has the same kindness that he does. she doesn't think she'll be able to open up as much as she'd like to, but she doesn't want it to be too late for her to get a head start. ]

...I can tell you about my father, then. [ she lets the petals mixed in with blood fall from her hands. ]

My father loved shogi. He was skilled and never held back whenever he made a move. He took risks, dared to try new things...and he's the one who inspired me to start playing on my own.

[ there's a fond, nostalgic smile on her face as she reminisces about the man who gave her life purpose. ]

He taught me the rules, growing up. His way of doing so was...inventive, but they stuck with me nevertheless. It wasn't until later in life when he started growing ill. [ she frowns, eyes shifting to look at the ground. she coughs up more petals into her hands before letting them fall onto the ground once more. ]

Things just...weren't quite the same, ever since he got sick.

[antepone]

[ Even as the flowers spread inside her--she swears she can feel them, or maybe it's just because she hasn't been able to sleep and she's imagining things--she can't help but feel touched by what Hifumi's telling her. Mira knows all too well that it's so, so hard to open up, especially to a stranger (keeping things bottled up... that's why she's in such a bad way, after all), but Hifumi is putting her trust in Mira.

It makes her happy. ]

I... I'm sorry. What was-- his sickness?

i dont actually know what his illness was so bear with me,

[shogis]

...Cancer.

[ the worst of the worst. her father is still fighting through it, though, still living life the best he can. he's still conscious, still him, and even though he's sick and bedridden, hifumi will never lose hope.

or so she'd like to think. ]

[antepone]

Then... there's hope, isn't there? That... he'll get better.

[shogis]

...Yes.

[ hope. ]

I...you're right. There is.

[antepone]

I think-- [ She coughs, and some of the petals dislodge from her throat. ] --he would be proud of you. You're... strong, Hifumi.

[shogis]

...I...I am strong because of the people who lift me up.

[ she knows she has some of her own strength, too, but she attributes a large part of that inner strength to the people who believe in her. ]

And I hope that you have people in your life who can show you the same kindness others have shown me.