Edward Scissorwords1
……
……
…It… It has legs.
……
…Ah!
*egg running*
W-Wait…!
(We’re supposed to meet up here… I hope Kiroku-kun had fun.)
Hm?
Ooh, what’s this? A statue of a walking egg yokai? I guess it’s decoration for the entrance. It’s so creepy, but cute at the same time!
I should take a picture. Where’s my camera…?
*camera clicking*
*pant, pant…*
*bump* Woah!
Agh…!
You scared me…! What’s wrong, Kiroku-kun? Why are you in such a hurry?
……
…!
(Is something behind me bothering him…?)
Ah, uh… Ah…! (Don’t…look behind you…!)
Huh? What’s up?
……
*egg running*
*gasp* *running*
…He left.
Wait, huh?! The egg statue’s gone too!
*pant, pant, pant…*
(I lost it… What now…?)
(I should tell everyone…through the walkie-talkie app…)
Are you sure about THAT? Do you really wanna tell everyone that you lost something that imporTANT?
……
They’re gonna hate you, y’KNOW? You didn’t even make any progress on the lanTERNS.
So truuuuue. They’re gonna think you’re so terriblllle.
……
No they won’t, yo! You should tell them, yo! Everyone’s probably worried about you, yo!
Who…cares…? Contacting thems and running after the egg…both sound so annoyings… Zzz…
False. I believe that contacting them would be the best course of action. Kiroku. What will you do?
……
I…won’t tell them.
Bro, this olive somen friggin’ rocks! It’s so crunchy! It’s got infinite crunch factor!
The deep-fried somen from the other day was quite good, but this one is delicious too.
Is the chief here?
Hmm? Nah, not right now.
I think he’s out with Kinugawa.
Oh. I’ll wait ‘til later then.
Did something good happen to you, Nanaki? You keep smiling.
Yeah, I made the song to match the BPM of the encore fireworks show at the festival.
So I wanted to show it to Chief.
WHUH?! You can compose songs?!
Yeah, I guess.
That’s crazy! I tried to do that once, but it kinda sucked!
I can’t really read sheet music. The music notes just look like a buncha tadpoles dancin’ around to me.
So I really respect guys who can compose! That means I respect you, dude!
It’s not that big of a deal.
C’mon, don’t be humble! I wanna learn how to compose too, so gimme some tips!
Sure, if I feel like it.
Hell yeah! I’ll come up with a plan to make you feel like it!
On that thought…
Kinugawa took the egg yesterday, but we haven’t seen him since then.
So he probably still has it with him.
Yeah, now that you mention it…
And he’s had his walkie-talkie app off the entire time… I’m a bit worried.
You think something went wrong?
Nah, it’s fine! The guy’s huge, so he’s prolly strong!
No… There’s a chance he got abducted by aliens.
I-I dunno about that.
I’m sure he’ll be fine as long as he’s with the chief, but we should start searching for him just in case.
Nah, I think you’re worrying too much. Let’s calm down.
If they already took him, we don’t have any time to waste…!
What?
*crows cawing*
…I…finally found it.
(But it’s scared of the crows…and it’s clinging onto a tree branch…)
……
…Are you…stuck?
……
(If I hold my shirt out and use it as a trampoline…)
…Here.
…!
*soft thud*
…That’s a relief.
…!
(…It’s so cute… I should take it back to the others.)
(But…)
(Where am I…? It’s too dark. Should I ask them for help…? Ah—)
My finger puppets…are gone…
(But before I look for them, I need to hand the egg off…)
(I keep getting notifications from the walkie-talkie app… I need to tell them…but…)
They’re gonna hate you, y’KNOW? You didn’t even make any progress on the lanTERNS.
So truuuuue. They’re gonna think you’re so terriblllle.
(I can’t… I need to figure this out on my own. I have to bring the egg back…)
(But I can’t leave them behind… I might never come back here…)
(We’ve always been together… They’re…)
*van pulling up*
Ah…
Kiroku-kun! Thank god!
We have located you at last.
I know you have the GPS on you, but I was worried something happened!
I… I’m…sor…ry…
It’s okay, I’m just glad that you’re alright. But make sure not to get lost next time.
Also… Here.
…Ah…!
I found them on the ground. They’re yours, right?
…Mm… They’re…my friends…
I thought so. Make sure to keep an eye on them.
Let’s head back to the inn!
……
……
(Kiroku-kun looks kinda troubled… It’s like he has something to say, but he can’t bring himself to say it.)
(He doesn’t talk much, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about people.)
(I think he’s actually more considerate than most people are. That’s why…)
(I want to say something to make him feel better.)
Kiroku-kun, I have an idea. Let’s talk on PeChat.
Huh…?
If there’s anything you can’t say out loud, maybe typing it out would make it easier. Let’s give it a try.
……
Don’t worry about today
I know you really care about people
im sorry for causing so much trouble
It’s okay. I know that you’re very considerate too
……
…I might.
…Write…a lot…
That’s alright. I’ll wait for you.
i can tell you the reason why i never talk
when i was in elementary school i said something that hurt a really important friend of mine
so i thought about it and decided that i should stop talking
and now i cant really talk anymore
i havent made any progress on the lanterns im sorry
i can draw when i know that nobodys around to see but i kept thinking about how expressing myself would hurt others and then itd end up hurting me too
so i got scared im sorry
You don’t have to apologize. You need a lot of strength to express yourself
There’s always a chance that you might hurt someone because you didn’t express your feelings the way you wanted to
But I think that expressing yourself is important, even if you end up getting into arguments
It’s okay to be brave, confront them, and take it back if you’re wrong. It’s also okay to keep trying until your feelings come across
That’s how you get closer to people
Expressing yourself through art is the same. If you’re afraid of expression, you’ll never come to an understanding with others
If you’re brave and face it head on, people will accept you
……
(I’ll open the walkie-talkie app…)
<Testing, testing. Is that you, Kiroku-san? Over.>
Ah…! H-Hello… O…ver…
<Finally got a hold of you, dude! Muneuji was super worried about you and ran outta the inn. Copy?>
…Co…
<So what’s goin’ on over there? You still on earth?>
I… I’ll be back soon… Copy.
Footnotes
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A reference to Edward Scissorhands (1990). ↩