Site 1: Anniversary

[killtheanimals]

[Word spreads among those who are still on Site 1: there are fireworks. Why? Because, that's why.

The fact that it's the anniversary of camp probably has nothing to do with it. Probably.

Anyway, if people do show up to the yard, there's indeed fireworks. Firecrackers, smoke bombs, fountain fireworks, sparklers, bang snaps, roman candles, and aerial repeaters.

The ground has also been dampened, thanks to a certain seawyrm. Do try not to cause any fires, everyone.]

Comments

[killtheanimals]

From their point of view, they were probably showing you a kindness. Like you could still be like them, even though you aren't. [The kind of dishonesty Mitsuru dislikes, really. He is what he is, and he doesn't want people bending that to fit their own ideas.]

[finalguard]

... I don't want to be like them.

[ And that is maybe something he really needed to say out loud. During the time in camp, he'd played with the thought of going home with them. Becoming one of them for real. A loser, in the positive sense of it. But this world isn't a place for losers, just like his world hadn't been. Boa is all about winning and about power. And that's why he's still here, still alive. That's why Mitsuru is still here and still alive as well.

He can't discard that. Ever. ]

The kindness was misplaced. We're surviving because we are the way we are.

[ Not quite the same way he was when he came to this world, not as hopeless and not as loveless. But at his core... the same Boa Alcacer, always, forever. ]

Thanks. I feel better now.

[killtheanimals]

[He smiles faintly at that. They really are too alike in that regard, huh? But... it's also nice. A lot of people here underestimate him because he's a child; it's something they both face and understand.] Good. I'd be in a lot of trouble if you did. [The longer they stay here, the shorter his patience for risking one's life in an effort to solve things peaceably. This is a world where that kind of softness can easily get one killed, and he can't afford that.]

[finalguard]

Having family now is.... more than I ever expected to take care of, but that's enough kindness. But if we want to survive together, we need to leave people on the roadside. That's just the way it is.

[ It's already difficult as is to keep track of the people he cares about. In the further sense that is everyone who had lived through the summer camp with them and with events like Shirou ending in another murdergame... It's hard. Focusing on only the people he loves most seems easier. The smaller the circle of those to protect, the less vulnerable.

Abandoning that thought is not a luxury they can afford. ]