"I am truly glad you could make it here on such short notice, Miss Renzu."
"Oh, it's nothing. I was around the corner anyways, taking my friend to the hospital. I just so happened to read your email, and got here as quickly as possible."
Kiroku explained, her voice filled with a soft calmness, matched with a small smile on her face.
"Taking your friend to the hospital? May I ask what happened?"
The employer asked, tilting his head to the side as he glanced at the woman.
"Oh, she just had a little accident while we ate breakfast. The waiter spilled boiling tea on her hand. It was really bad, so we rushed over."
"I see... I hope she has a smooth recovery."
The man cleared his throat before reaching for a sheet of paper on his desk.
"Now, I've read your resume, and I must say, from what I've read, you're more than capable of working with us."
"That's great to hear."
She responded, her smile growing larger.
"I just have a couple of question, if you don't mind me asking, of course."
"No, go ahead. Anything to clear up the potential confusion."
"All right.."
The man cleared his throat once more, straightening his formerly hunched posture.
"Now, it says here that you were apart of the recording crew of two short films. Care to elaborate?"
The woman remained silent for a moment, her expression changing towards one of nostalgia, before she began to explain,
"Well, yes.. while I was still in high school, I gathered my friends at that time, to record a short film, just for fun, really. We spent some time writing scripts, making props, recording and editing, before we had a final product that we uploaded on YouTube. I did most of the digital work, though. Like editing and the recording parts. We called it, Project Action. It was really just a stereotypical spy thriller now that I think about it.."
"And the other project?"
The man asked, intrigued, and most certainly charmed by the woman's passion for the subject.
"The second one was... fairly controversial.."
The look of nostalgia faded, replaced by discomfort and regret.
"It was called Ai Jisatsu, uhm.. a documentary.."
"Is everything alright, Miss Renzu?"
The man asked, noticing the tension of the woman.
"Yeah, yeah.. just thinking back to my thought process during the creation of that thing.."
She took a deep breath, before she cleared her throat.
"It was a documentary regarding suicide.. I basically got myself a genuine job at a hotline, and asked some of the people there for an interview for the short film..."
She trailed off, her hand gently grasping around her other arm, holding onto her herself.
"I tried to save people.. But for the people I couldn't.. I asked them to sign a waiver, so I could film them without getting in legal trouble..."
"What exactly did you film them do..?"
"I.. i filmed them take their own lives.."
***
The wind howled in the evening sky, the only audible sound you could hear by the rocky and empty mountains.
"You sure you wanna go through with this, man? I am pretty sure you don't have to go through with this!"
A younger, more naïve Kiroku called out, trembling in cold as she slowly made her way towards the X, the location where the camera was supposed to be set up.
"I'm sure.."
The man replied, grasping tightly onto the pistol in his hands. As the woman began setting up the camera, he slowly made his way to the place he wanted to end it. A small spike like rock that sticked out from the mountains, large enough to carry at least a family without budging.
"My whole life's been nothing.. I've pumped myself endlessly with meth and prostitutes. What's the point of living that kind of life? My parents don't want me home. I don't have an education. I'm nothing!"
And just as the sun set behind him. The sound of a gunshot followed the wind, as his body fell backwards, falling until it struck the water.
***
"This place is so creepy.."
The same woman commented, resting the camera's body on her shoulder as she walked beside another female, through the thick sea of trees in the forest.
"Aoikigahara has always been my home."
It was dead silent. The only sound being the footsteps of the two women. No birds singing in the morning, nor any crickets still awake.
"You know.. I know life's been tough and all, but I think you can recover from this.."
But no amount of reason would help.
She could've gotten down on her knees and begged them not to do it, and it wouldn't have worked. Even if she hadn't decided to make the documentary at all, they would have still done it!
'Breaking News: Freshly Graduated Theatre Student, Kiroku Renzu makes a controversial documentary featuring genuine suicides, but due to contracts with the actors, she can not be arrested. The media seems outraged.'
'You should fucking join them, Renzu!'
'How dare you take advantage of others like that!'
'You're sick in the head!'
'Fucking Psycho!'
***
"So, how'd it go?"
"Looks like we gotta do another stream if we want to pay rent this month."
The woman responded, closing the door behind after she had properly entered the hospital room.
"That's gonna be a bit of a problem."
Yumi explained, lifting her arm up, revealing her entire hand, wrist, and even parts of her arm, bandaged tightly,
"I guess you'll have to use a knife then, or something smaller, that doesn't require two hands."