Photographs can be used to capture many things, from treasured memories to miraculous occurrences. They provide physical records of events and moments in time.
However, they can also capture unexpected things. How would you react if a photo of yours contained something you had no memory of seeing with your own two eyes? What follows is the tale of a crow tengu reporter who took one such photo.

The light from Hatate Himekaidou’s box-shaped monitor shone out, dimly illuminating her room. The sun had gone down while she was transferring her thoughtography photos and printing them out, but she didn’t mind working in the dark. She was using what little light her monitor provided to read the latest Bunbunmaru Newspaper, the publication that rivaled her own.
“Aya’s done a pretty good job with this. I gotta try and make my headlines more attention-grabbing…” Hatate murmured to herself as her eyes flicked from story to story. “Hmm, I think I need to conduct some more interviews before I start writing anything…” It seemed the next edition of the Kakashi Spirit News wouldn’t be ready for a little while yet.
As she turned to the next page of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, her thoughtography photos continued to print, transforming into physical records of the moments they captured.

In the quiet dark of her room, Hatate’s computer whirred softly while her printer continued printing photos at a steady pace. All of a sudden, the rhythmic chugging of her printer ground to a halt, giving way to an unsettling mechanical cry.
“A paper blockage? You gotta be kidding me,” sighed Hatate as she shifted her eyes away from the newspaper. To get the now-silent printer working again would require equal parts techy know-how and elbow grease. Frustrated, she glanced at the monitor, where a small warning message had appeared informing her of what she already knew: the printing had stopped. Behind the message were her thoughtography photos. Some captured daily life in Gensokyo, others showed faraway places she’d visited. But that wasn’t all…

Hatate’s eyes fixed on a lone photo in the corner of the screen. It didn’t capture a spectacular moment or the beauty of a rare and magical place. Perhaps you know how she felt. Seeing something that, at first, you’d thought nothing of, but on second look, begins to seem stranger and stranger.
Hatate no longer cared about the warning message. All she could think about was the photo. She felt as if her room had grown even darker, and without the chugging of her printer, the only sound to be heard was that of her computer. That was until she herself let out a faint whisper.
“This photo… It’s of…”

“This can’t wait till morning!” she exclaimed. It seemed she’d picked up on some detail in the photo and in a flustered panic, she grabbed her equipment and went out to investigate.
Her room fell quiet once more, but only for an instant. The printer jolted back to life and began printing once again. But all it could manage was to print a single photo before grinding to a halt once more. Perhaps paper blockages weren’t its only issue.
The freshly printed photo slid out from the tray and floated gently to the floor. It was the photo Hatate had been staring at before dashing out of her room…