"So, what do you think?" Nitori had propped her chin up with both fists. Above them, her eyes glittered like river gold.
Very slowly, Reimu lowered the script. She had never had a stomach ulcer, but she assumed this was very much what one felt like.
When all else failed, she resorted to blunt honesty. "We can't portray living people on stage. Especially not living people who might come see the play. Especially especially not living people who might take offence and think burning the shrine down is the same as stating mild disagreement."
"It'll be fine! It's not like it's slanderous!"
"I'm not sure the plot made much sense, either."
"It may be a little too complicated for a human's intellect." Nitori must have seen the dangerous shadow the comment threw upon Reimu's face, as she hastened to change the subject. "Youkai will love it! Think of all the attention and money! And the special effects will be amazing! I have a team of the best kappa in Gensokyo ready to make the magma as authentic as possible without digging a pipe underground."
Reimu swiftly pushed aside her daydream about piles of loot. "There's another thing." She walked inside and returned with one of the leftover posters she had made two weeks prior to announce the contest. She held it open so Nitori could see it. "You read this, didn't you?"
"Yes, of course."
"I know you saw the reward given to the creator of the play chosen to be performed at the festival."
"I sure did," Nitori's smile widened. No doubt she was already dreaming of the mechanical parts and cucumbers she could buy.
"So you must have seen this part as well." Reimu wrapped the script into a baton and poked at the relevant bit of the poster. "The maximum time the play can take to perform is one hour."
"I saw that, yes."
Reimu raised both the rolled-up script and an eyebrow.
"Well, it might run a bit over time. Just a tad. Double at most. Two and a half hours, tops."
Reimu's eyebrow rose to its zenith.
Nitori's smile, though still confident, lost several teeth at the edges. "Look, you can't force art into time constraints. It'll be worth it! And," she added, rallying, "since it's for you, I will only ask for double the reward."
Reimu smiled back. A hyena would have flinched at the sight. "Great."
"Besides, the set-up is important. Without it..." Nitori's hands vanished within her satchel. They returned with three further scripts, each nearly twice as long as the original. "How would you establish the sequels?"
Though flying kappa were hardly a rarity in Gensokyo, Nitori's head-first dive down the steps from the Hakurei Shrine managed to attract several on-lookers.
The ensuing flurry of script papers received more attention. After all, it hardly ever snowed in June.