The writer, editor, and reporter for the Bunbunmaru newspaper. Aya is a constant presence in gensokyo - a paparazzi-esque field journalist who is constantly poking her beak into places it isn’t wanted. And even more so into places it doesn’t belong.
Due to Aya’s… particular brand of writing style, the bunbunmaru has a reputation of being an unflattering, tabloid-esque paper. She doesn’t outright LIE, exactly - Tengu hate lies, after all. It would be shameful for her to put outright lies in her paper. But she has no problem stretching the truth in order to catch people’s eye, or to further her own agenda.
Because her paper can be filled with personal opinions and exaggerated events, and because she can be a relentless, shameless sort of person when interviewing others, most people despise getting interviewed by her and winding up in her articles. Or well, remotely dealing with her in general.
Her papers can be entertaining to read (despite all appearances, they can be quite informative to the inquisitive eye)… but she’s still not exactly a good reporter. But that’s probably not necessarily something she’s actually concerned about - after all, writing the news is just a side job. A tengu’s true purpose is to control the flow of information. As long as she’s on top, and the Tengu keep control of the information flow, then that’s all that matters. She’s a worker bee first, a reporter second … though she will admit the work is fun.
Aya retains a traditional Tengu’s personality - haughty yet humble, and good at putting on masks. Despite her shameless reporting style, Aya is in fact a very polite, intelligent person. A bit too polite - she’ll word things in ways that will benefit herself, while not necessarily telling a lie. Just like with her paper, her words can’t be taken at face value - it takes some perception and observation to understand the true meaning of her words. Her personality tends to change to reflect whoever she’s speaking with, making conversing with her a bit uncomfortable.
She’s more interested in writing articles than fighting, and though she’ll sometimes show off her speed, she ultimately dislikes showing off the full extent of her power. Her strength is said to be fairly unparalleled, and she’s known to accidentally win fights when all she wanted was to write an article.
Despite her dubious methods of reporting, she can be a very thoughtful, honest person. She does take into account the affects her paper may have on her readers. And despite her paper’s reputation, she doesn’t actually go out of her way to try and ruin people’s lives. All she wants to do (truly, honestly) is to tell the truth through her paper. The way she acts and writes just makes the truth she wants to tell get lost in translation.
