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It's been a very demanding day, to think it had initially started out in an extremely mundane sort of way.

Well, no.

Actually it started out unusually if you really think about it, you had the Dream that has been plaguing you since childhood. It typically goes on its unchanging boring course and then you'd wake up. But this time, it had continued with an additional five seconds that you never experienced before. You actually got to knock on the door. Could this had be a warning of things to come or some sort of change was happening to you?

In any case, you never imagined it could possibly involve scary monsters and getting caught up with the antics of mysterious magical warriors who call themselves Tuxedo Mask or Sailor Moon. You managed to do what you could to help, you tried to act heroic while you were utterly terrified. And you even managed to sort of save your friends by tearing off the cursed jewelry that was controlling them.

You are Ruka Houseki, and you are currently unconscious. You have no idea what is happening in the waking world... and you don't particular care. Because you are having a Dream and it always encourages a particular feeling of detachment that makes all other matters seem trivial and pedestrian. The Dream is far greater than the paltry world outside of it called 'reality'. It absorbs all possible attention, allowing no earthly worries or concerns.

Yet...

You have never had this Dream before. You are sitting on a plush red chair in a theatre of some sort. It's a bare bones sort of place, and rather neglected. For there is dust everywhere, and when you finally looked behind your seat, you see no one is behind you. There's a wall with unreadable ancient playbills of past performances pasted on it. You can only guess at what those posters and playbills are about. You have the entire place to yourself.

You have no idea what to expect. The realization is both terrifying and thrilling.

The theatre bell chimes, <i>ding ding ding[/i]. The play must be about to start

Strange music wafts in, as the stage is lit up bright. You sit up straight in your seat and watch the stage with all your powers of observation

"Do you know? Do you know? Have you heard the news?" Two girlish voices chorus this line, you can't tell what direction they are coming from. You look again beside you, behind you, and in front of you once more. No one can be seen.
(Continues)

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>>4899040
Where were the actors?

Then suddenly Shadows are cast on the stage wall and begin to move. What was once a blank space, is suddenly filled with the exaggerated silhouette of two girls. Their legs are impossibly long and extends across the stage. And the silhouette of the Shadows is utterly impossible too, it could not possibly belong to an actual human being. And you know there was no one behind you a few moments ago. You looked... Terror begins to build in you and the silliness of the music only increases the surrealness of the situation.

"Upstage right from nowhere! A cowardly lion has entered the scene." The left Shadow with pigtails points off to the right side.

"Rawr! Rawr! Rawr! If there's a good reason, I'll fight! But... I really rather just hide!" Suddenly the Shadow with the big hair bow, dons the mane of a lion and pretends to claw the air. Then ducks down shivering, making herself as small as possible.

"Oh ignorant and meddlesome minor character, who recklessly threw herself into the narrative for the sake of her friends."

"Best be careful, you're not a great powerful lion like me. Rawr, rawr, rawr."

"Hey, wait a second... Are you sure you're really a lion?" Here the pigtail Shadow rips off the lion mane on the other, there is a painful tearing sound. Yet the hairbow Shadow seems completely fine.

"Hm, I'm not sure. I wonder, I wonder..."

"Do you know what you are?" They both turn to face you.

"Do you know? Do you know? Do you know what you are?" They chorus together.

Then the two Shadows are completely still on the stage, unmoving and silent as though they weren't prancing about on stage a few moments ago.

What were they waiting for? Were they waiting for you to do something?

What do you do?

>Negatively criticize their performance (roll 3d6-2, dc 10 due to Scaredy Cat flaw)
>Look behind you, see if the actors are there and confront them (roll 3d6-2, dc 12 due to Scaredy Cat flaw)
>Just stare and fidget, maybe if you say nothing the Dream will end?
>"... Is that supposed to be an allegory?" Ask questions, maybe they'll answer? (roll 3d6-2, dc 10 due to Scaredy Cat flaw)
>Clap? You clap at the end of plays right?
>Leave your seat and run away.
>write in

>>4899041
>Get up and clap
Maybe once I do I'll wake up or they'll continue with their performance

>>4899041
>>Clap? You clap at the end of plays right?

Rolled 6, 2, 6 - 2 = 12 (3d6 - 2)

>>4899041
>"... Is that supposed to be an allegory?" Ask questions, maybe they'll answer? (roll 3d6-2, dc 10 due to Scaredy Cat flaw)

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>4899052
>>4899184
>>4899235

Uh? I assume it's clapping?

>>4899235
+1

Well, we appear to have a tie now. I was going to close the vote in in about 25 minutes when it happened too.
I'll have to roll to see which side get it

also
>>4899277
You need to roll, you might get a higher roll and therefore a greater success

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4899052
>>4899184
>>4899235
>>4899277
vote is closed but we have a tie between clapping and asking questions

even for clapping, odd for questions

Rolled 5, 6, 3 - 2 = 12 (3d6 - 2)

>>4899277
here is the roll

They must be waiting for the reaction of the audience. That's your best guess in this situation. Well, if that's the case, maybe you better start clapping. Besides, do you really want to anger a pair of mysterious Shadowy creatures of the Dream with a love of theatre?...

Actually given they are mysterious Shadowy creatures of the Dream, maybe they know something... but that means getting their attention and asking questions. You swallow dryly and try to think of a question to ask that would not offend them and get the answers you need.

You mind is in chaos, a million questions and fears race through your head as you try to sift for the most innocuous and well-developed inquiry possible. You summon your courage to beat down the fear that freezes your tongue and tightens your jaw.

Unfortunately, the effort to do this causes you to forget what you wanted to ask. Instead the first thing that surfaces into mind when you finally are able to speak is what comes out.

"... Is that supposed to be an allegory?" The question pops out of you. Then you face palm, burying as much of your face as you can into both your hands. All that effort against your fear and confusion wasted.

Instantly, the Shadows twitter and become animated once more.

"Oh my, P-ko, she got it!" The pigtail Shadow cheerily the other.

"Indeed S-ko, I'm so impressed." Answered the bow hair Shadow and nodded happily.

"Allegory, Allegorier, Allegoriest." The two chime.

"All the Worlds' a stage, we are its players! We are Shadows, and out in the light there are princesses and princes, cowboys, students, dancing girls, dogs and cats, and the infinite and eternal roles that we must play." P-ko expounded with enthusiasm.

"Exits and entrances, infinite ages to be lost in, amusing ourselves despite so many endings of all the Worlds' we play in. Kingdoms rise and fall, like the Moon." S-ko continues on.

Whoa, you better ask another question quick, they are going to keep going in that vein forever.

"Whoa, wait up. That wasn't what I really wanted to ask... I ... I want to know why I am having this Dream rather than that Dream? The one in the hallway with the tray and 4 cups all the time."

The two Shadows turn to look at each and then at you as though bewildered.

"That Dream? Oh, you think that is a Dream!" P-ko points at you dramatically.

"Do you know, do you know, that you never had that Dream?" S-ko shrugs her shoulders as though amazed by your ignorance.

... Never had that Dream? Then what the hell was it?

"That can't be true, I've been having that Dream for years! Over and over again." You slap the arms of your seat with irritation.
(continues)

>>4899423
"Ah, you observe so much and still never understand. This is a Dream."

"That other thing is a memory, ya silly silly minion."

An answer, you hadn't expected it. It was a memory? Of what?

You try to ask more questions but you see that the Shadows are once more frozen. It is an odd sensation, but you are completely sure they aren't going to move again for this Dream. For it is the end, from the corner of your eyes you see the theatre is fading into nothing. A bleak emptiness of nothingness that is in conflict with the remaining parts of the theatre. It is an appalling discord of the senses, a clashing of two worlds, like the two pieces of a broken plate that can never join again.

You close your eyes and open them again. You can see in the corner of the room a door. Could that be the exit? You rush towards it, jumping over empty chair rows and sprinting as hard as possible. The door is safety, the door is the way out, and the door is too damn far away.

You barely manage to reach it and grab the doorknob before the nothingness sweeps away the stage, the strange Shadows and seats.

You open the door and exit into blinding light...

Waking up is painful. The white ceiling, the IV bag hooked into your arm, the murmur of people echoing in the hallway where you lay in a small bed without any privacy at all. Nurses and doctors look harried as they walk past you without realizing you're awake.

You're in the hospital.

What do you do?

>Try to get the attention of the nurses? You want some painkillers.
>Get up and get out, you hate hospitals.
>Try to get back to sleep, you don't really want to be awake.
>write in.

>>4899427
>write in.
Look around, try to find something that I can use to take notes of the dream, about what the shadows said and the questions I asked before I forget it, if I can't find any, then
>Try to get the attention of the nurses? You want some painkillers.

>>4899486
yea, a dream diary might be usefull

>>4899486
>>4899427
+1

>>4899486
>>4899505
>>4899510
Looks like getting the attention of teh nurse and trying to write stuff down is the option

Sorry for the delay, writing right now, cat is being exceptionally bothersome.

First and foremost in your mind is to get access to your notebook or failing that a pen and some paper to write down this latest turn of events. Also mixed into this desire is the thought of sweet sweet relief from pain that you know that the nurses can provide for you.

"Hey, nurse? Doctor? Anyone?" You call out and find that your mouth is so dry. You long for a nice cool glass of water.

You can hear snatches of conversation of people passing by.

"Mass hysteria cannot possibly explain why so many people have exhaustion..."
"We can release some of the patients..."
"No interviews right now, we can..."

It takes longer than you thought to get the attention of a harried nurse. It seems that the incident at the jewelry store has been labelled a 'mass casualty event'. The nurse gives you a shot of morphine to manage your pain, but leaves immediately before you can ask for a piece of paper and pen. You can already feel the memory of the Dream fading into a strange nothingness from which you will never recall it from.

The morphine kicks in and makes you sleepy, the pain fades to something more like a dull ache. There's a carelessness in you right now, the effects of the morphine changes your mood to whimsical. You find yourself criticizing the Shadows and their play as something incomprehensible and go into some detail how to improve their play. Clearly the material they were basing it on was lacking. Then the mood swings to despondency when you note that your father has yet to come and see you. You don't know where Tomio and Aya are, they must be elsewhere otherwise they'd be right by your side.

All this while, the hallway that you've been left in gets more and more crowded. You are seeing uniformed police officers arguing with the doctors and nurses about the need to get statements of the strange incident you got involved in. The hospital naturally didn't think now was such a great time to bother clearly injured people while the police were insistent to gather their evidence.

You studiously try to look as innocuous as possible but this obviously fails. For soon there is a shadow of a person looming over you, that's when you look to see who it is. It's not a police officer, instead it is a cheery looking woman in yellow. She wields a voice recorder and has a strange profusion of lanyards hanging off her neck. There are id cards, and a variety of Japanese protective charms.

"So kid, ya one of those poor ladies that got caught up in the weirdness? Wanna make a statement?" The woman has a soothing deep voice, a sort of radio host voice that is clear and welcoming. You are immediately suspicious, you can't help but remember that the hospital thought it ill for snoops going about getting statements and interviews from patients. Yet, you really want some paper and a pen to write down your dream. You see that the reporter must have at least half dozen pens and notepads on her.
(continues)

>>4900017
"I'll give you one... but it'll cost you." You boldly offer to the reporter.

Here she quirks an eyebrow and is amused.

"And what do you propose, I mean, you might not be offering much."

"It's nothing monetary, info for info... and also paper and pen."

The reporter shrugs, and offers a notepad and a pen but keeps just barely out of your reach. You know because you reach out for them and she just keeps pulling it out from your reach.

"Not handing it over kid, till you explain in a bit more detail."

You roll your eyes.

"You're speaking to someone who witnessed what happened."

"And what happened?" The reporter is obviously fishing for more information.

You say nothing and extend your hand out for the notepad and pen. The reporter frowns and reluctantly hands it over. It is only then you start talking.

"It was an attack by a monster."

"... Are you shitting me?"

"Look, take it or leave it. Also, who the heck are you?"

"Ah yes, usually I start off by introducing myself but having some kid trying to extract something out of me right at the get go is pretty rare. I am Kakutani Maromi. Journalist for the Daily Report." She presents you with her name card, a rather plain affair with plain text stating her contact info and the address of the Daily Report.

"Wait... Kakutani who wrote those Sailor V articles?"

Here the reporter just smirks and stays silent at your question before moving on to her own.

"So if this monster attacked you, who saved you? Sailor V?"

Grr... maybe you should have taken a different tack with Kakutani, you really want to answers from her.

"Not the Sailor you're looking for. Someone new, Sailor Moon."

"Oh god, there are more of them?"

The conversational back and forth is fruitful. You learn that no one else in the incident was injured but yourself. That police were stumped because the video recordings from the security cameras were showing just grey snow. That the police were interrogating Naru and her mom. That the jewelry that dissipated from the store seemed to be fake, because when they found Naru's mom in the basement vault, the place still had the real jewelry in the secured cases down there. You also got Kakutani not to mention your name in her article. That one took a lot of negotiating. After all, you're her source.

It comes to an end soon enough. Both of you see from the corner of your eye, a very large and concerned nurse heading towards your way. She'll be interrupting your conversation soon, you better wrap it up.

You have a chance to ask one last question from Kakutani before she leaves.

choose one

>What journalist tips can you give out to me? Tell me your secrets.
>What else do you know about Sailor V?
>Are you aware of similar incidents like this?
>write in

>>4900018
>>Are you aware of similar incidents like this?

>>4900018
>Are you aware of similar incidents like this?

>>4900018
>Are you aware of similar incidents like this?

>>4900018
>What journalist tips can you give out to me? Tell me your secrets.
Perhaps I can learn something that will be useful in my next dream, and she could at least give me a few before being interrupted by the nurse.

>>4900170
>>4900201
>>4900251
>>4900437
Seems like asking stuff like this has happened before wins.
Going to write

It seems your conversation had attracted the attention of the hospital staff, now that they managed to clear out the police officers from the hallway. Kakutani quickly stuffs her voice recorder away into a large side bag and is about walk away.

"Hey wait, before you go, I've got a question." This barely gets Kakutani to pause.

"Make it snappy kid, or that Amazon nurse is going to break me in half." She is anxiously watching the nurse coming towards you, and the fact that other hospital employees are also now realizing there was someone who didn't belong in the wing.

"Has this happened before? Do you know of any other incidents like this?" You quickly asked.

"First time with this many people affected like, usually it's one or two guys..." Kakutani can't even finish her answer when the nurse calls out.

"Stop right there!" You realize the term 'Amazon' was an apt one for the nurse. She was extremely well built and breaking the rather reedy Kakutani in half seem less an exaggeration and more of a statement of fact.

Kakutani swiftly turns away and speedily retreats. You lose sight of her around the corner while the nurse is giving the security guards a general description of Kakutani. When the nurse does get to you, you note that she seems very concerned.

"Ms. Houseki? Are you okay, was that woman upsetting you?" You can see the nametag of your nurse, Tsukimi Takako. It seems that you being bothered by a reporter causes the hospital to transfer you out of the hallway and into a rather crowded hospital room where there were at least curtains give you some sort of privacy.

You take the opportunity to draw and write down your notes of your latest Dream and other things that had happened to you. But much to your dismay, you can barely recall your Dream beyond the barebones details of being in a theatre with 2 strange Shadow creatures and the fact you had a 'Memory' of being in that hallway with the tray of drinks. You spend more time writing down what Kakutani had told you about the incident at the jewelry store.

So you have a repetitive memory... A memory of when? Where? What did it mean? Can you really have a memory of something you know you've never done before? More fantastical explanations crowd your thoughts on it but they're interrupted with the sound of your father's voice. He sounds rather upset and is loud as a result.

"Look Detective, my daughter was injured and I want to take her home to rest. She can send you a written statement of what happened at a later date. Why don't you bother some other patients who are getting released instead?"
(Continues)

>>4900566
Your dad, Daisuke Houseki, enters the room you are in. And before the police detective can get a word edgewise or enter the room, your dad just slams the door in his face. You can see that your father has your school bag, it seems that he had gotten it back for you.

The other patients seemed relieved that he kept out the bothersome police officer. You realize you recognize some of the woman in your hospital room, they all had been at the jewelry store with you. One lady had wielded a broken bottle against Sailor Moon and shattered it on the ground. Another was a schoolmate from your school, a girl from the 1st year class though you don't remember her name. They all seem tired but otherwise uninjured by what had happened.

"Dad, over here." You call out.

"Oh god, Ruka!" There's a palpable relief in your dad's voice as he rushes to your side. He is careful to hug lightly to avoid hurting your ribs.

It seems that you are being released from the hospital with a morphine prescription for your injury. Bruised ribs, 4 week recovery time. No school for least the first week was recommended.

You must admit, being told you didn't have to go to school for a full week makes you childishly happy but you sober up when you realize that means your dad will have to take an entire week of work using his extremely limited vacation time to tend to you. You leave the hospital after many hugs with your father.

It is only when you are in the back of the taxi that you think to ask your dad questions.

"Where's Tomio and Aya? Are they okay?" You're concerned about your friends, you haven't heard from them.

"Your friends called me right away at work when you got put into the ambulance. It seems they were one of the rare ones that didn't need to get hospitalized and got sent home right away. I had to scramble to figure out where they had taken you. You can't imagine how agonizing that was, no one was telling me anything when I called the hospitals. Your friends found me at our apartment, handed over your school bag right before I left to get you." Your dad looks so exhausted as he explains. He looks almost ready to cry.

You remain silent absorbing what you've been told. The taxi has arrived at your home, when you enter your apartment building. Your father immediately makes you lie down in your bed, as he does this what do you do?

>Explain to your dad what happened (but not all of it)
>Comfort your dad, give him a hug
>Remain silent
>Write in

>>4900567
>Comfort your dad, give him a hug

>>4900567
>Comfort your dad, give him a hug

>>4900567
>>Comfort your dad, give him a hug
the best hugs are those that your family gives whne you're worrying

>>4900567
>>Comfort your dad, give him a hug

>>4900577
>>4900590
>>4900665
>>4900672
Vote is closed, now writing.

"... Hey dad?"

The worried face of your father looks at you, anxious and wondering if you're in more pain or in need of something.

"I'm okay, everything is okay. Tomorrow's going to be okay too." You get up a bit from your bed and hug him. He's still wearing his work suit, all rumpled and dirty from his mad scramble to find you in the Tokyo hospital system.

"You're right, but a part of being an adult sometimes is that we have to worry about things not being 'okay'. I'm glad we're back home, there will be plenty of time to talk about things tomorrow." He hugs back lightly, and lays out your pyjamas. You insist that you're able to get changed on your own and he leaves to give you some privacy.

When you remove your uniform, you see in the mirror the beginning of an ugly purple bruise from the armpit down to the hip on your right. And your left cheek has a smooth bandage over it, you remember that it had been cut when Aya punched you while she was being controlled. You can feel a shallow cut inside your mouth that is no longer bleeding.

Your dad lays out a glass of water and some food but you find that you don't feel hungry. But thirst hits hard, you have 3 glasses to quench the dryness of your mouth and throat.

"It seems that the police want to question you about what happened. I don't think they'll be arriving tomorrow but they'll want to at least get a written statement." Your father says as you are drinking water.

"Dad, do you really think they'll be satisfied with a written statement only? It looks like they want to get the details straight from me." You can't help but remember the number of police officers at the hospital. Not to mention being told that Naru and her mom were being questioned too.

Daisuke Houseki was an accountant for the Ministry of land infrastructure transport and tourism, or MLIT for short. But before that he had been an accountant for the National Public Safety Commission. He never did explain why he got transferred to a more lowly Ministry but he seemed to know more about police work than he let on.

"They won't be satisfied, but I don't want you to make any verbal statement until we talk about what happened tomorrow."

You pause in drinking your water. You had already talked to Kakutani on what you had witnessed. You wonder if this is going to be a problem.

The hour is late when you finally decide to go to bed. You stuff the notebooks on your Dream in their customary hiding place. Picking up books that you left on the floor this morning and using them as camouflage.

The night passes without any more Dreams.
(continues)

>>4900819
Your sleep was short, the pain from your ribs is intense. You awaken early once more and find your dad has just gotten up to make breakfast. He gives you your pain medication which is desperately needed. You find yourself laying in your bed unable to really assist him, as you're waiting for breakfast what do you do?

>call Aya, she probably hasn't left for school left
>call Tomio, he probably hasn't left for school left
>get the newspaper and read it
>get to the living room and turn on the tv
>do some homework
>relax
>write in

>>4900821
>call Aya, she probably hasn't left for school left

>>4900821
>call Aya, she probably hasn't left for school left

>>4900821
>call Aya, she probably hasn't left for school left

>>4900844
>>4900917
>>4900938
Guess calling Aya wins!

You're sure it's early enough that Aya is awake and hasn't left for school yet. You reach for the telephone and dial her house number. After a few rings, her mother answers the phone.

"Kagawa resident."

"Mrs. Kagawa, is Aya in? This is Ruka Houseki."

"Oh my, just one moment..."

You wait patiently as it is clear that she's left the phone aside and to get Aya. You then hear the sounds of stomping feet charging towards the telephone.

"RUKA!" You have to hold the phone away from your ears from the sudden scream from Aya.

"Whoa, loud..." You can't help but wince.

"Oh no, sorry. I'm so glad you called. I could barely sleep last night because you were taken to the hospital. You're home now? Are you okay? And..." Aya babbles out a thousand questions.

"Aya... breathe."

"I'm sorry, I... I..." Aya sounds distraught.

"I'll be staying home from school for at least a week, you can always visit me at my place whenever. I'll be luxuriating in my room and acting like a lazy bum while you must slave away at school."

"... I'm taking the day off school too. So is Tomio I think..." Aya says.

"Really?... Well, uh... you can come on over whenever you have time. I'll be right here." You must admit, you weren't expecting that. Then again, they did see you get packed off to the hospital unconscious. It's a miracle they managed to find a way to call your father so soon after that.

"I'll definitely come over soon." Aya answers back.

You both promise to see each other later in the day.

It is so good to know that Aya and Tomio didn't come to harm. Pulling those pieces of cursed jewelry off them was the right choice.

Breakfast was great too, there was eggs, rice, miso soup and a small tomato salad. Best yet, there was no school for you today! Typically you'd be out the door and running to school but today you have time to spend time at home and be lazy with your father.

You can't do anything too vigorous though, or else your ribs hurt like hell. You do some light cleaning and do some homework, nothing to strain you physically.

Just when you're about to get bored from it all and almost feel like missing school, your dad calls you to sit at the small kitchen table of your apartment. It's time to have the talk about what happened yesterday. The police are wanting a statement, it seems they called while you were busy in your room.

"I'm thinking we should give your statement in a neutral location. They want you to come to the station and give it but... I don't see why you should.

How are you going to explain things to your dad as to what happened?

>Basic details, skip the more fantastical events
>Full details, including you attacking the monster
>Creative fiction, you lie and say you didn't see much
>write in

>>4901205
>Full details, including you attacking the monster
I don't want to lie to dad.
Avoid telling him about me being able to interact with the monster though, he has enough things to worry about as it is.

>>4901231
>>4901205
Seconded

>>4901231
I’ll support this too.

Whether he’ll actually believe us or not is up to him, but lying to him feels wrong.

>>4901231
>>4901431
>>4901463
I assume by avoid telling him about interacting with the monster, you mean don't tell him that went stabby stabby on it.

Where do you even begin? Your dad doesn't need to know that you went and nearly got yourself killed by confronting the monster. The truth is your best bet with some editing to minimize your role.

As you go through the details of the events at the jewelry store, your dad remains completely silent. He finally calls you to stop when you reach the part where the doppelganger of Mrs. Osaka transforms into some sort of skeletal demon choking the life out of your classmate, Naru. At this part, he gets a can of beer out of the fridge and two cups. He pours most of it for himself and a much smaller portion for you before allowing you to continue your story.

When you get to the part where Sailor Moon comes in and gets the attention of the monster, he drains his cup of beer in one gulp.

You take a sip of your own too and decide that you hate beer. The taste of it is terrible but then again you have a massive sweet tooth and vastly prefer sugary stuff. If the beer tasted fruity like apple or raspberries, you'd be chugging it. You leave your unfinished beer in the cup and continue your story.

You describe how you snuck up on Tomio and Aya during the confusion and ripped off the jewelry controlling them. You note that this is when you got your injuries. Your dad reaches for your cup of beer and drinks what's left of it. You can't begrudge him.

Then you come to the conclusion where Sailor Moon reduces the monster to dust with her attack.

The end of your tale is greeted with dead silence from your dad. He scratches the back of his head and is clearly trying to search for words. He opens and shuts his mouth a few times, clearly thinking better of what he was about to say. This continues until at last he must have found what he needed to say. He reaches over and holds your hand to comfort you.

"Ruka, you are a really brave girl. I'm proud to know that my daughter would do what she can to help her friends... But this story, I have no idea what the hell you should say to the police. Monsters? Mysterious mind controlling jewelry? Tuxedo Mask? Sailor Moon? It will only cause them to interrogate you even worse because they won't believe a word you say. We're going to have tell the police you aren't interested in giving a statement."

"... You believe me, right?" You can't help but ask your father.
(continues)

>>4901603
"Ruka, I half believe. I think something very odd happened at that jewelry store. The doctor suggested that the blow to your face might make you feel disoriented or there was some sort of chemical attack knocking everyone out. What's important is that you get better and get on with your life."

You wince, 'half believe' mind as well be 'doesn't believe you at all'. It hurts to hear that from your dad. But in a sense, telling someone that reality has monsters and weird supernatural warriors running about is going to be disbelieved. It was a situation where you have to see it to believe it.

You find yourself moping for most of the day, counting the hours until Aya comes to visit. Your dad goes to pick up some groceries for dinner to give you some privacy when she visits.

Soon enough, there's a knock at the door. You perk up and carefully make your way to the door.

When you open it, the relieved faces of Aya and Tomio greet you. And to your surprise, you also see Naru Osaka with them too. They brought snacks and tea to share.

"Hey guys, come on in." You've never had so many people visit your place.

After you all settle in, an awkward silence ensues.

No one is quite sure what to talk about except for the super obvious subject of what happened yesterday.

What do you do?

>Broach the subject yourself. You kind of want to talk about it.
>Bring out the mahjong set, screw seriousness.
>Lighter subjects first, like how their day went.
>write in

>>4901604
>Broach the subject yourself. You kind of want to talk about it.

>>4901604
>>Broach the subject yourself. You kind of want to talk about it.

>>4901604
>Lighter subjects first, like how their day went.

>>4901604
>Broach the subject yourself. You kind of want to talk about it.

>>4901604
>broach the subject yourself, you kind of want to talk about it

If everyone thinks we’re crazy now, just wait until one of the Four Heavenly Kings calls Sailor Moon out to a fight at the the Airport as a illusion/hologram seen the city over after the next 11 monster incidents unless we derail things.

Then we’ll see whose crazy!!!!

>>4901810
Absurdly based, seconded

>>4901615
>>4901769
>>4901805
>>4901807
>>4901810
>>4901819
It seems everyone decided that there's no point in avoiding the subject. We're not crazy... yet

File: scissors.jpg (83 KB, 640x480)

83 KB JPG

There's no point in trying to pussy foot around it. Everyone wants to talk about yesterday but are afraid of getting it out in the open for discussion. After all, it sounds crazy. No, scratch that, it was crazy. Worst of all, Tomio and Aya were unconscious during the entire time while Naru fainted just before the arrival of Sailor Moon. So you are going to end up sounding the craziest out of everyone.

You cough getting everyone's attention. Three pairs of eyes focus on you immediately. You deliberately reach into the pile of snacks, picking a cookie and chewing it slowly. When you're finally done eating it, you decide to start talking.

"Hey guys, we mind as well just start talking about yesterday. There's no point keeping quiet and pretending that's not what we want to talk about..."

It's here that Naru makes her move. She takes out from her bag a familiar pair of scissors and puts it on the table. They're your scissors, you must have dropped it at the jewelry store and didn't even realize it.

You reach to take it and look at it carefully. One of the blades had the tip completely snapped off, while the other was dulled and blackened as though it had passed through a flame repeatedly. You can still salvage the remaining blade and use it for something though.

"I found this on the floor and grabbed it before the police arrived. When I saw it, I realized I wasn't dreaming about you attacking that monster..."

This gives Aya and Tomio a start.

"Attacking a monster?!" They both ask and stare at you.

Oh boy, it seems that you're going to have to repeat the entire story again. You give everyone the details of the situation, including all the bits and pieces you didn't tell your dad.

Naru looks ready to cry, while Tomio and Aya both aghast by the end of it.

"... I punched you!?" Aya asks while shocked.

"You hit really hard." You try to make light of it by joking.

"I am never wearing jewelry again. All I remember is that I felt super tired and then waking up on the floor while you were bawling your eyes out." Tomio says as he grabs some chips and chews on it.
(continues)

>>4901921
"My mom is closing down the store for a few days, the police are pretty baffled. They think it's some sort of hallucinogenic attack because I mentioned that monster. My mom basically decided I won't go back to school until the doctor gives me the green light to go back." Naru mutters. She looks utterly put out, especially now that you confirmed that she wasn't hallucinating about the demonic monster.

"Well, my dad and mom is telling me I have go back to school tomorrow because 'there's nothing wrong with me'. Now I just learned that I beat the crap out of Ruka and sent her to the hospital!" Aya looks ready to cry and rushes to your side to hug you. Unfortunately she's not very gentle, your ribs ache but you endure it as best you can.

"Whoa, it's okay. Remember 'mind controlling jewelry' thingy." You try to reassure her.

"So now that we got an idea of what happened yesterday... What do we even do with this information? It's not as if we can do anything about it right now. Telling the police isn't going to help and there's not much we can do against supernatural creatures we know fuck all about." Tomio notes.

"Well, actually. That might not be true, we might be able to do something," you say this and head to your room. You still have the contact card for Kakutani Maromi of the Daily Report, and bring it out to show everyone in the room. Everyone looks at it while Aya frowns at the name of the newspaper.

"The Daily Report? You mean, that hack tabloid mook?" Aya sounds exasperated.

"What's a mook?" Tomio asks.

"It's a book-magazine hybrid that stays on the shelf for longer than an actual magazine," you explain.

"So you're saying, we could talk to this reporter because she knows more about what's going on?" Naru leans over the table to look at the contact card more closely.

"It's worth a shot." You note.

"Well, it looks like the Supernatural Research Club has a new subject that needs urgent research on." Aya grimly states as she copies down Kakutani's contact information.

"... That reminds me, who is going to be bringing us homework for today?" Tomio wonders aloud.

"Agh, man, why did you have to mention homework!"

There is a knock at your apartment door. It can't be your dad, he would have just opened the door and come on in. Naru, Tomio and Aya quickly grab whatever incriminating evidence was visible and pushed it under the table.

When you open the door, the sight that greets you is Usagi. Her arms buckling under the weight of four small bags.
(continues)

>>4901923
"WAH! Ruka-chan, help me please!" The small girl wails as she tries to hand over to you the bags. You can see within them are detailed school notes and what you assume is homework sheets since they bear the strong even handwriting of your teacher Sakurada.

You grab the bags and find yourself wondering why Usagi would find something this light weight be so difficult to carry

"Oh, Usagi!" Naru is in the hallway and comes to help.

Things turn into an impromptu study session.

"You jinxed us, doomed us, cursed us with this Tomio." You snarl as you arrange more room at the table to allow room for your homework.

"Hey look, someone was going to deliver us our school work. Oh hey, these notes are done by Gurio! Good job nerd, might have to owe you one." Tomio places the paper on to the table. It is only a small amount of homework.

Naru naturally falls into conversation with Usagi and finish off the snacks that were left on the table. Aya was the only one who felt left out, as a 3rd year student, her home work was probably being delivered by a fellow senior classmate at her home. She gets up to go home to leave you to your homework, and says she's going to be buying some Daily Report issues to read over.

Usagi is a pretty energetic girl, she goes over the events of the day at school. It seems that the place had quite a few students taking the day off because of what had happened and wild rumors were flying around.

"Ruka, you're okay right? I heard you went to the hospital." Usagi asks with a great deal of worry. She is staring at the bandage over your left cheek.

"It's okay, it's okay. One week and I'll be back in class," you reassure your classmate. You can't help but smile, so the carefree Tsukino could be serious sometimes. She seems relieved by your answer and eats the last of the cookies left.

It turns out to be an enjoyable homework session.

When your father finally arrives home, everyone goes home.

Before you is an entire week to do whatever you want, within reason of course. No strenuous physical activity for you for the moment.

What will you mainly focus on doing during the week as you're recovering, pick 3 items

>Daily light exercise and walks to the shopping district
>Homework and reading old Daily Report issues
>Watching TV and cooking for the family
>Fixing and sharpening the scissor blade as a makeshift knife
>Organizing your notes and reading up the police investigation of the jewelry store
>Hanging out with your friends when you can and playing at Crown Games
>write in

>Hanging out with your friends when you can and playing at Crown Games

Whats the point of surviving that bullshit if we can’t live life to the fullest.

>>4901924
>>Fixing and sharpening the scissor blade as a makeshift knife
nooo, the momento from grandma

>>4901924
Can we mix them up?
If so, I'd think it's best if we
>Daily light exercise and cooking for the family.

>>4902037
>cooking for the family
Tracking macros of course

>>4901924
>Daily light exercise and walks to the shopping district
>Homework and reading old Daily Report issues
>Hanging out with your friends when you can and playing at Crown Games

You can choose three options for the week but it seems most only choose 1 instead.

Hanging out is x2
Fixing blade X1
light exercise x2
Cooking x2
Homework x1

So far

>>4902110
actually I miscounted
Hanging out is x2
Fixing blade X1
light exercise and to shopping district x1
light exercise and cooking x1
Homework x1

>>4902127
I second fixing the blade

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>4902127
>>4902194
Okay, we have 2 for hanging out, 2 for fixing blade.
I'll roll for 1 light exercise/shopping or 2 light exercise/cooking

Sorry a bit of delay, will post next bit later on tonight

The week is an unexpected vacation for you and father. Both of you wake up later than usual during the morning, have a leisurely breakfast with well prepared coffee to savor. There is no time pressure to rush out the door hounding you. It's just nice to relax and talk about how things have been going. You talk about school and having fun with the Supernatural Research club, while your dad talks about some of the ground work that's going to be needed to be done since Japan won the right to host the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

This doesn't mean that you were just loafing about the entire time, Tomio dropped off some 5 pound and 10 pound weights from his place for you, so that you can do some light lifting and you've taken to walking with your father to buy groceries fresh every mid morning, choosing with care what you want to eat for next day. You decided to be a little stricter on your diet by ensuring vegetables and fish are the main purchases. However your resolve weakens to allow a big purchase of pudding that was on sale.

You round the afternoon off by going to your grandparent's antique shop for a singularly important task. Officially speaking, it was to have lunch with them and see them but in reality you need to access to the tools needed to sharpen and prepare your old scissors for a new life as a single short bladed knife. The chisels, the hammers, various whetstones, camellia oil and choji oil and rice paper for polishing are only available at your grandparents antique shop in Asakusa. And it is a long trip, 45 minutes by subway from Juuban but you have plenty of time.

Calling your grandparents was a bit nerve-wracking. After all, you ruined the scissors they gifted you but it turns out your grandparents are more excited to hear that you're coming over to spend time at their shop. Your father declines to spend time with his father-in-law and mother-in-law, there was some unresolved issues between the two parties since your mother left. Maybe one day they'll start talking again but not now.

In any case, you arrive at Tenohira Antiques where your grandfather is already carefully laying out the tools that he suspected you need for your task on a worktable. While your grandmother has already turned the stop sign to closed so that you can sit down to have a simple lunch of white rice, green tea and a truly epic variety of Japanese pickled vegetables.

The shop is a riot of organized chaos, for the speciality of the antique shop was small hand held items of various sort. If it couldn't be safely held in one hand, the shop didn't sell it. So it was place with a profession of small drawers filled with small delicate teacups, old ivory carved netsukes, antique scissors like what you received as a gift, hand forged cooking knives, old Japanese kiseru smoking pipes and so much more.
(continues)

>>4902739
"It's been so long Ruka, my you've gotten so big!" Your grandmother hugs you lightly as she sets the table for lunch.

"And getting into trouble, what's this about having to use your scissors in a bad way?" Your grandfather extends his hands out to you, clearly wanting to see what you've done.

You reluctantly hand over the brocaded bag to him and then turn to start eating lunch. Maybe if you're eating he'll wait until the end of lunch to make a comment.

"WHAT THE HELL?" No luck. Your grandfather is looking at the damaged blades with hard eyes that showed he was offended to the very core of his being. He particularly seems to hates the black discoloration of the steel on the remaining blade. But what he did next was truly unexpected.

He took the scissors and placed it in a side tray, then he doused it with a huge fist full of white salt. Not stopping until the blade is wholly buried in salt. He doesn't say anything more but patiently sets aside the tray with the scissors and begins to silently eat lunch with you. Your grandmother seems to not like the sight of the damaged scissors either.

"Um... I... I had to stab a monster with it."

"It's okay dear, just eat. You don't have to explain."

Lunch is a remarkably quiet affair with your grandparents. You're surprised that when you finish that your grandparents decided not to press you on the strange condition of your old gift.

Instead your grandfather makes you wash your hands and has you pick up the scissors with a pair of tongs. It is time to get to work.

"Given the damage and the deep scratches on the blade, it'll take at least 3 days of work to sharpen it and polish it good as new as a knife." Your grandfather hands you the chisel and hammer to set to work in cutting the thinnest part of the scissors which will part what was once whole into two.

"It's sort of sad, it's come to this..." You say and your grandfather bends the metal to into a broader U shape and places it on a small anvil.

"Wait, wait. Okay Ruka. Sit right here." Your grandfather guides you to sit in a side profile in front of the big shop window where any passerby can look in and see you working away.

"... Are you making me a tourist attraction, grandpa?" You are amused.

"Yes. Look, tourists will see a young girl hammering and sharpening away, they might stop and come in to the shop. I'll spin an interesting story and they might buy something."

Gah. You better start hammering away to cut the scissor shears in two.

>roll 3d6 +2

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58 KB JPG

>>4902739
oops. forgot picture of pickles.
In any case, sorry for the delay.

Rolled 4, 1, 3 = 8 (3d6)

>>4902742
DIIIICCE

Rolled 5, 4, 6 + 2 = 17 (3d6 + 2)

>>4902742

>>4902742

Rolled 5, 1, 3 + 2 = 11 (3d6 + 2)

>>4902742

>>4903023
damn, that's a good roll

>>4902807
>>4903023
>>4903100
Seems we got our rolls! Writing now

File: motokimamoru.png (885 KB, 1592x895)

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You start working away at the metal to cut in to the hinge, if you can cut deep enough then you can easily pull it apart. A few firm hammer blows on the chisel has you making extremely fast progress, infinitely faster progress than if you had to try and just bend it apart at home. Afterward it only takes you a few pulls but the scissors come apart into two.

You place the half that you cannot use on the salt lined tray that your grandfather had left by your side. And start straightening the handle area of the remaining useable half and then smoothing away where you had made the chisel cut. The three hours you spend on the task is extremely absorbing. So much so that when you take a break from it, you only then notice that there are a few customers in the store.

They're mostly non-Japanese speaking tourists who are admiring the items in the shop. You must have given quite a performance as you worked away because some of them take pictures of the shop and you. Both your grandparents are busy assisting the customers in the store, so they're unable to see that you've stopped working.

Hm?!

Oh no, a big happy foreign guy is gesturing wildly at your tools and you. Is he asking you a question on the tools? Wants you to pose with them? You pick up one of the grinding whetstone that you haven't used yet and set it up as though you'll start sharpening. It seems that it all pleases the guy because he takes a bunch of pictures and goes away.

Wow, service jobs are exhausting. All you did was pretend you were going to continue working and you felt a degree of stress that you weren't expecting. It was like being an actress but doing every day stuff in a pleasing selling manner.

You carefully stow away the tools and semi-formed knife in a small Japanese tansu chest by your feet before getting up and stretching. The hour was latter than you thought, it was past 4 pm.

"Hey grandma, grandpa, I'm off for home. I'll be back again at the same time tomorrow."

It was time to go, your grandparents give you a hug goodbye and say how much they look forward to seeing you again.
(continues)

>>4903297
When you arrive back at Juuban, you feel very happy. School was out since you see a lot kids in school uniforms about.

Hey, does that mean Tomio or someone from your school is at Crown Games? If so, it was time for Street Fighter! You dash off to the game center and enter. The place is busy as always, and your favorite part time worker Motoki is talking to a high school boy sitting at the new Sailor V game.

"Hey big bro Motoki, I want to make some change!" You call out to him.

"Oh hey there Ruka, no problem." Motoki turns to the change box and exchanges your 500 yen coin.

"Did you see Tomio around?" You ask as you collect your game coins.

"Hm, not today or yesterday. Also Ruka, are you okay? You got a bandage on your cheek and bruises on your face..."

Oh yeah, the place where Aya punched you. The injury had blossomed into an interesting purple bruise beneath the bandage. It was still very faint, you expect it'll fade soon and yellow.

"Yeah, it's a little scratch." You answer.

"Seems like you got into a fight and barely managed to win." The dark haired boy who had been talking with Motoki opines.

"Hey now Mamoru, be nice. Sorry about that Ruka, this is Chiba Mamoru. He's a bit rough on the edges when it comes socialization." Motoki says and introduces his friend.

"You make me sound like some stray cat that needs taming..." Mamoru grouses a little.

"Except cats don't talk and are a lot cuter." You joke as you take a closer look at the high school boy.

Hm, that guy. Mamoru Chiba. He's a lot taller than you, and you're a really tall girl too. At 5'4", you are probably one of the most tallest girls in your school. Actually, it is a good chance you are the tallest girl in your school. But Mamoru was at least 5'9", which was even taller than Tomio. He had wonderfully dark silky hair and fine facial features, but he dressed as though he was older than his physical age. Overall you think he's...

>Rather handsome, a real good looking guy. Hm, maybe you can flirt with him.
>Not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him.
>Got a weird aura... As though....
>A jerk, you can sense he's a jerk and you don't like him.

>>4903299
>>Not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him.

>>4903299
>Not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him.

>>4903299
>Not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him.
Denied.

>>4903299
>Not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him.

Fellow questers. I have a proposition and a question. About intentions for romance or purely physical things to pursue. Since we’re deciding here Mamo isn’t our type but we get it, do we want to lay groundwork for our type?

Like, whats everyone thinking and we can conspire. Because it isn’t clear quite yet if we’re following 90’s anime, the manga, the SM Crystal manga adaptation, or the live action PGSM here quite yet for plot beats.

But, we are an outsider ostensibly w/out a predestined love (assumedly) and we can run ram shod over things to come.

Do we be gay and do crimes, because even among the victims of the week cast we are spoilt for options ahead to say nothing of the cast? Do we date a villain? Do we decide to go Present a package of cookies to Umino or Motoki? Do we bully Umino into a date? What’s everyone feeling?

>>4903347
I'm not going to be following the 90s anime exactly but it's the main sort of universe though I will definitely be mixing elements of all the universes of Sailor Moon. After all, there are some truly terrible filler episodes in the 90s series like the physical exercise one that I don't particularly think would be great for the quest and questionable stuff like Nephrite seemingly being this guy in his mid 20s hitting on Naru that I sort of want to avoid.

>>4903311
>>4903314
>>4903346
>>4903347
Guess tall, dark and handsome is not the sort of thing Ruka Houseki goes for.

>>4903363
Entirely understandable. And thank you for doing what the 90’s anime forgot and just make and keep mamoru a highschooler and closer to Usagi’s contemporary than…whatever the hell the 90’s anime did in the face of the manga where he was established as a teen early on. Like, a few times he seems like a full adult with a programming job.

>>4903347
Well, most villains are either deformed monsters, too old for us, or have unappealing personality. When it comes to minor characters there isn't much to work with in terms of character. Sailor Moon's dating pool is not as large as you'd think.

He's not really your type, but you can get why girls would go for him. He seems to be the snarky boyfriend type with his dark hair and looks. Actually, you aren't too sure what you're type is but you suppose that it's a matter of time before the springtime of maidenly youth will strike you as it strikes so many girls in your class.

Right now, that's not where you want to focus your attention. You turn to more important things.

Street Fighter II.

You make a beeline to it and take your seat. Selecting your preferred character, Zangief. The great big bear wrestling Russian, slow but powerful. Also you kinda like his back story, someone still fighting on for the glory of his country despite it's fall. You think the stubbornness despite the odds and all that's happened is pretty admirable.

You get lost in playing in single mode as there are no challengers seeking you out in the versus mode. As you're piledriving the American character Guile, you feel a pair of eyes on you. You aren't quite sure but feel as though someone is looking at you.

You turn to look around, not quite sure who is watching you so intently. There's doesn't seem to be anyone.

After awhile, you lose near the final rounds in the tournament and get ready to leave. It seems that Tomio didn't come in but there's always other days.

You say good bye to Motoki and his friend Mamoru, and exit the Game Center. It is a cool night, and you realize you had better hurry home for dinner. The pain medication for your ribs is about to wear off, you can feel the aching starting to bother you a bit.

You still feel as though someone or 'something' is following you though... You hope it's a someone because you can't really handle another 'something'. You increase your walking speed to see if the sensation lessens but it instead seems to grow.

At last you decide to catch whoever is following you. As you turn the corner, you stop and lean close to the wall to wait and see who comes past.

It's not what you expected. A cat comes barrelling around the corner and freezes when it sees you waiting by the wall in expectation of whoever was following you.

It's a small cat with a very strange crescent shaped bald spot on it's forehead. And it clearly didn't expect you to catch on that it was chasing after you.

What's your reaction?

>It's... a cat?
>Why is a cat following me?
>It's a kitty kat!! Here kitty kitty!!

>>4903561
>It's a kitty kat!! Here kitty kitty!!

>>4903561
>It's a kitty kat!! Here kitty kitty!!
Come here you furry menace!

>>4903561
>It's a kitty kat!! Here kitty kitty!!
pet the cat
DO IT NOW

>>4903566
>>4903570
>>4903572
... Why did I even bother letting you vote. Of course you'd pet the kitty

>>4903561
>>It's a kitty kat!! Here kitty kitty!!
White, Black, or Pink/Purple?

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>>4903584

Unlike some other Sailor Moon related or adjacent quests, we seem to be voting with some frequency in unanimity.

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https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cat_proximity.png

It's a kitty kat. You can't help but feel a flush warmth as your heart just melts at the sight of such a cute little kitty kat. It is a cute sleek black cat and though you must admit the strangely shaped bald spot is unusual, it's a very prim and proper looking cat.

"Here kitty, kitty."

You kneel down to start giving it all the pets and scritches you can. You had always wanted a pet of some sort, but given how small your apartment is and the fact you can't really afford one, the best you can do pet other people's cats.

You have no brain, only kitty kat.

Oh god, it's purring and meowing. This is so great!

But still, it's weird. The presence following you felt like a person or something. Maybe paranoia is getting to you, after all the incident with the monster made you realize the reality you lived in had things you once thought impossible.

"Oh wow, so maybe it was you following me? Aaah, such a good kitty. Yes you are."

But still, you had better go and check. You look around the corner to see if someone is following you. There isn't a single person who seems to be suspicious. It is the usual evening crowd, all hurrying off to their destination without any thought on you.

Strange.

Maybe you're just tired.

You give the cat one last pet and then start walking back to your apartment. Your heart is happy and you are so relaxed. Dinner with your father is nice and light.

After barely doing your homework, and some more light weight lifting. You go to bed satisfied with how the day went.

The next day was much the same, some light exercise, leisurely breakfast followed with midmorning grocery shopping and then off once again to the antique shop.
(Continues)

>>4903641
Today is a day for sharpening, you wet the roughest of the whetstones and begin honing the blade. It is not easy, there are scratches and nicks in the metal that needed to smoothed away. Strangely the most unusual thing is that the metal is still black. Typically by now you should be seeing the white-blue color of the steel that made up the blade. Instead, as you smooth and treat it, the color remains black.

Tourists come in and out of the shop, some coming in just take pictures of you working away while others come in to look at the wares. Your grandparents are rather happy, it seems that if you something unusual happening in the window, it brings in tourists.

"I should hire you to do stuff like this. Business is up since you started working away.... Slow down, milk it for all it's worth." Your grandfather commands jokingly.

"No way, I can't work away forever on this." You answer back.

The nicks and scratches of the blade are gone. But the metal blade is still wholly black.

When it comes time to stop and rest, your grandparents insist that you take it and the broken half of the scissors to the local temple to get a blessing. They close up the shop a little early to take you to Asakusa shrine which is in Senso-ji. Apparently the blackness of the blade bothered them, and though you didn't explain what had happened to it, it is clear they sensed something from it. They seemed to have taken your early slip of tongue about using it to stab a monster rather seriously.

The three of you go through the purification ceremony by washing your hands and rinsing your mouth before walking right under the torii gates in the exact middle. The priest at the shrine waves incense of the broken and remaining blade before offering a small paper charm. Your grandmother promises to reuse the brocade bag and sew it as a sheath with the paper charm in it for your small knife.

You head home and arrive back in Juuban. The hour is later than usual, you don't have time to really go to Crown Game center for a round of games. So you go through the shopping district to head straight back to your apartment.
(Continues)

>>4903642

The street has an unusual line up. You can't help but pause to take a closer look. It seems to start at an alleyway, where a small latern is set up advertising the services of a fortune teller. You can see that he does palm reading and I-ching divination.

What strikes you most is that the line was composed almost exclusively of women with maybe their boyfriends going with them, yet there was a single tall man wearing perhaps one of the most shadiest looking trench coat, fedora and sunglass combination you've ever seen. It's comical to see just how tall he was compared to the people in the line. Did he honestly think he was being inconspicuous? Heck that hat band for the fedora is purple. He doesn't seem to stay in line for long though and walks away.

Hm, fortune telling. Maybe you can ask and see if the diviner can help you. Mind as well, if monsters and magic exists, then why not divination?

You head back home and have a nice dinner of salad and grilled fish with your father. It's nice to be able to buy the freshest ingredients every morning. You find yourself wishing that this could be everyday.

The apartment is cleaner since your father has time to start cleaning up the apartment better.

Hm, you have a bit of time before going to bed, what do you want to do?

>Make plans to hang out with your dad for the upcoming weekend
>Watch TV for the evening news
>Call Tomio, your childhood friend, want to check up on how he's doing and make plans.
>Call Aya, Supernatural Club President, see if she wants to talk to you and hang out sometime.
>write in

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>>4903642
>Strangely the most unusual thing is that the metal is still black.
Damn, Ruko. You sure are a badass if you attained a black blade so fast.

>>4903644
>Make plans to hang out with your dad for the upcoming weekend

>>4903644
>Watch TV for the evening news.

>>4903644
>>Make plans to hang out with your dad for the upcoming weekend

>>4903644
>Watch TV for the evening news

>>4903667
>>4903671
>>4903690
>>4903692
Oh we have a tie! I'll wait another 30 minutes or so to see if someone new will vote. If not, I'll roll

>>4903644
>Make plans to hang out with your dad for the upcoming weekend

Looks like we want to hang out with our dad before he has to go back to the terrible grind that is the workplace, Japanese civil bureaucracy.
>Make plans to hang out with your dad for the upcoming weekend

It's rare to actually hang out with your dad like this. You don't know when the next opportunity will come, certainly not until summer break at least. Tomorrow is Friday, and you'll be done fixing up your scissors and turn it in a proper knife. That means the weekend will be entirely free to do something with him.

"Hey dad, you got any plans this weekend? Because I don't." You begin as you dry the dishes he washes.

"Hm, how are your ribs?" Your father asks.

Huh, now that your dad mentioned it. It doesn't hurt as it used to. The doctor said recovery time was about 4 weeks but barely a few days have passed and the pain is mostly gone.

"It feels pretty good actually, I mean, I haven't popped a pain pill today at all."

"Really? Well, if you want we could spend time and do something. Movies, the aquarium, going to the park, you know things we haven't done in awhile or gone to see. I think we can even splurge a bit and eat out for something like sukiyaki."

Upon the word sukiyaki, your brain begins to chant 'Meat, meat, meat!' But you restrain yourself.

"Is there something you wanted to do dad? I mean, it's your weekend too."

"Hm, other than going to Cafe Lupin for a nice cup of coffee and buying some nice coffee beans, I can't think of anything."

Hm, Saturday and Sunday are completely free, you'll have to think something up then.

"Let's take some time tomorrow to think of something then." You suggest as you put away the last of the dishes.

"That's a good idea, we can come up with something when you get back from your grandparents." Your dad agrees.

You do the usual, some homework where you barely put in effort and some light exercises with the weights. And then to bed. The night passes again without incident, and you haven't had a Dream. Or rather a repeat of the Memory. Then again, it isn't unusual. Sometimes you can go through nights without seeing it.

You awaken late again and have a leisurely breakfast with the last bit of coffee left. You walk with your father to buy groceries again in the mid morning. Then it's off to finish building your knife, you take the subway to Asakusa station.

Your arrival at your grandparents antique store is right on time. You could get used to a relaxed routine like this, if only school and finances didn't get in the way!

You select the finer grained whetstones for the sharpening of the blade, and for the final bit of polishing with the finest grained whetstone. After this, you'll need to oil it with either camellia oil or choji oil, the traditional clove and mineral oil mix for blades.
(continues)

>>4903965
The work is more difficult and tedious today, you are constantly interrupted by foreign tourists who want to take pictures and ask you to pose in certain ways. Or worse, they ask you questions in either really bad Japanese or their own language like English. Your grandfather is a whiz at French and English because he studied in France of all places, but you don't have the ear for foreign languages.

The simple sharpening and polishing job takes the full afternoon rather than the expected hour or two. When you apply the choji oil and wipe it with rice paper at last and look at the time, you find that it was just past 4 pm.

"Finally done, grandpa. I'll put away the tools for you." You say as you get up and take the the tools to their respective storage space in the back of the antique shop.

"Here's your sheath, your grandmother sewed it up quick and lined it well with charms."

You are handed your transformed brocade bag that used to hold your scissors. It is now a smaller and tight fitting sheath for your new knife. Hm, you might want to consider making a knife handle of some sort. The blade length is a very short 2.5 inches and the handle right now is slim bare steel.

"Thanks... where is grandma anyways?" You ask, it seems strange she wasn't in the shop helping your grandfather.

"She's out burying that broken piece of the scissors at the temple. It served you well after all, it goes to have it's just reward."

Hm, well, your mom's side of the family had always been more religious minded. Which might be why your mother abandoned everything and joined that cult, the Sun of Heavenly Truth. It's a super sore subject for everyone, you're surprised sometimes that your father allowed you to join the Supernatural Research Club since it sounds like the sort of nonsense your mother got sucked into.

You head back to Juuban, walking through the shopping district. Is it you or is the line to the fortune teller geting longer every time you pass by here?

Well that's not important. Today is Friday, so Tomio is definitely at Crown Games and playing a few rounds.

You immediately walk into the game center and spot a large crowd by the Street Fighter 2 arcade. You push your way through and see that Tomio is indeed battling it out against another kid from the school. He has chosen Blanka and is battling it out with Chun-li.

Hm, what should you do? He's super concentrating on his game, and the line to get your turn to play is way too long.

>Play another game? There's that new Sailor V game...
>Grab a soda from Motoki and just talk with him. He is everyone's big brother... and he is rather cute.
>??? Wait, is it that kitty kat again? Oh gods, it's so cute!
>Did you just see Aya passing by outside Game Crown? Go and grab her, we can play something together

>>4903970
>write in

Sorry last option didn't get in.

>>4903970
>??? Wait, is it that kitty kat again? Oh gods, it's so cute!

>>4903970
>>??? Wait, is it that kitty kat again? Oh gods, it's so cute!

>>4903970
>??? Wait, is it that kitty kat again? Oh gods, it's so cute!

NYA, you know, nya!

>>4903977
>>4903982
>>4904014
Man, I bet Luna wishes Ruka was a Sailor Scout.

>>4904126
i mean the cat is adorable automatic sane human responcee is: "PET IT, CUDDLE IT, HUG IT"

File: caught.jpg (44 KB, 740x370)

44 KB JPG

As you look around the game center trying to decide what to do, until your eyes rest on a very familiar feline. Is it that cat again?

???

Oh my, it is. It entered Crown Games like it was the most perfectly normal thing for a cat to do. You should act calm and cool so that you can put it at ease and it will let you pet it...

Your resolve lasts only a few seconds.

With your amazing stealth ability, you sneak up on the oblivious cat and creep on it. Making sure your shadow doesn't tip the cat off you're behind and to move slowly as to make no sound. Though given the noise level of the game center, it would have a hard time hearing anything.

With a swift sweep of your hands, you carry the very startled cat into your arms.

"Oh my god, kitty kat! We meet again!" You squeal girlishly, and you are not apt to squealing girlishly. The cat stiffens as though it is humiliated that it got caught by you, for the second time, off guard.

"Oh wow, it's that cat again. I see it around here a lot." Motoki comments as he looks and see you with the black cat.

"Do you think it's a stray?" You ask, now you're kind of concerned. A stray cat in a busy town like this sounds pretty bad.

"No idea, but it's a pretty clean cat and well fed, so I doubt it."

Hm, your imagination dances with the possibility of begging your dad to let you keep this cat. But you should have known better than to let your imagination run wild.

"Luna!" You hear Usagi's voice right behind you.

The cat twitches in your arms and squirms to get out of your embrace. You decide to let it go and you watch it scramble up Usagi's arms to rest on her shoulder. Oh wow, the cat looks so good balanced on Usagi's shoulders. You should see if the cat will do that on you next time.

"So her name is Luna?" You ask.

"Yup, I've been caring for her. She's such a naughty and lazy cat. Hee hee." Usagi proclaims as she smiles a sort of mocking smile at the cat.

Was it your imagination? Did the cat just shoot Usagi an annoyed look? Then the cat seems to realize you're watching her curiously and she begins to stiffly meow. As though to say, 'yes sirree, just a normal cat here, can't understand a single word by you humans'.
(continues)

File: Tomio.jpg (19 KB, 288x416)

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>>4904179
That's it, this is the last piece of evidence.

You are going crazy with paranoia and stress, your powers of observation are running amok. You are going to do all the things with your father tomorrow when you go out with him. You will have coffee and buy coffee beans, you will go window shopping, you will watch a movie and go see penguins at the aquarium. Anything and everything to act like a normal father-daughter family.

"Oh hey Ruka, not going to try your hand and prove the strength of the Soviet Union in Street Fighter?" Tomio comes just in time to distract you from hallucination that the cat understood everything Usagi just said.

"Nah, I think I'll start heading home. I'm coming back to class on Monday. I'll be see both in class soon." You turn your attention on Tomio and wave Usagi good bye as she exits Crown Game in a decidedly strange and stiff manner.

"Really, great to hear. I'm heading home too, I gotta get some pull ups in. You've been using those weights I lent you?" Tomio follows after you.

You spend an enjoyable chat with Tomio about some ideas on fitness and ideas on meal planning as you walk home.

When you arrive home, your father has treated himself to a beer as he cooks dinner. He's taken particular care to cook simmered vegetables and miso flavored lean pork meatballs.

Over a really good meal, you talk about what you want to during the weekend.

For saturday, choose 2
>A movie, there's a new anti-yakuza movie called Minbo
>Shopping, probably window shopping
>Spending the morning at Cafe Lupin
>The aquarium, gotta go see penguins
>Write in

For Sunday, choose 2
>Try to see if Tomio and/or Aya want to do something with you and your dad.
>Visit the local sento baths
>Do something touristy! Let's visit Ueno!
>Sukiyaki dinner
>Shopping, probably window shopping
>write in

>>4904182
SAT
>Spending the morning at Cafe Lupin
>The aquarium, gotta go see penguins

SUN
>Sukiyaki dinner
>Shopping, probably window shopping

Those Youma may be stronk but they don’t understand family

>>4904192
Seconding

>>4904192
I like this plan. Nothing too grandiose save for the penguins.

>>4904192
>>4904249
>>4904322
Guess we have an agreement... but it's time for bed for me. I'll try t see if I can a post off tomorrow morning.
But after that, there's most likely no updates until friday

>>4904343
Rest well Crescent. You write a fun quest in a beloved topic.

Your proposal for Saturday and Sunday is easily accepted by your dad. He seems especially keen to get to Cafe Lupin to get his next batch of coffee.

You cap off the night by finishing up the remaining bits of your homework and trying to see if you can do some pull ups using the door frame. You find it absurdly difficult, as hanging by the fingertips to pull yourself up was painful. You half ass try to do one but don't get even midway up before abandoning your efforts, not because you couldn't do a pull up but rather because your grip was far too weak and you can't withstand the pain.

Tomio said he managed to do one after plenty of practice. It's probably something you have to train up to actually do. You stick with some basic push ups and squats instead.

Saturday morning is an earlier than usual awakening given the past week. You wake up at what was once your normal waking hour of 7 am. It is easy to get up knowing that you have a full day of fun ahead.

When you get changed out of your pyjamas, you note that the giant bruise on your right has turned into a very gross looking yellowish-green. Evidence that it was on the second phase of the healing process... Shouldn't bruises take more time to heal? Maybe it's because you're young that it's getting better even quicker than normal.

The apartment is locked up and you begin the journey to Cafe Lupin with your father to have breakfast. You soon arrive at a small old style coffee cafe festooned with Lupin, Gentleman Thief and Lupin the Third memorabilia all over. At the coffee bar counter is the 'master' Monsieur Auguste Leblanc. You never could figure out why anyone who tended a bar of any sort is called a 'master' in Japan. It was a strange English loanword but it suited Mr. Leblanc perfectly. His trimmed white beard, carefully selected tie and vest combo with plain leather apron is charming and tells of his pride in his craft in coffee.

This morning already has the coffee regulars at their usual seats, but there are still two seats at the bar left. These are the seats that you and your dad occupy, as you place orders for carefully prepared coffee and really good chocolate hazelnut croissants.
(continues)

>>4904842

"It's been awhile Daisuke, I'm guessing you need some more of the usual coffee beans?" Mr. Leblanc serves the coffee, hot and black. There is a small bowl of suguar and serviette of cream on the side just in case. It wasn't out there just because you were a kid, it was just in case for customers since not everyone liked black coffee. Mr. Leblanc wasn't a super snob about always haveing coffee black though he infinitely preferred it that way. He was a believer it took time, constant tasting and good preparation to appreciate coffee black.

" Actually I'm thinking of trying out something new actually. So if you got any recommendations, I'm all ears." Your father asks the expert.

You take your first sip and appreciate the nice chocolatey depth of the coffee. This is when it catches your attention, the music is really unusual.

"Hey, what's playing, it's weird but interesting... if that makes any sense." You ask, interrupting the conversation.

"It's Amade Yusuke, it's his jazz piano music before he got big. I prefer his playing before he went with commercial slow jazz music. I tell you, his music turned to crap when he sold out. He used to be a great free jazz pianist..."

Crap, you've got the coffee master on one of his pet peeves, now he was going to treat to you a full rant on jazz. You need to pull an interrupt on him if you want to stop him.

>Grab a random magazine and start reading, it's too late. Whatever you do, it won't stop him
>Abandon the bar for a booth with your coffee and croissant, you'll have to abandon your father but he'll understand.
>Pick a jazz album and put it on instead, maybe if you change the music it'll distract him (https://youtu.be/6blgt6AKB-M)
>write in

>>4904843
>Pick a jazz album and put it on instead, maybe if you change the music it'll distract him

>>4904842
>Lupin the Third memorabilia
ah, i see our QM is a man of culture

>>4904843
>write in
Try to pivot the conversation back to coffee, that's the entire reason why we're here with our Dad. Maybe ask him what kind of stuff he likes to drink while listening to his favorite musicians?

>>4904858
seems like a good idea

>>4904847
Seconding
>>4904843

>>4904843
Yeah, >>4904858 woks

>>4904858
>>4904888
>>4904891
>>4904915
okay, coffee master must talk about coffee. We'll see if I can get a post in on friday

File: penguins-1.jpg (665 KB, 1200x800)

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Hello everyone! We're back for to continue the adventures and misadventures of Ruka Houseki!

You quickly think up a subject that you are pretty sure will get him back on track. His beloved, his passion, the dark goddess he chose to worship, the liquid that is extracted from the seed of a fruit.

Coffee.

You do have a soft spot for the Master Leblanc, after all, he did teach you how easy it was to pick locks. However, that doesn't mean you're willing to suffer his lecturing on things such as jazz music.

"So what sort of coffee would you drink to match the music then?"

It seems the question brings the coffee master back to his senses, cutting short his impending rant/lecture.

"Ah yes, the perfect liqueur to match this sort of music in my opinion is the clean, aromatic, and bright coffees of Kenya. I'm particularly fond of this crisp and acidic Kenyan coffee I just got in..."

Mentally, you feel relieved. You have narrowly managed stop Master Leblanc from his rant. The best part out of this is when he pours out some of the Kenyan coffee to sample. While the master and your dad talks about coffee, you relax to eat your chocolate hazelnut croissant slowly and take sips of delicious coffee.
(continues)

File: mawaru_penguin.png (1.06 MB, 1280x720)

1.06 MB PNG

>>4910359

You notice there's a few see-through practice locks and lock picks. You grab a torsion wrench and rake to practice. They are same old locks you've practiced on before though, so you easily pick them without much trouble. You turn your attention to the bookshelves by the bar. A small book catches your eye. You idly flip through it and discover it talks about escape techniques, one of them is about 'shimming' out of handcuffs using a bobby pin or a shim. There is not enough time to read it through though, you can come back to Cafe Lupin another time and read up on it. Maybe ask the Master if he had the tools and handcuffs to practice with.

It seems that your dad has chosen his coffee purchase, a light roast Kenyan coffee of some sort. You hadn't been paying attention to the ongoing coffee conversation. You try to show your dad how to pick a lock. It takes a few tries but he is surprised how quickly he is able to pick a lock. It took him perhaps less than 15 minutes to unlock. He is then shocked to learn that locks are useless for security, and you explain that a lock is more like 'security theatre'.

"Ruka, I don't ask for much from you but if you're learning this sort of stuff, please don't do anything illegal with what you've learned," your dad begs.

"...." Oh wow, a bit late. You try to think of a diplomatic way of answering your dad's request. You had used lock picking to open your clubroom before deciding on using a bump key.

"Ruka..." Your dad is frowning.

"I, uh, haven't been caught yet?"

At this tepid answer, Master Leblanc just laughs.

Everything is paid and the coffee deposited at home.

The next item on the itinerary is the aquarium. Time to go see penguins! They daily feeding time was at 2 pm, so you'll be enjoying the sight of white and black flightless birds scarfing down fish.

It is a busy Saturday afternoon; the place is full of people. The most eye catching thing though is an extremely large and complicated penguin chart that tracks relationships.

Who ever would have thought that penguins could have such complicated relationships... or so many incestuous ones either. Man, you are so glad that that father-son gay penguin duo broke up because they were fighting over the same female penguin that caught their fancy... according to the chart.

"Hm, not what I was expecting..." Your dad comments as he also follows the various dotted lines, red solid lines and names of the penguin.

"Tell me about it, here I thought penguins were pretty uncomplicated creatures."

>roll 3d6+2, dc 16 to notice something

Rolled 3, 3, 3 + 2 = 11 (3d6 + 2)

>>4910360

Rolled 6, 6, 5 + 2 = 19 (3d6 + 2)

>>4910360

>>4910455
>>4910630
Good morning, I'll start writing
Today will be a little more sporadic in the updates

File: penguins.jpg (798 KB, 3512x1560)

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The feeding of the penguin begins, and the crowd is paying close attention to the playful underwater acrobatics of the birds as they dashed towards the aquarium employees carrying buckets of fish. Those who were on land, waddled energetically towards their favorite handlers.

It absorbs everyone's attention. Yours too, but only for a moment.

There is a prickling feeling on the back of your neck. Was it what people call a sixth sense? Your eyes wander from the penguin exhibit to look around.

At first, it seemed everything was normal and nothing out of the ordinary. What was it then? Something has to be triggering your senses, or could it be that you are again keyed up and paranoid? Last time it was just a silly cat that was behind you when you felt that you were being observed.

There seems to be nothing. Maybe you should give up and focus on the penguin feeding, but that's when you notice it. You almost didn't, the shadows that are cast on a nearby wall. Your blood freezes to note that it looks like P-ko and S-ko, but unmoving.

Were those silhouettes just coincidences? Was it possible that things from the Dream can get out into the waking world? You almost convince yourself that an overactive imagination is causing you to see things but that idea swiftly dies an inglorious death.

'They' move and pull out three squat looking cartoonish penguins. These penguins aren't shadows though, they are actually blue colored penguins with facial expressions. The absurd contrast of faceless shadow girls and cartoonish blue penguins unhinges your reality. You cannot hear the crowd anymore, the presence of other people disappears. It is as though you are standing alone.

Wait... you are standing alone!

You look and realize that everyone else has disappeared.

"Hm, I think our next performance should involve penguins! Maybe we can paint'em black so they'll match us?" P-ko asks S-ko. The three penguins squirm away from the two shadows, annoyed at the idea of being painted.
(continues)

>>4910782
"Too blunt of an allegory, and besides these little guys don't want the paint." S-ko answers. The blue penguins nod vigorously and take the opportunity to waddle quickly away to grab a fish from an abandoned bucket. The fish goes down their throats, only the tail sticking out of their moves. Their beady eyes are starring straight at you.

You are having a Dream while still wide-awake?

"Oh how embarrassing! Caught in the middle of planning our next performance!" S-ko notices you watching them.

"Out you go to the waking World!" P-ko shoos you away, you have a sensation of falling.

You blink and they are gone. The crowd, your dad and the penguins in the exhibit are all back again. The noise and presence of people chases away the surreal sensation of being far away.

"Hey Ruka, are you okay? You look rather pale." Your dad notices your condition.

"Ahhhh, I'm fine. Just a bit tired I guess." The sound of your voice is strange. You couldn't hide how startled you were.

"Hm, well, perhaps today was too much. We'll head on home."

The rest of the day is a blur. You don't quite remember what happened, but all too soon you are about to go to bed.

You know you are going to have a Dream. It is an absolute certainty.

Before bed, what do you do?

>Take your notebook, and then place it under your pillow before sleeping. Old superstition...
>Don't go to bed, try to stay up as late as possible
>Just go to bed. Whatever happens, happens.
>write in

>>4910784
>Take your notebook, and then place it under your pillow before sleeping. Old superstition...

I don't know what this is supposed to do, but it sounds neat.

>>4910784
>Take your notebook, and then place it under your pillow before sleeping. Old superstition...

>>4910784
>Take your notebook, and then place it under your pillow before sleeping. Old superstition...

>>4910792
>>4910855
>>4910895
Seems we're going for old wives tales/superstition

File: lantern.jpg (387 KB, 900x600)

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You decide that if weird supernatural things are going to happen to you no matter what, you could use some old superstitions you've learned over the years to help yourself.

Like taking your notebook and placing it under your pillow before sleeping. It elevates the pillow a bit but not so much that it would be difficult to sleep on it. You heard that if you do so, then the information in the book would be absorbed into your memory while you sleep or improve your concentration on the subject at hand.

The other superstition was that it could do the opposite. Your dreams will be impressed on the pages of the book itself. This is what you're hoping for, that it'll make writing down your dreams much easier. Or maybe something spontaneous will show up on the remaining blank pages of your notebook.

With preparations complete, you go to bed.

Sleeping has always come easily to you, tonight wasn't an exception. Soon you are in a Dream; your bedroom, the mundane and familiar waking world that once surrounded you is far away.

You are standing in the midst of many vermillion gates that seem to stretch out forever, and it is night. The way is lit up faintly with lanterns, shadows cast heavily over the path you must take. It seems obvious that you need to go forward and follow the path yet for some reason the Dream thought it fit to give you a guide. Standing before you is that blue penguin you saw at the aquarium. It amuses you that it has a bandage on its left cheek, just like you.

He raises his flipper to make sure that your attention is on him before turning around to waddle down the path. It is beyond bizarre, there's no obvious need for a guide but you just roll with it.

These vermillion gates are closely fitted together, but there is still a space in between each gate post. And in between those posts, lies a darkness so deep it is impossible to see what is outside the path you are taking. Hundreds of them seem to pass you until at last your penguin guide stops suddenly. He points out with his right flipper the way you need to go.

You approach and see there is a gap in the seemingly endless hall of gates, it is obvious that this was where a gate used to be but now was gone. You look down and note a rotted wooden post stump. Then peer into the darkness and see that in the distance there is a theatre.

It seems you are to step off the stone path and through this gap to your destination.

As you stand, pondering about your decision to step through to the theatre, you hear the deep reverberating pell of a bell. The deep rich sound reminds you of the bell at the local Buddhist temple. It catches the notice of the penguin too, he gazes further down the darkening path where it came from.

>Go through gap and walk to the theatre
>Follow the path onwards the sound of the bell?
>Stand in the path, don't go anywhere

>>4911365
>Follow the path onwards the sound of the bell?
That's new

>>4911365
>Follow the path onwards the sound of the bell?

>>4911365
>Follow the path onwards the sound of the bell?

Hope those -ko twins are good at improv, because we're going off the beaten path.

File: eyes.jpg (27 KB, 696x426)

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>>4911384
>>4911410
>>4911418
the path is what we are taking.
THEY'RE ALWAYS WATCHING.

Why should you follow any path but the one you select? And besides, did you really want to watch an allegorical play by two strange shadow creatures who are clearly spying on your daily life to mine it for their material?

Even your penguin guide is more interested in the unknown path ahead. The sound of the bell is gone but it seemed safe enough.

You ignore the gap, and proceed down the pathway lined with red gates. Your penguin guide doesn't even hesitate and walks by your side to explore this new path. The further you go, the greater the gaps between the gates become. Yet you still see nothing between them, it is a solid mass of blackness.

The lanterns become fewer and fewer, the gaps between gates ever wider and wider. Until at last, you stare ahead into the blackness and discover that you cannot see ahead because of the darkness. There seems to be no more gates and no more lanterns, but the stone path seems to continue on to some unknown destination.

You stop for a moment, and feel a very chill wind blow. Then, you hear it again. The peal of that bell, slow and mournful, is sounding deep from somewhere in that darkness. The lantern behind you that had been shedding the last bit of light begins to dim. The flame must be stuttering and wavering from the wind was your best guess at first, but the look on your penguin guide changes your mind.

It is looking back behind you and it is clearly seeing something horrible. The penguin's beak is open in shock, beady eyes wide and he is sweating madly.

You do not like the look on your penguin. In addition, you like it even less when the pale light of the lantern dies out somehow behind you.

Do you...

>Look behind you as well? roll 3d6 -2, dc 12
>Grab your little penguin dude and run into the darkness
>Stay where you are, you don't know what's ahead and you don't know what's behind you

Rolled 3, 4, 1 + 2 = 10 (3d6 + 2)

>>4911490
>Look behind you as well? roll 3d6 -2, dc 12

>>4911490
>Stay where you are, you don't know what's ahead and you don't know what's behind you

Rolled 6, 1, 6 - 2 = 11 (3d6 - 2)

>>4911490
>Look behind you as well? roll 3d6 -2, dc 12

File: Spoiler Image (8 KB, 370x320)

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>>4911688
they watch

>>4911490
>Grab your little penguin dude and run into the darkness

Fuck that shit, just run with our little guide. Dont want any SAN loss.

>>4911506
>>4911559
>>4911688
>>4911694
Oh wow, we go for the brave option. writing the post in the morning

File: masks.jpg (48 KB, 928x435)

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You can feel it again. You wish you didn't but it's there again.

Fear.

The same fear that paralyzed you in the jewelry store when the monster began its attack. It claws at your brain with horrid imaginings of terrible things, freezes your blood and nails your feet down to the ground.

It is paralyzing. You can't run, you can't stay, you can't hide.

The worst of it though... is this.

You can't bear not knowing what it is behind you.

The curiosity within you whispers a dreaded suggestion.

Turn around and see what it is.

A more rational part of you observes that you should probably just charge on ahead on the darkened path with your penguin buddy tucked under your arm to get away from whatever is behind you that just killed the light. The more panic-stricken part orders you to freeze up and not move at all, in some vain hope that if there was something scary behind you, it'll pass you by.

Slowly you force yourself to turn around and look upon what is behind you.

Floating in the darkness, luminous white masks are flitting about. Numbers are beyond counting.

These white masks are eating up everything you had just walked past. Not a sound escapes as they unhinge their mouths impossibly wide to bite deeply into the stones, the wood, the very guttering light itself and leave behind gaping black holes of darkness of what was once there. There is no chewing, just a bite, a swallow and nothing.

You try not to stare too deeply in the black nothing... becausenothingafternothingafternothingafternothingwaspouringoutofit.

You tear your eyes away from it to focus on the masks. The silent feasting continues, and just when you think you feel a small trickle of courage warm your limbs to action like running away, you see it.

An 'eye'.

The worst thing about the 'eye' was its unblinking stare focused wholly on you. Had it always been silently watching you as you forged ahead on the path?

Yet, if it were just one 'eye', you believe you can break free from your paralyzing fear and start running.

In the darkness, more 'eyes' open.

Twofifteenthirtyninesixty,ohgodohgodwhysomanyeyes.Thesamecolor,samemalevolentgaze,butofmanydifferentsizesandallaroundyou.

You must have lost your chance to run earlier, you are surrounded.

A distinct feeling of despair creeps up on you, as silently and surely as these unnatural things had crept up without your notice.

Your penguin guide is now hugging your leg and burying its face so that he cannot see. You remember that you aren't alone.

>Do you want to use a bonus +1d6 will dice?

Ruka Hoseki, 14 years old

Physical +1d6 (1 per scene)
Mental
Will +1d6 (1 per scene)

>>4911782
I was checking this thread out at the right time.

>Use bonus dice

>>4911784
Remember to roll your dice if you want to use it!

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4911787

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4911782
This is the kind of situation that surely does require will.

>>4911789
>>4911925
Okay bonus dice used.
Unfortunately, today will be another day of very sporadic updates. After the next post, I think a new thread may need to be created friday evening to continue on the adventure.

poor kid is having one HELL of a nightmare

You dreg up from within a store of courage that was still untapped and force it into action. You can feel your limbs are ready to actually move and obey. Staying here to be prey to nightmarish masks and glaring 'eyes' is the worst of all possible choices to make.

Swooping down, you grab the frightened penguin guide clinging at your legs and turn to run down the stone path away from the horrors. You don't bother looking back, you know those things were giving chase. You hear frightened squawks from the penguin, you accidentally grabbed him backwards so he is facing the horrific things behind you.

Ah, you pity the poor bastard. You didn't mean to expose him to the horrors that he tried so hard to hide his face from.

Onwards, ever onwards you run. At first, all you hear is your own ragged breathing and terrified squawks from the penguin.

Then you hear some familiar voices, very close from behind.

"Oh here you are. Wow, this is a bit of pickle. But you know what they say! To those who accept their fate, happiness. To those who defy it, glory!" The silly voice of the shadow players are in your ears.

"Hm, but P-ko, is this really so glorious? I mean, all this running away..."

Oh god, these two... You can't even feel exasperation towards these two shadow weirdos any more. At least you know that these particular shadowy abominations aren't interested in carving out your heart and sanity from your mortal shell.

"How about a bit of help!?" You can barely spit out.

"Oh we don't need to help you. He will. Listen. Can't you hear it?" S-ko asks, you could almost see her cocking her head and cupping her hand to her ears despite utter blackness surrounding you.

"If your soul hasn't truly given up all hope," P-ko continues.

"Then you should be able hear the bells." Both shadow players say at the same time.

You can hear it. The carillons of bells are ringing loudly and brightly. High and low, short and long. Booming, tinkling, shaking, trembling bells. You feel yourself crashing through some sort of invisible wall and shatter it. You don't know what that was, but you inadvertently close your eyes at the sensation and keep them close as you slow down to a walking pace. The air is sweet with the scent of flowers, the sound of water trickling can be heard and the ground feels like soft grass rather than that hard stone path.

When you finally dare to open your eyes to see....

... It is all so beautiful.

This is it for now folks, we'll continue in a new thread on Friday!

>>4912604

Thanks for the run!

I sure hope our intrepid protagonist is able to evade madness and maybe even find a way to escape her fate as a side-character.

so when is it coming because it's almost saturday over here and i don't see thread number three