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AUGUST EVENT PT 1

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→ 8/3-8/4 School Cultural Festival

Good morning!! The crows start cawing at the crack of dawn and they're really noisy, but while they're usually a nuisance on the best of days, perhaps the wake-up call will be appreciated this weekend, as the school gates are open over the weekend for the annual cultural festival the students have been hard at work on for the past few weeks. It's an open event for family and friends to come enjoy themselves, or perhaps get dragged into helping out in a booth or two, as some of the students have called in sick or can't be reached at all. Either way, the general commotion centered around the school is probably even loud enough to be heard all the way over in Castle Ouma if you're quiet enough. I don't know how else to get you guys who still live in the castle ruins over here... Hopefully you've been hearing people talking about it all of last month? Or maybe you're a newcomer who's just woken up in the castle ruins, spent ten seconds with Kokichi, and decided to leave the forest and never return, that's also very plausible.

Involving the elementary, middle, and high school buildings on their shared campus, all the typical sorts of booths can be found, including a school play performed by the elementary school students in the auditorium in the morning, and various concerts or performances held throughout the day. In the classrooms, food stalls and cafes are common, along with haunted houses for the braver souls. Rumors say that sometimes people who enter the haunted houses never come out the other side... but never mind that. It's fine. Sports clubs hold friendly competitions outside on the field, and many cultural clubs have displays of their work to show off in their club rooms, so there's plenty to do and see and eat all around campus. Despite all the preparation, however, some of the stalls appear to be empty, others with students frantic about not having enough people to keep things rolling smoothly. Looks like the strange illness going around town last month hasn't completely resolved yet, but maybe it's best for those who are ill to stay home in a crowded place like this.

For those seeking something quieter, tucked away in a corner of the high school building next to a struggling yakisoba stand is a fortune telling tent which doesn't seem to be getting many customers. The line is short and there's no fee, so why not give it a shot? Inside, a hooded figure sits, head bowed and face completely obscured in shadow aside from their chin, illuminated by a cheap looking crystal ball placed in the center of the table. A stack of cards lays on their left, a bag of something smelling faintly sweet and spicy sitting on their right. Without prompting, the fortune teller speaks in a low soft voice, greeting you by name. Weird. Weirder yet, they go on to address you by the arcana on your omamori, be it The Fool or The Hermit or what have you, and rather than answering any questions you may have about your future, the fortune teller instead offers one of two messages:

『To return to where you hailed, you must return to where you arrived. Take with you that which bears the name of the being you have banded together to defeat, and restore what once was.』
or
『When the moon's face shines full and bright, at the cusp of night and day, return to the place of beginnings. Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai must be played, to return two lost souls to this world.』

Huh... Before you can ask any questions, however, your time is up and the next person in line is already pushing you out the seat to the exit. You can always return to the end of the line to have another go, but... curiously, when you enter the tent any subsequent times, a high schooler in uniform greets you, bright and chipper. Home? Souls?? She has no idea what you're talking about if you repeat the messages from before, but never mind that! She can read your fortune!! Maybe you'll let her show off some palmistry and— oh... your life line is rather short... Unfortunate. Never mind, we'll try tarot instead and- hm. That sure is The Tower. Oh well, time's up, next person please!

On Sunday evening as the festivities wind down, a bonfire has been set up in the middle of the field, adding to the unnaturally hot summer night. It's still pretty, though, with the sky dark and bright stars starting to peek out, blankets laid out across the grass and sweet potatoes being passed around to be roasted by the fire. Take the time to relax and breathe... because it's un/fortunately a festival month and the villagers are hype about their festivals.

→ 8/6-8/8 Tanabata Festival

While the students had been hard at work setting up the school festival, the rest of the town had been preparing for the tanabata festival, with stalls set up encircling the entire lakefront at the center of town. Yukata can be bought or rented, along with traditional hand fans to ward off the heat of the summer, and many of the typical food stalls and carnival games can be found, including stalls where you can test your luck in scooping goldfish/yo-yos/other small plastic toys, shooting targets with cork rifles, attempting the rigged ring toss that's impossible to win without cheating, or playing the lottery with tickets for free food from the stalls as consolation prizes. Maybe your luck sucks and you just want to buy stuff and that's fine too. Come with full wallets and leave with full stomachs filled with yakitori skewers, sweet or savory dango, roasted sweet potato, and the seasonal favorite: shaved ice. It's seasonal because it's summer and summer is so hot. This particular summer feels like hell and halfway through the last day, they run out of syrup, but cups of plain ice are still selling very well, so... yay...

While some of the stalls are already heavy with decoration, others are pretty sparse, with the lack of people running them. Which is fine, or intended, because there are workshops held all around for teaching and encouraging people to make decorations meant to improve different aspects of one's life: paper kimonos for artistic ability, strings of a thousand paper cranes for long and healthy lives, paper purses for wealth, colorful streamers for handicraft, wastebaskets for cleanliness, and of course, tanzaku- paper strips hung up on bamboo trees for a wish to be granted by the gods. Decorations are judged for artistic ability, with a small prize given to the best decoration judged at the end of each night.

In the evenings, stages set out along the lakeside feature folk dance performances, and decorations are collected to be lit on fire and sent off in small boats in the lake, the collection of flames giving off a soft light as the paper burns down and turns to ash, reclaimed by the lake as they sink. A reminder from the townspeople to anybody who stands too close to the lake: please do not touch the water. On the very last evening of the festival, a fireworks show is held, shooting up overhead above the lake and is visible anywhere around town, raining down sparks of gold and red, hell fire from the sky.

...Also hell fire in the woods. It's been windy and dry all month, and a small forest fire has started at the edge of town, be it from arson or by accident. The villagers cut the evening short to go help, as there is no established fire fighting service, so any and all assistance would be appreciated. Somewhere nearby, a child starts to cry, unable to find his mother. With the villagers pulled away, the night ends with the stalls left empty. Nobody comes to clean up the next morning...

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ As mentioned in the OOC plotting post, a heat wave befalls the town and NPC villagers start disappearing until the daitengu from last month is defeated. 2 more dungeon threads must be submitted before 8/11 to secure the ofuda. Lockdown continues to occur each midnight, with the school transforming into the dungeon; details can be found on last month's event log.
⬥ For the cultural festival: characters will receive a hint about either 1) how to return home (take the ofuda received after beating the dungeon boss to the castle ruins), or 2) how to summon the Velvet Room attendants (playing Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai at the castle ruins during the full moon), and are highly encouraged to discuss both messages amongst themselves. Characters may learn more about how to play Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, date of the full moon, etc. by asking around town.
⬥ On 8/12 (ICly dated on 8/15, the night of the full moon), a mini-log will go up encompassing both of these findings.
⬥ For the tanabata festival: each character may claim one small wish pending mod approval at any time this month (comment below) for writing their wish down on a tanzaku, and 3 characters will be randomly chosen on 8/12 as winners for the decoration judging, and will be contacted at that time for the option of receiving an additional wish.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, you're not. Burning your mouth on takoyaki is hopeless, not okay.

[ But, well... if he shuts up, he won't say anything stupid, so all she has to worry about is him doing something stupid. Which is still and always is a very big concern. ]

[ All Terry says in response is a small whine. Something about not being hopeless in that gibberish of whatever the hell he's saying with a burned mouth. He might as well be a double edged sword with anything he does... ]

[ Hm, yeah, Kido has no idea what he's saying, but Suzume looks up at him because of the whining and tries to shove a takoyaki at his mouth too. "Niichan, are you still hungry?"

She probably can't even reach up to his face even with her arm all the way up, and the takoyaki has a hole poked into it so it's already starting to slip off the toothpick and will fall on Terry's shoes if he doesn't eat her takoyaki fast enough. ]

[ UGHHHHHH

Terry immediately noms on the takoyaki Suzume holds out because he doesn't want to waste food and he can't tell whether his mouth has lost all feeling or this one isn't as hot as the ones before.

He'll give Suzume a pat on the head after. At least he doesn't feel like dying anymore. ]

Kido, wallet.

[ At least that much is comprehensible. ]

[ It's probably a bit of both, seeing as Hayato's just skipping his sister's turns and finishing up the tray at his own pace now. But it's good that Terry's speech is coming back, because otherwise Kido would have just walked off with his wallet, yeah. ]

Hm? Oh, right. Here it is.

[ She pulls it out of her pocket and hands it over. ]

[ Terry takes it and shoves it back into his pockets. ]

Tha--

[ Terry's eyes go wide for a second and he puts a hand over his mouth, nearly trembling.

He bit his tongue. ]

[ She wants to ditch him. It's not even nine in the morning yet. ]

Let's go get kakigori. Don't worry about paying for it either, if you can lead us there.

It's... right above this floor.

[ At least it sounds like his speech is fine now. He'll just suck it up and ignore the bleeding thing that his tongue is doing. Not like he hasn't swallowed blood before!! ]

[ me, googling what to do when somebody bites their tongue but I guess it's fine as long as Terry's tongue isn't completely severed? Then he's on his own.

But if it's just a little blood, then it's fine, and they'll be getting an ice dessert which should help with any pain or swelling, so he just has to endure it until they get upstairs, Kido shooing the kids away so they'll hold Terry's hands instead of hers and leave her to walk in the front to find the stairs up. The kids' hands are a bit sticky with takoyaki sauce, but it's fine. ]

[ Yeah, it's not severed or anything, but it hurts so much for a short period of time. And tends to bleed a lot, especially since this is Terry we're talking about. It's fine.

The sticky hands feel kinda gross, but again, it's fine. Terry can deal. He'll follow her with the kids in tow. ]

Kido...

[ ... ]

... Are you still mad at me?

No.

[ she says, angrily, stomping harder down the hall.

Angry? Her? Haha, why would he think that, Mr. I'm-not-sorry-because-there's-nothing-to-be-upset-about? ]

[ ...

Terry looks down at Suzume and Hayato for a second before looking back up ahead to follow Kido. He can hear those louder footsteps stand out, even among the crowd that they pass by, and huh. He sure as hell feels sorry now, but he thinks it's best if he doesn't try to make her even angrier, which... could be a tough thing to accomplish, considering how both of them are just. Like this.

So right now, he just shuts up and swings hands with Suzume and Hayato a bit, in hopes that it'll entertain them while they go. ]

[ Yeah... yeah, it's just like this. But Kido's always been pretty angry and gloomy by default, so this might be as normal as things get. At least she's still talking to him, and the kids are happy and—

"Tsubomi! Look!!" Suzume abandons Terry's hand to go tug at the back of her jacket, pointing at one of the arts and crafts club booths, where they're selling little felt animals. "The elephant!!!"

How does Suzume even know what an elephant is, who knows, maybe it's exotic enough to stand out in her picture books. Kido relents, though, throwing a glance Terry's way so he knows they're stopping here, and also turns to face the booth. ...Hell they're cute. But also kind of pricey. ]

The elephant, right, Suzume? Do you want one too, Hayato?

[ He shakes his head, trying to tug Terry forward. Dolls are boring, he wants fooooodd... ]

[ So one wants to go see the little felt animals and the other wants food. Terry wouldn't mind getting the kakigori later, but... he's not sure if Hayato would be patient, seeing as how he is now. ]

I can wait outside with Hayato while you two go look.

[ Hm...... ]

It might take us a while.

[ aka Kido knows it's going to take a while because it'll be her staring at the felt animals all day and pretending she's just here to look after her little sister.

So she digs some money out of her own wallet, and holds it out to Terry. ]

I'll trouble you to buy our share too, and bring them down so we can eat together. Is that alright?

Alright, sure. We'll try to be quick about it. Any particular flavors you two want?

[ He doesn't want to accidentally get a flavor that Suzume and Kido hates....... ]

[ Suzume pipes up with the classic "Strawberry!" but Kido just shrugs. ]

I'm not picky, so I don't mind whatever you choose.

[ She doesn't know what flavors are being offered, anyways, and she figures that if hers is a gross one, she'll just trade with Terry and make him eat it instead. It's not like he can taste anything with a burnt tongue. ]

Okay. Let's go, Hayato.

[ Kakigori, kakigori... Terry peeks at each passing classroom while still holding onto Hayato's hand so they don't get separated. ]

Ah, here it is. Which flavor do you want, Hayato? [ Then he turns to the stall owner. ] Actually, can I have several napkins first?

[ The student at the stall hands the napkins over, as Hayato, like his sister, immediately pipes up with his favorite flavor: "Blue!"

...It counts as a flavor. The blue one. ]

[ ...

Cute. Well, he's known some people who can actually taste blue, but he'll get the blue colored one anyway. ]

I'll get... strawberry, blue raspberry, passionfruit, and honeydew please. All small size, please.

[ He takes the napkins and offers one to Hayato after paying for the kakigori. ]

Gotta make sure your hands are clean first. Don't forget to throw it away into a trash bin. [ He points at one nearby. ]

[ They could have made a pit stop at any of the bathrooms but Hayato nods as he wipes off his sticky sauce covered hands so that they're dry and only a little bit sticky, trotting over to the trash can to throw the napkin away after.

After the syrup is poured over the ice, the staff hands over four cups sitting on top of a tray, with a piece of tape stuck over one edge with the class room number penned on it so he knows where to return the tray to later.

Hayato makes grabby hands for his blue. ]

[ Yeah, he really doesn't think... Well, he'll pick up the tray and makes sure there's a plastic spoon for each cup. ]

Not yet, Hayato. We said we'd eat together, remember? Let's go meet up with them before they melt.

[ He'll hold the tray with his left and hold Hayato's hand with his right. Working as a butler waiter sure paid off... so he'll start leading Hayato back to where they are. Once they're there, he peeks inside the room with all the felt animals to see if Kido's still around with Suzume. ]

[ They're still lingering inside the room, seeing as it's a bit roomier in here than out in the hall where all the foot traffic is. Terry and Hayato get stopped at the door, since food isn't allowed inside the classroom, but that easily catches Kido's attention and she brings Suzume back out with her.

"We're back!" Hayato announces, making grabby hands for his blue again, while Suzume also beams up at the tray with a felt elephant clutched in her hands. Neither of them spare Terry or Kido a second glance, but that's okay. ]

I got something for you, but don't open it until later.

[ It's a small bag, whatever's inside very light and covered in tissue paper so he can't see what's inside, but Kido shoves the handles at Terry's free hand before relieving him of the honeydew cup. ]

--Huh? Oh, thanks.

[ Okay, he definitely won't open it until later. No problem! He puts the handle over the back of his hand to give the strawberry one to Suzume and blue raspberry to Hayato. He takes a spoonful of the lonely leftover kakigori, the passionfruit flavor and he can actually taste the tart flavor. Nice. His mouth isn't as damaged as he thought, but the flavor is still mixed with the earlier bleeding, so he hopes the first few spoonfuls will get rid of it. ]

Ah... it's so nice...

[ He wants to melt into the floor from how nice the ice is in this summer heat. ]

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→ 8/3-8/4 School Cultural Festival

→ 8/6-8/8 Tanabata Festival

→ MOD NOTES

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