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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

[ 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. ]

[ Tart's probably easier to taste than sweet, which is helpful but unintentional on Kido's part because she just wanted something sweet and honeydew is a pretty color. It really is nice... Summer can be brutal, especially if she's made to go outside instead of staying in her room all day, and still insists on wearing as much as she does. ]

Hayato, you know where the courtyard is, right? How about you take us there, so we can eat outside?

[ Where there would hopefully be a breeze, and more importantly, less people. Hayato tries to say something but his mouth is too full of ice, so he just nods fervently and starts walking off to lead the way. Kido grabs his hand, leaving Suzume to cling to Terry's leg like a still sticky koala. ]

[ Oh. Terry looks down, tells Suzume to hold on tighter and he'll just walk while giving Suzume a free ride. lmao. Everything can be cleaned off later. It's not a problem. Besides, this is the kind of stuff that kids like, don't they? At least that's what Terry thinks... so they eventually make it to the courtyard and... it's hot, considering they just came out of an air-conditioned building. It's not even peak daytime yet, which makes it even worse, and honestly, Terry finished his shaved ice already before he knew it.

But there really are less people and that's the nice part about it at least. ]

Oh, there's a picnic table over there.

[ She definitely thinks it's fun, squealing with laughter as she wraps her arms tighter around Terry's leg, tries to scoop ice into her mouth and sometimes she makes it and sometimes some of it plops onto Terry's shoe, but everything can be cleaned off later, it's fine.

Kido's still finishing off her shaved ice when they get to the table and sit, but Hayato's done and he fishes off a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket and spreads it out on the center of the table. It's something of a pamphlet with each classroom and what their stand is, for all three school buildings.

"Tousan and Kaasan are coming at noon, but I want to play before then too! Let's go play something together!" ]

[ Terry stacks the empty cups so that it'll be easy to throw away later, with all the plastic spoons contained in the top most cup. He'll throw those away once they start moving again. ]

Hm... There's a lot of cafes and food areas. There's also-- [ A haunted house--wait. ] ... never mind. Since you guys want something fun, I guess the fortune telling is out too. Let's see...

Looks like there's an athletic team doing all kinds of flips and tricks.

[ That's not really "playing", but it sounds good enough to keep the kids entertained. ]

[ Kido looks through the list too, but she doesn't have much of a preference for what to do, since all she planned for the day was to go around the festival with Terry and the kids like she promised, and then ditch and maybe go home when their parents arrive. ]

That might be cool... It's outside, too.

[ It's more watching a performance than anything else, but since it's outside instead of in an auditorium, she supposes it's for the younger students to run around and try to do the tricks too after seeing them. ]

[ tbh, Terry's interest is piqued a little to see what students can do. Maybe he could copy it and apply it to different situations? They probably won't be too hard to pull off--

He stares at the paper a bit more... ]

Oh, it should be starting soon. We should go.

[ It's going to be six-year-olds doing cartwheels or an eight-year-old doing handstands, probably. To be honest, knowing what Terry's like, Kido thinks he should be the one up on stage giving people a show. ]

Right. Just a minute-

[ Kido sits back to push up her left sleeve a bit, touching her hand to her wrist and a familiar ghost cat appears perched up on her head and breathes ice onto the spare napkins, where it melts easily enough. She uses them to wipe off the kids' hands and faces and drops the napkins into the stacked cups so Terry can throw them away, because of course he's on trash can duty. ]

[ He'd have the time of his life, really... Maybe Kido should suggest he work at a circus.

Terry looks at Nekogami appear and wow, that's such a practical use for your Persona. Honestly, even though Terry used his Persona to create some light winds at the play, this looks far more useful. If only Personas can act as portables shades... Vassago might not come out again, even though he took a week off vacation. Anyway, Terry takes the trash and drops them in the trash bin.

Also sometimes I imagine Nekogami as a draping bongo cat... ]

[ bongo cat drumming on Kido's head...

Maybe it's because she isn't battle hungry like SOME PEOPLE are, that she looks at her Persona and thinks of more practical applications outside the dungeon, especially since she mostly just hangs out in the dungeons to leech off people and doesn't fight anyways. ]

Come on, guys, let's go.

[ This is why you're both the brains and brawn here, Kido... Terry's Persona can make people forget stuff, so that's pretty much it that's useful in everyday life, but even that's pretty shady...

He holds Suzume and Hayato's hands and awaaaay they go. He'll swing their hands again too. Terry still has the small bag up his shoulder so that he doesn't lose it. ]

I wonder if they'll hold up well from the heat...

[ ...Haha, the performers must be dying in the heat. Still, when they arrive, it's to the sight of the middle schoolers in their PE uniforms doing their best to keep a smile on their face even as their faces pour with sweat. But they're energetic all the same, and since it's just a little crowd gathered here, Kido's fine with the two kids jumping and shouting with glee in front of the performers, sunlight doing nothing to sap away their energy.

It's tiring just to look at.

Kido tugs her hood a little further forward, like she's trying to use it to shade her face, but it doesn't help. It's probably making things worse, actually, trapping all her hair beside her head too. ]

[ After glancing over at Kido, Terry can only wonder if she will pass out from heatstroke any time from all the layers she's wearing. The heat is pretty strong even for Terry, who just has a normal t-shirt and long pants.

He reaches into his pants pocket to summon Vassago in an attempt to provide shade and some breeze to cool Kido down just a bit. Vassago seems to be careful not to bump into anything or anyone in particular, using its wings to provide some wind.

Meanwhile, there's a middle school student starting off with a cartwheel, does two more, a backflip, and a triple spin in the air before landing on her feet. She can't be more than five feet tall either and she bows as the audience applauds her. Terry stares in surprise. ]

Wow, they sure start off young...

[ Yeah.

Except, Kido is too busy staring up at Vassago, that she had missed the entire performance. She gives Terry this scandalized look, but she can't say anything out loud or else she's the one who's going to come off as crazy. ]

[ When he finally looks over at Kido after the performance, he has no idea why she's looking at him like that until--right, he has Vassago out in the open. lol. ]

It'll be fine. Just enjoy the breeze.

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 8/3-8/4 School Cultural Festival

→ 8/6-8/8 Tanabata Festival

→ MOD NOTES

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