36 - Dragon Dance

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens cover for a missing goddess at her temple festival.
When: March 18
Where: Near the Sensou-ji temple in Asakusa
Summary: After Kannon's disappearance last year, the Heavens are concerned that things might go wrong at her temple's March 18 omikoshi festival. They've asked new gods and shinki to attend the festival and keep an eye out for trouble. Meanwhile, trusted newcomers and older gods and shinki alike are watching over the cultists that have been identified.






The Festival

Shrine-carriers, musicians and dancers congregate early in the morning in their matching outfits to get organized into their parade. Luckily, all of the parade participants this time are alive and well. There aren't even any troublesome ayakashi hanging around... so why is everyone having such bad luck?! Laces are breaking, costumes tearing, small children are getting sick from nerves, and even the drums seem to have gone out of tune. It looks like this parade is going to need a whole lot of help to prevent disaster.

For those who aren't busy with the parade preparations, food and souvenir booths throng the area in front of the temple. There's traveling games, too, and plenty of people showing up early with their families to find a good spot to watch the parade. This is one of Tokyo's most popular temples, so it's quite a crowd!

The Stakeouts

Any gods or shinki who were told about the cult problem by Amaterasu -- or anyone who might have heard from friends and allies about the plans -- can help Amaterasu's shinki keep a tight watch on all of the known cult members. Her shinki are looking for any sign of the young gods who she believes are behind all of this trouble, but are there other clues that might be found by a keen observer? Join in on staking out a cult member, and see what you can see.

Current cult members that the shinki are watching include:

• Mitsui Ryou - lives alone in a medium-sized apartment, appears to work a 9 - 5 schedule with occasional late nights.
• Imai Takeru - lives in a small two-story house by himself, has an unpredictable schedule.
• Shimoda Tsuki - lives alone in a small apartment with a lot of plants, works retail with varying shifts.
• Oota Saburo- lives in a medium-sized apartment with his wife and two young children, works a 9 - 5 schedule with frequent work trips.
• Maeda Shinnosuke - lives alone in a small, messy apartment, works construction (early mornings, long days.)
If your character is taking part in the surveillance of any of these people, please feel free to comment to the Cult Clues thread below with the name of the character they're watching, and the times that they're watching that character, in order to learn what they might see. (Note: surveillance doesn't have to take place only on the 18th. Characters can take part in watching the cult members at any time after Amaterasu's announcement on March 8.)

The Parade

At noon, the parade begins. Misfortune is still dogging the participants and the crowds around them, but it looks as though everything will go all right up until the final turn as the heavy, gilded shrine turns back towards the main temple building, tips, and slowly falls over sideways, straight for the crowd.

What's worse, when the shrine hits the ground, it cracks open -- and a huge, jellyfish-like ayakashi wearing a giant white mask with a single black eye inscribed on it heaves its way out and begins lashing its tentacles in every direction. People stung by the tentacles are driven into a furious frenzy, and fights are breaking out everywhere. Stop the humans from fighting, take care of the injured, and destroy the ayakashi before the situation gets any worse.

The Pursuit

In the middle of the fighting crowd, two white-robed shinki are chasing after a very average-looking salaryman in a tan coat. He doesn't seem to know that the shinki are chasing him, but he is moving fast, and they're in danger of losing track of him. They're calling out to any Far Shore denizen close enough to hear, shinki or god:

"Don't let that guy get away! He knows what happened!"

Anyone who has met or spent time staking out Mitsui Ryou will recognize him as the escaping salaryman. If your character takes part in the pursuit, please comment to the Cult Clues thread with a link to your thread - the character who successfully catches Mitsui will be determined by RNG on January 6, 2019.

In Summary:

• Attend the Sensou-ji festival
• Enjoy food and games
• Help Amaterasu's shinki stake out the cult
• Fight a masked ayakashi
• Have fun~

Comments

A

[reloves]

[ Maybe it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to see the other girl just.. standing there in the middle of all the festival activities, not doing anything in particular. After all, when Minako spoke to her on the day new gods and shinki showed up, Tsubasa also hadn't seemed very interested in the games and activies going on.

But even so, Minako can't just see this and not do anything about it! Even if it's a festival where a lot of things are going wrong, it's still a festival! You ought to have fun with these sort of things!

So Minako quickly moves over to where Tsubasa is standing, seeming to pop out of the crowds from almost nowhere right as she speaks up-- ]

Hey, have you just been standing around like that all this time?

[beyondtheblade]

[If Tsubasa were more easily spooked she may have jumped in fright at that. As it is, she jolts a little, before realizing who it is.]

Ah, hello... no, not quite. I tried helping clean something up a little while ago... [But had just made a bigger mess.] It's seemed more prudent since then to keep a lookout for other strange happenings.

[Being at a festival doesn't really register to her.

She's here to do a job, right?]

[reloves]

Well, I guess I can't say you're wrong..

[ Since there is something going on here, even if Minako isn't sure at all just what exactly is causing things to go so spectacularly wrong here at the festival. And usually she might just have let someone do that, Tsubasa doesn't seem like the type who'd know how to have fun even if she tried to, huh..?

Maybe it's time for Minako to help with that a bit too then. She has some time between helping out with everything that's going wrong! ]

Oh..! [ Looking like she had a sudden realisation. ] Now you mention it, I saw something really weird over there near the goldfish scooping stand. Can you help me check it out?

[ Clearly without any ulterior motives! ]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsuabsa can have fun! ... Sometimes! Just not while working, and she feels like this is fairly close to that. Right? Well, it sounds like a good excuse anyway.

However, that? She takes completely seriously, and without any ulterior motives. She certainly can't think of why one would have any!]

Oh! [Her eyelashes flutter as she looks off in the direction of that stand. She'd passed by there a little while ago...] I could, certainly. What did you see?

[She's asking, completely seriously, not to mention urgently.]

[reloves]

[ Hehehe. Perfect. Minako is definitely not above telling white lies - especially not when they're for the greater good! The greater good of Tsubasa coming out of this whole experience with some fun aside from just having done a lot of work, that is. ]

It was something about the goldfish.. Here, come along, I'll show you!

[ Before waiting for an answer, Minako is already heading off in the direction of the stall. ]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa stares after her curiously. She's certainly not suspicious - after all, Minako has only been nice to her, and she very much appreciates that. Still, there's something a little odd going on here, so she follows calmly behind her.]

Well, that's a little concerning, what sort of accident could have...

[She gasps.] They're not dead, are they?

[reloves]

Oh, no! [ At least Minako looks pretty horrified at that suggestion as well. She may be having some ulterior motives here, sure, but there's no part of her that's actively malicious. Especially not enough to lie to someone about dead animals. ]

No way! They were just acting kind of strange?

[beyondtheblade]

...oh.

[Well. That's a relief? Perhaps she shouldn't jump so far ahead in conclusions, she's used to matters being a bit more life and death.]

...how do goldfish... act strange?

[reloves]

It's really difficult to explain with words.. [ If Tsubasa actually already knew her well, Minako might even play up her reputation as an idiot with certain people to try and make this plan work even better. But thankfully it isn't needed anyway when the other girl generally seems to believe her right now. ]

You have to see it for yourself! Look, we're almost there!

[beyondtheblade]

[Don't worry, Minako.

Tsubasa's own idiot reputation is also something few have yet caught on to.

They're on a basically even playing field.]

See it for myself... [She frowns, but shrugs.] If you so. I'll have to trust you, then.

[But what the hell could be wrong with goldfish. She just looks perplexed.]

[reloves]

[ The double idiot squad moving on through the festival grounds..

They do reach the goldfish scooping stall right after, and this is where Minako knows she has to get extra creative. Because these goldfishes? Totally normal. Not doing anything weird in the slightest. But she can't just let the other girl walk away without playing the game, so..! ]

Oh, that's so odd.. They kind of look normal now, huh? [ Thankfully Minako is pretty decent at putting up the innocent act. ] Maybe the weird stuff only happens when you play the game..

[ HINT HINT. NUDGE NUDGE. ]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa purses her lips and stoops down to take a look at the goldfish. Indeed, they are...

Goldfish.

She tilts her head as she turns to look at Minako.]

Only when you play a game?

[Think.]

...

Why don't you show me, and I'll keep an eye on them.

[...

Probably not what she was aiming it.]

[reloves]

[ Minako's eyes light up when Tsubasa speaks at first, because this is going so perfectly. It's all heading in exactly the right direction. Surely the other girl will realise she should try and play it to see--

.. and then the suggestion comes. And the light in Minako's eyes is just.. gone. What a setback. ]

Oh.. A.. Are you sure you don't want to try it yourself..? [ A last feeble attempt. Even her smile is kind of half-hearted. ]

i laughed myself stupid until I could reply

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa's eyebrows arch, head tilting further. What an odd reaction she has. So, she stands up and shrugs slightly.]

I... could? I guess there wouldn't be a problem with that if you'd like to keep an eye on them.

[...it was really just as simple as asking directly, it would seem.]

good!!

[reloves]

[ That easily?! Seriously, Minako is going up and down an emotional rollercoaster over here. Maybe Tsubasa is a mightier opponent than she imagined. Or maybe, just maybe, Minako is just grossly overthinking every single part of this.

Still, it's a relief. She quickly nods. ]

Yeah, yeah! I think it's better if you do it-- maybe it wouldn't work if I did it a second time, after all!

[beyondtheblade]

[That easy. Tsubasa is nothing if not a very direct person. She's ... simple that way.

So overthinking, perhaps!]

Hmmm. Perhaps. If that is not the case, we can try again with yourself.

[She gives a sage nod. Of course. That makes sense. Right.]

What... sort of game is this?

[reloves]

It's a super simple game! All you have to do is take one of these tiny nets--

[ She picks one up, handing it over to the other girl. ]

And then you have to try and catch one of the goldfish with it! Careful though, they're smarter than you think. [ Not.. really. More like "quicker than you think", but she's trying to make it sound exciting and fun! Because that's the main goal here, having fun. ]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa takes a look at it, then at the pool, then at Minako.

She gives a firm, overly serious nod.]

Of course! It seems simple enough.

[...not that she has a whole lot of experience with this sort of thing. No real childhood, and all that. She only really got to enjoy school in her last year of High School, and never really got to go to any festival like this.

So, she readies herself, and ... looks more like she's about to try and slice the tank in half with the net than scoop a fish out of it.]

[reloves]

[ ...

That's Minako just staring for a moment. Blankly. Sure, she gets getting a little overly excited about games - in fact, usually she is the one getting way too worked up over them - but this is a whole other level. It's only when Tsubasa is about to lower the net and possibly take down the whole stall that she quickly speaks up-- ]

Ah, ah, ah, wait..! [ It already seemed a little weird that Tsubasa never did this before, but if she's planning on it with so much force.. how sheltered must the poor girl have been? ] You have to be more careful than that, you'll scare the fish away..! [ Or downright kill them with that force, geez. ]

[beyondtheblade]

...ah?

[Honestly it's probably good that Minako stopped her. She thought maybe if she acted fast enough, the fish wouldn't see her coming!

Actually yeah that probably wasn't a good idea.]

Careful, you say? Hm...

[She relaxes a bit and takes a breath.] I can do careful, my apologies.

[So she takes a different approach. If she can't just snap it into the water, she... just tries to dip it. And... still misses.]

...Hrm.

[reloves]

[ Thankfully she avoided that potential for destruction.. This place already has enough bad luck going on without people accidentally smashing stalls. Phew. ]

Well.. That was a good first try!

[ She's going to put a positive spin on anything, just you watch!! She even politely smiles and all. ]

But maybe you need to put in just a tiiiny bit more energy. Just a little bit! [ Minako is making sure to really put some emphasis on that before Tsubasa goes for the kill all over again.. ]

[beyondtheblade]

A little, hrm?

[Now having failed once, Tsubasa is a bit more focused. Not quite like before, but she's a perfectionist. In all things but cleaning. She readies her net, and does as instructed, a little splash plopping up as she sends the net in... and comes up with not one, but two goldfish.

She blinks, though, peering down at it.]

Do they... look at all odd?

[reloves]

Two at once?!

[ And that while she's playing the game for the first time! It's so surprising to Minako that she couldn't even keep that thought to herself and just had to voice it out loud before she even realised what she was doing. She's staring at the net with the two goldfish as if they grew two heads or something.

After a moment she realises how obvious her surprise is though, and she quickly tries to recover. ]

Ah-- I mean-- These seem pretty okay, maybe you should try catching one of the other ones!

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa just gazes at her in a certain amount of confusion. Was it that surprising? It's what she was trying to do, right?

Oh, well. At that answer she frowns, but then nods. And... dumps her goldfish back into the pool.]

Well, if you insist, I can give it one more try.

[She eyes the pool, like a swordsman deciding their next strike.]

Is there anything in particular I'm looking for?