June 2022 Event

[jigokumods]

MAIN NAVIGATION

1. SWIMSUIT TROUBLES (1 POINT)

As the city goes through its daily motions, the heat bears down harder and harder while bringing out some increasingly overheated behavior from the local population. Summer is here and the natives are flocking to the shopping district: both as a respite from the scorching temperatures and to stock up on the needed supplies to beat the heat.

That means one noticeable problem: the bathing suits left on the racks aren’t the most fashionable at this point! Suits are scarce and what is left over are the skimpy, the oddly-patterned, a size too small, or all of the above. Then again, you are probably just feeling lucky you aren’t in the Shuten Clan, who have been provided their own precious supply of freshly laundered tiger stripe bikinis. And nothing else.

You may be able to borrow around within your own faction, where the pickings might not be so slim, but are still unlikely to match your personal style. Better hope you ran out to buy something nice when the Daitengu first announced the party.

2. BEACH GAMES (1 POINT)

The indoor beach facility that the Alliance has provided is extraordinary. It’s massive! It seems to extend to the size of an entire soccer field. With the combinations of Kappa tech and Tengu magic, the experience has been made as close to a natural one as anyone could ask for. The heat of the beach feels true to the real world, the sand is white and pure, and the waves rolling in and out are just like the mortal realm. Even the palm trees and beach scrub seem entirely authentic. The vibe is immaculate.

Each faction has their own area set up for meeting and mingling but everyone is welcome to let loose and interact among all the groups.

SHUTEN CLAN

The Shuten Clan has set up their beach fort with food and drinks. The drinks on offer are a particularly strong Oni beer and a few spirits (especially sake). These drinks have been mixed so that anyone who imbibes them will feel a heightened sense of competition and the need to prove themselves!

There are plenty of opportunities to show off:

• Learning surfing with a few knowledgeable Oni.
  
• Volleyball matches.
  
• Shoulder chicken tournaments.
  
• Beer pong.
  
• Drinking contests that never seem to stop.
  
• And friendly scuffles with some of the Shuten who are feeling more rowdy than usual.

In particular, the volleyball matches appear to be the Shuten Clan’s sport of choice. They’re taking these matches deathly serious. With all powers allowed in play, the game is truly deadly with how powerful, how fast, and how fierce those spikes and volleys are. Hold nothing back and leave it all in the ring!

Toraguma himself is here in his tiger striped best! He’s observing the games and taking note of which Shutens do well and which ones shame the clan with their defeat. He’ll give out rewards to those he thinks are exemplifying the pride of the clan. Don’t worry though, if you’re not up to snuff you won’t be punished; except with Toraguma’s obvious disappointment.

TAMAMO CLAN

The Tamamo Clan doesn't disappoint either. Their tiki bar is set up with a far greater variety in stock than the Shutens. Every drink seems to be made to that Lost Soul’s exact tastes. Watch out, this may compel you to pound them back more quickly than normal. The drinks will make you feel much closer to those around you — either in camaraderie, or something more intimate. The Tamamos have arranged a number of floats, inner tubes, and water wings lounging in the water. Enjoy your time together!

When you aren’t relaxing, the Tamamo Clan has also arranged huge buckets of water balloons and have filled their water guns. The instructions are clear: whether sniping from afar or going in on a full assault, go nuts. Especially against the Shutens. Lady Tenkohime herself has a high-caliber, sniper-grade water rifle with her at her lounge chair. She will occasionally pick some unlucky soul to fire off devastating rounds against. She is not soaking them in just water, of course. This is the Tamamo clan’s patented ‘perfume’, which inspires the most amorous feelings.

Finally, the Tamamo have also inspired a spicy wet t-shirt contest. It’s essentially a sexy beauty contest, but given the variety of bodies and hidden ‘talents’ tucked away under everyone’s clothes, it should prove interesting! Tenkohime has described the simple rules:

• One must wear the provided white shirt and only that shirt.
  
• The crowd will soak them down.
  
• And the crowd will judge how well they pull it off.

SUTOKU CLAN

The Sutoku Clan has been given free reign on a fleet of jet skis and paddle boats; perfect for two. There are boogie boards and larger inner tubes ready to be attached to different jet skis. Just be careful, ok?

A large snack bar has been provided with cheerful yokai behind the counter ready and willing to serve up your heart’s desire. There are some strange candies towards the end of the bar, they taste a bit funny but once you eat one you’re compelled to have a few more. These sweets will give you the power to breathe underwater. What is the meaning of this power? Well, you’re in the Alliance, after all, you figure out what’s under the waves.

Sutoku games include things like kan jam and frisbees, but Sutoku Souls are also very much encouraged to participate in the Shuten Clan’s volleyball tournament. Much to Toraguma’s frustration, the Alliance has planted a Tengu referee who seems to really favor the Alliance players over his own. Use your powers liberally.

The Daitengu is in attendance with sunscreen marks on their mask, for some reason. They’re being a total busybody, as usual. They’re really taking the time to chat up Tenkohime and Toraguma, even if the two want to rip each other’s throats out. Could a resolution to the turf war be on the way? One can only hope!

ENMA DEPARTMENT

The Enma is instructing the members of the Department to volunteer (aka voluntold) for lifeguard duty. The shifts are short — it is ultimately a party — and participation will net you both free food and drink from any of the vendors, as well as license to let loose for the rest of the party! The fare provided by the Enma vendors is pretty staid, but it does fill you with the odd need to run down the beach shallows in slow motion. Not sure what that’s about.

There is one further task that is expected of the Enma Department: suikawari. It is a big deal and to be taken seriously! This is the Enma’s favorite beach activity and the only diversion that he cares about. Your guess is as good as anyone’s, but it’s probably because the game resembles a form of execution. Regardless! Every officer is expected to do at least one round of the game as a form of initiation to the Department itself. Captain Shiki hosts the game in the absence of the Enma. Someone should tell her to chill out with that whistle, though.

3. BONFIRE (1 POINT)

As the hosts of the event, the Sutoku Alliance has set up a massive bonfire as the sun begins to set and stars light up the magical sky. There’s a romantic feeling in the air. Things seem as chill as they ever could be, there are no Haniwa in sight! Things feel peaceful for the first time in a while.

A final happy hour is declared, with free libations for everyone to close out the night. It’s time to finish this party in style. For anyone particularly watchful, they may spy the extraordinary sight of Toraguma and Tenkohime together. Off in the shadows while the party rages on, they are sitting together and watching the waves roll in. What could they be discussing? It will remain a mystery, getting any closer to them would be a deadly mistake.

The evening closes without any major incidents. Nothing seems like it could spoil the mood. It almost feels too good to be true.

4. AND THEN... (2 POINTS)

As all the party goers change back into their clothes and exit the facility, there is a rumble of thunder over Jigokucho. The stars are quickly swallowed by a darkening sky and the ground shakes. A minor earthquake? That’s not unheard of but the sky above is looking threatening. Evil. Darkness washes out over the entire city, none of its many bright lights able to cut through. Something is wrong. Something is happening.

A warm rain begins to fall, spattering across you and your surroundings. It becomes quickly apparent that you are not doused with water, but with blood.

The silence is shattered suddenly when a scream cuts across the whole of Jigokucho. An accursed miasma pours out from every direction. Then you see them: the Haniwa. They are everywhere, gazing from every direction, pressing in. Something has gone terribly wrong.

Captain Shiki is the first to act. She makes a call to Kaigo no Bou, but what she hears is enough to freeze her in her tracks.

The containment center deep beneath the tower where the Haniwa were being stored has been compromised. All of the cursed energy that was stored there has leaked out into the city from below. The guards below are dead. No one is answering their radio. It is not just the containment center that has been compromised, but all of Kaigo no Bou.

Captain Shiki struggles to remain calm as she gives out orders. Her entire command structure has been decimated, but she has to keep these people safe. She urges everyone to seek shelter, immediately. Everyone needs to partner up and stick together.

None of the faction leaders present arguments and they enforce this ruling with their Souls. They direct everyone to make their way back to their home base. Shuten to the Arena, Tamamo to Mizukume, and Sutoku to Konoha. There, their faction leaders can protect them.

As for the Enma officers: they are on rescue duty. You will be heading out into the city to rescue as many people as possible from the nightmarish effects of the cursed energy on the city. Captain Shiki will act as their point of command at the indoor beach.

Good luck, everyone.

5. IN THE CURSED NIGHT (2 POINTS)

A rain of blood is sprinkling all around you. It pings off sign posts and garbage bins, it splatters wetly onto the concrete and your face. The scent is pungent and thick; spoiling. It is soaking in to your hair, your clothes, your skin. It is driving you mad: your pulse spinning, breathing short.

There are noises in the impenetrable darkness. Fox feet on the pavement, crow wings shifting on a perch, a stranger's cruel laughter. The dark energy that has swallowed you is bemused by your smallness, is lurking at the edges and waiting for the moment to strike. Hold tight to your fellows, lest in the darkness another hand be placed in yours. Do you know who you walk with? What you walk with?

The Haniwa are watching you from every surface; crowded together as one with their empty eye sockets and open mouths. Their dark eyes turn to follow where you go as you stumble through your nightmares and your delusions. They breathe in your suffering on the air.

Beware the onibi, they will lead you astray.
Beware the grasping hands in the trees.
Beware the whispers in the distance.
Beware the slope to the river.
Beware. Beware.

Welcome to the June event!

• Art by astrono77153462
  
• Special shoutout to vandalisto for coming up with the meat of this event; the beach party. They approached us with this as a player plot, and it was good enough that we made it into the full event for the month. Excellent work, Vandal!
  
• If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
  
• If your character participated in the volleyball games, see here! If they participated in the wet t-shirt contest, see here!
  
• If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Comments

[watermemory]

If it was any consolation, in Minakami's professional opinion, so-called modern beer was not an experiment he was repeating. Neither the drinks that were being provided as the day was winding down, or the ones being handed around Shuten's players before the volleyball matches. In retrospect, considering the effects the latter had, those were probably more like the energy drinks in the vending machines around town than alcohol. Fun at the time, but... ech.

"How could I, if I didn't know you were asleep..." On that topic, Tamamori going from standing to slumped up against him was, uh, a surprise, almost enough to wonder if he was still feeling the effects of that ahem cocktail from before. Still, at this point, most of the small groups and couples on the beach were occupied or... um... occupied. Minakami shifted a little, reaching up to comb out the sand still sticking to Tama's hair.

"How was your first experience with the open sea?" As if he hadn't frozen on the beach the first time he'd seen Tamamori dive under the waves... and the second time. He'd eventually relaxed and returned to his own business conveniently missing an exciting new way to freak out over jet-skiing. "Most people don't go from never swimming to deep-sea diving in one day."

[fuckdogramagra]

Given he leaned in just fine to Mina brushing the sand out of his hair...he was clearly 100% sobered up, and doesn't like the tone of your text implying otherwise!!!! But he did pry himself off so he could flop down backwards next to Minakami instead, arms and lets stretched out all as one like the cat he absolutely was not, either.

"If I didn't do it now, then there's no telling when I would get to try next." Being here was a reprieve in a lot of ways- no hashihime looming over his shoulder, enough magic and yokai to make the impossible possible, and technologies that seemed just as mystifying. But it won't be that way forever. That's always the morose way that festival days and vacations left him feeling; the inevitable absence and loss, things changing and twisting way out of his reach. Or maybe he's just sulking because everything's over, and he doesn't want to go home yet. "There was a bunch of colorful corals down there, but made out of lights instead of rocks." listen he isnt the one with the fish memories he doesnt know how reefs work- "I pocketed some of the candies for later, or in case of emergencies."

Most of the other people around the bonfire were cozied up, which was the very thin justification Tama needed to sit elbow to elbow with, y'know, his boyfriend and all. He wasn't a necking kind of person, but the warm fire and the totally absent alcohol content in his blood still had him feeling less prickly than average. "What about you? You played more volleyball than I did, at least."

[watermemory]

Whatever you say, Tama. Minakami dropped his hand, letting it rest not actually on Tamamori's head, but on the ground just barely brushing his hair. Content to just have this moment, side by side.

"True, true." As far as he knew, there weren't any large bodies of water besides the Sanzu, certainly nothing like this vision of the ocean. (He thought again about the shark tribe, by all accounts far from home and -- changed.) He glanced down at Tama, upside-down from his vantage point. "What's the next big festival? Tanabata is in two months... I wonder if we'll celebrate it here or at home."

Lights in the sea, instead of coral reefs... now that he mentioned it, there were the faintest glimmering lights in the ocean, that weren't just from the reflected stars. "I can't help thinking, if you took a boat out, how far you could go. Would you hit a wall, or would you just keep going?"

Minakami made a noise that sounded, for him, awfully close to a disgruntled huff, rubbing the side of his face where he'd hit the deck more than once. "Ah, well... I should've known better than to underestimate our fellow lost souls. It seems I won the oyaji's approval, anyway." He trailed off a little, there -- he wasn't going to badmouth his own boss, but Toraguma's crude comments about his rival during the event announcement had been... Minakami's eyes flickered over to the shoreline, where he'd spotted the two faction leaders bafflingly close to cozying up together, but either he was looking in the wrong place or they'd gone somewhere else. Hm. Never mind, then.

[fuckdogramagra]

"...probably here, at this rate." Leaving might have been eventual, but certainly they hadn't done enough to earn, well, whatever things they had pledged for. He couldn't imagine what Minakami could have asked for, and though he was agonizingly curious, it also felt private, taboo almost. Like explaining a wish you needed to come true.

Instead of letting his thoughts drift too sharply in to morose territory, Tama instead let himself make a scrunkled expression at Mina's wording. "Oyaji...I know that's the term, but it's weird hearing it, still." Would Tenkohime be oneesan? Onee...sama?? How would he even try to approach Daitengu...?????? Enma was no longer Enma-sama, but Enma-shi for how little he'd ever even tried to approach others and for his constant absence...

Right. Wait. He was mid thought about something else, wasn't he? Still completely sobered. Don't get it mixed up. It was too late to look in the direction Minakami's eyes had wandered even, but he did try to squint anyway, before giving up after a token effort. "When we do get back home- I want us to take a boat out to sea. Not a fishing boat, but those fancy ones that dock in to the Capital, and go out to Sendai or Nagasaki." He sighed, slumping himself against Minakami again. "I did sort of "kill" the northbound train, so it's not like we could get anywhere by rail. Really, I just want to go out and see more things."

[watermemory]

The reality of their contract fulfillment -- that had been what he'd thought too, but still... The sigh was quiet, under the crackling of the fire and murmur of other conversations scattered around them.

Hoping for things to change, for some kind of future not just here but back in the real world -- it felt uncomfortable, a skill he hadn't practised for years. He'd had a silly daydream about the two of them at the festival in Aizuwakamatsu, but for some reason the picture wouldn't hold. Something was missing.

Maybe he was being stupid. This should have been what he'd wanted.

"We should get used to the terminology. Aren't we "hardened yakuza criminal so-and-so's"?" Repeating Tamamori's words back at him from that daft conversation at the convenience store, a few weeks ago.

"I'd like that. I..." Minakami, who'd relaxed enough to rest his cheek on Tamamori's hair (it didn't smell of the ocean, the "seawater" was too artificially pristine for that, but something like it), stiffened. He'd had some inkling something dramatic had happened that last day, both from Tamamori's own words and the evidence of the hashihime changing hands, but this was the first he'd heard of -- "W-when you say you killed the train..."

[fuckdogramagra]

........well, looks like maybe he wouldn't be having that nice steamer trip after all. Tama turns his torso around to face Minakami, clapping his hands together in faux-prayer, and trying his damnedest to smile through his grimace. "Promise not to get mad?"

Minakami had never gotten mad, of course. Not at him. But by the gods did Tama know he was pushing it, nearly every day of their life together.

[watermemory]

Minakami knows this look. This is the look of 'Tama knows I am the biggest sucker in the world and that I am going to fall for it. I know I am going to fall for it. I cannot stop this from happening, I am just a passenger in this runaway train, that is apparently dead of murder.'

"Tamamori..."

For the thousandth time, he relents.

"I promise. What happened?"

well i gotta use the icon, its expected of me

[fuckdogramagra]

Thousanth in this life or overall?

"...I almost fell off the train, so he would grab my arm." The wince only seems split because of how part of him is still extremely proud of his last ditch effort. He'd been crafty! And smart! And if it hadn't worked he would have become a bloodied smear on the tracks, and Kawase would have been so deeply traumatized that no amount of explaining could ever have fixed it. "It, kinda...caused the train to derail. But!" He's quicker to interject after that worrying sentiment. "Nobody died! I told you that part, didn't I? I got it back without anyone dying, and we were both okay."

It's odd to be nostalgic for something that was only a month back, but Tama lets himself flop on to his back on Mina's tarp anyway, closing his eyes and trying to remember the sensation of the grass tickling his ears. "...he was mad, but he was smiling, too. We both were." His hand reaches out to dig in to the sand, a little disappointed it's not the muddy riverbank he can see so clearly in his mind. "I was so excited to find you, and tell you all about it."

[watermemory]

He hardly absorbs half of that, after the part about Tamamori trying to jump off a speeding train in front of Kawase to taunt the capricious centuries-old spirit into possessing him right back. He's going to expire. He should have thrown that punch and let whatever it was that Matoba summoned drag into into the actual hells his soul was destined for, except that this clearly was a hell of his own design, because he was cohabiting with it.

"Y-you..."

For a moment it might sound like he's winding up to say something, maybe not an outburst but some month-late demand if he really was unscathed, or scolding for recklessness, or how he could be sure nobody got hurt from a train derailment.

Instead. He just. Slides bonelessly down to the tarp himself, thumping his head on the soft ground as he exhales all the air in his lungs at once.

"..." Minakami pushes his hair out of his face, even though his eyes are closed in defeat. "...I can't believe he didn't beat you senseless for that anyway."

[fuckdogramagra]

"I'm too charming to beat up." In some ways, he knows that's not just bluster to say. If he weren't so earnest, or 'honest' as Kawase insisted, then Tama certainly would have pushed away even Minakami's unending patience and kindness. He certainly would have run to the end of Kawase's rope. Maybe his childish behavior was why Professor let Tama bully him without getting fed up, even. Either way about it, though, he was only too glad it had worked out...because if it hadn't, if Kawase hadn't passed the hashihime back to him then...

Tama rolls over on to his side, still unrepentently proud of himself, but a little less bright in the wattage of his smile. "I'm sure that, that shameless thing he told me-" You know the thing. He's not saying it again or he will die of mortification all over again, and he'd done that once already. "-was the meanest punishment he could come up with. But I sure showed him- I'm taking full advantage of his lapse in judgement. When he shows up, I'll say it right back to him, and he'll choke on his stupid cigarettes!" It only got a fond snicker out of him. "You two both...care a lot about me, and have for a long time. Now that I'm not stupidly blind to that, I'd do anything to protect it."

[watermemory]

The current target of Tamamori's so-called charms drags a hand down his face, not sure if he wants to laugh or cry. "Can I assure you... that not a single person in our history has handled it like that?"

(A slip-up; "our", not his family's alone. The memory of the last Mizumori who'd worn those eyes is close to the surface, after that conversation. They hadn't kept ahold of it for long.)

His unwilling smile fades away, even as Tamamori is going on about his plans for revenge. Minakami had been too bewildered that first meeting to examine it too hard, and then too much had happened after that to revisit the topic. He knew now their friend had been on the northbound train, fleeing the capital, on his way to... Even if he'd suggested the 'shameless thing', well -- Kawase said that stuff all the time. It felt like a fragile thing to hold up against the facts, or against Minakami's own fears.

He tilts his head, seeing the more-unruly-than-usual tangle of Tama's hair at this vantage point and not much else -- he could sit back up or twist over, but he's not sure he wants to say this face to face.

"Do you think it'll work?" His voice is quiet. "...I won't run again. I still... don't know if he'll accept this."

[fuckdogramagra]

He can't imagine why Minakami is saying 'our', but he's also too, well, in love to care. Tama likes that 'our', the same way that 'your Minakami' made him feel so giddy (and a number of other emotions he's not putting voice to)- his cheeks only turn more rosy over it, and he has to glance away and swallow down an embarrassed smile.

"I'm not going to give him a chance to run away, either." It's softer, maybe, because there is an insecurity in him that at least mirrors some of Minakami's reticence; if Kawase said that it had all been a joke, as he was liable to do, then Tama would naturally be upset. He just had to hold on to- to knowing that it hadn't been that. That Kawase was as much of a coward as he and Minakami were, and drag him backwards until he accepted being a coward with them. "He's going to resist, but I'll make an honest man of him. Anything worth doing is always difficult, right?" Even his own smile wanes a little bit before he can venture any further. "Besides, I think I owe you both at least this much, for all the problems I caused."

[watermemory]

Even not being able to see Tamamori's face, he can tell that movement is Tama doing an embarrassed scrunch, leaving him baffled at whatever it was that caused it. Was it something he said?

"...I should be the one owing you two." Both of their reckless dives off the train, spurred by his family curse; the other unknown dramas that played out over those loops; Tama saying things like 'I'd do anything to protect it,' 'I owe you both this much' -- the debts racked up between his and Tama's families. "You can't rely on another botched funeral to corner him." He sounds a little distant, even with trying to sound lighthearted. Trying to find some other topic, anything to veer away from dwelling...

"Ah, I was meaning to tell you. There's something one of my superiors told me." He adds, quickly: "We aren't in trouble, I didn't say anything, but -- I think he understands. It may be safer if I can call both of you kyoudai. You have to swear an oath, I didn't get the specifics..." He's not even sure how much the gesture would be respected, to be honest. But having something to link him with his friends, besides shared curses and trauma and secrets, that felt like... something.