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jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
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June 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. CLEAN UP
The curse has broken, finally banishing the oppressive air around the city and the many sightless eyes of the accursed haniwa. Life will have to return to normal now but first there is lingering clean-up that must be attended to:SHUTEN CLAN
The Shuten Clan is out in force to rebuild damaged storefronts. Eager oni appear in their festival happi, singing oni working tunes. You can pick up the words easily enough, join in and help out. The mood starts bright, but after a number of unlucky accidents there is less singing and more grumbling. The cursed energy left behind has made all of you much more prone to workplace accidents but the storefronts need to be scrubbed, broken glass needs sweeping, new furniture needs construction. There are any number of thumbs smashed by hammers, hands cut on saws, heads hit with falling debris or that board of wood you didn’t see someone carrying towards you. It’s a cursed day to be out on the job.
Rewards will come in the form of free drinks for a week from specific bars and a generous amount of chips for the casinos. If you aren’t of age to drink or gamble? Well… they’ll look the other way this time. Have fun.
It should be noted that the uniform -- a happi, a hachimaki, and fundoshi -- is required. The Shuten Clan is very traditional, after all.TAMAMO CLAN
The bathhouses in Tamamo clan territory remain full of bloodied water. They need to be drained and scrubbed to make them new again. However, reaching the drains is a tricky business. You can’t simply reach in to pull out the plug, you will have to wade into the water to twist it free. Easy enough, right?
Unfortunately, residual curse energy has made this a very dangerous task. Phantasmal hands will reach out and try to drag you under as you get too close to the drain. The phantasms can be distracted, so you’ll need some teamwork to succeed. Your reward is a significant amount of free bath coupons. Some of the advertised baths even have “special” properties. Take the chance to relax, you probably need it.
Those that are rejuvenated in the newly purified baths will find themselves with seemingly limitless vigor. That vigor may sometimes manifest in the form of desperately needing to fuck the first thing willing to do so. Which might turn out somewhat embarrassing...SUTOKU CLAN
The residual cursed energy in the Sutoku Alliance territory has congregated in their many arcades. The prizes in the UFO catcher machines seem off and they keep shifting around. If you happen to win a prize, the prize slot snaps shut on your hand with amazing force: the machine out for blood. To clear the curse, the prizes need to be removed from the machines and purified with the help of a local shrine maiden. Unfortunately, the key ring to open the machines has been stolen by some of the unruly prizes. You will need to use your UFO catcher skills to fish it back out.
Try not to lose any fingers.
Other machines are shooting tokens out of their coin slots at astonishingly painful speeds. A strange phenomenon, as even the machines that take swipe cards are doing it. Where are those tokens even coming from? You will have to get the machines open and give them a deep cleaning to get all the residual blood off the coins and mechanisms. You need the same keys that are stuck inside the UFO catcher…. Better hope you can fish out the one you need.
For your troubles, you will be given unlimited free plays for a month. Perfect for winning a totally-not-cursed prize for your sweetie.ENMA DEPARTMENT
It’s the Department of the Enma’s turn to go begging for good will. They are considered to be mostly responsible for the way the cursed haniwa were handled in the first place. Enma souls should get out on the streets and see what the people need: Food, clean water, housing repairs and maintenance, as well as exorcisms. They’re all high on people’s priority lists and most people want it done pronto. Try not to get snappy with the angry people, the department’s reputation is on the line.
The Enma is slated to give a press conference at some point. It's up to the rest of the Department to assure that there will be reception to his words. They are likely to be of grave importance to the rest of the city.
A hard day’s work is its own reward, but you’ll also get a day pass to a theme park on the edge of the city – in the name of community outreach, of course.
2. GHOST SHARKS
The very streets themselves are treacherous with residual curses. The isonades may have been intimidated out of town for the moment but the anger of their ancestors lingers in the bloody puddles that still glisten in the streets. Come too close to these puddles and spectral sharks will lunge from beneath the surface: Blood for blood! Lives for lives!
While spectral in nature, the teeth on these sharks can still do real harm to anyone they lash out at. They don’t seem to take damage in kind, but will pop and disperse for a moment when struck. The ghostly sharks are being populated by a magic totem that has been partially buried in the dirt of a local park. Destroy it and the sharks will disappear.
Unfortunately, a pack of snotty local children have taken a shine to this magic totem. They are not keen to let you take it from them, nor break it. It’s theirs. It’s special. If you’re feeling brutish or cruel, you can fight the children or deceive them, but your boss would probably suggest you try to bargain with them for appearance’s sake. They’re entirely unreasonable though, as children can be, and it will be quite a chore to get them to agree to your terms.
3. CURSED CORNERS
There are certain corners and alleyways which are simply predisposed to gather cursed energy. These areas are still haunted enough to affect the reality around you. You may experience hallucinations or visions of lost loved ones, past regrets, personal failings. These visions are played out in the area for all to see. You will remain frozen in place until your moment is done, or someone brave comes to pull you out.
Now that the worst of it is over, some of the more morbid and voyeuristic members of the public may be lurking around these haunted areas, waiting to see what horrors will be unveiled. They have out their phones and their cameras to record the show.
The cruelest of the spectators provide commentary to their social media followings as they observe. Anything for that monetization!
The biggest of the streams is a kerakera onna who goes by her channel name: Lipsticki. She leans in over the rooftops to cackle loudly at people’s misfortunes and give petty, scathing commentary about their misdeeds and failings.
4. THE ENMA SPEAKS (PLOT RELEVANT)
Outside the hospital where the Enma was being treated, there is a huge press gathering. The judge arbiter has been deemed fit enough to release. Hungry for word, journalists from every publication swarm the area. Most press-outlets in the city are controlled by the Sutoku Alliance, who have a vested interested in interrogating the Enma.
A number of other onlookers have tacked on as well, including Lost Souls both old and new. Lost Souls may even find themselves ordered to attend the statement by their faction.
It is assumed that the Enma must have something of grave importance to say, after all.
The Enma approaches the podium. He is dressed in his usual suit, his crown, and his stern expression; it puts a hush over the crowd through its tremendous pressure alone. No questions have been asked, yet, but a statement has been prepared. He clears his throat:
"The cause of the curse, the enemy of Jigokucho, is... Haniyasu. The Department's focus will be shifting to determining our next action in regards to this entity. That is all."
Just like, the Enma's secretary and a retinue of armored shinigami move to flank the Enma and guide them to a waiting limo down the steps. The press yells their questions over one another, but are pushed back. The Enma doesn't even seem to perceive them, simply focusing on getting into the car.
Unfortunately, if you're a representative for one of the factions -- especially the Department of the Enma -- that makes you fair game to hound for questioning too. Do you stand your ground or try to run away?
[[banner art by s-tokimura]]
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- NEWBIE TOP LEVELS
no subject
It's all right. I'm just relieved you're safe.
[But what on Earth is he supposed to do with him now?]
You are the son of Genshin Asogi. A dear friend of mine. [Genshin, still lingering at this street corner, stares after them, that same somber expression on his face. Yujin lets his gaze fall on the man again only once before he turns back to Kazuma.]
When you were a boy, he took ill and died while in London as a student. Your mother followed not long after. You've been in my care since you were a teenager, Kazuma.
[It's an old lie, one he knows a clearer-headed Kazuma doesn't believe. But the lad's had enough shock for one day, arriving in hell alone. They'll cross the bridge of explaining... all of that when they get to it.]
If you haven't yet found lodgings, I'd open my home to you once more.
no subject
Something about his words sends a suspicious chill down Kazuma's spine, draws up his hackles, but he doesn't know what. There's nothing pointing to it, just a strangely familiar instinct: there's a lie in here somewhere. But what it is, or if it even exists, he has no idea.
He mouths the name Mikotoba's offered him, Kazuma Asogi, to himself. It feels faintly familiar, but there's no clear flash of recognition, nothing to convince him that this is certainly his name. He has nothing to go on here. He can only trust that Mikotoba is telling the truth... or he can't.
But what happens if he can't? Is anybody else going to materialize out of the night, on this dismal street corner, and provide him with answers? In the absence of any other evidence, he really has no choice but to take Mikotoba on faith.
The thought makes him instinctively uneasy. It seems that whoever he is, he isn't used to letting his guard down. Instead of answering immediately, Kazuma's gaze slides back to the silent phantoms, already starting to fade away now that the spell is broken. Mikotoba's eyes had lingered on the older man; that must be Genshin Asogi. His own father.
Maybe. How does he know? He puts aside Mikotoba's offer for now--as frankly terrifying as it is. He has too many questions first.]
If all of that's true, then why don't I remember? What happened to me?
no subject
[he provides. The four names he and Sholmes had discovered drift through his mind. If only they hadn't been so careless-- then again, he doesn't want to think about what might've happened if Ryunosuke had never taken his friend's place.
Briefly, Yujin considers leaving out London, too. If he doesn't know about London, then... he'd be missing a valuable link in the chain, unable to put together the pieces of why he was heading for England and what mission he was dead set on completing. But with Kazuma having set on London for so long, and two Englishmen in town who might've already run across the boy...]
You were to follow in Genshin's footsteps and study law abroad. On the ship, you fell and struck your head. Merely an ill stroke of luck.
[Although he knows it's the truth, it somehow feels like the least plausible fact about those events.]
no subject
[He almost laughs. It sounds like a joke, the mundane unfairness of it all, but he somehow knows that Mikotoba would not joke about this. If nothing else, Mikotoba's grave expression sends it home. And as if to confirm it, another sharp shock of pain bursts from the back of Kazuma's head strongly enough to make him hiss and wince.
It seems like the more they talk about this, the closer Kazuma brushes with his true memories, the worse the pain is going to get. Which is just great. Kazuma needs to know and his own body is making it impossible.
He swallows and decides to soldier forward.]
Th-Then who were the other people? Where was I going?
[Was it London, he wants to ask; he'd woken up with that conviction still rattling around in his head but also knowing just as strongly that there was no way to get there from here. But if he'd been on his way before he came here, then at least that's something, it's a goal in progress he could return to. But the headache stops him from asking; he's forced to press the heels of his palms into his eyes instead.]
no subject
[London is, actually, on the tip of his tongue before Kazuma buckles again to the pain. He's straining himself, trying to think about this; what good will it do him if he remembers everything and injures himself for it?
Yujin shakes his head, frowning tightly.]
I will answer your questions. I promise you.
[Kazuma doesn't get a when, though, because of course he wouldn't. Before the truth had come out during that final trial, Kazuma had been a raw nerve, acting out of pain and anger. There is no telling what he might do until he is guided towards that truth again. For Kazuma's safety-- frankly, Barok van Zieks' safety-- he'll need to be cautious about all this. As much as possible.]
Right now, you need to rest. And I'd like to get a good look at your head, too.
no subject
Fine.
[He hates it, having to give up. He hates that he has to take Mikotoba at his word, too, something in him screaming against the idea of simply having faith in another person--that anyone is capable of simply lying. It feels like removing a piece of armor and trusting a stranger not to stab you. But he also has no other option right now.
Thankfully, Mikotoba's lodgings don't seem to be too far away, and the walk helps ease the pain in his head to a more tolerable throb by the time they arrive at the door. He's too tired to even protest when Mikotoba gestures for him to sit. The man immediately gets to work behind him, pressing his fingers into the back of Kazuma's skull to test for tenderness and asking softly if Kazuma is experiencing any nausea or sensitivity. It's a quick assessment; even as an experienced doctor, there's really only so much Mikotoba can do from his apartment and really nothing at all to be done for an injury like Kazuma's beyond treatment of any lingering pain. The damage is already done.
Kazuma's only contributions are curt. When Mikotoba finally lets him be, he slumps down in his seat with a sigh, the bridge of his nose pinched between his fingers. The headache is gone now, but he feels exhausted and hollowed out in its wake. He has so many questions to ask he doesn't even know where to start; he's too wired and too strung out to force any of his buzzing impulses into the shape of actual words.
After he's waited long enough for some of the white noise to dissipate, the first question out of his mouth surprises him.]
Will I ever get them back? My memories.
[It sounds vulnerable, said out loud. Kazuma wishes he could change the question, ask something that makes him feel and sound less like a child scared of the dark. But admitting that would only compound the feeling, so he lets it hang.]
no subject
All that's left now, Mikotoba supposes, is the waiting. Until then, Genshin Asogi's son sits on a brittle folding chair within a threadbare and sparsely furnished Sutoku apartment, looking to him for answers he cannot easily give. In that vulnerability lies the shadow of a younger Kazuma-- and it makes all of this that much harder.
He leans back in his own chair, brows knitting together tightly, and folds his arms over his chest.]
You will.
[You did before, he thinks, and god willing it won't be any different this time, even without Naruhodo around to jostle Kazuma's brain around for him.]
There's nothing else that seems to be of immediate concern, so... your memory loss should only be short-term. How short, exactly, is the question. It could be weeks, or it could be months.
no subject
The wave of despair he feels at the idea almost floors him. He has to grit his teeth against the unfairness of it. He can't live like this for that long, adrift and unable to trust his own thoughts. To be without an identity feels like being without personhood. He may not know much of himself, but he knows he hates this sensation of being lost, of spiraling in the dark. The terror of having to endure it for that long almost flares into something like anger, but he tamps it back down; swallows it. Controls himself.
No, he certainly can't sit on his hands and wait to recover naturally, but he also knows better than to take it out on the one person who has given him something back.]
You called me--Kazuma. [The name feels equal parts familiar and alien on his tongue. Like it should be sparking something, but simply isn't.] Kazuma... Asogi. Is that my name?
no subject
[Ironically, just what it's unwise to give him, right now.
Even if Mikotoba didn't know Kazuma, the confusion and aimlessness he's feeling is more than understandable. He doesn't envy his position-- knowing nothing and no one, going off little more than instinct and the words of a stranger. And, knowing the young man's nature--]
To say you must be frustrated would be an understatement. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that all of this happened.
[That any of this had to happen: the whole mess that'd started it, the lies and the secrecy, all of the machinations Kazuma had found himself mired within. It's not the time to apologize for things that technically haven't happened-- at least not for Kazuma-- but he thinks of them anyway. There's a long road ahead for him.]
In this place there is not much that I can offer, but... if there is anything else I can do, please: just say the word. I'll help in any way I can.