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>>5041608
"I can't." You don't want to give Sasahara-sempai false hope. The athlete is absurdly enthusiastic and fired up at the thought of getting a new talented track member on her team. Bluntness seems to be the best way to kill expectations in the cradle of hope. There's a look of shock on her face. It's unusual for a junior student to be so blunt to a senior, they would have waffled and say something like 'it would be difficult' or 'if I have the time but...'. It was a roundabout way of saying 'no' but Sasahara-sempai was a friend of Aya's. You want to give it to her straight and not let her think otherwise.

"Huh? Don't you know that this is a rare-" Sasahara tries to go for it one last time to talk about it. She's utterly clueless about your family situation, it's obvious.

"No, you don't understand. I can't means I can't. I have to return home to help out. Sometimes that means grocery shopping, sometimes that means signing papers or paying bills at the bank. Heck I prepare breakfast in the morning most of the time."

"... Uh, why doesn't your mom help do that?" Sasahara asks baffled.

These are the moments when you remember how weird your family situation is compared to other classmates in your school. Single parent households are unusual, 1 out of 15 families apparently. Hell, even amongst single parent households in Japan, your situation is super weird. You don't remember precisely where you found the numbers but you did a quick back of the envelope calculation once out of curiosity and realized that more than 90% of single parent households were led by women in Japan nationally.

You were an outlier amongst outliers.

It is depressing to think about.

"My parents are divorced. I live with my dad." The words leave your mouth grudgingly, each one of them like sticky kuromitsu syrup on toasted rice cakes.

It was generally known your parents were divorced, but it was probably rare to hear it being mentioned openly. Sasahara face is a look of guilt and she shuts up immediately.

"I'm trying to do my best in the situation I'm in," you grumble and eat your rice balls.

The others don't seem to know what to say. The silence at your lunch table is a bit too much. You better try to brighten it up a bit. You turn to Naru as you swallow your lunch.

"What's this about "Midnight Zero"? You said it might be something Aya would want to know." It's quite obvious what you're trying to do, a toddler could do better.

Naru smiles awkwardly.

"Way to change the subject. But it's something I really want to talk about. Listen up girls! There's this new radio show on FM 10 that's reading out love letters and handing out prizes. I've heard so many romantic letters. You can't believe how inspiring they are!" Naru declares, her eyes shining with the fires of maidenly love.

>>5041609
"She's right! I've been listening in at midnight too. They're so good!" Usagi joins in, girlishly squealing with delight.

"Love letter read by FM 10 at midnight?" Aya sounds interested.

The conversation is totally focused on romance and how to write an effective love letter. You listen in politely and wonder how long the show had been going on for. You also police Usagi's straying hand to make sure she doesn't steal the weirder things in Aya's lunchbox. It was a good thing too, the poor girl nearly took that serrano pepper thingy that nearly killed you last time.

"You should submit letters too. I wonder what they're offering as a prize." Sasahara says as she finishes the last bite of her lunch.

"Oh, I can't wait to write one out. Do you have someone in mind when you write, Miyuki-chan? Aya teases her old friend.

"Pfft, they're for my future boyfriend. It's good practice to flex those romantic muscles by writing it out. I didn't realize how hard it is to write one until I did one." Sasahara explains.

Lunch time is almost over. It's time to get back to class. The cafeteria is bustling with students getting up to leave. Your little group joins the stream to head back to your classrooms.

"I've been submitting letters too. I hope they choose mine one day." Naru declares.

"Ooooh, I should do the same. What about you Ruka?" Usagi asks you with expectation.

The entire group of girls seem to be waiting in baited breathe to hear your answer. You weren't known for being boy crazy or overly interested in romance. So they were all particularly curious to know if you'll send one in too. Heck even Sasahara the girl jock had sent one in.

What do you say?

>Probably not...
>Sounds like fun, maybe I'll send in a letter.
>I'm not good at writing romantic stuff...
>write in

>>5041610
>Sounds like fun, maybe I'll send in a letter.

>>5041610
>I'm not good at writing romantic stuff...

>>5041610
>Sounds like fun, maybe I'll send in a letter

>>5041610
>I'm not good at writing romantic stuff...
I’d imagine Ruka has high standards for boyfriends given the type of men she looks up to.

>>5041610
>>I'm not good at writing romantic stuff...

>>5041701
>>5041785
>>5041811
>>5041815
>>5041847
Seems like Ruka is going to waffle on writing a love letter.

Write a love letter?

You?

The very thought of writing something so embarrassing to another person is beyond you. What would you even write if you actually had to do it. Hell, are you even capable of getting so in love with someone that you'd risk getting rejected and laughed at? The girls are waiting for your answer with anticipation.

"I'm not good at writing romantic stuff. I just don't have it in me. Like I don't see how I could write something to an imaginary boyfriend and make it sounds convincing like you Sasahara-sempai..." You can't help but be startled at the thought that it was so easy for other girls to just casually talk about love and write pretend love letters as though it was nothing.

The girls all groan at your answer and look upon you with pity.

"My minion, you overthink things. It's just for fun. Keep this up, and you'll never fall in love until it's high school. Also, I'll be free on Saturday, we'll go visit Kakutani after school tomorrow." Aya declares. At this she departs with Sasahara up to their classroom on the 3rd floor.

Ouch! Et tu Aya? Wait, you still have high school. You'll definitely feel different then and probably find a boyfriend.

Probably...

Naru has slipped into your classroom already. Usagi is ahead of you and is about to reach the door. You are following when Usagi spins on her heel and gives you a big hug. The suddenness of the smaller girl hugging you surprises the heck out of you.

"Have a hug from me Ruka-chan! I didn't realize you're so responsible to help out with your dad. I'm the type of girl that can't even get up in the morning on time, I'm so impressed. So a hug from me to you!" Usagi declares as she gives you an extra squeeze in her hug.

This was awkward. The intent wasn't to worry anyone or make a big deal out of your family situation. Even if it was an unusual one.

"It's okay Usagi. It's not as if I'm alone with my dad only. My grandparents from both sides of the family help out when they can." You try to reassure your classmate. You take this opportunity to pet the shorter girl on the head. Even messing up her hair a little, those small round hair buns on her head are surprisingly durable.

"Oh Ruka! Don't!" Usagi pouts, she lets go and she tries to protect her hair from you.

You must admit, you do feel better after getting a hug from Usagi. Most girls are touchy feely but they usually never tried to anything like that with you. Being a tall, serious looking girl has that effect. Aya never minded it. It seems you can add Usagi to that very limited list.

It was nice.

You're sure that any guy who gets Usagi as a girlfriend will be very happy. The stress of weird monsters attacking people, strange warriors of justice running around, and Nightmares haunting you seem to fade in intensity with Usagi around.

"WAH!" Usagi cries out as she somehow trips on her way through the classroom door. She falls flat on her face.

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>>5042814
... How was that possible?! What hell could she have tripped on!?

The school day goes on until the bell rings to free you from academic purgatory. You and Tomio are slumped over your desks in agony from the intensity of the schoolwork.

"Ruka... are you alive?" Tomio manages to rasp out.

"... Status unknown. Inquire at a later time." You answer back.

How much worse could it get? What would midterm exams be like? You only just started the school year and you want it to stop.

What will you do after school?

>Visit Cafe Leblanc to get back your knife and return the lock
>Walk home with Tomio and Aya.
>Hang out with Azul in the Clubroom for a bit and maybe practice your powers
>Go to Crown Games and hang around
>Head straight home, you have things to do
>Write in

>>5042817
>Visit Cafe Leblanc to get back your knife and return the lock

>>5042817
>>Visit Cafe Leblanc to get back your knife and return the lock
>Hang out with Azul in the Clubroom for a bit and maybe practice your powers

>>5043047
Seconding.

>>5042817
>>Go to Crown Games and hang around
>>Walk home with Tomio and Aya.
ruka has done too much lately it's time to be useless

>>5042940
>>5043047
>>5043077
>>5043225
Seems we're go hang around our penguin buddy and then pick up our knife

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It's a Friday, no Club meeting. There's really no reason to hang around school and dad will be home early tonight! You look forward to seeing him at a decent hour after work and having that beef bowl together.

But that being said, you have some time to kill until dinnertime. The only really important thing you want to do before heading home is getting your knife back from Master Leblanc. That task should only take a few minutes at best.

No one should be in the Club room. It is a good place to do some random experimentation with your power and maybe see what Azul is up to. He can't possibly spend all that time in the club room reading tabloids and magazines.

Wait.... The Club room door is locked when not in use. He can't possibly be in there. Not unless he has some sort of unique penguin power to open locks that he has never demonstrated before.

Now you're worried. You close your eyes and try to detect your buddy's presence. You feel faintly that he is on the 3rd floor, but you aren't sure exactly where. You send a brief message that you're coming up the stairs and see him.

You don't send a longer message out because you see Tomio getting up from his seat. You want to give him a head's up about returning his belongings.

"Oh yeah, I'll be bringing those weights back to you. Thanks for lending them to me. Tomorrow morning I'll hand them over at school." You say to the tall boy.

"At school!? Why? Just take them to my house tomorrow." Tomio responds confused. He pauses mid way on standing up.

There is a silence as Tomio remembers the 'why' involving his mom. At that he finishes the journey upwards to his full height and stretches.

"Look just leave them right beside the door, I'll grab them and bring them in. That way my mom doesn't see you." Tomio reformulates his response.

You do admit, dragging those weights to school would be a pain. You readily agree to do the drop off at his house.

It is time to go upstairs to the 3rd floor. You don't know where Azul is precisely, you checked the Club room and confirmed it was locked. You even used the bump key to open the door and double check inside. The blue penguin isn't there. So that means the entire time he is in school, he is wandering about or staying in a room elsewhere.

You wander a bit in the hallway and mentally communicate a simple message out to him.

'Hey Azul, you hear me? Don't move from where you are but respond to me.'

This was turning into a strange game of hide and seek. It works out though, you did want to experiment using your powers a bit. Trying to sense where your partner went and finding him was a good exercise.

'Krrrrl.' You feel that Azul responded with a chirp and 'heard' it a bit more clearly. It seems you are getting closer to him. The 3rd year students are looking at you oddly but otherwise don't bother you.

>>5043849
It is when you walk into the 'gardening' club room that you find Azul is wandering around and looking at plants. The room was a shared space for all clubs involved in plants and the like. The ikebana, botanical enthusiast and gardening club had an easygoing co-existence.

'Do you wander throughout the school when I'm in class?' You can't help but mentally question the bird.

The answer back is a rather strong positive emotion. It seems the school is an absolutely fascinating place to Azul and he is visiting various parts of it while unseen. It was safe enough you suppose, Usagi so far is the only person who can see him.

This impromptu game of hide and seek has taken up more time than you expected. It's best to start heading to Cafe Leblanc and get back your knife.

Level 2 Bond
A blue Penguin named Azul. You can feel his emotional responses back through your mental link and roughly sense his location within an unknown range.

The rain is really just a fine drizzle in the air. You can't wait for the weather to clear and for the sun to start shining again. Aya mentioned that Sunday would be a sunny day but Saturday will be still dreary.

You enter Cafe Leblanc and find that the place is quite busy. Master Leblanc is carefully brewing a full set of pour over coffees for his customers but has time enough to wave you over to the bar counter.

"I was wondering when you'd come in. I had a good laugh when you went after 'Uncle' yesterday," is all that Master Leblanc says as he reaches under the bar and pulls out your handmade blade. You take it back and put it in your school bag.

"I can't believe you were working with him against me. That's so treacherous," you mutter. It didn't really bother you though, it only just demonstrated how good distraction and team work is. You reach into another pocket of your school bag and grab the 10 pin lock to return.

The sight of it causes Master Leblanc to sigh in disappointment.

"And I tried to so hard to catch him in the act. It goes to show that even when you know it's going to happen, keeping your full attention on someone is impossible." He takes the lock from you and places it on the bar.

"Can't stay long Master Leblanc. But I appreciated the lesson yesterday. Do you know when 'Uncle' comes in?" You genuinely want to know when the old thief comes into the cafe.

"Hm, well, he's very random in his visits. I have a blackboard though, you can use a chalk and write a message. He might answer back with his conditions. Despite what he said about 'not charging money for lessons', that's a lie. He definitely charges for expertise and lessons." With that Master Leblanc points you to the blackboard. There are random messages chalked in from other patrons to others and you are about to write in your own.

You think on it a bit and make your decision. You pick up a chalk piece and start writing.

Missie to Uncle: How do I get better at taking a shot at the King?

>>5043850
There was no way Uncle wouldn't recognize that message. You bid Master Leblanc good-bye and start leaving the cafe.

"Ruka, some ground rules. Lessons are to take place here and under my supervision. It's fine to learn interesting skills and meet interesting people... but only within certain limits." The voice of Master Leblanc is dead serious.

"Got it Master Leblanc." With that you leave and head straight home.

It was just in time too. When you get up the stairs to your apartment, you see your dad at the door fiddling with the keys. The day just gets better and better.

"Dad! Welcome home!" You rush up to your father and give him a hug. It's so nice to see him.

"Welcome home Ruka. Let's get changed and go get our beef bowls for dinner. We can deal with the household chores after we eat." The extra sleep from last night and getting home early makes Daisuke Houseki look much younger and relaxed.

Azul drools at the mention of food. He looks up at you and you can feel from your link that he would really like to try some of it. You aren't sure if that's a good idea.

It is a quick trip to the local beef bowl restaurant, and you order your large beef bowl with enthusiasm. You ordered it as a large because you want to try and sneak some food to Azul but there is an element of risk involved. Your dad or someone at the restaurant might notice something odd...

>Sneak food to Azul. Roll 3d6+2, dc ???
>Don't sneak food to Azul. Sorry buddy!
>Don't take any precautions at all and hand him a small spoon. Azul is invisible, no one is going to see him!

Rolled 4, 2, 5 + 2 = 13 (3d6 + 2)

>>5043851
>Sneak food to Azul. Roll 3d6+2, dc ???

Rolled 5, 2, 5 + 2 = 14 (3d6 + 2)

>>5043851
>Sneak food to Azul. Roll 3d6+2, dc ???

Rolled 1, 2, 3 + 1 = 7 (3d6 + 1)

>>5043872
>>5043950
Unusual sight?

>>5044295
Whoever tried to roll perception appears to be distracted or tired. Score one for the penguin party!

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You decide to take a risk. After all, Azul is willing to risk going into Nightmares to guide you out of them. The least you can do is sneak a bit of food to him. That being said you do take some basic precautions and make some effort to disguise your actions.

Azul hides under the table and sticks close to your chair. It is unlikely anyone is going to accidentally bump into the invisible penguin if they sit next to you. It is also the perfect location to pass down spoonfuls of beef and rice to him.

Operation Feed the Penguin begins.

It is remarkably simple. None of the restaurant patrons are paying any attention to you and your father, and neither do the restaurant workers who are busy in the kitchen slinging out hot beef bowls as orders come in. Your father seems engrossed in eating his beef bowl since he particularly enjoys them.

As your dad is busy putting a serving of red pickled ginger in his beef bowl, you give Azul his first bite of your food. The penguin is in a state of rapture as he chews his first bite. The entire thing is like a strange game, where you have to see if anyone is paying attention before swiftly passing the food to your buddy. Your father despite sitting right next to you doesn't realize what is happening at all because you time it so well.

"How is school? No troubles?" Your dad suddenly asks midway through your meal.

"Yeah, things are fine. I'm doing okay at school, as long as I keep up with my studies." You aren't sure what prompted this question from your dad. Usually he'd ask what you learned at school that was interesting or just listen to you describe your club activities.

"Well I got a call from a Mr. Oshio at work. He's that gym teacher at your school, so I paid attention. He was asking some strange questions about your recent behaviour at home or what you've been doing after school," your dad laughs dryly and rubs the back of his neck, "let me just say that my responses to that nosey teacher didn't satisfy him at all. I hope you don't think I'm a terrible dad because I'm not hovering over you all the time. Quite frankly, I would hate to constantly monitor you and you would hate it. And... well, you know my work doesn't exactly allow me to get back home at a decent hour most of the time."

The gym teacher called your dad at work!? Wait, Mr. Oshio is also in charge of disciplinary issues at your school, so of course he'd be trying to root out delinquents and talking with parents about errant student behaviour.

"There was an incident at the school and I got falsely accused of being a part of it. The principal sorted that out and sent me back to class." You reassure your father as you finish up the last of your beef bowl.

"An incident? When you get vague like that Ruka, I get curious." Your father puts away the last of his food too.

There's no way around it, and you go and explain the strange incident at your school. Daisuke Houseki looks surprised and disbelieving.

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>>5044785
"Oh don't be like that my handsome man, my cat and I just want to order some take out beef bowls." A cheery young girl's voice responds.

You look back and see a girl with a white cat hanging on her shoulders. She seems to be around your age and rather athletic. But that wasn't what catches your attention, you cat loving nature asserts itself and you find yourself staring at the cute white cat. He look similar to Luna, particularly as he is draped across the shoulders much like Luna is on Usagi's.

Oh, he even has the same strange bald spot on his forehead! Was it some sort cat breed you've never heard of or some strange pet trend to shape fur into shapes?

The waiter walks over to bar the entrance from the girl.

"I'm very sorry but pets are not allowed in the store. We can take your order and pass it to you outside but we can't let you in."

It was a good thing that Azul is partially hidden behind your legs. That cute white cat would have noticed a big blue penguin and maybe try something. You can feel your partner shivering and trying to hide himself behind your legs even more. But the other girl with the cat doesn't stay for long, she makes an order for a small beef bowl and leaves with her order without once coming into the store.

You go back to your apartment with your dad to attend to the housework. There isn't much to do, so it is finished in a flash. This leaves you plenty of time to do other things. Your dad starts prepping meals for tomorrow, no more scrambling for breakfast and lunch due to lack of time.

What do you want to do? CHOOSE 3 THINGS

>Update your journal on recent events
>Study and do homework.
>Exercise a bit
>Help your dad with meal prep
>Try your hand at writing a love letter, roll 3d6-2, dc 10
>Relax and listen to Midnight Zero on FM 10 (You will have to stay up very late)
>Explore the 'Penguin Domain' with Azul as your guide
>Open the cursed tansu chest again, roll 3d6, dc 11 to overcome fear.
>Call a friend, who will it be?
>write in

>>5044785
I'm surprised by 4chan missing out a small section of the text just before Minako and Artemis.

'There's no way around it, and you go and explain the strange incident at your school. Daisuke Houseki looks surprised and disbelieving.

"Tomio and the others became delinquents for a day? Ridiculous, there's clearly something else going on." He scoffs at your tale. You don't get to explain with further details because suddenly there's a waiter taking your bowls away. But as he does so, the young man stops and immediately frowns.

"Honored customer, no pets are allowed in store."

For a second you freeze in fear but realize that it is being directed to someone standing at the door of the restaurant.'

Rolled 5, 2, 1 = 8 (3d6)

>>5044787
>Open the cursed tansu chest again, roll 3d6, dc 11 to overcome fear.
>Exercise a bit
>Update your journal on recent events

Rolled 3, 2, 4 = 9 (3d6)

>>5044846
Seconding this.

Rolled 5, 4, 3 = 12 (3d6)

>>5045001
Just tossing out another set of dice to bring it up to Bo3, if the QM doesn’t mind.

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Rolled 1, 1, 5, 4, 2, 5 = 18 (6d6)

>>5044787
>>Explore the 'Penguin Domain' with Azul as your guide
>>Open the cursed tansu chest again, roll 3d6, dc 11 to overcome fear.
>>Try your hand at writing a love letter, roll 3d6-2, dc 10
first set of three for tansu, second for love letter
picrel for randy captcha

>>5044846
>>5045001
>>5045352
Post will be tomorrow! Got delayed

>>5041608
2d6

>>5045822
dice+2d6

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You are back in your bedroom and wonder what to do to while away the time after your housework.

You give a brief thought about trying your hand at writing a love letter. You must be missing out if every girl in your school is excited to try writing one out. You get your pen out and a piece of paper but the white paper sits on your desk completely blank. No good ideas come to mind. In fact, most of the ideas that cross your mind are not meant to be written. You feel a flush of warmth color your cheeks as you realize the drift of your thoughts.

Mostly on if you ever fall in love with someone, you wouldn't mind having them tie you up and...

You blame that damn magazine for putting the idea in your head.

You toss the paper aside and reach for your journal instead to begin writing about the recent supernatural events in your life. Facts are easier to write about than feelings and emotions. The newest entry mostly concentrates on the cursed chest you stole from the Nightmare.

Your eyes linger on the closet where you hid the gaudy chest. You slowly and gingerly tiptoe to the closet and open it. The thing remains where you left it, under a coat. Pushing aside the flimsy camouflage, you pick up the heavy chest and bring it to your desk. You are relieved it doesn't do anything freaky, it remains completely inert.

You make a sketch of the chest in you journal under the bright light of the desk lamp. You're pretty good making sketches, it pays dividends to be crafty with your hands.

You've updated your journal... almost.

It was time to open up the damn thing again and record in journal what's inside the chest. Your hands shake as you latch on to the top drawer. The top drawer had your photograph when you were 8 years old at a school festival. It was a completely innocuous thing and completely safe, it wasn't the bottom drawer with those teeth. Your dad would be glad to see an old childhood picture, you have so few left in the family album. You could explain away having it by saying you found it between the pages of a book or something.

You can't bring yourself to pull open the drawer though...

The memories of those teeth floating in darkness, speaking to you in your mother's voice.

The hair on your arm is standing, and you feel goosebumps all over your body.

"Krrr?" Azul gives you a questioning chirp as he watches you struggle with fear.

"Yeah buddy, freaky treasure chest of nightmares and bad memories. It's hard to take the plunge and open it up." You answer Azul and give him a sad smile.

Yet you do manage to open the drawer, it is with a jerky movement of stop and go before it's completely open. You grab the picture without looking and shut it.

You managed it, you opened the top drawer. You breathe out and in to calm your nerves. You smile happily at accomplishing this little task. But your smile turns upside down into a frown.

"Ruka, age 12, Graduation. I love you Ruka."

>>5046791
... That was not what was written on the photograph last time you opened this drawer. Last time, the picture had "Ruka, age 8. School festival, Juuban Elementary." on it.

You immediately flip the picture over and see that it is indeed a picture of you at your elementary school graduation ceremony. But you have this picture in your family album here at the apartment, your father went through the trouble of getting a day off work and borrowing a camera to take it. He stood right in the middle of the assembly hall make sure he got a perfect picture of you standing on stage accepting your elementary school certificate.

This particular picture was indeed you at age 12. The same solemn and serious face, hands outstretched to accept your certificate from the principal, the pretty white dress you wore that day. But the angle... the one your father has is front and center. This picture was off to the right hand side, as though whoever took the picture couldn't take the risk of revealing themselves by standing in the center of the assembly hall.

Panic begins rise within you as questions race through your mind.

Who took this picture? Was your mother at your elementary school graduation ceremony without you knowing? If not, who took it on her behalf? Was it one of those crazy cultists?

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.

Your mother almost kidnapped you away from your father when she decided it was time to leave. She wanted to take you away to somewhere. She lied and said that you were going to visit your grandparents. You believed her and... and...

You don't finish the Memory of that day. You grab the chest and shove it back into the closet. You cover it up with 3 more coats to hide it and slam the door shut. You stand just outside the closet door, utterly terrified and unable to move. Your head rests on it as you try to control your breathing.

Azul touches your leg to get your attention and looks up with concern.

"Thanks... I think we should get out of here and go outside. Best way to feel better is to tire myself out I think."

The blue penguin solemnly nods and follows you out of the apartment. You tell your dad you're going for a quick run and do some exercise at the local playground. He's too busy to see you off at the door but reminds you to not stay out too late.

The night air invigorates you, it is a beautiful April night and the rain has stopped. You make your way down to a small playground by your apartment building. There's a jungle gym and various monkey bars to hang off of. You often come here to make sure that you work on your climbing skills and upper body strength. At this hour, no one bothered to come out to play and it was just after a rainy few days.

>>5046794
You spend an hour working out there. You feel the stress of the day fade away as you concentrate maintaining your hard-earned physical fitness. In fact, you even sneak in some practice with your water wall and distant hands. The sheer abundance of rainwater makes the task extremely easy, you barely have to concentrate to summon them and use them. It was a new discovery. Even as you're hanging on the bars high up with both your hands occupied, you can direct your powers to form and move.

Water, water: Using Water Wall and Distant Hands is easier when there is a source of water nearby

Around you, puddles of water snake and twist around your feet as though eager to be of use. Even the drops of sweat on your forehead feel like they're being pulled towards the mini water walls you summoned below. Distant Hands wander like strange watery ghosts and grab various objects like forgotten toys and stones with ease.

You feel exhausted after working so hard. You return home and take a shower. You feel refreshed. But upon entering your bedroom, you see the graduation picture you took out from the cursed tansu chest on your study desk.

You remember that you haven't opened the other two drawers of the damn thing.

Do you want to use a Will point to try and open the chest?

>if yes, re-roll 3d6, dc 11
>if no, choose something else for Ruka to do.

Rolled 2, 2, 2 = 6 (3d6)

>>5046797
Yes

Just got caught up with the quest, loving it so far. This is my first real introduction to sailor moon and its kinda need being as in the dark as the MC.

Rolled 1, 5, 2 = 8 (3d6)

>>5046797
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself! And capricious dice.

Rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14 (3d6)

>>5046797

Rolled 3, 3, 5 = 11 (3d6)

>>5046797
>Yes

>>5046836
>>5046894
>>5046898
Hm, I'll accept best of 3 since I forgot to write in my option that you only have one chance and it's the first roll.

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It is sitting in your closet.

Waiting.

Mocking.

A treasure chest of nightmares and bad memories.

Yet... damnable curiosity tortures your mind, beckoning you to try once more to dare and open the drawers. Withstanding the temptation was out of the question and the maddening urge to subject yourself to unknown horrors for the sweet fruit of knowledge is beyond your ability to resist.

The middle drawer and the larger drawer still haven't been opened.

You rally your courage and take the tansu chest out from your closet once more. As you set it down on your study desk, it occurs to you that arming yourself would be a good idea.

From your school bag your get out your knife and unsheathe it. The black blade is mesmerizing. You see subtle white waves on the length of the blade, evidence of the lamination process for what was originally a nice pair of Japanese shears. It is a flimsy weapon, completely unsuitable for the task of defense or attack.

But it is yours.

You start with the top drawer once again. It opens easily and it reveals that the inside is empty. No new photograph has appeared within. You return the picture you took out of it, and then close it. After counting to 30, you open it once again.

The picture is still there. It hasn't changed. Was it possible that you need to wait longer for it to change into another sort of picture? You shut the drawer again, leaving the picture within. You don't want a reminder that your mother is possibly spying upon you somehow.

There was a phase during elementary where you went full born paranoiac because of your mother's attempts to contact you and possibly kidnap you. There's a reason why you're so observant and accomplished at being sneaky after all. Constant practice and vigilance has that effect.

You continue to update your journal that lays open on the desk about the top drawer and its unusual ability. Experimentation will have to continue to see if new photographs will show up within it.

Now on to the middle drawer. You quickly open it while holding your knife close and look into it.

The content is also different. Before it had been that strange cult booklet that had been signed by it's leader, the Guru Higa Noboru. Now it was a hand drawn map of somewhere. You take out the map and look at it closely.

It's a shitty map, terribly drawn as though some demented four year old got a hold of some paint and pens. You notice that in the upper right hand side, it has 'Kamikakushi' written. Some buildings are numbered, and there are smaller buildings scatter throughout. The road has a highway sign, 139, on it.

You spend some time copying the map into your journal. It might come in handy one day, and you can look up where highway 139 runs in Japan on a map later. When you finish, you place the map back in the middle drawer and close it.

File: teeth.jpg (5 KB, 198x179)

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>>5047724
You count to 30 slowly and then open it. The map is still there. So it seems that much like the top drawer, you need to leave it in there longer for it to change into something else? You take out the map from the drawer and hide it in your desk. For the sake of experimentation, you're going to remove the item held in the middle drawer and see what happens later.

Now came the last drawer. The bottom drawer is the largest of the lot and the most terrifying. You remember the pitch black bottomless pit held within, the whiteness of the teeth.... the voice of your mother.

You do breathing exercises to try and calm yourself. Then you open the drawer swiftly and look in.

Within is the darkness that you had been expecting. Utter darkness, as though it eats light and gives nothing back. Slowly, you take your knife and probe the darkness, and make a chilling discovery. The dimensions of the drawer is indeed out of whack, you dip the blade of your knife and handle well past what should have been the physical bottom of the drawer. You make sure you don't accidentally put your fingers in.

You pull your knife back and look at it. It seems fine, it hasn't disintegrated or transformed into anything odd. Then you look down into the depths of the thing and realize you see... it is coming.

The pearly white teeth are approaching towards you, they are a speck in the distance but getting bigger and bigger. Until at last, those teeth are the appropriate size for an adult... but there is no flesh to line those teeth up. No mouth to set them in perfect rows, no lips to hid them as they move up and down to form words and speak.

"Did you have a good day at school Ruka?" It is the voice of your mother issuing forth.

"... Oh god..." You whimper in fear. Your body shakes but you don't slam shut the drawer. What was that thing? Why was it using your mother's voice?

"Ruka, are you okay? Why are you so upset? Do you need me to say some special sutras to calm you down? I can chant a few to you, it will only take a few moments." The teeth move up and down, as though they really were set in some sort of invisible mouth.

"No, no sutras!" You feel your temper erupt and raise your voice, it seems that whatever the thing was... it definitely spouts the same stupid nonsense your mother would say. Anger in that instant replaces your fear.

You hear movement in the kitchen.

Oh shit, you forgot about your dad!

You use burst of speed to shut the drawer and hide the tansu chest in the closet, then return to your desk in a flash.

"Ruka? Who are you talking to you in there?" Your father knocks on your door before he opens it to enter your room. The look on his face is pure confusion. Your muscles are aching from the strain of using your ability at such short notice. You aren't out of breath since the distance is short but that was a close call.

The apartment is too damn small, and the walls to damn thin!

File: azuls passage.png (6 KB, 728x446)

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>>5047725
"Nothing dad, just finishing up some work. I'm going to bed. I have to wake up early and return Tomio's weights." You say with as much casualness as possible. You put away your journal and make a show of getting ready for bed.

"If you say so... um, you know Ruka, I don't mind if you have beliefs in religion and such but uh, try not to get too into it. For my sake, please." Your dad seems to be struggling to word his request in a respectful way. He definitely heard you say 'sutra' through the wall while in the kitchen. Given that kooky religious nonsense drove his wife into the arms of a cult, it isn't surprising your father doesn't want you to go anywhere near religious stuff.

"Got it, good night dad." You hug your father and he goes out the door. He's probably finishing up in the kitchen with meal prepping.

Azul has kept out of your way by sitting on your bed the entire time. He gets up and starts going to the closet where the entrance of the 'Penguin Domain' is. But before he goes in, he stop and points at the chest. Then he pantomimes carrying it, and points at the blue swirling portal.

It seems he's offering to take the chest away from you and put it in the Penguin Domain.

Do you want him to take the chest with him?

>Yes?
>No?

>>5047726
>Yes

>>5047726
>>Yes?
dnot forget to hug azul because that dream thing is scary'

>>5047726
>Yes
We can’t risk Ruka’s dad discovering the box, and he may be curious enough to poke around in Ruka’s room sooner or later.

>>5047799
>>5047882
>>5047931
Chest goes into the Penguin Domain

>>5047726
>Yes?
Fuck yeah, we goin' to Penguin-Land!

You pick up your buddy and give him a hug. The squishy penguin is deceptively heavy but you easily hold him.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea. If it's not too much trouble." As you set Azul on the ground once more. He salutes and carefully picks up the tansu chest before waddling off into the entrance of the Penguin Domain. It's like he passes an opaque blue screen that prevents anyone from outside seeing where he goes. One second he is here, the next he is gone...

You are alone in your bedroom.

You are relieved that the chest is gone, you won't have to worry about your dad finding it... but what about the weird swirly blue entrance hole? Is it invisible to non-spooky people? You're going to have to assume it is because you can't hide it all too well behind the hanging clothing in your closet.

You are tired and go to bed. Exploration of the Penguin Domain will have to be done some other day.

You wonder if you'll have a Dream, Nightmare or Memory tonight...

The night passes peacefully but you did Dream a little but you aren't sure why you had it.

You are standing on a large stage, the wooden floor is solid and does not creak as you walk across it. Around you is the sound of hammering and sawing, but you can't tell from what direction. Wherever you look the darkness around the stage is impenetrable. Were the Shadow Players building props for their next play? You don't see them around or hear them talking.

You get bored of the Dream quite quickly. You discover you can't get off the stage, there's an invisible force keeping you on it.

Well it was a stage, maybe you should do something on it?

Atsumori is pretty easy, you memorized the lines for some reason.

"50 years of a man's life under this sky,
is nothing compared to the age of this world.
Life is but a fleeting dream, a passing vision, an illusion
Is there anything that lasts forever?"

You mimic the movement of an imaginary fan as you circle the stage in what you think is a dramatic manner. It's a bit embarrassing but there's no one around. Even after your little performance, no one boos or claps.

Well, at least you like Atsumori. You hated performing in your elementary school plays as a kid. You hope that your classmates never vote for putting on a play in the next Culture Festival. After this little bit though, you don't have a chance to perform anything else.

You awaken soon after, it is the early morning hours. Azul is sitting in a corner and reading a magazine. You recognize it as a different edition of the magazine Bound And Tortured.

'Good morning, Azul.' You mentally greet the penguin and prepare for the day.

Azul chirps back in answer.

The morning routine with your father is relaxed and sedate, there's no need to hurry cooking breakfast as everything is ready.

>>5048575
Coffee is out, toasted bread with a small cup of soup and salad is breakfast for the day. Your father reads the newspaper headlines aloud to you and you pack up the lunches prepped from yesterday. You have a half day of school today, but your father has a full day at the office.

"Ruka, here's your allowance. I'll have time to pay the electricity bill during lunch hour, you don't have to handle it." A small amount of money is given to you, it's supposed to last a week.

A bit of money: weekly allowance

"Thanks dad... Is it wrong wish I could get more money?" You joke, but you know the answer.

"Wishing is not wrong, but reality is bitter." The standard response, it's so well worn that it's become something of a joke between the two of you.

You can only hope that one day his answer will be different. You place Tomio's weights in an old canvas bag for easy transportation. It's not a lot of weight, but carrying it to his house is a challenge. Azul couldn't help you with carrying the weights even if he wanted to.

And there's the weather to worry about. Outside, the sky is still grey but there's no rain falling. Yet the threat of rain hovers above, so you grab an umbrella with you also.

"I'll see you tonight Ruka, I might be home early again. We'll have to see." Your dad says as he grabs his own umbrella and begins his commute to work.

"Right dad, see you later."

The walk to Tomio's house is a slog but you arrive in good time and leave the weights by his door.

What will you do?

>Wait for Tomio and walk to school with him?
>Go on ahead to school?
>Go to Aya's and walk with her?
>Go to a corner store and buy some candy, you have money.
>Take the bus for the rest of the way to school
>Write in

>>5048576
>>Wait for Tomio and walk to school with him?

>>5048576
>Wait for Tomio and walk to school with him?
> Go to Aya's and walk with her?

If it’s possible at all to do this, I think we should. Getting Tomio acclimated to Aya’s presence will help things along, maybe. If nothing else, perhaps it will open up the idea of them being friends even if a romantic relationship is not possible.

>>5048576
>Wait for Tomio and walk to school with him?

>>5048656
>>5048658
>>5048684
Seems we'll be walking with Tomio.
After this post, a small break, next one will be made on monda

File: house.jpg (35 KB, 477x326)

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You're already at Tomio's place, mind as well wait up for him and walk to school with him. As you're waiting for him, you watch Azul jump into various puddles and waddle about. The rain hasn't started up again, but the air has that humid about to rain feeling to it.

The sound of a door opening grabs your attention.

"Look mom, I said what I said. I'm not going back on my explanation because you don't..." You can't see Tomio since you're behind a wall. You hear the sound of the canvas bag being picked up and moved inside his house. Then the door closes with a soft click, blocking any words he might be saying.

Then you hear the door open again.

"Please son, don't go around saying such things. What will your classmates and teachers think!?" Mrs. Harada sounds incredibly stressed out and tired.

"Look mom, I got to get going to school." Tomio sounds incredibly frustrated and exhausted. As though the subject of the conversation had lost all flavor, like a thoroughly chewed upon tastelessness piece of gum.

"Have a safe day at school dear..." Mrs. Harada seems to have given up as well.

You guess that it was about the weird events that happened on Tuesday. The event isn't even a week old.

Tomio walks past the gates of his home and catches sight of you.

"Oh hey Ruka. Good morning, I was wondering if you were hanging about outside." The tall boy greets you.

"Good morning." You answer back. At this, you feel rain begin to fall once again. It was time to open up umbrellas and start walking.

Conversation inevitably focuses on the situation you just overhead while waiting outside.

"Let's just say my mom is worried I'll start talking about my crazy experience with everyone and anyone who asks." Tomio kicks a stone that happens to be on the ground and watches it skip down the street.

"I hate to say it but next time, I seriously suggest you lie or omit details. My dad is convinced that something happened at Osaka Jewelry store but it's because gases or I was hallucinating from something." It still annoys you that your dad didn't believe you but tried to find a mundane reason behind the attack that injured you.

"I'll consider it if something ever happens to me again. Hey Ruka, you think this is going to keep on happening? I'd hate to be a constant victim to supernatural crap... no offense to your involvement with your Supernatural Research Club, but I prefer life not to have brainwashing, monsters and teenage girls rescuing me."

"I have no idea, let's hope." You simply say. You're in too deep to avoid supernatural shenanigans anymore but you do hope that your friends can avoid it.

"That reminds me, you free this afternoon? We haven't hung out after school for awhile. Why don't we go to Crown Games and have a match of Street Fighter?" Tomio offers as you join a stream of other Juuban students heading to school.

>>5049379
It has been awhile since you've hung out with your old friend, but you promised Aya to go to Daily Report to speak with Kakutani Moromi.

"I'm going out with Aya to talk with a reporter about Sailor V and stuff. If you want, you could join us. We're heading to Shinjuku." You invite Tomio to join you in your quest.

"Shinjuku? Given how much trouble I am with my parents, going out that way is out of the question. Man, lately you've been hanging out with Kagawa or other girls all the time." Tomio looks disgruntled that you had other plans on the go.

"It's because of all the weirdness. We want to investigate and figure things out. If weird things have to happen, at least I'd like to know a bit more on why." You feel irritated by Tomio's commentary on how you spend your time.

You arrive at school, it's odd you didn't run into Aya on the way. Azul waves good bye to you as he heads up to the third floor to wander around and kill time. It's a good thing that Saturday is only a half day.

Today's highlight at school for you is...

>Being summoned to the Teacher's lounge...
>Tomio and you attempting to do your classroom cleaning duty as fast as possible...
>Hearing rumors about a strange Miko at Hikawa Shrine...
>Usagi asking you weird questions about why you were at House of Fortune...
>Naru digging up embarrassing information on your elementary school days that you want to forget...

>>5049380
>Being summoned to the Teacher's lounge...
>Tomio and you attempting to do your classroom cleaning duty as fast as possible...
>Usagi asking you weird questions about why you were at House of Fortune...

Ruka is going to have very interesting day.

>>5049380
>Being summoned to the Teacher's lounge...

>>5049380
>Being summoned to the Teacher's lounge...

>>5049435
>>5049689
>>5050400
Post tonight!

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The highlight of the school day is being summoned to the Teacher's lounge. It's a mystery to you why you're being told to go, but a member of the Student Council has come to your classroom to get you. That excites quite a bit of chatter from your classmates but you ignore it.

When you arrive at the Teacher's lounge, you are surprised to see your fellow Supernatural Research Club executives. Vice President Tadano Akira, Treasurer Kotani Miya and President Kagawa Aya look all very confused as they stand before your 'club advisor' Mr. Yamada.

"Ah, Houseki's here. Now I can finally give you the news. The school is implementing a no haunted houses rule for this year's Culture Fest. School says that haunted houses are chosen too often by too many classrooms. But we all know the real reason, don't we kiddos?" Mr. Yamada can't help but cynically smile as he explains the school's 'official' reason for the rule.

"I was given advance notice because the club is pretty infamous for 'helping out' with haunted houses and things went too far last year. They'll be informing your classmates of this new rule in a few months when they vote for their Culture Fest classroom exhibit." Mr. Yamada doesn't conceal just how irksome he finds dealing with club related responsibilities as your overseeing teacher. Never mind the fact that he just dropped the equivalent of a nuclear bomb on your Club.

You could almost hear a pin drop from the shocked silence of your fellow club members.

The silence does not last.

The four of you erupt in protests, this was completely unfair! It was one thing to say Supernatural Research Club can't help their classmates, but it was another thing entirely to ban haunted houses. The students are going to blame your Club for the ban!

"Why just ban haunted houses? Cafes are super common too, why didn't they ban those too? The school could put a bit more effort into the 'plausible deniability' side of things. It's too damn obvious why this new rule got implemented and we'll get the blame." You complain volubly to your lazy club advisor.

"I wonder who thought this a good idea?..." Aya eyes Mr. Yamada and her words drip with insinuation.

Your Club is looks at your advising teacher with suspicion.

"Look kids, I'm lazy. I couldn't give a rat's ass what you do in your Club so long as everyone is safe and keeps out of my hair. I'm not going out of my way to be an asshole and ruin your fun, that's too much effort." Mr. Yamada rubs the back of his neck in annoyance at Aya's accusations.

If it had been any other teacher, you would have automatically believed their explanation. But this was Mr. Yamada, your club advisor, and he is a notoriously lazy motherfucker.

>>5051296
The question was mainly what would cause less trouble for him in the end. Banning haunted houses means forcing Supernatural Research Club to create its own exhibit during Culture Fest and forcing him to supervise your work, whereas letting the Club continue its 'consultation' work on haunted houses means no exhibit has to be created and he doesn't have to do anything at all.

Last year's school reprimand messed up that calculation...

Culture Fest was a busy time not just for students scrambling to put on an exhibit but also for teachers who have to be heavily involved in supervising their classroom and Clubs. Mr. Yamada has been able to dodge the 'Club' portion of his job for years.

On the whole, it is likely he is telling the truth... But he's also a burnt out wreck of a teacher attempting to do the bare minimum amount of work until retirement, you can't really trust him that much.

Everyone leaves the teacher's lounge in a grim mood. This needed to be discussed in the next meeting and a plan action to overturn the ban somehow.

Aya is pretty livid, it's probably best to distract her somehow.

"Hey Aya, I'm going to home to get changed since we're going to go Shinjuku. I suggest you do the same." You don't want to go to Shinjuku in your school uniform. And you're pretty sure that Aya doesn't either.

"You're right. One thing at a time, let's go see Kakutani." Aya concedes, and she proposes to meet you at the subway station after lunch.

You walk home with Azul, arrive at your apartment and get changed. Your dad won't be home until the evening, so you return to an empty apartment and eat a quick lunch.

It's delicious, it's an asparagus and tomato salad and meatballs that your father prepped last night.

Then it's off to Shinjuku, the red light district of Tokyo. The Daily Report is way too close to Kabukicho for comfort.

You eye Azul. The blue penguin is rather attentive when he realizes you are looking at him and want to say something to him...

What do you want to say?

>No wandering off into weird places...
>No purchasing weird stuff...
>You can do whatever you want in Shinjuku but no funny business...
>Shinjuku's an exciting place, but I don't want any trouble...
>Please use your common sense...
>write in

>>5051297
>>Please use your common sense...

>>5051297
>Please use your common sense...

>>5051297
>No wandering off into weird places
> Shinjuku's an exciting place, but I don't want any trouble...
>Please use your common sense...

>>5051319
>>5051339
>>5051860
We shall appeal to an otherworldly penguin's common sense...

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'Please use your common sense...'

Azul continues to stare at you.

Does your penguin buddy sense your urgent appeal through your psychic link? Just in case you better verbally explain it to really emphasize how serious you are about this visit to Shinjuku go smoothly without trouble

"This is your first time out of Juuban with me, isn't it?" You begin.

Azul nods excitedly.

"We're heading to Shinjuku, it's not a bad place as long as it's day and we keep out of questionable areas. But given you're a pretty curious bird, I sort of worry about you. It's a pretty infamous place with a lot of questionable shops and clubs. They sell stuff like that magazine you gave me and a whole lot more." You pointedly look at the hiding place of the Bound and Tortured magazine you received previously. The blue penguin follows your gaze, he nods as though he understands.

That's when he waddles to the entrance of the Penguin Domain and pulls out four other magazines of Bound and Tortured. He slaps down the four editions on your desk as though he is doing you a favor.

You bury your face in your hands in embarrassment. Informing your partner that you're heading to a place notorious for being a red light district was a bad idea. If you had said nothing, he probably wouldn't have realized what sort of place you were going to.

When you lift your head up away from your hands, you see that Azul is back at the Penguin Domain entrance again. He reaches in and pulls out the suitcase containing his money. He opens it up and takes out a small stash of money for himself before shoving the suitcase back.

"How are you going to even carry that?" You can't help but ask, it wasn't as if the blue bird had pockets. But apparently Azul already had an answer, he points his flipper at a leather satchel hanging in your closet. You haven't used that satchel in years.

"It's your money, so I won't dictate to you what you can use it on but remember. Common sense?" You feel despair form as it dawns upon you that keeping your partner in line might be more difficult than you suspected. You wrap the satchel on Azul and tighten the strap.

Actually, you may have based your assumptions wrongly, this was a penguin guide that crossed over from the Dream into the Waking World. What did he know about common sense? You grab the four magazines on your desk and stuff them into the Penguin Domain. When you push the magazines into the swirling blue entrance, there is an odd resistance, as though the magazines had to go through some sort of gelatin. You are careful not to plunge your hand through the strange portal.

It was time to go, Aya was waiting for you at the subway station. You take this opportunity to grab your lockpick set and knife, it would be useful if Azul can hold on to this for you. His invisibility powers means he can hide it and the satchel is roomy enough.

"Here buddy, put that in there and then we're off!" You announce.

>>5052062
Azul nods and neatly stashes your tools.

The walk to the subway station is brief, Aya is standing at the entrance waiting.

The trip to Shinjuku from Juuban is lengthier than you thought, it was over 30 minutes of travel time. Your tickets are manually clipped by the station attendant as you exit and get on the street. Shinjuku by day is a rather dreary place, it's bright neon signs festooning the buildings are uninteresting and drab in the light of day. It was clearly a place where the nightlife is much more exciting but evidence of the economic crash is evident even here. There are a number of abandoned bars, clubs and shops dotting the street. Other places were closed, their operation hours mostly being after 5 pm.

Aya takes out Kakutani's business card and points the way to the Daily Report.

"It's not that far from here, but the narrow streets can get confusing. So keep close to me Ruka." The short girl takes command and the lead to your destination.

It was indeed a very confusing route. The alleyways were narrower than you thought, it is good that you are visiting midday. At night, this place would be incredibly hard to walk through and a pickpocket's paradise... not that you think any criminal would dare do something so stupid. This place was the playground of the Yakuza and Chinese Triads.

>roll 3d6, dc 10 to notice something

>>5052063

Rolled 1, 6, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>5052088
Oops, might help if I actually rolled.

Rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9 (3d6)

>>5052063

Rolled 1, 5, 6 = 12 (3d6)

>>5052063

>>5052314
>>5052139
>>5052095
Seems we saw them coming

Daylight makes the alleyway reveal it's seediness and dilapidated state. You're amazed that in modern Tokyo there's a place this rundown. You're even more amazed that Aya actually spent time walking through here, trying and eventually succeeding in finding Daily Report. Your sempai is more reckless and braver than you thought.

And the two of you stick out like sore thumbs being so young, this was not a place where teens would hang out. You dressed casually in jeans, an old t-shirt and old raincoat because you were heading here but Aya has given no thought at all.

She's absurdly well dressed; long blue skirt, a loose white blouse, overly fashionable shoulder bag and even a few simple bracelets on her wrist. If it wasn't for the fact she was absurdly short, you would have thought she was older, some sort of high schooler.

It bugs you because Aya is too flashy and too attractive for her own good, anyone who saw her is going to remember her.

Speaking of flashy, in the corner of your eyes, you see two very showy looking guys in expensive suits. From what you can tell from their physiques and the way they carry themselves, they don't seem like gangsters. In fact, the dyed blonde hair, the makeup, and well-tailored suits seem to imply something else.

Typically you wouldn't pay too much attention to some well dressed guys but they're looking at you and Aya in a calculating manner... and they're following you down the alleyway. Aya is too absorbed in remembering her meandering path to Daily Report to realize the two men following.

Well... this was awkward. Better inform Aya in a sneaky manner that doesn't seem too obvious.

You speed up your gait to ensure you're side by side with Aya rather than be slightly behind her. Then you reach for her hand to get her attention. The sudden handholding surprises Aya who looks at you curiously as she walks a bit faster to match your longer strides. Excellent, it's pretty common for girls to hold hands with each other as they walk. The two men probably don't realize they've been spotted.

"We got company. There's two men behind us, they're following us. What do you want to do?" You whisper to your older friend.

Telling her was a mistake because Aya has no sense of sneakiness or ability to act subtly. As soon as you tell her, she whips her head around and looks back at the two men following you. All that effort being furtive has gone to waste.

"Hey ladies, wait up!" One of the men calls out to you. He is a rather short guy, somewhere around his late 20s but the makeup makes it hard to determine how truly old he is. His white suit is immaculate but the pant legs are getting soaked at the edges from rain puddles because he picks up speed to catch up with you.

Aya gives the man an ugly scowl. There's a look of recognition on her face.

"Piss off, I'm not interested!" Aya shouts back at him.

Well, it's obvious that Aya doesn't want to deal with whoever they were.

>>5052952
'Seems like we're going to make a run for it Azul, pick up those penguin feet.' You mentally comment to your slow moving penguin. The blue bird is going to have to triple his waddling speed at this rate.

The problem was Aya. She was not very athletic and tired easily, she could run for a bit if necessary but if the chase went on for too long...

Maybe there's something you can do...

>Use Water Wall to create a small wall at their feet and trip up the men, it's easy and likely not to be noticed! Water, water is in effect due to the abundance rainwater.
>Use Water Hands to push the men from behind and knock them down, but anyone who is watching is going to see two freaky watery hands floating in the air! Water, water is in effect due to the abundance rainwater.
>Just run, you have a headstart on them! You can drag Aya along since you're holding her hand. roll 3d6, dc 8 for you but Aya must also roll her dice...
>Turn a corner and see if you can hide somewhere. You can drag Aya into hiding with you! roll 3d6+2, DC 13
>Pick up Aya into a princess carry and use Burst of Speed to outrun the men! It will leave Azul behind though... roll 3d6, dc 11
>write in

>>5052953
>Use Water Wall to create a small wall at their feet and trip up the men, it's easy and likely not to be noticed! Water, water is in effect due to the abundance rainwater.
>Have Azul get near the men and mess with them if they end up getting too close

>>5053034
Seconding this.

>>5053034
>>5053081
Tripping up suspicious guys and have a bird to run interference.

After this post we'll take a break until saturday

>>5049380
>Man, lately you've been hanging out with Kagawa or other girls all the time." Tomio looks disgruntled that you had other plans on the go.
how cute, he misses Ruka~

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You need to slow them down or stop them from following you. Aya already sounds like she's getting out of breath and you barely ran that far.

In your mind's eye you see the pools of water all over the rough ground of the alleyway, waiting to be shaped by your powers and used. Like a string ready to be plucked to sound a note, a ripe apple in a tree waiting to fall, or a block of wood awaiting for a master's skill to shape.

Water, water, water. It's everywhere

You pull it to form a small ridge on the ground, a little obstacle to trip feet and force a stumble. It is an elegant and restrained use of your powers, no one could possibly notice the water was acting strangely from afar and the line of sight of the men who are chasing are not on the ground.

You don't bother looking back; the loud splash, fleshy smack on the pavement and the stream of curses behind you is enough of a clue.

"Goddamnit! Fucking hell!"
"What the fuck?"
"Stop my beautiful flowers! Don't leave us behind!"

You roll your eyes as they beg you come back.

'Hey buddy, you think you can make sure stay away? Like knock one of those signs on them if they get close to us? I'd appreciate it!' You give a mental command to your partner. You feel a positive pulse from him as he accepts your request and sense a distance forms as Azul slows down to monitor the strange men and you tear ahead down the alley with Aya.

After a few twists and turns, you feel your connection with Azul fade to a faint sensation. It's only then that you slow down to let the older girl catch her breath from the run.

"Haa... Haa... You know... I think... I need... to work... haa... out more..." Aya is trying desperately to catch her breath.

"I agree. You should work out. If those guys didn't trip, they'd catch up to us by now." You immediately agree with your older friend's assessment.

You look carefully where you've ended up. It's a wider street and there's some shops open to hide in. You gently guide Aya to a store of some sort where you can get out of the street. It wouldn't do to stand in the open and let those strange men find you again.

"What was that about anyways? Who were they?" Your curiosity burns and yearns for an answer. It's hard to wait for an answer as Aya fixes her hair and clothing.

"They're either recruiters or touts. Last time I came here, I had men constantly trying to offer me a job at a club or bar or whatever. They were really pushy, and telling them to leave me alone was hard. I learned swearing at them works most of the time. It was worse last time I came here because I went pretty late in the afternoon." Aya explains grumpily.

"Gross. Couldn't you have pointed out you were too young to work at places like that?" Surely if those idiots knew Aya was 15 years old, they'd just stop.

"... I'm sure that would have made me an even better employee in their eyes." Aya answers.

"Yikes, okay. Never mind then."

File: office.jpg (37 KB, 583x320)

37 KB JPG

>>5053668
The next 20 minutes are spent trying to get reoriented. You eventually find Daily Report and the building housing the barely respectable publication is impressively clean. There are even small pots of plants to brighten up the entrance a bit.

But you find that you don't feel very glad. Your link to Azul is faint and distant, as though he decided to waddle and explore parts of Shinjuku rather than follow your connection back to Daily Report. Could it be he's lost and can't actually find you through your link? You gave some directions to the penguin through your tenuous link and you received a few pulses back in answer, so you know he got them.

... You have to assume he decided not to follow your instructions to get his blue butt over to where you are immediately. You did say he should use 'common sense' during your trip but you forgot.

Common sense is an uncommon virtue.

"We're finally here. I thought we would have to give up after this." Aya lets out a sign of relief.

"It was quite the trip." You observe.

The secretary at the lobby is a bored looking young woman who barely looks at you, even as you introduce yourself. Aya had actually called ahead to make sure Kakutani knew that you were coming over to talk.

When allowed up to the newsroom, the place is monument of organized chaos. Harried looking reporters are pouring over their articles over desk computers, piles of folders stacked on the floor, dozens and dozens of empty bottles of various energy drinks and tea. In this maelstrom of journalistic detritus and output is a relaxed looking reporter sitting at sinisterly organized desk. It was almost mesmerizing to see the stark difference between Kakutani's clean and organized desk compared to her coworkers. It looked rather supernatural, even the light seems to shine differently over it.

It's probably your imagination.

"Well ladies, welcome to Daily Report. I have to say Ruka-chan, when your girlfriend busted in here demanding answers about Sailor V and Sailor Moon last time, I was surprised. Most people don't like talking about weird supernatural shenanigans to other people. It only makes them seem like a bunch of nuts." Kakutani gets up from her desk and stretches.

"Well we are part of the Supernatural Research Club, so this sort of thing is actually our area of interest." You observe.

Kakutani Moromi smiles broadly upon hearing about your club. She barks a short laugh.

"Ah, that explains it. Well girls, let's go out and grab a drink so we don't bug my coworkers. They're hard at work on their articles." The reporter grabs her coat and guides you to a nearby bar of all places. It was tiny, barely 8 seats but the owner greets Kakutani like an old friend and allows you to sit despite being underaged.

>>5053670
Kakutani sets out a voice recorder, a note pad and pen on the counter top before ordering a beer for herself. You and Aya just settle for water but given how lax laws governing alchol are in Shinjuku, you're pretty sure you could order a beer and the owner would serve you one without batting an eye.

You're lucky Aya came prepared. The older girl also has a note pad and a pen to write anything of interest from Kakutani.

In fact, there's a pretty intense glare from the short dark haired girl. As though she's trying to shoot fire at the reporter.

What do you want to talk about first?

>Ask why Kakutani is so interested in Sailor V and Sailor Moon
>Ask about recent sightings of the Sailors
>Ask what she wants know first.
>Talk about something other than the Sailors first, like what her co-workers are writing up on...
>write in

>>5053673
>Talk about something other than the Sailors first, like what her co-workers are writing up on...

>>5053673
>Talk about something other than the Sailors first, like what her co-workers are writing up on...
> Ask why Kakutani is so interested in Sailor V and Sailor Moon
>Ask what she wants know first.

>>5053692
>>5053774
Okay, hopefully tonight I'll be able to post.
This will be the last post until next week!

>>5054617
A bit of a delay, it'll have to be tomorrow!

File: onoue.jpg (15 KB, 365x274)

15 KB JPG

Where do you even begin, even Aya seems at a loss where to start with questioning Kakutani. Perhaps it would be best to begin with what her co-workers at Daily Report are doing before getting on the main subject. And you are sort of curious as to exactly what they are up to.

"So I saw your co-workers hard at work. Just what are they working on?" You begin asking.

The reporter takes a swig of her beer then hems and haws before asking a question in turn.

"What do you know about Daily Report?" The lilt in her voice suggests she already knows the answer you're about to give.

"You're a tabloid that reports on scandals about any actor that's just above D-list or flash in the pan celebrities." Aya answers derisively.

Oh wow, if you had any doubts that Aya and Kakutani didn't like each other, it was utterly obliterated. One side was Kagawa Aya, demonic eyes flashing with a sweet smile promising acid answers... the other was Kakutani Moromi, cool and judging with a toothy smile that was akin to a shark's.

"That's true kiddos. Daily Report is a tabloid that specializes in the entertainment business and the weird. Actors canoodling with the fellow co-stars, male and female? Bands getting into fights and then burning the bar they were fighting in? Prophecies of future events that somehow come true? Strange reports of monsters and superheroes fighting them? That's Daily Report's bread and butter but..." Kakutani trails off, you take this as an opportunity to fill in the blanks to smooth things over.

"... Daily Report and you do more than chase tawdry scandals and stories about Sailor V, right?" You sally forth in the hopes that things don't get too tense.

"My co-workers are working on a big scoop on Hokkaido Takushoku Bank. We're not as specialized as Toyo Keizai magazine but we do financial scandal reports like that Itoman and Sumitomo Bank scandal, insider trading crimes or break news on tobashi..." At this Kakutani goes on to describe a truly long list of crazy financial shenanigans and scandals that occurred from 1989 to 1992 that Daily Report covered. It's a very, very long list and apparently news reporters are having a field day just turning over the simplest rocks to find a scandal.

"That kook Onoue Nui with her weird ass mystical belief in that damn frog..." The rant from Kakutani Moromi peters out as she realizes that she's talking to two young teenage girls about financial chicanery. Both you and Aya are suffering, eyes glazed over with boredom.

The reporter has the grace to look sheepish and takes a large swig from her beer. At some point, the bar owner had served you some skewered yakitori to tide you over in sympathy which has long since been eaten.

"I have such a headache. Ruka, if I ever get crazy greedy, please slap some sense into me," Aya is leaning over the table with her head in her hands exhausted.

>>5056114
"Sure sempai... So, uh, Ms. Kakutani, what do you want to know first? I think it'd be easier if you tell us what you're looking for and we'll answer the best we can but please, for the love of god, don't make it a long list of questions."

"Hm, well first, what do you have for me? Sailor V or Sailor Moon?" Kakutani begins as she reaches for her cassette recorder to record your answer.

"Sailor Moon, and things went spooky at our school..."

And so begins your strange tale about the events of this week to whet the journalistic appetite of your reporter contact. It is mercifully short compared to Kakutani's mini history lecture of financial scandals her publication has covered. Was every magazine and tabloid doing financial crime reporting? Even that 'Bound and Tortured' magazine had something about stuff on it.

One thing you didn't consider about having Aya around for this meeting with the reporter is that she is now hearing fuller details of your time at House of Fortune, naturally edited to avoid any mention of your particular supernatural activities. The two are grilling you like a piece of chicken over an open fire for details, you don't know which is worse. The sharp observation of a seasoned journalist who might uncover info you didn't want to give her or the questions of your best friend who is concerned for your health and safety. You did a pretty good job in answering the questions in such a way it doesn't reveal you've been doing things with magical powers from nowhere.

"Cripes kid, I have to agree with your girlfriend here. You are taking stupid risks, you are going to get burned eventually," Kakutani stops her recording and notes as she says it. The crisp clack of the stop button is loud and clear. The atmosphere of Shinjuku is starting to come to life as potential customers are walking through the narrow streets. It is past 5 pm and the street is getting crowded. The crush of people at the subway station is going to be intense as people are rushing to enjoy their Saturday evening.

"Says the lady who is chasing after the same crazy supernatural shenanigans," you scoff at the reporter's reaction.

"Ruka, she's right. It's one thing to research the weird, it is another thing to throw yourself into danger like that," Aya is looking at you in a new light. You guess it's a 'you are going to get yourself killed one day' sort of look.

"Look Aya, we're here to learn about Sailor V from Ms. Kakutani here... which reminds me, why are you so interested in this sort of thing? Why Sailor V and Sailor Moon?" There's no way you can convince the two that you are able to take care of yourself, best to change the subject.

"Ah, I told you that Daily Report focuses mainly on the entertainment world and stuff right? Do you remember something called the Dark Agency and their idols?" Kakutani drains the last of her beer as she waits to hear your response.

>>5056116
You have no idea what this 'Dark Agency' is and it's probably because you were too busy being stressed out to pay attention to something like idols. It was only last year your father got a family court divorce and full custody of you. Aya seems to be puzzled but eventually she seems to remember.

"Oh, that idol agency that went bankrupt last year? I think I listened to some of their stuff? I don't really remember what sort of groups or acts they put out..." There's a frown on her face as she struggles to recall more details.

"Well I remember them perfectly well, but everyone else seems to not remember them at all or vaguely. So far, not a single person I've met can recall specific idols or groups that the damn idol management agency put out. My own Daily Report articles on them don't help to jog memories either. It's crazy, they were doing some pretty flashy acts. I was assigned to cover those bastards last year. They were up to their necks doing inexplicable supernatural shenanigans... and I got caught in the crossfire. I'd probably be dead or worse but Sailor V came along and saved my ass," Kakutani passes money to the bar owner to pay her bill.

"Wait, what? You met Sailor V?" Aya begins scribbling down notes.

"Well, if you regard being rescued constantly as meeting someone, then yeah. But, too bad kiddies, auntie Moromi doesn't have the time to tell war stories about the dastardly deeds of the Dark Agency being foiled by the wonderful Sailor V. It's way past your curfew in this sort of town. I'm going to have to ask you get back home!"

The reporter ushers you out of the bar.

"Can't let two teenage girls go to Shinjuku station by themselves, I'll take you there myself." There's no arguing with the reporter on this, she shepherds you and Aya to the nearest station entrance.

"WHAT! This is totally unfair, we just gave you a scoop on Sailor Moon but you give me nothing in return!?" Aya is outraged and grinds her teeth. She shoots particularly incensed glares at Kakutani who is absolutely overjoyed at being petty to your club president.

"Yup, and what are you going to do about it? Also if I may say so, it's your dear junior Houseki Ruka-chan who gave me the scoop and not you?" Kakutani cheerfully points out that Aya is more of an unwanted interloper.

"She has a point. Also, you wandered throughout Shinjuku to find Daily Report on your own without anyone from the Club to come with you. That's pretty dangerous," it is something that bothers you, if you're reckless than the same could be said of your friend. She could have asked Vice President Akira or Treasurer Miya to help out with her search.

>>5056117
"Oh for, don't take her side Ruka!" Aya sputters and stomps ahead towards the station, you've arrived at your destination. You don't bother trying protest or explain that it wasn't about taking sides to Aya. It is when your friend is a bit ahead and out of earshot, that Kakutani gets your attention with a poke at your shoulder. You focus your full attention on what the reporter wants to say.

"Hey kiddo. An observation about your sempai. She is way too used to getting her way with you. You should try not to be a doormat to her and set some hard boundaries, one day she might do something you're not actually okay with but she won't realize it." Kakutani's voice is serious.

"What do you mean?" You ask the older woman curiously.

"You cave to her, like I get she's your friend and you want to make her happy but that's not healthy. Like this meeting with me, did you plan to talk to me yourself or did your friend take charge and drag you here into Shinjuku?" Kakutani looks at you.

"I did want to talk to you about Sailor V and Sailor Moon eventually. That's the truth but I had other things on the go that probably meant I'd end up talking to you later on."

"Well, next time, leave your friend at home. We made a deal to share info but that deal didn't include her. Next time I'll tell you about Sailor V and I won't bullshit you."

At this Kakutani turns to leave. It occurs to you, she's a reporter and must know quite a few publications. There's that 'Silver Kingdom of the Moon' story that you want to get your hands on.

"Hey Ms. Kakutani, this is related to Supernatural Club stuff but have you heard of the magazine 'Bound and Tortured', it seems to have weird supernatural articles. Do you know where they're located?"

The reporter stops dead and turns to stare with a mouth open. You feel yourself turning red with embarrassment.

"Whoa kiddo, that's a pretty hardcore magazine. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing, that's none of my business but you are way too young to interested stuff like that... Yeah, they're in Shinjuku too but holy hell, you aren't thinking of visiting their office? Whatever the hell for?"

You feel judged... You are being judged. Why the hell did you even think of mentioning that magazine?

"ARTICLE! I read an article that I want more info on! It's a memories of a past life story that I want to get a complete and original version of!" You protest.

"... Reading it for the supernatural articles, sure that makes sense. Next time you visit me, I'll help you call the place up and see if they have it. But don't visit them, they're in Kabukicho and I'm sure they're run by some gang."

With that you wave goodbye to the reporter and rush into the station to see where Aya went. It is the busiest time of the evening, the subway is packed with people and you can barely see where your friend went. It is a difficult task finding such a short girl but you do see her by the ticket kiosk.

>>5056118

It's time to go home... is what you want to say but Azul is still wandering around Shinjuku still. He's probably having the time of his life exploring. You feel a very faint link with him and it is getting fainter as he wander further away from you.

Aya is waiting for you to go home.

What will you do?

>Pretend to go with Aya and 'accidentally' get separated by the crowd, then you can go and search for Azul. Roll 3d6 vs Aya's roll
>Lie to Aya that you have talk to Kakutani in private. Then go and find where Azul went. Roll 3d6-2 vs Aya's roll to convince her
>Go with Aya but try to steer her to board a really crowded subway train. You can pretend you'll board the next one since you can't get on with her. Then it's off to do a penguin hunt. Roll 3d6 +2 vs Aya's roll
>Just go home, Azul remember the way back. Why not let the your buddy have fun, he's pretty much invisible to normal people
>Try to reach out to Azul and ask him where he is. You'll let your partner decide what he wants to do. Roll 3d6, dc 10 to delay Aya enough to get an answer back from him


I made the post extra long since we'll be back at it friday and my delay in getting a post up.

Rolled 4, 1, 4 = 9 (3d6)

>>5056120
>Try to reach out to Azul and ask him where he is. You'll let your partner decide what he wants to do. Roll 3d6, dc 10 to delay Aya enough to get an answer back from him

Rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9 (3d6)

>>5056120
>Try to reach out to Azul and ask him where he is. You'll let your partner decide what he wants to do. Roll 3d6, dc 10 to delay Aya enough to get an answer back from him

>>5056120
>Try to reach out to Azul and ask him where he is. You'll let your partner decide what he wants to do. Roll 3d6, dc 10 to delay Aya enough to get an answer back from him

Rolled 5, 6, 2 = 13 (3d6)

>>5056275

>>5056165
>>5056264
>>5056276
All righty! We'll be having a post on friday evening!

File: apple.jpg (17 KB, 646x362)

17 KB JPG

You need to stall for time somehow. The sheer amount of concentration needed to reach out and communicate with Azul is almost painful. It is like straining to finish the last lap around the running track, and the pain of knowing there's still more to run before it's over.

You wrack your brains to figure out a way to delay getting aboard your train as you slowly walk towards the ticket machine. Then it hits you.

The ladies washroom...

"Sorry Aya, I need to go use the little girl's room before we go." You give your older friend a sheepish smile and start walking to the washroom without giving her any time to answer.

Aya suspects nothing and decides to wait for you outside by the entrance.

Hurriedly, you enter a stall and close the door. Gathering your thoughts, you start trying to communicate with Azul.

'Hey, come on man, you need to get to the station. I'm waiting for you, where are you?' You send out your message to the penguin and wait to see if you get an answer back.

There's no response. At least, not anything that can be sensed through your link.

'Are you in trouble? Are you lost? Hey buddy, I'm worrying about you here.'

Silence still.

Azul and you must be too far apart to communicate.

That's what you thought at first...

Just when you started to reach for the latch on the stall door to exit, you finally get an answer back.

It's blinding and completely unexpected, but for a brief flicker of a second you see something. In your mind's eye, you see the image of an apple held by someone's hand.

"What the fuck..." You curse as you sit down to recover.

That was new... and incredibly painful. Your head is aching, at that burst of information from Azul. You realize that he's hanging around Shinjuku and have an idea of his general vicinity. But beyond that... Did he need help? Was he lost? You don't know and can't do much until you recover from the strange image that Azul sent you.

You hear a light tap on your stall door.

"Ruka, are you okay? You've been in there for a really long time..." Aya is standing right outside. You must have sat for too long.

"Yeah Aya, just a bit of a headache. Must be tired." You reassure your friend as you exit.

"Let's head home then, the crowd is getting even worse on the platform. Looks like they're bringing out the subway pushers. It's going to be a very uncomfortable ride back." Aya observes.

The sea of people surging to enter and exit is astounding. To think that a weekday is apparently even worse when it comes to congestion on the subways. The white gloved oshiyas are out in force on the platform. Pushing and pushing to shove people into the cars to allow the doors to close. You could see the dead eyes of passengers full of misery in the tight squashed space through the windows of a passing subway train rushing off.

File: pusher.jpg (41 KB, 623x343)

41 KB JPG

>>5060160
"... Do you think we should wait until things get less crowded?" You can't help but put a little needy begging in your question. This looked like hell, and it was the sight of the crush that makes you decide that you are going to stay in Shinjuku to find Azul instead going back with Aya to Juuban. You can't even summon the energy to be sorry for planning to ditch your friend.

"No way minion, I got to get home. We're out pretty late," Aya's voice is full of regret as she stares at the traumatic crush of people in the subway cars and imagining the uncomfortable ride home. Your sempai moves ahead to the subway platform and you follow her for a bit, just enough to make sure she gets to the right subway line. You deliberately let the crowd work its magic in separating you from her. By the time Aya realizes you are not right behind her, it's too late.

You had stopped on the stairs, impeding foot traffic but you don't care, to overlook the platform and watch from an elevated position to see Aya swept up by the surge of the crowd and the forceful push of the oshiyas into a subway car.

"Ruka! Where are you! Hey-!" Aya tries to call out but the doors close on her. With that, your unfortunate friend is gone, swept away back to Juuban.

You fight against the crowd and exit Shinjuku station. It was time to look for your troublesome penguin partner. Saturday night is alive with adults looking to have fun at clubs, bars and restaurants. What a contrast to the early afternoon. Every single place is now open, and filled to the brim with people. A multitude of neon signs cast a hazy glow into the darkening April sky.

You know where you need to go by following the strange mystical connection between you and Azul, you just need to follow your instincts... but how are you going to get there? And should you even bother?

>Weave through the small alleyways to get to Azul quickly...
>Take the main streets and shoutengai shopping street, it's slower but safer...
>Wait at Shinjuku Station and let Azul come to you, your link will guide him to you...

>>5060161
>Take the main streets and shoutengai shopping street, it's slower but safer...

Probably a good idea to reduce the risk getting mugged.

>>5060161
>Weave through the small alleyways to get to Azul quickly...
Ruka is actually quite capable. And it should still be wet.

>>5060161
>Weave through the small alleyways to get to Azul quickly...

Spooky shit be afoot. Either that or our penguin is having a food coma.

Rolled 5, 3, 5 = 13 (3d6)

>>5060262
>>5060388
>>5060492
Rushing off, another post tonight

File: alleynarrow.jpg (43 KB, 628x404)

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If you don't really want to stay out late in Shinjuku, you'll have to take an active hand and search out Azul. The speediest option available is to hurry along down the narrow alleyways of Shinjuku to wherever your link leads you. You flip up the hood of your raincoat over your head to make yourself less recognizable, it won't do for people to realize you're too young to be running around in this part of the city.

The alleyways are narrow, dark and winding; you had never experienced such a claustrophobic and exciting atmosphere. There is an energy in the air that is quite unlike anything you've known. And it is a paradise for exploration, each corner seems to reveal more neon signs, exotic bars and interesting people. You can't help but have fun and marvel as you speedily walk towards your unknown destination further and further in Shinjuku.

You are getting closer to your strange penguin partner, you can feel it physically. At first, with the distance so great, it felt like a faint prick but as it narrows, the ebb and flow of communication becomes stronger.

'Hey buddy, I'm heading your way. Don't wander off okay?' The message you send out is easily received by the blue penguin who responds... oddly.

Nervousness? It wasn't fear, but rather you sense that Azul is being very cautious and wary about something. The emotional feedback seems to suggest that he was uncomfortable where he was at but not in any immediate danger.

You turn down a darker alleyway to your right, the light is dim and dully reflects off the wet pavement. You stay close to the wall when you see there's a very done up man walking down the alley.

Wait a second.

You recognize this man, it was that overdressed dandy from this afternoon who Aya didn't want to deal with. The long bleached hair, the overly fancy suit, the makeup on his face is extremely distinct. And unfortunately, he must have recognized you too despite your raincoat hood and the darkness. His eyes widen with recognition and he immediately stops in the middle of the alleyway to block your path.

"Why hello my little flower! Fancy meeting you here," the longhaired man gives a smile so oily, a spark would light him on fire like a lantern.

"Whatever you're selling, I'm not interested," you grunt in a very unfeminine manner and try to walk around and past the man but the narrowness of the alleyway works against you. All he does is extend his arm out to block your way and leans to take a good look at your face.

"Hm, you definitely got a dangerous beauty angle going there. In a few years, that glare of yours will be slaying the hearts of men. My deadly rose, why not listen to my heartfelt pleas of..."

You tune him out and start looking around to find an alternative route. The overdressed fop talks too much. Azul is somewhere behind him, you need to get past this idiot.

File: hostdude.jpg (13 KB, 246x303)

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>>5060977
You spy a wall to your right that is low enough to jump up and get on to a neighbouring roof. No need to bother with alleyways if this guy is going to get in your way. You'll just go up and around.

You take a few steps to the left side of the alley to get a bit more space to prepare your jump, the action seems to excite the man since it meant you unintentionally moved closer to him. He took it as a sign that his blandishments were having some sort of effect on you.

"Ah my charming girl, pearl of...?!"

You don't bother to look back. You take two steps towards the opposite wall and jump. Your physical ability and strategic use of burst of speed to build momentum helps you jump up and onto the wall easily. To the man, it must seem like an amazing physical feat and he is staring open-mouthed. You look down on him with scorn.

"When a girl is willing to scramble onto a roof to get away from you, you should take that as a giant hint."

You don't bother to wait around for his answer and immediately continue your journey via the rooftops. The buildings are not particularly tall and there are plenty of places where you can jump or climb down safely to the street without any problems. You don't go too far by rooftop, Azul is on ground level somewhere.

You jump down to the street, startling a few bar goers, but you walk swiftly away before they say anything and continue on your journey.

'Krrrup?' You hear a familiar chirp through your connection. You've arrived at a strange bar, 'The Coalsack, A Hole in the Sky' is the overly long name of the place. It seems that Azul is inside for some reason.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see that the dandy you left behind is walking towards you. Why is he so persistent?! It's a little unnerving, you told him to go away and he's still trying to pursue you. Surely going so far as to getting on to the rooftop to get around him made it abundantly clear you didn't want anything to do with him.

What will you do?

>Go in to the bar and get Azul, you can probably get help from the bartender about the weird dandy.
>Tell Azul to come out through your mental link, you'll make a run for it
>Huh? What was that? roll 3d6, dc 15
>Shout at the dandy to leave you alone.
>write in

>>5060979
>Huh? What was that? roll 3d6, dc 15
Damn mysterybox

>>5060979
>>Go in to the bar and get Azul, you can probably get help from the bartender about the weird dandy.

>>5061093
Seconding

Rolled 6, 6, 4 = 16 (3d6)

>>5060979

>Huh? What was that?

>>5061024
>>5061093
>>5061125
>>5061403
Huh weird, I got a tied vote.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>5061450
1 for going in to the bar
2 for 'what's that'
3 for both smashed together but not a lot of details

File: holeinthesky.jpg (88 KB, 764x493)

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You can't help but wonder what the hell is wrong with this irritating dandy, surely he wasn't chasing you down simply because you scorned him. Half the population of Japan consists of women! He could work his magic on them and leave you alone. But he put in the effort to follow you as you were on the rooftops trying to avoid him.

If some guy told you he wasn't interested and ran away from you, you would not put in any effort to chase him down... not without a very good reason.

So, what was this flirty fop's reason?

You don't know and quite frankly, it's unnerving. You need to get off the street and hide. The bar seems like a good place as any. You run up the narrow stairs to the bar's door. Azul is in there, and surely the bartender will assist you in getting rid of your stalker. If all else fails, you'll escape through a window and get on the rooftop again to escape.

'Hey Azul, get ready to leave, we might have some trouble.' You shoot a quick mental message to your partner just as you open the door.

The sight that greets you is unusual. It is a small place made to look like a bar from a luxurious train dining car. Large brass signs hang about with strange train station names like ""Milky Way Station", "Eagle Station" and "Northern Cross Station" and the ceiling has stars and constellations painted on. Seating was limited to an extreme, you could only see room for 6 people at the bar, and in one of those very limited seats was Azul finishing off a drink. Behind the bar preparing a small silver salver is the bartender who was a most unusually 'swishy' guy. He is a tall slender pink haired man in an apron smiling with pleasure as he flourishes the tray with a white piece of paper on it. He presents it to Azul like he was a regular human customer.

"That will be 1600 yen, Mr. Azul. I hope that your time at The Coalsack was enjoyable. Do remember that we are not always open in Golden Gai but will appear as required elsewhere," his voice is soft and calm, as he waits patiently for Azul to reach into his satchel to pay his bill.

You freeze to watch the surreal exchange. The two are acting as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with this situation. Azul is simply a new customer paying for his tab like a good penguin and the bartender is addressing him with superb hospitality, utterly unfazed that a giant blue penguin is laying out money on the silver tray.

Huh? Wait a second? How did swishy pink guy know Azul's name?

"I believe your master is here to take you home. If she can avoid the Puppet chasing after her that is. I'm afraid my assistance will be limited to preventing the Puppet from walking up the stairs into the Coalsack and making an Elsewhere for you." Here the pink man bows apologetically to Azul but he doesn't sound very sympathetic at all.

"So, uh, I'm safe here?" You ask as Azul gets up to waddle to you.

File: pink.jpg (40 KB, 607x640)

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>>5061762
"Oh no, not at all. I said it can't get up the stairs but there are other ways to gain entrance. I would suggest you make your escape as quickly as possible." The pink haired man points to a door next to his bar that you swear wasn't there earlier. It had been a solid wall with a carved wooden panel decorated with white herons, you remember it had been just that. Now there is a solid wood door with "Bar Trompe" written on it and a faded price list for drinks.

You had seen that bar name earlier, down on the street just a few doors before arriving at the Coalsack. It is closed and didn't seem like it was in operation. Perhaps the bar had permanently shut down or the owner decided to take the night off. Yet what did those little details matter at this moment? There is no way that the door before you is actually the front door of that bar. It's impossible.

"My sweet flower of the night!! Don't leave me behind, oh what bright eyes you have! What soft lips! My heart burns for you!" The shouts of the fop... no, Puppet, travels up the stairs to the Coalsack. Your hands are shaking from fear, was all of Tokyo full of spooky things and people? Who was this man?

A million questions, and no time to squeeze it out of the mysterious pinkhaired man. You approach the door and try the doorknob but as you feared, it is locked. Azul reaches into his satchel and presents your locks picks and knife to you.

What will you do?

>Pick the lock to open the door, roll 3d6, DC 11
>Go down the stairs and see if you can get past the Puppet below. If need be, stab it... roll 3d6, DC 12
>Exit through the window of the bar, and get on the rooftop to escape
>Go down the stairs and use Water Wall and Distant Hands to push the Puppet away from the entrance, it's a very flashy way to get out. No DC, 'water, water' is in effect
>write in

Rolled 4, 4, 3 = 11 (3d6)

>>5061764
>Pick the lock to open the door, roll 3d6, DC 11

Rolled 3, 6, 3 = 12 (3d6)

>>5061764
>Pick the lock to open the door, roll 3d6, DC 11

Rolled 1, 2, 2 = 5 (3d6)

>>5061764
>Pick the lock to open the door, roll 3d6, DC 11

>>5061887
>>5062033
>>5062084
we are going to escape!

You take the tools from Azul quickly and begin opening up your lockpick set.

There were other options available to you, like escaping through the window of the bar and doing some roofhopping. Even going down the stairs and fight the Puppet, there's so much water from the rain it would be child's play to use your ability.

But this door was here and being offered by pink guy, he doesn't seem to have a reason to screw you over. It feels like the safest choice.

You're thankful for the lockpicking competition against Uncle despite losing your money. You got to see and understand that your lockpicking tools can take a lot more abuse than you realize, before you had been so very careful and gentle with your tools. Now you know that there's no need to be so absurdly delicate, the metal lockpicks can break but they don't break that easily.

And there's the increase in speed in your lockpicking. If you had been doing this the old way, the Puppet would find you still in the process of pushing the pins in the lock up one by one.

You select your rake, while jamming the tension wrench into the lock and apply a bit of pressure for torque. Then you insert the rake and swiftly saw back and forth. You feel the pins setting and the lock is slowly turning.

"My, my, I have been very rude. Do forgive me, I did not introduce myself properly. I am the Conductor. I look forward to your future visits here at the Coalsack." The Conductor bows to you with a flourish, his long silky pink hair flutters over his shoulders.

Just as he does this, the doorknob gives a click sound. It is like salvation trumpeting in your ear and the doorknob turns smoothly. Before you is the inside of a small bar that seems to have been wholly abandoned. The bottles that rest on the shelves are half empty and standing dusty and undisturbed. You don't see much of the inside the abandoned bar due to distraction. As you turn to speak to the Conductor, you see a hand on the windowsill, the Puppet is trying to climb up into the Coalsack through the window.

"I'm Houseki Ruka, sorry, can't stay long, gotta go! Azul move, move, move!" You babble quickly as you step into what you assume is 'Bar Trompe' with Azul. You turn to close the door behind you, as you do you see the head of the Puppet just outside the window of the Coalsack. It's eyes blazing blue and focusing wholly on you as you stand frozen at the door looking at it.

"My sweet-..."

You move and slam the door shut before it says anything more. You don't hear it outside the door. In fact, as you stand by the door, all you hear is the street level noise of Golden Gai on the other side. You press your ears to the rough wood, the unmistakable sound of bar regulars wandering about the street, the loud music from neighbouring bars and other noises greet your ears.

Hands shaking, you open the door. On the other side, is the street. You are back on ground level when just a few seconds ago, you were in a bar on the second floor of a building.

>>5062644
What sort of fuckery was this?

You peek out the door, and down the street, the Puppet is attempting to climb up to the second floor of the building you had been in. It doesn't seem to realize that you are no longer anywhere close to the Coalsack bar. It is smashing the windows of the bar to try and gain entrance.

At this point the Conductor must have gotten fed up from the property damage to his bar, a long broom handle flies out from the broken window to shove the Puppet off. The attack is successful and you are treated to the sight of the Puppet falling backwards from the second floor to the street. The thing lands with a clunk and clatter as though it's body was hollow...

The lights of the Coalsack bar go out completely, the second floor is dark. You get the feeling that bar is no longer there physically, as though the Conductor decided to go off to a new location rather than deal with the Puppet and further troubles.

But... that can't be? Or was your instinct right?

Quite a few bar patrons are coming out to see what the ruckus is.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Did you seriously just smash up those windows?"
"Shit, he fell!"

The commotion allows you and Azul to walk out from Bar Trompe without undue attention. You don't have time to stick around here. You need to sneak back to Shinjuku Station! But... wait, earlier this afternoon, you had seen the over dressed fop slash supernatural spooky puppet thing with another person. Could it be another Puppet? Or possibly the Puppet master? Were you truly unobserved when you exited from Bar Trompe?

You hide in a dark alleyway close by to observe the situation unseen. There is a crowd of people attempting to stop the Puppet from leaving, it seems that bar owners don't like people smashing windows up. Rough looking men move in to deal with the situation; their muscles and flashy suits make it apparent what business they're in.

Azul is tugging on your raincoat, he looks up at you and the points at the rooftop. Was he trying to show you something? Or telling you to escape via the rooftops?

What will you do now?

>Stay hidden in the alleyway and observe the situation further?
>Try to see if you can find that second spooky guy hanging around the Puppet from earlier, roll 3d6 dc ???
>Sneak away to Shinjuku Station, street level, roll 3d6+2, dc 12
>Sneak away to Shinjuku Station, rooftop level, roll 3d6+2, dc 13
>Sneak back to the Coalsack bar, see if it's still there or gone, roll 3d6+2, dc 14
>Try to see what Azul is pointing at, maybe he wants you to see something? roll 3d6, dc???
>write in

Rolled 3, 3, 2 = 8 (3d6)

Nice to see Ruka's practice rewarded
>>5062646
>>Try to see what Azul is pointing at, maybe he wants you to see something? roll 3d6, dc???
Partners foreva

Rolled 2, 3, 5 = 10 (3d6)

>>5062646
>Try to see what Azul is pointing at, maybe he wants you to see something? roll 3d6, dc???

Rolled 1, 1, 2 = 4 (3d6)

>>5062646
>Try to see what Azul is pointing at, maybe he wants you to see something? roll 3d6, dc???

Rolled 5, 2, 3 = 10 (3d6)

>>5062646
>Try to see what Azul is pointing at, maybe he wants you to see something? roll 3d6, dc???

Rolled 5, 1, 2 + 1 = 9 (3d6 + 1)

>>5062715
>>5062721
>>5062747
>>5062841
ooooh poor rolls but we'll see

File: goldengairoofs.jpg (34 KB, 480x256)

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Just what is Azul trying to say? He can't possibly be telling you to go and climb up to that roof.

You try to follow where his flipper is pointing at.

The roofs of Golden Gai bars are all corrugated metal in various states of age. Some are browned with rust and need replacement; others retain a newish grey metal finish while some others have been painted various colors to break the dreary monotony of metal roofs.

The neon lights of the bar district throws shadows everywhere, making it rather easy to hide. The quick scan you give to the rooftop reveals nothing at all.

Well, there's a white cat on a roof...

"Seriously, you wanted me to look at a cat?" You break your search to look down at the blue penguin confused. Azul rolls his eyes with exasperation, you did not know that was possible with the avian. He insistently points upwards to the roof where you had seen the white cat.

You try again to scan the roof to see what exactly Azul wants to show you.

The white cat is super cute, it is tensely watching the situation below with the crowd of 'gentleman' having a talk with the Puppet. It must have been up there for awhile and chilling before the ruckus caught it's attention.

While you know Azul doesn't like cats, you hardly think that he just wanted to show you one spying upon the situation. There has to be more to it.

And there is more, or rather, a someone.

Up above on the roof is a girl boldly standing and surveying the commotion in the street. It looks like she is posing even though it was unlikely anyone realized she was up there.

She wears a bright red mask and sparkly orange sailor costume. You feel your jaw dropping the longer you stare. An awe-inspiring aura of something just emanates from her, you can sense it though you're down below on the street. A light wind causes her long hair to flutter dramatically as she observes the chaos caused by the Puppet.

Sailor V is here.

"Whoa..." Is all you can say while Azul just gives you a 'didn't I tell you' sort of look.

"GAAAH!" A bellow of pain interrupts your appreciation of seeing Sailor V for the first time in the flesh.

The sight of a gigantic muscle bound thug being tossed into the air by a waifish looking man is a shock to the crowd. It is impossible for a real human being to do that, but the Puppet isn't human. People don't realize that they were dealing with a spooky supernatural monster.

"UGLY FOOLS! I MUST FIND MY LOVELY ROSE." The Puppet shouts.

The dangerous looking men pull out knives to attack the Puppet but it is a mistake they soon regret. The Puppet ignores the stabs and slashes that cut up it's fine clothing to punch and kick the thugs. Each strike sends burly men flying with broken limbs into walls and windows. The dry cracks of breaking bone and bloodcurdling screams of pain make you shiver in your rainboots.

File: puppetstrings.jpg (8 KB, 171x274)

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>>5063249
The maelstrom of violence and pain gets Sailor V to act at last.

Her voice must be infused with some sort of power, for it rings clear and strong in the night air despite being so far away from the fight.

"A maiden's heart is not just won over by a pretty face spouting pretty words! Evildoer who deceives the innocent heart of women, Sailor V is here to punish you in the name of love!"

???

Did she... did she watch you get harassed by the Puppet earlier?

You aren't sure to feel super embarrassed or annoyed.

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

A laser-like attack erupts from the pointed index finger of Sailor V and crackles onwards towards the Puppet. It strikes the monster dead center in the chest with a loud crack and pierces it straight through the chest. The crowd screams and starts running upon seeing that the Puppet was no living man at all. You see pieces of porcelain like shards scatter all over the street from the attack.

You've seen porcelain dolls before in your grandparents' antique shop and they always creep you out. Was it the dead overly bright eyes? The sensation they were going to move somehow? The clearly inhuman smoothness of their skin?

In any case, the uncanny simulacra has cracks spidering over it's fine face showing that it was not human at all. The blue eyes glow with a unnatural light.

People are running away in all directions away from the fight. You press your back closer to the alleyway's wall to avoid being seen or accidentally get in the way of fleeing people.

These people have the right idea actually. You should skedaddle too.

But before you start your retreat, something catches your eye. Being observant has perks and detriments. You aren't quite sure what category this discoverY falls under. You see something long and thin glitter and flash in the darkness, the light is catching near invisible strands of something and reflects off them like glimmering fireflies. The strings originate from a dark alleyway nearby that you can't see into, who or what is manipulating those fine filaments is unknown to you but it is obvious that the jerking and jumping strands lead to the Puppet fighting against Sailor V right now.

You tighten your hood over your head and consider your options...

>Step out from your hiding place and cut the strings with your knife, it should help...
>There's water everywhere, send a massive Water Wall down the alleyway, no need to expose yourself...
>Go down the alleyway to confront whatever it is...
>Get on the rooftop to sneak and see what it is...
>Time to make your escape, you don't want to get involved in this any longer...
>write in

>>5063251
>There's water everywhere, send a massive Water Wall down the alleyway, no need to expose yourself...

As much as I’d like to investigate things further, it might be wise to foil the puppet master discreetly and let Sailor V sort it out. We don’t want extra homework, so to speak.

>>5063251
Well there's always the option to shout at Sailor V or try to direct her attention to the strings instead of the puppet, but that both draws attention back to Ruka and alerts the Puppetmaster that they've been got.
>>5063251
>>Get on the rooftop to sneak and see what it is...
It's fruitless to interfere with their direction of the Puppet if they can just recollect themselves and run away without anyone knowing who they are.
I wouldn't necessarily mind the Water Wall option, either, though.

>>5063570
>>5063691
Hm, I'll leave the vote open for longer and write later

>>5063251
>There's water everywhere, send a massive Water Wall down the alleyway, no need to expose yourself...

right, water wall incoming!

>>5064316
will post tomorrow, ran out of time

File: roughmap.png (35 KB, 756x398)

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Sailor V is utterly distracted by her fight with the Puppet. Indeed, she seems to be having the time of her life since the Puppet is completely outclassed and can't even touch her. It simply flails ineffectually and takes hits from the mysterious warrior.

"You almost got me there, but no dice. Oh well, that's just c'est la vie! Ahaha, I'm so awesome!!" A high pitched squeal of a very amused Sailor V greets your ears. She had no idea that she was just play fighting a disposable pawn while the real threat was safely hidden away.

It seems the plan the enemy had was to let Sailor V win against the Puppet, thus leaving her unaware that she had scored no real victory. It would let the Puppetmaster get off scot free and continue it's evil activities elsewhere.

The strange strings glimmer less and less as the Puppet fighting Sailor V begins breaking into pieces. It can barely stand, the end was near for it.

And you are running out of time on what to do. You've decided, the simplest option is best. Also, it happens to be the safest. You won't let the true mastermind get away, you'll flush them out into the open and get Sailor V's attention.

You focus your power on concentrating all the water laying around the alleyway where the strings come from.

It pools around the corner, just out of sight of the enemy. The water wall grows, fed by the sheer amount of standing water everywhere. Slivers and drops of water scurry down the walls of buildings and rooftops in epic streams, while pools of water gently roll to join other bodies of water on the dirty streets. The Water Wall started from something that was barely knee high in height but in seconds, it soars upwards. It is a hungry monster devouring all around it, and it still grows.

Water Wall has grown stronger

It is comical to look at this monstrous wall of water lurking just around the corner of the alleyway like some timid child. Surely at this height and size the wall would be noticed by Sailor V somehow. You feel a great strain trying to maintain the bulk and heft of it until you hear a cry of shock.

"What the heck?!" Sailor V cries out as she sees the solid mass of water you've managed to siphon from the surrounding area. The height of it towers over the neighbouring bars now, you must have drained every last drop of water in the surrounding area. The very stones you are standing upon in your alleyway is dry.

Sailor V's shocked cry is your signal. You feel relief as you let go of the wall and guide it down the alleyway where you suspect the Puppetmaster must hide in. The sound of rushing water is like a freight train, it shakes the bars and walls lining the street. At first, there was a strange resistance, as though the wall was pushing against something but it gives way easily under the weight so much water and is pushed backwards.

>>5064948
Crashing and clunking sounds reach your ears and you witness the smashed up Puppet barrel down the street towards the alleyway. It seems the strings weren't cut by the Puppetmaster, so the hapless thing is dragged backwards. Each smash to the rough ground chips away more shards from the Puppet's body that fly upwards into the air and then fades away like smoke.

"Stop right there!" Sailor V shouts as she chases after the Puppet. She heads straight towards the alleyway you sent your tsunami of water.

Perfect, it was exactly where she needed to go. Another great fight erupts out of sight somewhere down the alley and into the street over, you can hear it. There's more shouting, loud cracks from fists and kicks and finally a loud 'Crescent Beam' called out, then you have silence.

Did Sailor V win? Was it all over?

You're so tired... You give yourself another minute in hiding before deciding to start moving. The nearby bars and people are starting to come out and check on what has happened.

"Come on buddy, let's go home," you say to Azul who nods vigorously in agreement.

The trip back to home is uneventful and you also make sure you aren't followed which adds a bit more time. It's not paranoia when there are weird supernatural things out there that will stalk you, like that Puppet! At long last, you arrive home to the apartment and start to take off your boots, you see that your dad's shoes are neatly lined up on the shoe rack.

'Crap, I forgot dad would be home earlier than usual...' It had completely slipped your mind. You better act like everything is normal and call out.

"I'm home..." You say aloud from the entranceway. There's the sound of a chair being pushed back, followed by quick steps heading your way. Houseki Daisuke comes into sight, he seems frazzled.

"Welcome home Ruka, I didn't think you'd be home so late. Your friend Aya called me asking if you had come back home. She sounded a bit angry?" There's no evidence of suspicion from your dad about being out so late. Your dad trusts you, you feel guilty that you have to feed him a creative lie.

"I ditched Aya because I didn't want to ride the subway at the peak rush hour time. She went ahead without me, while I stuck around the station until the crowds thinned out. She's probably mad she got shoved in by the pushers to get on the subway, it was pretty packed."

It wasn't entirely the truth, it is sort of depressing how skilled you are at this.

"You must be hungry, I kept dinner warm for you, so chow down. We'll be going to the hospital tomorrow." Your father goes back in the kitchen and dishes out the rice that he had cooked. Azul follows you and sits with you as you start eating. He doesn't seem hungry, perhaps he had eaten in Shinjuku? He simply sits and watches.

>>5064950
Your dad is very curious as to how you spent your Saturday since you came home so late. You talk about the meeting with Kakutani and about the Sailor V research you're doing for your Supernatural Club. You just fail to mention that it was in Shinjuku and whatever else you did after the meeting. Your dad suspects nothing and is glad you had a good time with Aya.

You finish up by washing the dishes as your dad starts watching a bit of the news on TV.

Azul gets up and heads to your bedroom. It was almost time for him to turn in for the night too.

Well you have some time to do a few things before bed.

Choose 3 things...

>Watch TV with dad, maybe something interesting will turn up in the news...
>Call Aya and tell her you're home, you better reassure her...
>Do some homework in your room...
>Update your journal...
>Go do some exercises, both physical and spooky...
>Stay up until midnight to listen to the radio program, Midnight Zero...
>Get out a highway map, start looking for Highway 139 and Kamikakushi on it...
>Go explore the Penguin Domain with Azul, you have to check up on that chest...
>write in

>>5064952
>Call Aya and tell her you're home, you better reassure her...
> Go do some exercises, both physical and spooky...
> Go explore the Penguin Domain with Azul, you have to check up on that chest...

Gotta get swole, our water manipulation could become very useful if we could do a lot of stuff with just a bottle of water, which could be something we need to do sooner rather than later.

Getting into dreamworld stuff could also be key here into protecting ourselves by fucking over any spooks that come our way.

>>5064952
>Watch TV with dad, maybe something interesting will turn up in the news
>Call Aya and tell her you're home, you better reassure her...
>Stay up until midnight to listen to the radio program, Midnight Zero...

>>5065084
>>5065204
oooh radically different choices almost. I'll leave the vote open for a bit longer, and if no other votes comes in I'll roll
This will be the last vote until the next thread.

Rolled 1, 1 = 2 (2d2)

>>5065751
seems I'll have to roll since the only agreed option is calling Aya.
Putting up 2d2 dice

1 Go do some exercises, both physical and spooky...
vs
2 Watch TV with dad, maybe something interesting will turn up in the news

and
1 Go explore the Penguin Domain with Azul, you have to check up on that chest...
vs
Stay up until midnight to listen to the radio program, Midnight Zero...

>>5065883
I really shouldn't have left this to the last moment, I got to go to bed. Last post will be tomorrow! Please wait warmly.

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Aya did call earlier, it's best to call her back and tell her you're okay. She must be worried since you weren't behind her at Shinjuku Station and didn't immediately go home afterwards.

You grab your address book to check it for Aya's phone number. Then it's off to the telephone, getting the receiver off the hook and turning the rotary wheel to dial. It's a slow process, you wish your dad got one of those touch tone phones. Alas, financial hardship meant that you were using this old rotary. 'If it still works, it stays' was your dad's motto. Now that you think about it... this phone is almost an antique, you could probably sell this for a good price if you keep it for another ten years or so.

As you muse about the potential antique value of your rotary telephone, you hear someone pick up on the other end.

"Good evening, Kagawa residence." It is the smooth voice of Aya's father answering the phone.

"Good evening Mr. Kagawa, it's Houseki Ruka. Could I speak with Aya?" You always liked Aya's parents, they were such nice people, and really good looking. The first time you met her parents, you were stunned by how extraordinarily attractive they were. It was easy to see where your sempai got her good looks from.

The phone gets passed on to Aya and you are blasted in the ear by the overly loud voice of your concerned sempai.

"I can't believe you stuck around Shinjuku Station rather than go home with me!" Aya is in full sulk mode, she must have suffered quite a bit on the subway back given how crowded it was.

"I did suggest we wait until rush hour was over before getting on," you tease your friend. In reality, you can't help but be thankful you decided to go search for Azul rather than endure the crushing ride back to Juuban.

"Hmph, that is true and I wish I followed your suggestion because of what happened in Shinjuku. Did you leave the station at all? If you did, you might have been able to see it. The news is talking about some sort of weird fight and that Sailor V was seen!" Aya can barely contain her excitement.

You lean backwards a bit to peek into the living room where your dad is watching the evening news on TV. You hear and see a few snatches from the news reporter saying something about a strange brawl in Golden Gai that resulted in many injured, but you're too far away to properly see or hear it.

"My dad might be watching that news report right now, can't tell from where I'm standing though," you stop trying to do two things at once. The telephone cord can't extend far enough from the hallway to your living room to see the TV.

"Oh boo, we missed out on seeing Sailor V. We have to go back and grill Kakutani for the details, I think we should go back next weekend," Aya has already started planning to interrogate Kakutani but you know that it wasn't going to work.

>>5066779
"Sorry Aya, but the deal is between me and her, she made that quite clear to me before leaving us at the station. It'll have to be me if I go and meet her next time, you'll have to stay behind."

"WHAT!?"

The indignation of Aya is hilarious, you can imagine all the variety of faces she must be making. The glower, the shocked eyes, the grimace and snarl, the wheedling, it's all so clear in your imagination that you can't help but chuckle as she rants on the inherent unfairness of it. Aya stops when she realizes you're laughing at her.

"Hmph, you are far too entertained. Fine then, if that's what Kakutani wants, then go ahead."

"Ahaha, relax Aya, it's not the end of the world. I'll do my best to get info from Kakutani next time. I'll see you at school."

With that the two of you exchange good byes.

When you enter the living room, you are disappointed to find that evening news is over and done with. It would have been interested to see what they were actually reporting.

"Hey dad, what was the evening news talking about?" You ask your father who is idly watching some sort of nature documentary on fish.

"Huh? Uh, bad economic news, weather forecast, some sort of gang fight in Shinjuku, international news about Europe... Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. I changed the channel over to this documentary on the sunfish. You want to watch it with me?" Your father is distracted and incredibly absorbed by the TV as he asks this. It seems you aren't going to get much information out of him about the news.

"I'm going to go and work out a bit dad, try not to fall asleep in front of the TV again."

He waves his hand lazily to acknowledge your reminder and focuses his attention on the TV as a large shark appears on the screen. You enter your room to see where Azul went. He's not in your room, he went off to the Penguin Domain early it seems.

You're pretty sure that dad will fall asleep in front of the TV after binging on a bunch of shows but it's not guaranteed. Ever since discovering the strange blue swirling portal that your penguin partner uses to travel to... somewhere, you've been burning with curiosity to enter and explore.

However, you force yourself to be patient and start doing callisthenic; time is needed for sleep to hit dad.

Push-ups, squats, and even pull-ups on your bedroom door frame.

Well, you are trying to do pull-ups that way but the pain and lack of grip keeps you from accomplishing it. Your best friend Tomio mentioned he managed to do one this way but the challenge is immense. Maybe your fingers aren't strong enough yet? Hanging off the doorframe for 5 seconds was challenge enough, there just wasn't a lot of room to hold on.

As you're exercising, you summon your abilities. It is hard, all the available sources of water to work with is outside the apartment and your concentration is easily disrupted if you try to do too much at once.

>>5066781
Worse, Water Wall and Water Hands is underpowered compared to what you did in Shinjuku, you realize how much easier and more powerful you are if you have an abundant source of water to tap into. You went so far as to place a small glass of water on your desk to see if it helped but the water contained in the glass barely assisted you.

What is going to happen if you run into a spooky creep and don't have any water around to help?

There is a noise in the living room, it seems that dad is finally sleepy enough to call it a night. He comes by the bedroom and knocks on your door before opening it.

"It's late Ruka, I'm going to bed. You better clean yourself up and turn in for the night too." A huge yawn splits his face as he says this.

"Okay dad, good night."

"You too Ruka, good night."

You pretend to prepare for bed, even taking a shower and brushing your teeth. The apartment is silent, the door to your dad's bedroom is closed. You tiptoe to listen at his door and hear the faint sound of snoring within. It was a good thing that he falls asleep very quickly.

It is time.

You return to your bedroom and lock the door. Marching quickly over to the closet, you open it up and see the blue swirling portal remains as it had been last time you saw it. You kneel down and realize that though the height of the portal was perfect for Azul, but forces you to crawl through it.

You stare at the blue opaque thing, you can't see past it to know what was on the other side. It's probably safe, the blue penguin hasn't implied otherwise.

Well, no sense in waiting. It is time to go through and see where it goes.


END OF THREAD 6.5

Join us next time for the further adventures of Crescent Dream next week!

>>5066782

Thanks for the run, Crescent! See you next time!

thanks once again qm!

>>5066782
Based as always Crescent!