In the first round, a plot point appeared inside Yaoya Oshichi Greengrocer. Natsuko investigated and successfully unlocked a safe the owner forgot to lock. (According to the peril check she passed)
Inside was a gotoku (trivet)? The five-legged metal pot stand was upside down and looked like a crown. Candle stubs were atop each nub and molten wax had hardened down the legs. A shiver went down Natsuko's spine.
Brainy Tsubaki attempted to convince driver Yamaguchi-san to join with her investigation.
"Don't take it the wrong way, child. I believe you may have some spiritual power, but power is useless without the strength to use it." He told her; a show of might would be in order. She dodged the challenge by showing him an ofuda and charging it with spiritual energy until it glowed.
"Want to touch it?" She asked with a smile.
Yamaguchi-san has joined the party!
Yuri had an easier time with Inspector Saito. Her innocent yet mischievous face reminded him of the younger sister waiting for him back home. It's like she drew a card called "familiar face" and passed a peril check with it.
The phantom materialized on the second turn, inside Sakuragi-ya Inn behind Sakuragi-san who, according to her horror check, was completely oblivious to it being right behind her. This is good because that girl is scared of ghosts something fierce.
Yuri met Neko-san, who is not a poisoner, at the kimono shop where she was looking for clues on her own. After a rather impressive formal introduction, Neko-san agreed to join her party and work together.
Even Yuri was surprised. "You bought that?"
Neko-san shrugged, "I was impressed by your vocabulary."
"I will take that as a compliment."
This touching moment of friendship or something was cut short by the ghost! Yuri ignored the terror of the moment and distracted it to keep Neko-san safe. Neko-san wasn't shaken though and handled the situation with a sense of calm. The ghost was scary, but so was her home life.
Almost as swiftly as it came, the ghost was gone.
Natsuko had an easier time convincing Sakuragi-san to join them. She just said "sure."
Yuri discovered a strange box in the sake shop. As is her way, she attempted to force it open. When that failed, she tried kicking it. A lot. Stupid box.
"Did you try the latch?" Her sister asked. With a metallic "click" she undid the latch and opened the strange box. The girls peered inside and was greeted with the sight of a round mirror on a chain. As one, they put it together with the trivet Natsuko discovered.
"Oh no!"
Natsuko searched the tea shop, looking for something, anything that could help their investigation. Outside, Yuri was blessing Saito's police saber and handing out talismans.
"How's the search?" Tsubaki asked.
"Not good. I can't find anything."
"Did you check the big pot in the middle of the room?"
"Oh! I just took for granted it was there."
Tsubaki reached into the giant pot and pulled out a photograph of a young woman; a bit of straw was wedged in the hole driven through it.
"Oh my!" Natsuko said. "That's cruel."
"It's worse than that, it's a curse," Tsubaki explained. "Judging by the evidence we found, the whole post town was in on it. A woman, dressed in white, her head adorned by a trivet with light candles and wearing a mirror on her chest, goes to a sacred tree at a shrine, like the one beside Oshichi, and nails a straw effigy of the victim to it. It looks like she took it further with a photograph, driving the nail through the heart of it and the effigy."
"Can we go a night without some kind of ghost?"
"You're an honorary Hanamura sister now," Tsubaki looked around for the clock. A large Regulator was on the wall, but it was frozen. Frozen at 2 a.m.
"It happened at the hour of the ox, the cursing time."
A bright flash from outside lit the room.
The ghost appeared in the street outside the tea house; Saito-san and Neko-san were struck by madness and Sakuragi-san froze. Though frightened, the party had the means to fight back and it was do or die time. Literally.
Multiple blows struck the vengeful spirit and one even got through, but she sent the four supporters flying and even Natsuko briefly went down during an overtime seventh round.
As the hour of the ox ended, the spirit's strength waned and with the still standing Sisters Hanamura slowly gaining the upper hand she vanished.
Electric lights glowed throughout the little post town. The Model T's engine rumbled to life on its own. Natsuko reached out a hand to help up Yamaguchi-san.
"Let's get out of here."
22 January 2015, 01:51:05 AM