TAKE ME TO THE MOON (End Game Investigation)

[whimsicalism]

[Friday arrives uneventfully. The fog is growing stronger, it's true, but nothing obvious has happened. It's probably a relief not to have Kakuya's presence or a monster breathing down your neck. That doesn't help the sense that something has changed. Not one but two areas have opened up. A large skyscraper now towers over everything in the east, it's large bulk casting shadows over the entire 'city'. In the west, a park surrounding a lake sprawls out; a solemn looking Japanese shrine sits on an island in the middle of the lake.

Two large new areas are open to you... it's a bit disorienting but you probably should spread out.]

((Welcome to the final investigation for the dead! It's entirely optional so don't feel pressured to join in. ICly, this will be happening at the same time as the living's investigation and trial. Something may happen near the end of the investigation not involving these locations so keep an eye out.))

Comments

[whimsicalism]

[This high up, the heavy, ominous moon watches over everything. Reika's trip through the building itself also might have felt incredibly eerie.

Closer examination reveals that this memorial is dedicated to the victims of the Moimoi Department Store Fire, a senseless and violent loss of life that happened in December 1989. But you might recall from the skyscraper itself that the building that stands here now is called something else.

Is there anything in particular that you'd be on the lookout for?]

[noblesnow]

[December 1989... wow, that's forever ago.

Well, are there any names on this plaque that look familiar? A certain author, perhaps?]

[whimsicalism]

[None that you recognize, though one name is etched in much later. You don't think it's relevant but it's still strange. One name does seemed to be defaced though eligible. One Masaru Ishimaru.

There are some offerings left near the memorial, though. Among them are some torn up parts of a book.]

[noblesnow]

[...huh.

Okay, fine, let's look at these pieces of book. Is there enough to reassemble into something legible and/or with a title?]

[whimsicalism]

[It's clear that this isn't the entire book but rather something from the middle of the book. It appears to be about a story of someone being abducted by a an ancient evil spirit and trapped in a place called 'kakuriyo'. The main character frees them by using a mirror to connect the two worlds, putting the mirror close to the mirror containing the evil spirit.

This style is definitely of that creepy author that wrote that Kaguya story.]

[noblesnow]

[WELL THIS SEEMS EXTREMELY RELEVANT.

There wouldn't happen to conveniently be an implication that the trapped person could also escape by doing something special within the mirror, would there?]

[whimsicalism]

[Miroku might be a creep but he was a good writer at least?

Sadly, the story focuses on the person outside the mirror but the details used in the story feel like Miroku might not have been making things up. He seemed to know Kakuya, after all.]

[noblesnow]

[Well, it's a starting point, anyway. She'll just take this with her...

Any other interesting offerings, by some chance?]

[whimsicalism]

[There's a child's drawing of Momotaro fighting oni. It looks old and has a child's scrawl saying that the drawing is of the artist's mother.]

[noblesnow]

[...cute. Possibly relevant to other things, but still, all by itself it's cute.

Does the mother appear to be Momotaro or the oni?]

[whimsicalism]

[Momotaro. It also seems to be, well. That's a name you saw on the memorial; next to the newly scratched in name. A Momotaro Okayama. The scratched in name is a woman's name, Tomoko.]

[noblesnow]

[Oh... it's sad now.

Actually she's going to go ahead and write down all the names down on the notepad she's definitely had on her all along, in case anyone else is making similar discoveries.

What else do we have here?]

[whimsicalism]

[There's a lot of names but what stands out to you is there are a lot of family groupings. A department store in December would have been full of them, after all. There's also another Okayama name, a man's name that the canon has failed to provide. The only name that seems to be defaced is the aforementioned Masaru Ishimaru.

Other offerings include the usual offerings of food and flowers, as well as a few toys. It does seem odd that the memorial is on the roof of an office building, though. It's not very accessible.]

[noblesnow]

[Especially since, from all the offerings, it seems like it is accessible to somebody. She guesses it could just be the people who work(ed) in the building, but...

She looks up at the moon.]

Kaguya...

[Then she positions herself in roughly the middle of the roof and, in what is either the stupidest or most brilliant idea she's had in a long time, tries jumping up as high as she can.]

[whimsicalism]

[You jump! And fall back down as gravity says. Going to the moon might need more oomph.]

[noblesnow]

[...

Stupidest it is, then.]

[whimsicalism]

[Ao still loves you.]