Season 2 / Tatsuko Onizuka- “Out of the Frying Pan” [Second Trial Projection]

Chula - Suzune

“Really? Thank you!! That’s super kind of you, sir!!” she pauses. Big event? Her eyes go wide with delight. “Ohhh, you’re going to have fireworks?! That’s so exciting! It’s been while since I’ve watched any big ones.” So overjoyed by the idea of fireworks is she, that she forgets this is a projection and it’s likely to end in tragedy. “Thanks, though, I’ll be looking forward to it!”

She glances over the masks, thinking. Well, if Sylas has the Oni mask… Suzune takes the Okame mask and puts it on! “It looks great on you, Sylas-san!!” Okame mask was more silly than anything, but she’d take the good fortune.

Tatsuko Onizuka

Erin | Vincent Churchwell “Though, oh? What important event is that, can I ask? Do we need to do anything to prepare?”

From the man’s tone, you can tell he’s grinning. “Glad you asked. Y’see, it all ties back in to what the festival’s all about. Sure, there’s food and games and shit, but it’s really a rite of rebirth and discarding the past. At the very end of the festival, we have a massive bonfire, and all the festivalgoers can cast anything that they feel is holding them back or is unwanted into the fire. Really cathartic and freeing, y’know.” Just in case you forgot whose projection this was.

He eyes you all (or at least you think so, from what you can see of his eyes). “From what I can tell, you didn’t bring anything with you, did you? That’s fair. No one wants to walk around with all that baggage normally. You can probably find some stuff around here. Doesn’t gotta be for yourselves either. Anything that seems like it would bring up bad memories will work.”

As you put on your respective masks, you notice that the world beyond the torii gate seems to change slightly, as well as the man’s demeanor.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell In that case, Vincent will be looking to put on a dragon mask as he waits for an answer, preferably a black and white one if that’s a color option-

As Vincent puts on the dragon mask, the festival seems to come to life. The stalls all light up with colorful lighting, and music begins to play from somewhere. Seemingly out of nowhere, the festival is filled with countless people all wearing different masks, moving about the grounds.

The man takes a look at your mask. “Black ’n white? Not what I expected from you, kid, but it’s up to you.” He reaches up and ruffles your hair once, rather roughly, but still somewhat affectionately.

Chula - Suzune Suzune takes the Okame mask and puts it on!

Suzune puts on the human mask, and nothing seems to change. The festival looks the same as it did before, and the man’s tone is about the same. “Oh, yeah, we’ve got fireworks too. Real nice ones.”

Sylas Grey Sylas already has an Oni mask on.

As Sylas puts on the Oni mask, the already empty festival seems to become even more devoid of life. While everything stays in the same place, the once well-decorated stalls are now rundown. It feels almost as though it’s been abandoned.

The man no longer looks at you. You get the sense that he heard your comment, but is intentionally ignoring you.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

In that case, Vincent will be looking to put on a dragon mask as he waits for an answer, preferably a black and white one if that’s a color option-

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Vincent is listening intently to the explanation, and nodding along seriously as it’s explained. So it’s like that, huh? He thinks he’s starting to get it. “Good to know, thanks again.”

And then, Vincent puts on his mask, and blinks with wide eyes as the world changes and…???? Woah. Despite himself, Vincent suddenly sounds a little amazed.

“Oh, I can see the people here now… And ehh???” The man ruffles his hair??????? You can’t see Vincent’s face, but he is a little embarrassed by that HEFHGJ Right, right, he was probably being seen as someone… else, right? Probably. “I don’t know about that, I’ve always been a little drawn to black and white…,” he mumbles.

Vincent shifts to look at the other two, tilting his head at them since he can’t show his expression.

“Do we… need to hold hands to enter like the sign shows…?” Awkward if so, but he’s Willing. “So that then we can gather bad memories to toss into the bonfire…”

Tatsuko Onizuka

Erin | Vincent Churchwell “Do we… need to hold hands to enter like the sign shows…?”

The man shrugs. “I mean, if you want to. It’s up to you.”

Chula - Suzune “Though, I guess I should ask… Anything with bad memories… Is there a way to tell if something has bad memories?”

“No need to worry, little lady. You’ll know.” That’s both ominous and not very helpful.

Chula - Suzune

“Oh, a bonfire!! That one’s also a classic. Gooosh, I do love these! It’s just like… they always have so many people, so many things happening, and so many ways… To feel the closest to the ones you love.” Mmmm, she had plenty of good festival memories.

As her perception doesn’t change, she doesn’t question this at all. “Though, I guess I should ask… Anything with bad memories… Is there a way to tell if something has bad memories?” She at least wanted to know what to keep an eye out for. Everyone she DID have on her person, her clothing, was something she treasured, actually. She certainly didn’t want to toss any of that.

“I guess I can see why something like this would have an influence on Onizuka-san. These are always such sweet events, hehe.”

Sylas Grey

“What the fuck. Where did everyone go.”

Sylas is now having a Bad Time. He frantically starts trying to search the first abandoned stall he sees for any sign of life.

Tatsuko Onizuka

Sylas Grey He frantically starts trying to search the first abandoned stall he sees for any sign of life.

Entering the shrine grounds allows you to get a better view of the specifics of the festival. There seem to be a variety of food stalls, as well as a stall for a goldfish scooping game. By the entrance is a wooden notice board with a few fliers posted. At the other end of the aisle is a large, unlit bonfire pit.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Oh thank god, they Didn’t need to hold hands it seemed, what with Sylas running ahead… Onwardssss-

Vincent looks curiously at the goldfish game first…! Little friends…?

Tatsuko Onizuka

Erin | Vincent Churchwell Vincent looks curiously at the goldfish game first…!

It’s a normal-looking goldfish scooping stall. Next to a small pool is a container of paper scoopers. Inside the pool, several goldfish swim around idly. Lots of friends… There is also a shiny golden sticker floating in the water.

Chula - Suzune

“Sylas-san, honey, hang on!!” She trots up behind him and readjusts his mask so he’s properly able to see through the eye holes. “Better?”

That fixed, Suzune glances around. “… I get the feeling that, like, most stuff will be free if the masks were.” That is at least a comforting thought. But she’ll look at the notice board to begin with! Maybe there will be something cool to check out there, huh?

Tatsuko Onizuka

Chula - Suzune But she’ll look at the notice board to begin with!

It’s a wooden notice board covered in posters and fliers, the sort of thing that would be used to advertise community events and the like. Most of the posters appear to be advertisements for a show troupe called Circus Arcana, featuring pictures of a few different acts. You don’t recognize most of the people, though there’s a man whose hair looks to be about the same blond as the man from the mask stand, as well as a picture of Tatsuko. These fliers take up the entire board, but looking closer, they seem to be covering other posters.

Sylas Grey

“…..Oh! Thanks, Miss Suzie, you’re a lifesaver!”

Now slightly less afraid, he goes to check out the food stalls. Any grub?

Tatsuko Onizuka

Sylas Grey ow slightly less afraid, he goes to check out the food stalls.

While there appear to be a lot of different food stalls, it’s hard to tell exactly what kinds of food each is selling. Most of them have very vague labels along the lines of “FOOD”, “TASTY”, “SPICY”, “FRIED”, and so on. These really give off the impression of background pieces meant to fill the space.

To Sylas, these stalls all look rundown, but you can still smell something like food. There seem to be various little plates of food on the counters.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Vincent is picking up a paper scooperrrrrr! Though he does initially want to scoop some fish, well… seeing a bit of trash(?) in the water makes him aim for that first! Attempting to scoop the sticker…!

Tatsuko Onizuka

Erin | Vincent Churchwell Attempting to scoop the sticker…!

The sticker is relatively easy to scoop, given the fact that it is too light to rupture the fragile paper on the scooper and also is not actively moving. Congratulations! You’ve won a prize!

Chula - Suzune Can Suzune peel some of those posters back to see what’s underneath?

Beneath the circus fliers, Suzune finds several different posters: a wanted poster, a missing person poster, and a photograph.

Chula - Suzune

“Happy to help. If you find anything good at the food stalls, can you grab me a candied apple?” A little treat!!

Oh, interesting on the posters front! Can Suzune peel some of those posters back to see what’s underneath?

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Prize 🙂 Thinking of nothing better to do with it, he sticks it on himself for now, figuring he can take it off later if needed. He watches the fish a little longer, but decides to leave them be for now, not having anywhere nice to put them anyways. Byeee fish friends…

Then he turns to the others, giving some “excuse me”s and taking care to maneuver around the masked people here only he can see to do so, which may look Odd to Sylas and Suzune to say the least.

“I won a sticker, I think?? Unless it was just trash in the water.”

Tatsuko Onizuka

Erin | Vincent Churchwell Thinking of nothing better to do with it, he sticks it on himself for now,

Your prize is a golden sticker that resembles a firefighter’s badge. It’s got the words “JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER” printed on it. It smells vaguely of smoke.

Touching it causes something to flash through your mind - a snippet of a memory, perhaps? For a second, you are looking up at a firefighter wearing a reassuring smile as he sticks something to your shirt, with the outline of flames behind him. It dissipates just as fast as it appears, leaving you wondering what just happened.

After that, you are able to stick it to your shirt like normal. Congrats on becoming a junior firefighter, Vincent.

Chula - Suzune

Excuse me?? She turned to Vincent, tilting her head. “Were you trying to get my attention?” she asked, posters in hand (that she had very carefully attempted to not damage during the process of removing them, so she can put them back up if needed).

Oh…! A sticker. “I wonder if you can like…. Exchange it for something somewhere. But it’s also pretty cute on its own, so!! I guess hang onto it for now.” ’You’ll know them when you see them.' She wondered about that, everything looked pretty normal to her so far, though the whole festival was pretty devoid of people.

Oho, that’s interesting. “Actually, there’s a bunch of stuff under these, hang on.” Suzune starts by picking up and checking out the photograph. who would put that on a notice board?

Tatsuko Onizuka

Chula - Suzune Suzune starts by picking up and checking out the photograph.

It’s a photograph of an average-looking family – two parents, two older boys smiling politely, a girl wearing a large grin, and a younger boy clinging to the girl’s arm. All six family members have brown hair and eyes. Judging by its condition, it’s several years old.

Touching the photo causes something to flash through your mind – a snippet of a memory, perhaps? For a moment, you are having a heated argument with the people in the photograph. Though you can’t make out what’s being said, it fills you with an intense feeling of anger. It dissipates just as fast as it appears, leaving you wondering what just happened.

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