Kino's Heart Game - Session 2

[idolpro]

Somehow,
You feel like you’re about to start
On a journey...
♪💿♪

Comments

Rules

[idolpro]

✿ Characters remember that they were called to Honmachi Sakura Park, and can infer that they’re currently exploring someone’s heart.
✿ Characters’ phones seem to have disappeared. Huh!
✿ All characters are brought down to regular human strength and abilities, though they can still appear as they normally do with corruptions, etc.
✿ Unless otherwise noted, characters currently in the heart are not exploring together and cannot see/interact with one another.

Start

[idolpro]

Your character is alone in a pure white room... truly, nothing more than a white void that expands seemingly eternally. The only thing to break that vast whiteness is a single pedestal ahead of them, whichever direction that may be - assuming, of course, such a place even had directions to begin with. The pedestal is nothing particularly remarkable, being made of some sort of simple brown wood, and laying closed atop it is a sturdy satchel and a weapon.

The weapon is, notably, a single weapon from 1955 or earlier that suits their preferred fighting style, complete with any holster or sheath needed to carry it comfortably.

Re: Start

[thisismagrave]

[...well, this is ominous.]

[He will move over to grab the satchel though, see what's inside, and a staff. Which really probably could be just mistake for a walking stick or something.]

Re: Start

[quickpersuader]

Inside of the satchel is a thick but otherwise nondescript book with a sturdy leather binding. Even if he searches the other pockets, he'll find that book is the only thing currently kept inside it.

Re: Start

[thisismagrave]

[Huh.]

[He will open the book. Journal or information, let's see!]

Prologue: “Amidst a Crimson Sea” • b ─Blooming Prairie • b─

[idolpro]

A singing voice could be heard.

It was a crimson world.

Deep red flowers covered the surface of the ground as far as the eye could see.

There was nothing, except for the expanse of blue sky.

No one could be seen on the prairie.

Even so, the singing voice flowed through the space of crimson and blue.

It was a song which was slow yet lively.

The song continued in joy and melancholy.

I’ll give you some flowers
Some lovely, colorful flowers.
So that you might be happy.
So that you might smile.

Finally, the song ended with a beautiful, extended, high-pitched note.

Soon after the song had ended, a voice could be heard calling out,

“Encore!”

“I’d love to hear one or two more songs, or…”

“Or what?” asked the voice which had been singing.

“Or you could pick me up,” the first voice replied.

“Ahaha. I understand, then just one more――”

The singing voice was heard once more throughout the crimson prairie.

There was the sound of a film roll coming to an end. And so, your character finds themself in a field of red flowers. In the distance, someone can be heard singing...

It seems your character is no longer an audience member, but a part of the story itself. They may act as they wish.

Re: Prologue: “Amidst a Crimson Sea” • b ─Blooming Prairie • b─

[thisismagrave]

[Oh]

[He knows these red flowers.]

[Another one of these spaces for Kino?]

[He will get up and look for the source of the singing.]

Re: Prologue: “Amidst a Crimson Sea” • b ─Blooming Prairie • b─

[quickpersuader]

[The singing continues, only interrupted by a boyish voice:]

Looks like there's company.

[At which point the singing trails off and Kino sits up, eyes on Rufous.]

Oh... It's another traveler.

[They pick themself up off the ground, patting the flower petals from their long brown coat.]

Re: Prologue: “Amidst a Crimson Sea” • b ─Blooming Prairie • b─

[thisismagrave]

...you don't recognize me?

Frontispiece: “A Tale of Sweetness” ─Our Journeys─

[idolpro]

Before your character stretches a long dirt road. On either side are large screens with images projected on them like a theater, yet large enough to display altogether different scenes as though they were simply part of the scenery, should one stray from the path. Though there are a multitude of screens in different sizes or shapes, your character can quickly realize there are three scenes on display:

1. A rural country, with a line of statues of important officials and a large wooden ramp built along the otherwise straight road, as though to allow a person to drive right over them.

2. A country traveling on giant treads, leaving deep gashes in the earth behind it as it crawls, ever forward to an unknown destination.

3. A peaceful country where everyone seems to be enjoying a strangely red dish...

In fact, upon closer examination, the panes aren’t just screens - they’re doorways, allowing the character to walk inside. However, when doing so, the other two panes flicker and go dark. Whichever path is chosen, the others will become closed off.

Re: Frontispiece: “A Tale of Sweetness” ─Our Journeys─

[thisismagrave]

[Hmmmm]

[I mean]

[Food is where they're bonding, right? Maybe explore more of that.]

[To the strangely red dish.]

Re: Frontispiece: “A Tale of Sweetness” ─Our Journeys─

[quickpersuader]

There was the sound of a film roll coming to a stop.

"Land of Cooking" —Original—

[idolpro]

On a certain evening.

“I would just like to ask one more time... Does this brown coat really belong to you? And you wear it during the winter?”

Outside the gates, a traveler was asked such a question.

The one asking it was a young female immigration officer.

And the one being asked was a young traveler in a brown coat, who goes by the name Kino.

“That’s right. I’ve always had it.”

Kino answered, and the motorrad (Note: a motorcycle, only to note that it cannot fly) with them added,

“It’s like Kino’s trademark, or something! There’s no way Kino would part with it!”

Upon hearing this, the immigration officer chuckled—an eerie one at that. And then,

“I know right! Isn't brown wonderful? Now here’s your permit. Come in, come in! Please proceed through this pathway. Just push Hermes along with you!”

She stamped on the permit papers delightfully and handed them to Kino.

Kino lightly bowed as they accepted the papers, which they neatly folded and stowed into their black jacket’s pocket.

Then they pushed Hermes along the tunnel that penetrates into the thick walls.

After a while, Hermes asked in a voice only loud enough for Kino to hear.

“I wonder what’s up, Kino? That immigration officer lady was tense for some reason. I wonder if she liked your coat? Or maybe it’s really about brown?”

Kino shook their head.

“I have no idea at all. By the way Hermes, what do you mean by ‘brown’?”

There was the sound of a film roll coming to an end. It seems your character is no longer an audience member, but a part of the story itself. Your character enters the country alongside Kino, who seems to be prepared to climb up astride Hermes once more when they notice your character, too. “Ah... you’re visiting too? Though it looks like it’s too late to do much other than go to the hotel.”

They may explore as they wish.

Re: "Land of Cooking" —Original—

[thisismagrave]

Only the hotel? What about the night markets and restaurants?

Re: "Land of Cooking" —Original—

[quickpersuader]

Maybe if I didn't spend the past few days traveling. Why, are you planning to look around?

Even I'd like a nap.

At this point, it's just "sleep."

Re: "Land of Cooking" —Original—

[thisismagrave]

...yeah, I'll look around.

I'll walk with you to the hotel though.

Frontispiece: “A Tale of Bitterness” ─Our Journeys─

[idolpro]

Before your character stretches a long dirt road. On either side are large screens with images projected on them like a theater, yet large enough to display altogether different scenes as though they were simply part of the scenery, should one stray from the path. Though there are a multitude of screens in different sizes or shapes, your character can quickly realize there are three scenes on display:

1. A lonely building with a covered corridor leading to the gates of a country, deeply buried in snow.

2. A bustling country in the shadow of a large mountain.

3. A snowy mountain and a truck trapped in a drift with only a small tent nearby.

In fact, upon closer examination, the panes aren’t just screens - they’re doorways, allowing the character to walk inside. However, when doing so, the other two panes flicker and go dark. Whichever path is chosen, the others will become closed off.

Re: Frontispiece: “A Tale of Bitterness” ─Our Journeys─

[thisismagrave]

Hey, I was eating that. [Rude.]

[Another choice then.]

[....well, the mountain is telling.]

[And the truck.]

[He will go for the lonely building with a covered corridor.]

Re: Frontispiece: “A Tale of Bitterness” ─Our Journeys─

[quickpersuader]

[>There was the sound of a roll of film coming to an end.]

“A Winter Tale” ─D─

[idolpro]

It was a small room.

At its center was a single wooden bed. There was no way two such beds would fit in the room.

A painting was hanging from the low, light brown wall. It was bordered in such a way that made it look like a large window. It depicted an angel with fluttering white wings amidst a scenery of blue sky and animals feeding on the grass of a green prairie.

There was not a single real window in this room. It was being faintly illuminated by a dim light bulb suspended from the ceiling.

A human was lying on the bed.

It was a middle-aged woman. She was covered in a thick blanket of a light green color, and her head was sunk into a big pillow. Her eyes were open and looking straight ahead, but there was nothing she was gazing at in particular. Her slow, thin breaths escaped from her lifelessly opened mouth.

There were five people around the bed.

Four of them were two men and two women who were wearing the same clothes. They were clad in no other color but white from head to toe — white aprons, white caps, and white masks. They were standing on both sides of the bed.

The fifth was a young person wearing a black jacket. Perhaps around mid-teens, they had a fearless face framed with short black hair. They were standing at the foot of the bed with a big cloth bag hanging down from their left hand.

The four in white gazed towards the person in the bed and began to chat. There was no reply, but as if there was, they continued the dialogue meant for five people.

It was talk about the past. It was a recollection of the things the five of them shared and enjoyed together. Occasionally, the four would laugh merrily.

The person dressed in the black jacket looked on and stood quietly without saying anything. It’s as if they were looking at a distant and alien world.

The conversation continued at length. As the four broke into a fit of laughter, a faint smile slowly formed on the feeble mouth of the person on the bed who was only strong enough to breath.

One of the four noticed this, and quickly called the attention of the other three with a gesture. The four peered at the face of the bedridden woman.

The person in black inserted their right hand inside the cloth bag. With their left hand, they separated the cloth bag from a smaller bag, and let it fall to the floor without a sound. The form of the object they were grasping with their right hand was gradually revealed.

It was a long and narrow black mass of plastic and metal.

They lifted it up. It sent forth a thin red light which stopped precisely into a tiny dot on the bedridden woman’s breast.

The four in white did not pay heed.

There was the sound of a film roll coming to an end. And so, your character finds themself standing next to Kino as they prepare to shoot the dying woman.

It seems your character is no longer an audience member, but a part of the story itself. They may act as they wish.

Re: “A Winter Tale” ─D─

[thisismagrave]

[WELL]

[THIS SURE IS A WHOLE THING]

[Its a whole thing and a hand goes to Kino's shoulder before he fully parses what's going on-]

Re: “A Winter Tale” ─D─

[quickpersuader]

[It's not enough to stop them.

Three shots, one after another, strike the woman's heart and kill her instantly. Slowly, a red stain begins to seep through the blanket.

The four others turn to stare at Kino. When one speaks, his voice is quiet.]

"Heretic, what a thing to do."

[Their own voice quiet, Kino answers:]

I killed because I wanted to kill.

"Heretic, leave this place."

That I shall do.

[They replace the gun in the bag, and nod at Rufous, and then the door. It's time to go.]

Author’s Notes: A Tale of an Afterword (Note: Contains no spoilers of the text) ─Preface─

[idolpro]

There was the sound of a roll of film ending. And so, your character finds themself in a pure white space once more, drifting down, down, down, until...



...Their feet touch the ground - which, strangely, seems to have the firmness and texture of paper. Kino doesn’t seem to be surprised by their appearance - in fact, it seems perfectly expected.

“So you made it after all... I see. I think, then, this is the part where I’m supposed to say “Thank you for coming.””

[Multiple travelers may interact with each other in this section.]

Re: Author’s Notes: A Tale of an Afterword (Note: Contains no spoilers of the text) ─Preface─

[thisismagrave]

[Oh, this is]

[Straange.]

...is this the end, then?

Re: Author’s Notes: A Tale of an Afterword (Note: Contains no spoilers of the text) ─Preface─

[quickpersuader]

Surprisingly, no. Whoever was in charge of the chapter order went a little mad with power, I think.