573/Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves
Date of Scene:	09 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 3
Synopsis:	As the season turns, some students think of those furry friends who don't have a dorm room or parents' homes to sleep in, and friends intersect and reconnect.
Cast of Characters:	Koji Silvia, Ikiko Hisakata, Chiyo Sakai, Sayaka Miki

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Koji Silvia has posed:
The golden and red-huedleaves have begun to fall from some of the trees out in the woodlands that surround the school grounds. It makes it so that shoes crunch on the ground on the few paths that wind their way around the darkened areas, and to the few clearings that have been known for students to gather in from time to time.

The sound of a hammer hitting wood can be heard in one of them this afternoon, and it's been going on for an hour or so.

For anyone who comes upon it, there are two figures currently there at work building what looks like a small raised hut, almost like a chicken house. The one with the hammer is Koji Silvia, currently working on getting some roofing shingles into place while the form of Ikiko can be seen holding it in place on top. Both of them are wearing work gloves and the older boy seems to be rather mindful of where those fingers are.

As he pauses and checks his work, Koji says towards Ikiko, "Thanks for doing this. I mean... Mochi and Macaron are still here in the woods, and all we can hope is they discover and use this this winter. After everything you all did to catch their kittens and get them to a shelter, this was the least I could do."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods. "The kittens liked being with humans, but the parent cats were a bit too standoffish to be adopted," she notes, adjusting her grip to take advantage of the started nail now holding the latest shingle in place and move her hands further away from the hammering zone. "But as long as we keep visiting them on occasion, I'm sure they'll let us know when they want to find a long-term home."

And maybe hearing about how their kittens are doing will speed that up, but Ikiko's grasp of Feline syntax is still pretty atrocious!

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Hammering? It was hard to miss a sound like that even from campus. While the trees did help muffle it a bit, the loss of leaves from many made it easier for the sound to travel. Enough so that someone who had been at the gardens helping to check over the flower bulbs preparing to over-Winter had heard, and come to investigate.

Chiyo walks down the path that was somewhat familiar, having been here for the barbecue and visited a time or two on her own. It was a nice area after all. Relaxing. She's not entirely surprised then to come across Koji, and even Ikiko. They also knew of this place.

A grin creeps over her face as she approaches with a hand lifting to wave, and she raises her voice (much as she can) to call out in greeting. "Koji-kun, Ikiko-chan. What are you building?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka is too passing by the woods of the school ground when she hears the sounds of hammering against wood. 'What are people doing?' is the first thought that passes through her mind. She is wondering who is it that could be building things on school grounds. A vagrant from elsewhere? Other students on some club activity? Either way, the bluenette is directing towards the sound, wanting to put an end to the mystery of the hammer strikes.

A short walk confirms it is indeed fellow Radiant Heart students, and moreover she knows one of them! For a certain definition of knowing, anyway. "Hello, Silvia-san!" she speeds up to the group assuredly. "What are you doing?"

She bows to the other students, introducing herself. "Hello, I am Miki Sayaka, part of the swimming, piano and soccer clubs!"

Koji Silvia has posed:
A few more strokes and the roofing nail is driven in, leaving only a few more pieces to be done before the shelter is finished, and Koji nods to Ikiko, "In case they don't, at least this time they'll have a place to stay for the winter. And we can leave them food to eat. I know there's a couple older buildings out here that are just storage sheds, but really, that's not safe for the-"

Cut off as he hears a familiar voice, and then another one, Koji puts down the hammer, and offers a polite wave to Sayaka, and a more vigorous one for Chiyo, "Hello! Sorry about the noise. We're building a shelter for the strays that live here on campus. Ikiko and the Animal Care club helped catch and get the kittens to a shelter over the summer. But the weather predictions say this year is going to be a cold one... and a lot of strays and pets left outdoors sometimes don't survive it. So we're going to put up a couple more of these around the woods so they have a fighting chance."

Smiling back at Ikiko again, he adds, "Your gift with getting animals to trust you is amazing, by the way. There's some crows I've started leaving peanuts for around here too... just to be safe."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko waves to the arrivals (after making sure her other hand is keeping the shingle in place while the nail is driven in), then once the hammer is placed down she bounds over to give Chiyo a hug! "What Koji said," she agrees with a grin. "Mochi and Macaron -- the parent cats -- are okay with humans, but not particularly sociable enough to be house cats yet. So... we do what we can to keep them happy and safe, and eventually they might decide to stop being strays."

She gives a nod to the bluenette. "Ikiko Hisakata, grade 5, Animal Care club; nice to meet you, Miki-san!" the younger girl grins.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Oh! Right, the cats," Chiyo repeats as she recalls the family of cats living around the school. They were spoken of often during the Summer time by Ikiko, Koji, and even some others that helped out. Even Bonito had mentioned them a time or two as he was fond of the kittens. When Ikiko runs over to hug her she returns it with a quiet laugh.

"That's a great idea. I'm sure it'll be much easier for them to comfortably survive the Winter this way."

Her attention shifts as well toward Miki at the greeting with a rather easy-going smile. "Chiyo Sakai, grade nine. I'm in manga club and flower arrangement club. Though there's not a lot joining the latter this quarter so we may lose our membership level." It happened. It wasn't super popular.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Do you really have that many strays on campus?" She may have been very busy the last few months, but the only animal she noticed was Kyubey, if he even counts as a stray. Maybe she can ask him next time she sees him. Unbeknownst to her, the white cat is actually not far from there, sitting on an upper branch two trees away from her position.

"Mochi and Macaron? Those names are sweet by every definition, really." Sayaka comments lightly, before addressing the rest of Ikiko's comment. "Hello, Hisakata-san! That sounds like a wonderful way to help. I bet Madoka-chan would love it if she were here too.

The bluenette then adds with a smile, nodding sagely towards Koji, but addressed in general. "Worrying about the winter is smart. Anything I can do to help?"

She turns towards Chiyo and asks. "Those are both cool! What kind of manga do you like writing, Sakai-san?" She is not making a mystery of what really has her interest, is she?

Koji Silvia has posed:
Chuckling just a little bit, Koji sits down on the ground next to the little house and reaches for a bag close by with water bottles and the remainder supplies that is going to be used to finish the little house, "Well Chiyo... with the Cultural Festival starting, maybe you should get the rest of the club together and do presentations on the flower language and ikebana. It might get a couple more people to sign up for the new year?"

Grinning over at Ikiko and Chiyo still, he holds up the water bottle for the younger girl and then leave it out so that he can stand again with a couple rolled up rugs, "Well, Sayaka-chan... if you really want to help out, you're about the same size as Ikiko... if you want you can unroll these inside to help give them some insulation. I admit, my head is a LITTLE big to go in."

Leaning in, he adds a little wink to the girl, and then holds out a little blue outdoor rug, "It's very nice of you to help. If you give me a moment, we can show you the pictures we have of Mochi and Macaron. Maki-chan is a very elegant cat... I think she was owned by someone before she came here... because she's quite sociable. But also very loyal to Mochi."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko takes a drink of water, using it to help stifle her giggles about Koji's comment about his head. "Not that many strays that we know of," she shrugs to Sayaka after finishing her drink of water. "But having more shelters gives more options for the strays we know of, and it means there's available capacity in case other strays happen to show up."

She nods at Chiyo's comment about the flower arrangement club. "Autumn has its own lovely colors, but they're not as popular as the brightness of spring and summer, I guess," the younger girl notes.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai considers Koji's suggestion a moment with a thoughtful nod. "Ah, that's true. Though I was rather hoping to get to explore the festival this year. Usually I'm set up with sweets from the shop somewhere, when I can. I heard there might be a haunted house?" She sounds a little hopeful of that. It sounded fun after all.

Sayaka's question of what manga she WRITES has her pause a moment looking properly embarassed with reddening cheeks. "Oh, I don't write... Some of the other members write fan fiction, and there's a couple that like to draw, but mainly we read. Or at least I do." A long pause before she quietly admits, "I like Shoujo manga." Ah yes. LOoooOooove.

THANKFULLY there's things to talk about otherwise! "Cats like to hunt and explore, too, so if there's more places to hide when the weather might suddenly change that will also be good for them."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka has a look of sudden remembrance on her face as she listens to Koji talking.

"The Cultural Festival, right!" she shouts out suddenly. "With how busy I have been, I was almost going to forget", she waves at Koji conspiratorially. "I should really start on preparing a piano composition when I have the time."

The bluenette doesn't hesitate at all in grabbing the blue outdoor rub and kneeling down to unfold it inside while she keeps speaking to Koji. "Having a look at them when we are done here would nice! You make them sound great."

"Makes sense, makes sense", Sayaka looks at Ikiko as she gets out of the shelter. "Silvia-san said you are in the animal care club, right? You must care a lot about them. What is it like?"

Sayaka grins at Chiyo. "Of course, reading it's great too. Why don't we exchange phone numbers?" Sayaka suggests, before going straight to the point. "We can trade manga that way! Can't wait to hear what Shoujo recommendations you have. We can talk about a lot there!"

"I really hope they get accostumed to this shelter", Sayaka nods along to Chiyo. "Such a shame if they suffer through winter despite your hard work."

"Anything else you have for me to do, Silvia-san?" she inquires from the boy.

Koji Silvia has posed:
"Well, there's the obvious Prince of High School. I mean... it is the most popular work in the last five years. Even I have a copy, and I'm a boy." Koji says with a big grin at Chiyo, and then gives her a wink, but then says to Sayaka, "One more rug to go in there, and it should be alright. We want to make sure they cover the floor to keep the warmth in."

So he take off the tape and passes in a green rug to match the blue one he'd handed in, "And thanks for doing this."

Reaching over, he pats Ikiko on the head, "Well, next Sunday you can scout out another spot we can put another one of these up, and see how much it'll cost. This was built from scraps I got from a hardware store owner that I helped out for a few afternoons. but it looks pretty good."

Taking off his gloves, he folds them and then puts them in a small pocket inside the bag, then takes the nails and hammer and puts them away in a safe corner, "Oh right.. Chiyo... I owe your grandfather still. I'm willing to help out at the shop if it gets busy. I don't know anything about making the stuff, but I can work the front."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Animal Care club is pretty fun," Ikiko grins to Sayaka. "A fair amount of it is students talking about the care and feeding of their pets, but we also do things such as volunteer at animal shelters and making sure people know to vaccinate their pets." And the occasional personal project, such as visiting the various stray dogs of Tokyo. "Have you met Steiner-san? She's my senpai in the club."

She leans into the headpats, then gives Koji a nod. "Will do! I'll look for good places, and see what Mochi and Macaron like!" the young girl grins. And sometimes the best source of opinion is from the cats' own mouths...

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai brightens a bit when Sayaka offers to exchange numbers. "Oh~! I'd like that," she agrees readily. Koji's own recommendation garners a rather warm grin from her as if that particular series might hold some special meaning for the pair. He's given a wink in turn even as she pulls her phone out of her pocket. It's just a basic old flip phone with a little Bao charm dangling off it. "Give me your number and I'll text you," she offers.

While the rugs are placed, she wanders a bit closer to admire the handiwork of the construction itself. It wasn't something she could make. "You guys did a great job. I don't really have any extra wood or anything to offer for others. I kind of wish I did."

Another grin comes as she adds, "Ojii-san would love the help. The new part-timer we have is a bit clumsy. He means well but he's not really catching on and keeps interrupting. I'll let him know you offered and see when he thinks would be best."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Sure, I will get to it", Sayaka confirms, grabbing onto the green rug and placing it next to the blue one. 'I wonder how Hitomi is doing', she thinks, noticing the internal colour scheme. 'Been a while since I last talked to her.' A pink one would have been a better addition if this pertained to her. "Prince of High School is a modern classic", she distracts herself me. "Doesn't surprise me at all you have a copy too, Koji-san."

The mention of Hannah gets a very clear recognition from Sayaka and she smirks brightly. "I did, when she was getting discharged from the hospital. We had a chance meeting in the hallways, and I met Lyra too, but I didn't know she was in the animal club. She is an example of righteousness and kindness, It doesn't surprise me she is in your club from how you are describing it", Sayaka gushes about her. Yes, it was a single encounter, and that was enough to engrave a high opinion of Hannah in the bluenette's head.

When Chiyo takes out her phone, Sayaka recites her phone number then imitates her, waiting to see if the message from Chiyo would arrive all right, then she focuses on the comment about the shop. "What shop does your grandfather have, Sakai-san?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
True to his word, once Sayaka is done putting the rugs in, he takes out his own smartphone, and powers it up... and then Koji swipes open some photos for Sayaka to see. There is this big and rangy calico in the picture, the kind of cat that you hear about beating up tanuki and dogs in rural neighborhoods and gets to be fed by grandparents and sleep in sunbeams. Macaron is just like he said. She looks like a show-quality tortoiseshell and every picture it's like she knows what it is and is posing. Mochi just seems tolerantly grumpy about it. The kittens come up too. A little blue grey kitten who always seems to be poking at something in every picture, a cinnamon ginger kitten who can't seem to BE in a picture without someone else in the family... and the a pure white, vividly blue-eyed kitten who looks almost like she's... smiling.

"Well", Koji goes on, "If you want to help with the next few Chiyoi, it's easy. It's four walls and and small roof. The whole this is pre-measured online from a site."

Going back for his bag, he takes out a bigger bottle of water and one of those gravity-fill bowls for pets, an old and used plastic one, filling it up before snapping the bottom in place, "Alright Ikiko, just put this in a good spot for them and we're done."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko nods to Koji and carefully tucks the gravity-fill bowl into the shelter, close enough to the entrance to be easily serviced by humans while still being out of the way of cats being cats. "I'll check back every so often to see if it needs refilled," she grins. "Probably on the same schedule as giving them extra food."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I think that might be fun to try. Let me know when you're building them next time," Chiyo responds to Koji as she finishes shooting off a quick text to Sayaka. It's just a little smiley face and a short message going 'Hi it's me Chiyo Sakai!' so that there's no mistaking it.

"Oh, he owns Nounamu Sweets. It's a small shop but it's pretty popular these days. We're just in town following the main road out of the school. You should stop by sometime, Miki-chan."

Looking among them all she offers a little nod. "I should be heading over there right now to help prepare for tomorror was it is. It was good getting to meet you, Miki-chan. Good seeing you both again as well, Koji-kun and Ikiko-chan. Have a good evening!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
After putting her own phone away with the arrival of Chiyo's message, Sayaka looks intently at every photo Koji shows about the two cats.

"I bet Mochi is a grumpy softie", she comments when she notices the cat's almost relunctant behaviour in the photos. And Macaron is really elegant, while the kittens are quite precious", Sayaka compliments the whole group.

Then she notices the time, and realises she has to get going. "I will go now, lots of things to do. Was cool spending time with you, let's do it again soon." The bluenette says, waving at them as she goes away. After a while, away from everyone's gazes, a white cat follows.