2025-10-22: There Isn't a Cat
- Log: There Isn't a Cat
- Cast: Minato Arisato, Yoko Hirano, Kurou Ryouhara
- Where: Port Island Station
- OOC Date: October 22, 2025
- IC Date: July 30, 2012
- Summary: Maybe the real cat was the friends we made along the way.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato survived his exams..! There's only one thing left to do...
... work a part-time job at Screen Shot Cinema to get a bit of extra cash for the holidays.
Accordingly: Minato is in uniform, as he stands at the counter. "Here's your ticket," he says, for the umpteenth time that afternoon. "Please enjoy the film." He has a script for this, you see. It's very useful.
The fact that he's a cool, mysterious boy with haunting blue eyes and striking blue hair might help with sales, but never mind that.
Luckily, when he's working jobs like this, he never has to go off-script. The script is for work, and it is saviour to us all...
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
There's a cat that lives at Iwatodai Station.
Yoko has seen it and fed it a lot and it let her touch it the other day! Only for the briefest of seconds before it grabbed one last takoyaki and ran away, but she got to pet the kitty. No saint in any Renaissance painting felt heaven's light shining down the way Yoko did. A special halo of Chosenness followed her all the way back to her dorm!
She was relieved to find out that it didn't glow in the dark, and she was able to get to sleep at a reasonable hour on a school night.
Maybe it changed something about her on a spiritual level, because shortly after Enigma let her touch it, she saw another cat while waiting for the train at Port Island Station. A completely different cat! Takoyaki doesn't seem to be working on them. Maybe it's too cold and unappetizing from a ride across the bay...
So, with respect for what Officer Suou suggested, Yoko has brought a bag of cat kibble and a plastic bowl from that convenience store at the other end of Iwatodai. Lucky Something-or-other. But Port Island is kind of busy right now, and she can't see the new cat. ...Well, she could go... see a movie or something? Or go shopping?
...
Maybe there's something good playing. Yoko wanders closer to the marquee, hands wrapped around the crossbody strap of her bag. She completely misses Minato at the ticket booth. Just... just give her a minute, maybe.
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou also survived his exams. He does not yet know which sticker he has earned for himself, but his grades have been steadily improving. He's not sure what Bakudan Corps levels are in this context, but he'd prefer to live up to his shirogarasu's expectations... and not just because there might be candy in it.
Exams, are, however, not to be Kurou's primary concern in life. (What are they going to do? Send him to NINJA COLLEGE?) (That's classified.) He must keep on his other assignments, and that includes keeping an eye on a certain green-eyed girl. Hopefully, this time, without any cops to threaten her.
There is another cat around, though. How unlucky he only notices it when he needs to focus on his assignment.
Oh, is she going to go see a movie...? Kurou will have to be close enough to hear and see it too. It could also serve as a clue to her 'deal'.
... So there is he, silently and thus suddenly, staring unblinkingly at the marquee alongside Yoko.
Here, Kurou comes to his own realization: he knows absolutely nothing about cinema.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
The back alleys are dangerous, of course. There's a street cop warning people away from them. Even so, sometimes cats wander in, because police don't watch the cats.
"Good afternoon," Minato says, in stock footage. "Would you like to see a movie today? Today, we're showing 'The More Than Dreamin'." There's a poster for it up! Apparently, it's a film about an alien visitor...
But the alien visitor might be Minato, because it's at that point he looks down from the booth, and blinks, realising just who his kouhai is.
"You have cat food." That's not part of the script. "There's a cat..." That's not part of the script either!
He looks behind her, then, to Kurou.
"Is this your friend," he asks Yoko, significantly, having noticed that he's walked up right alongside her.
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
Candy is a powerful motivator...! So are stickers. Yoko's current motivation seems to be something along the lines of 'feed every cat', like she's going to get an achievement or something for it. But she keeps revisiting the cats that she's already fed...
She doesn't recognize any of these movies. Wasn't there supposed to be a movie about an artist who met a girl and he decided that she was going to be his muse, but conveniently forgot to tell her about it...? (Yoko that movie came out last year.)
Thankfully Arisato-senpai is here. Why is Arisato-senpai here? Yoko opens her mouth to greet him, when he asks about... her friend. She cranes her head around and-- "!" Blink, blink. "...Ryouhara-san."
1. She didn't hear him arrive. He was quiet last time though. So that's normal.
2. Arisato-senpai sees him too. So he's probably really here. Another point for 'total silence' just being how Kurou Ryouhara rolls.
3. Is he her friend yet? They've met twice.
Yoko nods, carefully adjusting the bag of cat food tucked securely next to her messenger bag. "Yes. This is Kurou Ryouhara. Ryouhara-san, this is Minato Arisato. My senpai at Gekkoukan." Pause. "...I saw a cat in the alley here, but it didn't want takoyaki. So I adjusted the cat summoning method."
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou continues to stare at this movie problem, eyes moving the postures. ... Are there any about cats? Why does he keep thinking about cats? He maintains his statue-stare even as Minato points out her 'friend' -- this does not apply to him -- only turning his head toward Yoko when she greets him.
Blank as ever, he mirrors that same blink, blink. "Hirano-san."
Yes, Yoko affirms of friendship. Ah, this does apply to him. He is friends with Yoko now. This should make aspects of his assignment easier going forward. He turns and gives Minato a bow deep enough to be considered overly formal. "It is nice to meet you, Arisato-san."
Cat summoning... Is that her current mission? Very well. Kurou taps his lip in thought.
"... The scent is important."
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
"Ryouhara-san," Minato nods, stoic, to Kurou. Having determined that Yoko is not being stalked by a creep, he steps down his alarm levels from Alarmed to Cool, as God intended.
"I see... please excuse me."
Minato leaves the booth, and heads out back. "Hey, Manager," he greets his boss, respectfully. "I'm stepping out for my lunch break."
"Eh?" His boss asks, looking over to him. "You haven't taken one yet? Sure, sure. I'll have someone cover you."
"Thank you," Minato bows his head, and steps out with Yoko and Kurou.
Importantly: he's still wearing the hat.
"I'm now on my lunch break," he assures them. "So I have a short time to find this cat with you. Let's commence the mission."
Yoko's not part of SEES, Minato! You can't just mission commencies on an unrelated girl!
<Pose Tracker> Yoko Hirano has posed.
It's strangely reassuring to be around Kurou Ryouhara. He doesn't seem to get excited easily, his voice is even, and he's polite! Plus he keeps an open mind about vampire bakers, even if he was prepared to immediately take anti-vampire measures. (Please don't stab Katsuya with your earring, Kurou...)
Minato speaks with his manager, so Yoko nods at Kurou's observation about the smelliness being important. "Yes. Takoyaki from the stall in Iwatodai works really well to attract the cat there. But by the time I got over here with it, it was cooled off. I don't think the cat here could smell it as well."
Shehould she have brought canned food? But if the cat doesn't show itself, the dry food will last longer... but it might not discover the dry food, either...!
The bag crinkles as Yoko's train of thought grows more and more dire!
Thankfully, Minato is back with cool and calm direction. Kurou's steady capability will definitely help them get through, no matter what. Yoko doesn't have to worry so much. "Senpai was the one who showed me how to summon the cat at Iwatodai Station. If anybody can do it, he can."
Yoko, sweetie, this isn't exactly life-or-death...
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Don't worry, Yoko: now that Kurou knows Katsuya isn't a vampire, he knows a silver earring would be a terribly ineffective object to stab him with!
But right now, it's about cats.
Kurou nods slowly with Yoko's report on the situation. "Heat to carry the smell... But fire may attract police attention..." As the bag crinkles, Kurou's eyes move to consider it. "... Adding hot water. A thermos? Or ordering from a coffee shop..."
Kurou would, straight faced, order hot plain water at a coffee shop. But he's always straight faced...
Minato returns to commence the mission, and Kurou gives him a firm nod of assent. It is always best to follow the command of someone who has experience with the objective. "Thank you for your offering us your expertise, Arisato-san."
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato is much the same way: calm, cool, and collected.
Maybe he's a secret ninja, too.
"Smoke will alarm the cat," Minato advises Kurou, calmly. "But since Hirano-san mentioned the scent, I've come up with a plan."
He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out... a packet of tuna. It's one of those snack-pack ones which comes with a little tin and some crackers.
"I'm on my lunch break," Minato explains, "since I didn't take it before. However, I believe my lunch will effectively draw the cat's attention. Let's proceed to a quiet location."
He takes them past the pillars to a nice, quiet part of the station with a bench... not too far from the alleys which the officers are warning them from. Here, he cracks open the can of tuna, and hands it to Yoko so that she can spread it atop her bowl of kibble.
And proceeds to eat the crackers himself. C'mon. It's his lunch.
"Now we wait."
Minato proceeds to wait, in dead silence, until a cat appears to investigate the scraps of tuna... and find a lot of kibble to go with it!
Minato... truly is a leader in the field of locating cats, huh.