OPEN POST ♞ THE BIRD IN THE BASKET

[optimistical]

WHO: Makoto Naegi and anyone else!
WHERE: Literally everywhere in Recolle
WHEN: 03/06
WHAT: There's a crane. There's a crane in the mailbox. There's a crane on university grounds. Help. This is the accompanying network post.
WARNINGS:

ONE

After getting that murder weapon from Retrospec, Naegi thought he wouldn't get anything as bad as that. He means, that's the worst of the worst, right? Nothing can really top that. But this? This... this is definitely bad. Not murder weapon bad but still pretty awful.

It's a giant red-crown crane. It's a giant red-crown crane and it's stuck in the mailbox. It's stuck in the mailbox and Naegi, being the good kid that he is, is left with the terrible duty of getting a wild animal out of it. He honestly doesn't even know where to start and when he tries to move closer to try and help, he just gets pecked twice on the forehead instead.

Pecked really hard.

He stumbles back and just holds his forehead in his hands while the bird still trashes in the mailbox.

He's... he's already done.

TWO

Well, after a minute of dealing with the searing pain of an angry bird pecking you despite you wanting to help, Naegi still tries to figure out a way to get this poor crane out of the mailbox. He takes a deep breath and gets right in there, willing to withstand the Pecks of the North Star to try and shimmy the bird out. However, it would be a lot easier if the bird didn't act like he was trying to take it out so he could eat it or something and trash around like a headless chicken.

"H-Hey, i-it's all right! I'm just trying to help you!"

He says as if the crane can understand and can suddenly realize that this human is, in fact, helping and not trying to kill it. It's going to be a long and difficult fight, resulting in someone losing an eye if this keeps up.

Please help.

THREE

Probably an hour after Naegi gets the bird free, he now doesn't really know what to do with it. There's no way he can take it home because he's pretty sure you can't keep cranes as pets (and he doesn't really want to) but the thing is...

It won't stop following him now.

For a bird that put up such a fight when it was in the mailbox, it now seems to have no problems with Naegi. The thought process is probably like this: "yes, this is a good human. This human saved its life. Gotta follow this human to be safe. Maybe it will be fed. Good human." Something like that. Anyway, Naegi is exasperated by this turn of events and he keeps looking back at it as he walks.

"I'm telling you... You really can't follow me home..."

He sounds so defeated though and that's probably because he knows that he's not going to win this fight. The crane is determined and that's that.

FOUR

Wanna know how determined this crane is to following him, though?

Well, Naegi is at Recolle University, trying to attend class, pick up some supplies from the mentoring office, actually be in the mentoring office to help his mentees, and do some studying at school and this goddamn crane is following him. Throughout the entire school... Naegi is just pretty much trying to ignore it and going through his day like it's completely normal.

Feel free to meet him anywhere on campus grounds because this crane isn't going to leave him alone...

WILDCARD

Anything is game! PM me or toss me a private plurk at northpaws if you want to do something outside the above options or to discuss anything! Will be replying with action tags rather than prose!

Comments

[falsepretentious]

[We can only hope! Clearly hoping for Naegi to Rest would just be a foolish endeavor.

Byakuya leans a little closer, to get a better look at the scratches.]

Mildly. If it still hurts even a little, I would pay a visit to a school nurse, just in case.

[He glances towards the crane.]

...Would this bird follow you even there?

[optimistical]

[ can't wait for the game to regain back the murder islands and school so the dangan cast can all scream and then never rest for their entire time in recolle. ]

Yeah, I think I might head there next. Thanks, Byakuya.

[ but then naegi looks back at the crane who is just standing there like the asshole that it is ]

... yeah, probably. It's been following me all day. It, uh, it even followed me to the washroom so...

[ he's stuck with it ]

[falsepretentious]

[He gives a concerned frown as he looks towards the bird.]

So it has no sense of privacy.

It could be a problem if it followed you all the way there. It's likely considered to be a hygienic concern.

[optimistical]

You might be right.

[ honestly, naegi hasn't really thought about the hygienic issue. who knows where this bird came from, asides from retrospec's mailbox. it could have been marching around in the wild and be rolling around in the dirt for all he knows. it does look clean but... can't risk anything ]

Should I leave the campus then? Maybe I should just sit in a park until it's time for me to go home...

[falsepretentious]

No... I won't let you give up so easily! You can't allow this bird to control your destiny.

[He pauses as he gives serious thought to the matter.]

...Leave this to me. I'll distract this bird while you go to the nurse's office!

[optimistical]

[ that's really overdramatic, byakuya... ]

Huh? Are you sure? I can't guarantee that it won't hurt you too.

[falsepretentious]

[What else is new.]

That's a risk that I'm willing to take. I can take more hits than you, and I can also see myself to the nurse at my own leisure after you without having to worry about the bird trailing me.

[He remembers how Kyouko talked about believing in Makoto. Now that she's separated from the network... Byakuya wants to go above and beyond helping him for her.]

Just trust in me, Makoto.

[optimistical]

[ i can't believe you're out to attack me in meta text, gore. byakuya wants to help naegi in place of kirigiri like GET OUT OF HERE 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。]

... all right. Thanks, Byakuya. I won't forget this.

[ a very genuine smile because he is very touched about this. he'll save his pennies to buy byakuya some food later ]

I'll go as fast as I can!

[ he'll start to turn in the direction of the nurse's office and he quickly takes a few steps to start off before he goes into a jog but the bird is fast on his tail. it takes a few big steps to stay closely behind naegi and has no intention of staying behind with some random stranger ]

[falsepretentious]

[No one can trace it in a class trial if the murder weapon is bracket text! : D]

Good! I won't let you down.

[And so Byakuya breaks into a run, surprisingly quickly as well. He's soon running alongside the crane and trying to step in front of it to bar its path.]

You've dealt with Makoto quite long enough, haven't you? Now it's my turn! [He also takes some birdseed out of his pocket and scatters it along the ground to see if that slows the crane down even more!]

[optimistical]

[ hurry up and find kodaka, work for him, and make bracket text a murder weapon in the next dangan game ]

[ i am so glad that byakuya just apparently carries around birdseed in his pocket for some reason or another. the bird does stop for a bit because oh shit, what's going on, and looks down at the ground. however, red-crowned cranes are more carnivorous than its fellow cranes so when it sees that it's just things that it can't eat, it gets quite frustrated, especially since naegi is now a good couple feet away. ]

[ it honks loudly before trying to peck once at byakuya before it starts running off again ]

[falsepretentious]

[I'm on it!!]

[He does indeed carry some birdseed on him, just in case he comes across any hungry birds in need of feeding. Byakuya soon sees that his gambit has failed... and he gets pecked instead.] Yow!

[But he's not ready to give up yet!]

Hold it right there! I'm not done with you yet!

[Byakuya puts on a burst of speed and stomps right into the crane's path, spreading out his arms to try to bars its progress forward.]

[optimistical]

[ does byakuya want to lose an eye because this is how he's going to lose an eye. the bird could just fly over him but it's starting to get really fed up so you know fist of the north star? imagine that but with a thousand pecks ]

[ worthy enough of rivalling leon's execution ]

[falsepretentious]

[top 10 anime battles

Byakuya raises his arms, trying to imitate a blocking maneuver from an anime, for all the good it does him. He growls as the relentless barrage of pecks assails him, but he won't give up. His eyes probably would be goners if it weren't for his trusty protective glasses!

And so he takes the blows... and attempts to grab at the crane!]

[optimistical]

[ i'm fucking crying. i'm really glad that you could now say that byakuya got into a fight. a fight with a bird. ]

[ the grab is successful! byakuya now has one (1) bird! it certainly didn't expect to be grabbed like this and it starts honking and flailing. it's no longer attempting to peck him but rather just panic as it tries to get away, kicking and trying to flap its wings. the other students in the halls have begun to stare now and whisper like what is going on... is this being recorded for tv, is this some sort of animal abuse, this is going on youtube, and whatnot ]

[falsepretentious]

[He's just winging it.

Success!! Byakuya keeps a hold on the bird, though he tries to say some calming words to it.]

Calm down. We need not be adversaries! We can cooperate. I just need Makoto to have some time to himself. Do you understand?

[He is attracting a lot of attention and probably going viral... but this is the risk he's chosen to take. Go get yourself treated, Naegi!!]

[optimistical]

[ you always quack me up, gore ]

[ the bird flails around for a bit while byakuya talks to it but when he finishes, it... strangely stops? maybe all it really needed was a strong figure in its life who can just tell it when to stop with a firm voice and to speak to it as an equal. ]

[ or maybe the bird has just given up and knows that it can't fight him. ]

[ any reason works but regardless, byakuya has tamed the bird! it will no longer fight him and actually just calmly be with him until naegi returns which will be in the next tag ]

[falsepretentious]

[As long as you don't get bird of these tags.

Byakuya's eyes widen in mild surprise as the crane obeys his order. His ability of leadership... Has it been able to reach this wild animal? A confident smile soon cracks his face.] ...Very good.

[He'll then sit down on the ground and gently set the crane down in front of him.]

Your human, Makoto, will return in due time. But you'll have to be more careful with him. He's a very frail boy, and he cannot be with you every moment of the day. I urge you to take these factors into consideration going forward.

[optimistical]

[ leaves this here ]

[ i'm glad that byakuya can lead both humans and animals when he needs to. he is a much better leader and person than the real byakuya togami in every way and when he sets the crane down, it no longer attacks him. instead, it just sits down next to him and rests its head on top of byakuya's. it has accepted him as a leader and friend so it will peacefully be with him. ]

[ naegi comes running down the hall with his face looking a little bit better and some bandaids, heading back to byakuya ]

I'm back! Sorry to make you wa-- huh?

[ he slows down to a walk and then he stops a few steps from them ]

It's... sitting with you?

[ and resting its head ON YOU??? ]

[falsepretentious]

[Aw... this is without a doubt the greatest interaction he's ever had with a bird that isn't his food. He smiles lightly and keeps sitting there, allowing the bird to use him as a pillow. Occasionally, so long as the crane does not seem bothered by it, he'll experiment with petting at the bird.]

See? This isn't so bad...

[And then Makoto finally returns. Byakuya stirs slightly, but he takes care not to disrupt the crane's resting position as he glances towards his underfed friend.]

Makoto. It's about time you returned. The crane is indeed sitting with me... We've covered a lot of ground in our discussion.

Now tell me. Did you manage to receive your treatment?

[optimistical]

[ the crane raises its head every so slightly to look at naegi, ready to peck him if he gets too close because byakuya = friend, naegi = kind of friend but also peck worthy ]

Huh? Oh, yeah, I did. They just said to put some ointment on it every now and then and apply ice on the bruises but more importantly...

... how did you get it to like you?

[ seriously, wtf is going on. this is more confusing than any trial that he doesn't remember ]

[falsepretentious]

That's good to hear. [Mission accomplished! He glances down at the crane and then at Makoto.]

I'm not quite sure myself. It was either the assertive stand I took against it, or the persuasive nature of my words. Either way, it would seem that we've formed a kinship. [And with minimal pecking!]

[optimistical]

That's amazing... this is the first time I've seen it this calm.

[ it's normally very intent on following him around or flailing all about ]

Thanks again for watching over it. Do you want to go to the nurse's office now?

[falsepretentious]

Let's hope it's not the last. [He says with a smirk.]

I did sustain my fair share of blows, so I should go there again promptly. [But he doesn't want to disturb the crane while it's so peaceful!] ...Just give us a few more moments.

[optimistical]

[ wtf how cute... the crane is happily content being by byakuya's side and will probably stay here for as long as he lets it ]

... maybe Retrospec made a mistake and should have given you the crane instead.

[falsepretentious]

[He smirks.]

It does seem to be more compatible to my nature. Although it's a bit perplexing to wonder how it could have played into our past lives. Do you have any clues, Makoto?