recolle | OPEN POST ♞ THE BIRD IN THE BASKET

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

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northpaws if you want to do something outside the above options or to discuss anything! Will be replying with action tags rather than prose!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ 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??? ]

[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?

[ 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 ]

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!]

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?

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.

[ 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.

[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?

Uh, I remember that I once had to remove one from my middle school grounds? I think it got lost and I had to take it out to the woods.

[ why he was tasked with doing it, who knows ]

I don't know why Retrospec would give it to me based on that, though.

Middle school? I see. So this bird may hail from that far back... In any case, it's a relief to know that it's not another bizarre element of life at Hope's Peak.

[He pauses thoughtfully as he pets the crane.]

Retrospec's motives are confusing in nature. Perhaps... if you handled it yourself for a while, it may count as being 'yours'.

W-Wait, if that's the case...

[ ... uh oh ]

That'd be really bad! I was part of the animal-rearing club in junior high so I might have handled a lot of different animals.

[He pauses and adjusts his glasses.]

You may wish to invest in a bigger apartment. ...And, perhaps, battle armor.

[He's not Gundam, he can't whisper all of those animals for you.]

If I had the money, I'd definitely consider getting the battle armour.

[ but he doesn't. he barely has money to feed himself sometimes. ]

Do you think getting a football helmet is a good idea? I think I can at least start saving up for that.

It could prove to be a practical investment. [He says somewhat teasingly.] So long as it doesn't interfere with your food budget.

I think we both know that any sort of expenses will interfere with my food budget.

[ let's not even joke about this, byakuya. naegi is just that poor (but also because he's trying to be a really good big brother and pay for a lot of daisuke's expenses) ]

[He nods along, because this is indeed a Serious Matter.]

Yes, and it is truly a shame. I do hope that such a fund can be prioritized more. I'll round up some more coupons to send to you, Makoto.

Thanks, Byakuya, I really appreciate all of your help.

[ naegi will be eternally grateful for all of byakuya's coupons and for getting him the job as the mcnugget man. u da best, byakuya, can naegi switch togamis?? ]

Anyway, here, you should probably head to the nurse's office and I'm sure you got other important things as well. Let me try to get that crane off you.

[ the crane will not appreciate being separated from its new friend but not everyone can be happy throughout life ]

You're quite welcome. I suppose that my time has come...

[Well their life here is close enough to a switch!!

Byakuya starts to shift as Makoto deals with the crane, and then he addresses the bird while he gets up.]

I apologize, but I must leave for now. Try to remember what we discussed... go easy on the boy. If anything, help him to find more food.

[Then, to both of them:] Farewell, for now. [And with that, he marches off to the nurse's office, wondering how confused she'll be by this rash of mass peckings!]

[ the crane struggles a bit when naegi tries to get it off but when byakuya addresses it, it calms down. naegi still thinks this is some weird witchcraft but he's not going to complain if the bird isn't going to peck out his eyes. ]

See you later, Byakuya!

[ naegi will come crying to you later when the bird stabs him again for some reason or another ]

OPEN POST ♞ THE BIRD IN THE BASKET

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