TLDR: the random pack evenf of the season is KITTENS! Lots and lots of them.

Sometimes the occasional feline would stray from Ali Island and get lost in the maze. Hattori usually didn't think much of them since they were usually smart enough to find their way back, no assistance or encouragement required. But with the arrival of spring came many many litters of kittens and for one reason or another they had started to wander. A handful wouldn't have been noticeable, but at this point it was a full on invasion, the mewling and cries of lost kittens calling out for their mothers. Stumbling down corridors with clumsy steps or charging after their siblings as they played, they were starting to get underpaw. In the way. Getting into caches and making a menace of themselves, to the extent Hattori's sense of tolerance was waning. All things considered, he'd been pretty patient, he hadn't considered culling them or anything quite so drastic as they did serve as decent pest control but this was getting out of hand. And with Auster's spring only starting to get under way he knew even more litters would be born soon.

"Go away, I am not your mother." Hattori groused as he'd been trying to relax by the fire in the centre of the maze, used a paw to shoo the kitten away, lifting its rump up as he encouraged it to move on.

Elsewhere within the maze, Kaizen had been trying to help himself to a dried fish for lunch. Holding it with his front paws as he laid there, he'd been gnawing at its tail only for a mewling kitten to come stumbling over, a demanding authority in its voice as it demanded he hand over his lunch. He blinked at it owlishly, first confused then more than a little offended. He huffed, intending to ignore the thing as it was only one kitten...only for another to push its way through the bamboo stalks, the rustling of grass suggesting that even more were following suit. Kaizen hadn't visited Ali Island yet, so he had no idea that was where they came from but-was there really supposed to be this many cats?

Picking his dried fish up between his teeth, he held it out of reach as he moved to get to his paws. This was his fish, he had no interest in sharing.

table coding by bunni ♥

Seiko didn't generally have a lot of patience for things that didn't serve her. Her family and pack came first, of course, but besides that she was often pretty laser-focused, not paying much mind to things outside her little bubble... but these kittens were annoyingly cute. Even if dad didn't think so, it was hard not to have a soft spot for them, for their little pink noses and the way they mewed in a high pitched tone as they wove between her legs. Though they clearly had a tendency to get in the way, they also seemed to get out of the way just as quickly, always nearly getting trampled but never quite. It wasn't like she really had to worry about stepping on them, but it was hard to go on about your business when they were ducking and diving between your legs underpaw like that. And yet... though she ought to be annoyed she really didn't feel overly so. Like she was teetering on the edge of being fed up with them, but they were enjoyable enough she couldn't quite make it there. A black and white one had been showing its face lately more often, a female that she'd noticed had little nubs on her head just like Seiko (and so many other members of her family). Though she wasn't quite strong enough to stay away from her mother permanently yet, she'd been hanging around more and more often, and Seiko wondered what she'd do when she was fully weaned. It seemed drawn to Seiko in particular. One visit could be chalked up to being a fluke, two or three as mere coincidence, but she kept coming back. Not even for food, just for the attention, it seemed. And weirdly enough Seiko had been enjoying its company. It didn't really talk, at least not yet, just some incoherent meows that were arguably less annoying than some of her siblings' chatter. As it reappeared she finally decided to scoop it up, scruffing it gently. Trusting her, the kitten went limp and let itself be carried, until she finally found her father and plopped it on the ground near him. "Outousan, she greeted him with a polite dip of her head, her gaze averting to the kitten as it scrambled around at her paws. "If she keeps coming around here, do you think I could keep her? Maybe?" She liked the thought of having something all to herself. A little companion and friend. It sounded quite nice, actually.

Shinrei wasn't quite sure what to do with the massive influx of kittens crowding every inch of the maze. There were simply too many of them, and they kept tripping him up as he attempted to follow after Seiko. "Where did they all come from?" Shinrei mused aloud, typical of his flat demeanor to seem unruffled by the infestation of felines. A few tabbies wound themselves around his legs, and he nearly bowled over on himself as they peacefully purred.

He didn't really pay much mind to the kittens - or at least, tried not to - but they kept getting in the way. Were his legs that comfortable to wind their little bodies around? Perhaps they elicited joy from seeing this tall, big-footed pup dancing around, trying not to squash any kittens yet constantly unbalanced by them at the same time.

At the same time, however, a rather large kitten made its way over to him. Didn't cower, didn't attempt to trip him, either. And he was a big one, too; a solid white, long-furred, with piercing sage green eyes. Guess he was joining his sister in asking if their father would be open to allowing them a companion. "Fine, come here," He sighed, bending his head down to allow the kitten to climb onto his back. He wasn't about to carry it. He wasn't its mother or anything.

Usagi wasn't one for nostalgia or cute, fluffy things. It especially applied to this apparent kitten explosion that had occurred in their midst. "Shit," Usagi hissed as he nearly fumbled over what felt like the millionth kitten, their high-pitched mewls grating to his ears. It was safe to say he was none too pleased with their raiding of his corridors, his bamboo, his borders. This was arguably a worse threat than actual raiders, and that was something, considering he didn't tolerate even a mouse getting past his line of sight. He attempted to pick his way through the fray to find Hattori, to ask him just what was going on, but swarms of the baby felines kept intercepting his journey. "Shoo!" He growled, causing a group in front of him to scatter. A typical scowl curled over his lips as he finally made it to Hattori's location, seeing him also attempt to keep away some kittens from his fireplace. He sighed heavily from the sheer inconvenience of his journey. "Hattori, what the hell is going on here?" ”Speech”  ’Thought’

Hattori glanced over at Seiko as she approached, he knew he wasn't going to be the only one to notice the sudden influx of felines, and couldn't say he was overly surprised by his daughter request. In fact, he would go as far to say it wouldn't be a stretch to assume many of his children would end up taking one as a companion, that maybe it might be good for them to grow up alongside a fighting companion. Though how well a small cat could fight was-well, he supposed small wolves such as Fuji held her own just fine.

He opened his lips to speak, only for a series of kitten calls to fill the air before he could. He huffed, shooting them a sour look which naturally the cats didn't heed at all. "If you insist, Seiko. It will be your responsibility, you must train it and care for it yourself." He told the girl, glancing over as a rather displeased Usagi arrived on the scene as well. The feeling was mutual, this turn of events certainly was tedious.

"I believe they're coming from Ali Island." It was the only explanation that made sense, as it was highly unlikely kittens of this size had managed to cross the wilds of Auster unscathed. But of course he didn't need to explain to Usagi how they came to be, it was self explanatory, no?

They'd had litters of kittens every Auster spring, but never to this magnitude. What had changed? He moved to his feet, exhaling as he had to nudge yet another kitten out from under paw.

Kina

Kina busied herself with her training, her focus on fighting slowly giving away to more artistic pursuits, namely the creation of various inks. She had a small pot of black walnuts boiling and decided to take a break at the center of the maze while her egret watched over the concoction. She arrived to see her father and a number of her siblings surrounded by kittens. She smiled as she saw the little creatures. They were so cute though she always felt so bad for them getting lost. These ones looked old enough, however, to be striking out on their own. It was amazing to her that at a mere 2 months kittens could start fending for themselves. It seemed far too young to her.

A couple kittens spied her and immediately wandered up. "You are too brave for your own good," she said softly to them. "What if I were a coyote?" She bristled a little at the memory of those wicked things trying to eat her. Her eyes fell on a completely white kitten with golden eyes that rubbed up against her front leg purring. She felt her heart melting. "Perhaps a few of them could make good companions? The rest we could round up and take back to the island. I have a bunch of baskets we could use, some even have lids."

Beneath her paws the kitten flopped to the ground, curling around one of Seiko's paws as it batted aimlessly at the dirt. Her paw landed on the side of Seiko's own and she felt the little sharp claws as she accidentally held onto her for a second too long, though she tried to hold back the grimace at the sudden sharp pain. This wasn't a bad idea, right? Already she'd asked her father for permission though and he agreed, though sounded wary, which told Seiko she'd have to do a real good job training it and taking care of it. "Of course! Thank you." She nodded along, a bit more excitedly than usual. Her father's attention fell to Usagi next, explaining where the kittens might be coming from. Shinrei wasn't far off, and Seiko noted as he was letting one climb onto his back, which earned a little laugh from her.

The little golden Hattori child, smaller than most of her siblings was rudely awoken by two scampering kittens that used her back as a landing pad and her hip as a subsequent take-off point. She yipped as another kitten played parkour off her shoulder running after the first two.

Asahi yarked at another who was thinking about doing the same thing before she fully stood up from her nap and gave her golden and white pelt a hard shake. Blearily blinking her golden eyes she looked around and was confounded at the sudden influx of tiny felines.

There were far* too many for her to be comfortable with. She whined for one of her parents to rescue her from the little terrors that were trying to use her tail as a toy.

Clumsily bounding and hopping over throngs of tiny felines Asahi swam through the mewling and offputting screaming and tumbling baby cats to her father, softly whining and crying the entire way.

When she finally reached his mottled black and red fur she pressed into his side so hard she didn't even remember to be intimidated by him she just needed someone to help her make the kitties leave her alone.

To her surprise, a fluffy golden pointed kitten boy started to chase its litter mates away from her. Then he proceeded to defend her space against any others that might cross it.

Oh, she liked this one. He wasn't too bad. Would her father let her keep one too? This time she tried looking up at her father using a soft pleading whine at him. Would he get the message or would Mom or her siblings know what she was asking? Would they even trust their little quiet sister to take care of a kitty all on her own, or would someone think it wasn't a good idea for her?

Majima was certainly more on the side of finding the kittens that were swarming all over the place  more than a little annoying. Worst of all, one of them had clearly attached itself to him. A little ginger tabby tom couldn't seem to be chased off, no matter how he brandished his horns (well nubs) or barked or even, gently, pushed the cat away with his paws. He'd done most everything he could think of outside of kicking the little thing and annoyed as he was he wasn't sure he wanted to do that to such a young creature. Still he'd rather not be tripping over the kitten most of the time. He was already tripping over himself, having finally outgrown the soft roundness of a new puppy and started to enter his gangly cryptid phase. Unfortunately for him he'd be stuck there for a while. Having decided he'd had enough the young boy wove his way through the maze, already finding it easy to know where he was and how to get to where he needed to go. Predictably the kitten wove his way around Majima's paws as he walked, tail jttering in what Majima assumed was happiness, turning green eyes up at him in what even Majima could tell was affection and purring the whole way towards the little gathering it seemed was forming. Majima may have even, genuinely accidentally, kicked it once or twice as he walked and yet the kitten could not be dissuaded. "Some may be easier to keep away than others." He said as he approached, nodding his head towards Kina as if to add onto her suggestion. Then he glanced down at the little orange cat at his paws who had decided now was the perfect time to roll around in the dirt. Why? No clue! Majima let the briefest flash of amusement cross his expression. If he wasn't careful he may start actually liking the thing! Better to get to work returning them before that could happen, so the young boy looked at his father expectantly, ready to help as much as he could. "Speech"

Art by Dezigre

It is not often, as of late, that Kuroo makes his way to the bamboo. He's plenty happy spending his days out in the bay, working and doing what he can for Tojo. Something unsuspecting brings him into the confines of the bamboo though. In his jaw, a basket woven from palm leaves hangs filled with at least four or five (he's lost count) kittens. They mewl loudly, tossing and turning, and nearly falling out as they tussle and swipe at each other's faces. Wishing to keep them away from the fish stores, Kuroo manages to take them to the centre of the bamboo where he finds others tangling with kittens.

Kuroo lands his gaze first on Hattori, he can't help but laugh a little. The pups appear amused by the kittens, but the Kaicho? Not so much. Placing the basket down so that the caught kittens can escape and explore, he wanders over to his brother, giving Usagi a friendly shoulder bump in the process. "Makes sense if they come from Ali Island," Kuroo mentions, a humored smile on his lips. "You don't want to keep them all?" His question is more teasing than anything serious. Surely they couldn't possibly house all of these felines... What were they to do?

Hattori Kuroo

It wasn't unlike Jiro to show up late to the party. He had only been drawn to the center of the bamboo by the growing volume of voices. What were the others doing without him? Intent to be included in the commotion, Jiro moves in that awkward growing puppy manner toward where everyone congregated.

At first, he doesn't notice the kittens when he first emerges from the path. Not until he steps on a tail and is quickly scratched and hissed at. Letting out a whimper and then a sharp bark at the kitten, Jiro is quickly covered by kittens who thought his vocals were an invitation to play.

"Get 'em offa me!" Jiro whines, plopping down onto his side as the kittens continue to clamber all over him. One in particular, a dark coated and silver spotted boy wanders over to his face and decides to sit right atop of his cheek. Looking up from the ground at the kitten who perches over his face, Jiro's own brow scrunches. "Well, I guess you're cute, but this ain't comfy," he grumbles quietly as he resigns to becoming a statue as he continues to be taken over by the surplus of felines.

She had been having a bit of a peaceful nap. Dreaming good dreams. Lightly snoring. All that good stuff that came with a good nap. Little did she know that some curious kittens would come around and find her. They started first cautiously approaching. Then they'd get closer, sniffing the young girl. Then as she twitched and moved in her sleep, they'd notice the horns protruding from her head. Now that looked fun to climb! The three kittens began to climb atop the sleeping wolf, scrambling to be the first to reach the tippy top of her horns (not that they were that big or long yet, but for a kitten it was enough). Hinata would stir here and there, ears twitching. Nose twitching. And when one of the kittens swatted at another trying to climb up, the kitty fell plop! Right onto the bridge of her muzzle! She stirred again, eyes slowly blinking open, bleariness from being woken up when she was not yet ready, to come face to face with a silver kitten. She gasped in surprise, quickly sitting up and hearing mews of protest as two more fell off and rolled down her back. "W-what's going on? Where did you all come from?" Did her father know that kittens had invaded!? She gently removed the kitten from her face and placed it on her back with the others. They were just sooo cute! She had to go show her father! Leaving her den, she followed the now familiar paths through the bamboo, but on her way to find Hanzo, she realized...there were kittens everywhere! "Oh my!" She heard voices, and so she hurried her pace to find several of her family there with kittens all over! "I guess they found you too?" She giggled as the silver kitten draped itself between her horns. Hinata