Winter had been wet. So terribly, very wet and it had not done the maze any good. Even with the older bamboo stalks branching out to provide ample shade, the rain had still gotten through. The dirt pathways leading throughout the maze had nearly washed out and started to form good-sized ruts. There was one area that needed more attention than others though. Smack dab in the middle of the maze was the pack's community area where they gathered for meals, events, fireside stories, and to hang out with others. It was a nice wide area with seating, a few fire pits, lanterns, tables, and anything one could think of needing for a group setting.

Lately, now that the weather was warming up, Kuroo hadn't been spending much time inside the maze. Fish were slowly returning to the bay in abundance and he needed to take advantage of that. Just the thought of the pack's fish supply getting low made him worried. With the bay next door, it was one of their main sources of food. It was on this particular morning though, right after a fresh rain, on his way out to the bay, that he passed through the community area. Typically, he wouldn't have paid attention, but this time he did. It appeared as if someone had come through and trashed the place.

Lanterns hung haphazardly on their poles, seat cushions had been tossed, and tables were crooked and nearly fallen over. Even the fire pits looked as if the ash hadn't been dug out lately and now soot was being scattered around any time the wind picked up. Kuroo's brow furrowed at the site as his lips pulled down into a frown. Who would leave the place like this? Even the pups knew better than to not pick up after themselves. Had they all been too busy to care for their home? Flicking his ears back, he took a few minutes to look around. Monkeys.

There in the ashy dirt, little handprints gave away the culprits. Lifting his lips in a sneer, Kuroo looked to the shadows of the bamboo. Fortunately for the thieves and scoundrels, there were none in sight. He wondered if his new companion had anything to do with it. The small tamarin he fondly called Saru had been loyal and helpful as of late, but he hadn't seen her come back last night. "I'll need to have words with her," Kuroo rumbled under his breath as he gave his head a shake. If she was willing to bring other monkeys into the maze to wreck the place, he knew the Kaicho wouldn't be tolerating such tomfoolery.

Knowing now that he was going to need to get the place cleaned up quickly, Kuroo went to work.

462/1500

word count: 303
total: 765

Life within the shade of the bamboo was pretty alright if you asked Tachi. There was leaf litter everywhere though, crunching beneath his paws as he went about his daily business, made it really hard to sneak about. To not perk the ears of his family and pack mates. More than that it seemed as though monkeys had wondered their way through these parts too, made a right mess as they went and left it for the wolves of Tojo to clean up. And someone better do it soon as well, lest the Kaicho notice and start getting all squinty and serious.

As luck would have it, one of his big brothers seemed to have a similar line of thought as Tachi noticed him through the trees, looking about as though he was working out where to start. What needed doing first. Quick to join his side, the leggy pup gave his sibling a shoulder bump before he got to work. For starters he'd try and brush some of the leaf litter out of the way, smush it into a pile so they could burn it later. That'd be fun, he always liked sitting around the fire with his family, sharing stories and good food.

Grabbing a stick with a tuft of leaves on the end he began to swish it back and forth, shooing the leaves to the side. Bits of fruits and nuts were scattered amongst the leaves too, making it look as though the monkeys had dropped bits and pieces as they left. Made as much of a mess as possible. Annoying. Maybe he'd have to catch one and give it a taste of its own medicine. Till then there was a lot of work to do, maybe too much for just two wolves. But oh well, it'd be done!

He stood looking at the mess, feeling nearly hopeless. How could such small creatures create this large of a disaster? Lifting his nose slightly, he scented the wind. Thankfully, from what he could tell, the Kaicho with all of his serious squinty-ness was nowhere near enough to notice yet. Releasing a sigh of relief, knowing he would have time to tidy up the area, he froze. One ear flicked back as he heard the crunch of paws coming closer. Too loud for Hattori or his brother, those two seemed to move in silence like a shadow. Glancing over his shoulder, he was happy to see Tachi approaching and looking more teenage-like than he had last time they'd come across each other.

Returning the shoulder bump as Tachi moved past him, Kuroo smiled to himself. It was nice to see his younger siblings willing to help and feeling more adventurous about the maze. Without a word, he turned toward the other side of the clearing to start. Noticing that Tachi had begun cleaning up the scattered leaves, Kuroo agreed silently that that would be a good place to start. Making it so that their paws weren't as noisy against the packed dirt was a good idea; especially when everyone would come around later to share food and stories.

Pushing the clumps of tattered leaves into a pile toward the side where the fires would be lit, Kuroo too noticed the bits and pieces of fruit and nuts. Had the monkeys gotten into their food larder? Furrowing his brow, he looked over to the boxes where they kept snacks. Indeed, one of the lids had been pried open and left askew. These thieves really had done a number on their community area. Huffing under his breath, Kuroo finished sorting out the bits of food from the leaves and tidying up the piles for later in the evening.

Next would probably be tidying up all the tables and cushions. Moving over to where they lay scattered, Kuroo started dusting the dirt off of them. Noticing that it wasn't doing too great of a job, he went to grab a rag from a nearby basket. Dipping it in the reservoir of water they kept filled, he pulled a pillow closer to him and got to work rubbing the dirt and fruit stains out of the pillows.

1157/1500

Word count: 346
total: 1503

Okay maybe cleaning wasn't as fun as he'd thought it would be. They worked together well, busy and focused on the task at hand but it felt as though it was never ending! Tachi began to huff and puff as his mountain of leaves grew. It was an unending battle really, leaves would always fall from the canopy above, so really why was he even bothering? Maybe it'd be easier to talk someone else into doing all this instead...maybe one of his siblings? But now that Kuroo was here he couldn't really slink away like that, could he? Dang. With an aching neck he swept and swept, swishing the leaves aside before he decided he was done, that it was good enough.

Approaching Kuroo once more, he peered down at the cleaning he'd busied himself with. It looked fiddly and annoying, so instead of helping he peered around for something else to do. Oh! They monkeys had snapped some branches as they'd climbed, leaving some trees all messy and dishevelled. Like an elephant had passed through, uncaring of the mess it made. Hattori would be mad if he saw all this, would probably wanna hunt down the monkeys and make an example of them. Were monkeys edible? Maybe if they roasted them over the fire, had them with trimmings.... The thought made his belly rumble. Anyway, no time to think about food, he had to look busy!

Hopping up on his hind legs he grabbed a broken stick with his teeth and yanked it off the stem before tossing it into his leaf pile. More to burn.

By the time he'd yanked the broken sticks and twigs he was panting slightly, jumping up and down to reach them was harder work than he'd anticipated. But at least the trees looked neater now, not so snapped and out of shape.

"Are we done?" He asked with a cheeky smile, eyes squinted as his little nubby tail wagged behind him. He hadn't done much compared to his big bro, but did that matter? Nah, teamwork was dream work.