Work Text:
Saihara Shuuichi liked to think he was a pretty average person, all things considered. Sure, he occasionally helped out at his Uncle's detective agency, and sure he was pretty good at it, but that didn’t make him that much different from one person to the next, right? I mean if anyone was weird, it was his Uncle, whom of which had 15 cats. It of course wasn’t that unheard of, for one to house so many of the feline individuals, but Saihara thought it was a bit much… Of course his Uncle always was one for running straight into danger, and it caught up with him eventually.
Saihara pretty much got everything in his Uncle’s Will after his murder, because they were the only two people left living in the Saihara line, or rather Shuuichi was the only one now. He’d gotten the agency, his Uncle's house, and on top of that, he now had 15 cats, seriously what the heckers was he meant to do with 15 cats?
Of course, Saihara wasn’t given much time to mourn, because these animals needed him, and he couldn’t give up on them after his Uncle had loved them so fondly. It took plenty of fights, scratches and biting before Saihara successfully managed to figure out everyone’s names. He of course had seen them plenty, one of two of them occasionally lurking in the agency, so he did know a couple of names prior, but he knew the first step would be figuring out whom was who and from there, their little quirks, and things like that.
From the first day Saihara moved from his small dingy flat into his Uncle’s three bedroomed house, it was clear that he’d gained a new admirer. Mewmota literally wouldn’t leave the boy alone.
“What?” Saihara asked, because he’d officially gone insane and decided talking to cats was fine.
Mewmota just gave a short mew, rubbing his head against Saihara’s legs. This was a good sign at least? It meant he wouldn’t have to worry about being hated by the cats? Right? …
Okay maybe Saihara was just looking for positives in this situation.
Mewmota just gave another mew, before trotting off away from Saihara, instead following after one of the other cats, Saihara believed was called Harumeowki. Seriously he loved his Uncle but did he have to give them names like this? Thankfully most of the cats didn’t seem present, there was only maybe six or seven lingering around the house, Saihara assumed they’d come back soon though.
With Mewmota obviously distracted by the female cat, Saihara could finally keep unpacking. His Uncle had left him all the contents of the house, so there wasn’t much Saihara had brought, the furniture in his flat wasn’t as good as this, so he’d just brought his clothes, whatever food he had lingering in his fridge and his books.
Saihara was about half way through unpacking a box of clothes before the tell-tale sound of the cat flap, which Saihara had already grown accustomed to, alerted Saihara at the return of one of the cats. Saihara looked up from his box to see which it was, only to have his face morph into horror.
This was Yonyaga.
Dirt was an understatement, the cat was covered in mud, filthy paw prints scattered about the hallway as the cat proceeded to dirty the area. Saihara was so done and it was only his first day.
“Yonyaga! Why?” Saihara shook his head, leaving the half empty box to go and chase after the filthy cat who fled as soon as he got near, dropping even more dirt around the room. With Saihara distracted by the cat, he failed to notice the one who would later be his arch nemesis.
Kokitty.
The Maine Coon slowly pounced his way over to the half empty boxes of Saihara’s clothes, instantly climbing his way into one. Seemingly following the other cats actions, Kiimew followed in suit, climbing into one of the boxes curiously, only for Kokitty to knock the box off the stack with his back legs. The box fell, landing upside down and trapping Kiimew in it. Kokitty didn’t seem to care, knocking over a few other boxes before seeing something of interest. A hat. It wasn’t anything fancy, a bit tatty if anything, but Kokitty seemed to either like it or hold a personal grudge against it, grabbing the cap between teeth and dashing away from the scene just before Saihara returned, with a muddy Yonyaga in his hands.
“Are you kidding me?” Saihara asked, and in his moment of Despair, noticing the boxes of his clothes now spewn across the floor, Yonyaga took this time to slip out of the detectives hold, dropping right down onto Saihara’s clothes, and-
“No- Don’t you dare-”
And the cat rolled on them.
On top of his now dirty clothes on the floor, the mess in the doorway and Kiimew’s distressed meows from under the box, Saihara was pretty sure Harumeowki was carrying around a dead bird.
“Oh my god.” Saihara exhaled. He needed help. This was too much.
Saihara didn’t have tons of friends per se, he only kept in contact with a small handful of people from school, he had never really fitted in properly. The detective really needed some help though, his first day was going terrible. Reaching for his phone, Saihara scrolled through his very minor list of contacts, hitting the name of his closest friend.
The other boy answered on the 4th ring.
“ Saihara ?”
Oh that’s right, they hadn’t spoken for months.
“Hey- sorry to disrupt you out of the blue… But I really need some help-”
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Do you need me to call an ambulance?!”
“I- I’m fine- Can- Can you come over right away though?” Saihara listed off his new address as he did.
“I’ll be over as soon as I can!”
And the line went dead.
Ten minutes later, a hesitant knock on the door had Saihara exhale in relief.
“The Doors open-!” Saihara shouted, stuck on the staircase where he was trying valiantly to still catch Yonyaga.
The door pushed open and in scurried Gokumeowra through the feet of Hajime Hinata who was looking just a tiny bit bewildered, beside Makoto Naegi.
“Saihara- why does it look like you adopted an entire pet shelter?” Hajime asked spotting a few of the cats inside.
“Woah, that's a lot of cats-” Makoto butted into the conversation.
“My Uncle left me them- and this house. I- really can't look after them all. I turn around and one of them does something irritating. I.. Need your help.” Saihara admitted, as Yonyaga ran past the door, still covered in mud, paws still staining the floors, chased by a cat with its head in a paper bag- wait what-
“I think that's obvious…” Hajime mumbled, eyes widening at the chaos.
“Please come in.” Saihara all but begged, moving to let both boys into the hallway. Makoto wiped his feet and slipped off his shoes, action mirrored by Hajime. The two of them had arguably been Saihara’s closest friends in school, so they seemed like the best choice on who to call.
Saihara was about to lead the two into his sitting room, to try and figure out what the heck he was going to do to round up the cats when Hajime tripped, full on, and onto his face.
“Hinata-” Makoto gapped, trying to grab him, but failing miserably.
The culprit, Rynyoma, gave a loud yawn from where he’d decided to lay and nap in the hallway, before closing his eyes again, glaring at Hajime for interrupting his sleep.
Saihara scrunched up his nose, in worry for his friend, and anger at Rynyoma for sleeping in such a silly place.
“Move Rynyoma!” Saihara ordered, shuffling closer to the cat, attempting to push him into another room. Rynyoma just rolled over in spite, not moving anywhere.
As Hajime got back onto his feet, with Makoto’s help, he waved off Saihara.
“It’s okay, I’m not hurt, just leave him.” Hajime mumbled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “I don’t think he wants to move anyway.” He added and Makoto gave a weak laugh.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Hinata?” Saihara wanted to double check.
“Mhm! I’m okay.” Hinata announced and Saihara gave a small sigh of relief, before continuing to take them to the sitting room.
In said sitting room, laid the dirty clothes and overturned boxes that Kiimew and Yonyaga had left earlier, and Kokitty, though Saihara hadn’t witnessed his involvement, nor the theft of his hat yet.
The only ones in the sitting room were Tsumewgi, Tenyo and Himewko, the three laid on the couch, as Tsumewgi constantly attacked the tv remote, flicking through channels of bad movies and lame reality tv, until she seemed to give up her personal grudge on the remote, stopping the channel surfing coincidentally on the Disney Channel. Saihara rolled his eyes, but left them to it, the slightly irritating voice of Bill Cipher seemed to have caught the cats interest, Tenyo pouncing from the sofa and towards the screen, hissing and scratching while Tsumewgi and Himewko simply laid watching.
“I-” Makoto had no words, perching onto the other sofa, beside Hajime, while Saihara sat beside the two cats, Tenyo instantly leaping back onto the sofa, to curl protectively against Himewko, glaring at Saihara until he stood back up and was forced to squish onto the two seater sofa with Makoto and Hajime.
“Your cats are bossing you about.” Hajime merely observed outloud and Saihara gave a groan.
“I know.”
“Have you ever thought of maybe selling them, or putting them up for adoption? You could always keep one or two? It would be understandable.” Makoto suggested.
“I did consider it… but my Uncle really loved them all… and it would just feel wrong, y’know?” Saihara responded with a weak shrug.
“Well… What if we asked Gundham for help? He was always good with animals.” Hajime suggested, offering up the name of one of their classmates.
“Gundham… is a little weird.” Saihara admitted, he’d been slightly intimidated by the chuunibyou back in school even if Hajime had promised he was a good person at heart.
“He’s really good with animals though!” Makoto argued, backing up Hajime.
“Well… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask for a little advice…” Saihara trailed, cut off by a distressed mew.
“Where was that from?” Makoto asked, and Hajime put a finger to his lips to shush them both as the distressed mew called out again, louder.
“It sounds close..”
Suddenly Tenyo leaped back onto her feet, hissing in the general direction of an old cabinet of fine china Saihara’s Uncle liked to collect and display.
And there, wedged between two narrow shelves, was a cat.
“What the-”
“How did a cat get into a locked cabinet?” Hajime asked incredulously, as Saihara dashed over to unlock it, and try and yank the distressed cat from where it was trapped.
“Ameowmi! How did you get in there? Bad Kitty!” Saihara scolded, as Tenyo hissed a little more from the sofa, raising a paw in warning. Saihara managed to pull Ameowmi out, setting him down on the floor, only for him to sit and look up at Saihara expectantly.
“What? Run along-” Saihara mumbled, feeling intimidated by the green eyes staring back up at him.
Ameowmi stayed put.
“I-...” Saihara shuffled back to the sofa, feeling uncomfortable. Tenyo didn’t stop her hissing until Ameowmi finally trotted out of the room.
“So, how many is there?” Makoto asked, thinking it best to ignore the bizarre cat incident.
“15.”
“15?!”
“Mmhm. And all of them have ridiculous punny cat names…”
“Could you write up a list, and then we’ll make a point of tracking down them all, ensuring they’re all in good health and from there we can get Gundham’s input on anything.” Hajime suggested and Saihara nodded at the good idea. He’d not really had a chance to check any of them over, nor interact with them all equally yet, so it would be a nice idea.
So, Saihara drew up a list while Hajime looked over his shoulder, and Makoto gained a new admirer, in the form of Tsumewgi, who had taken over his lap and was now fast asleep, as he sat running his fingers along the fur on her back.
Kokitty
Yonyaga
Korekinyo
Katede
Kiimew
Myu
Ameowmi
Tenyo
Himewko
Tsumewgi
Harumeowki
Mewmota
Gokumeowra
Rynyoma
Kinyumi
“Right, well this is Tsumewgi, isn’t it?” Makoto asked, pointing to the cat still curled on his lap, trapping him from standing up.
“Indeed.”
“Well she’s accounted for them. First we should check all the cats are here, how about we lock them all in this room until we find them all, check them over, and then we can let them out again?”
“Sounds good.” Saihara agreed, as Makoto gently slid Tsumewgi off his lap and onto the sofa, the three boys slipping out of the sitting room, leaving Tsumewgi, Himewko and Tenyo locked in the room, the latter two deep under the spell of Gravity Falls.
Rynyoma was still napping in the same place, and with the combined effort of the three of them, they managed to pick him up and drop him off in the sitting room with minimal scratches from the cat who apparently didn’t like being around the others.
Mewmota and Harumeowki came next, the two lingering around the staircase, the male cat springing happily over to Saihara upon seeing him, like he was a puppy rather than a cat-
Saihara wasn’t going to comment though, because if the cat wanted to make his life easier that was fine by him.
Harumeowki seemed reluctant to come over, even when beckoned, by Mewmota decided to just usher her over, scampering over to pick up the smaller cat by her nap, and carrying her over, despite her struggling protests and mews.
Saihara felt a newfound appreciation for Mewmota, and let the cat follow him around a little more, while Harumeowki was dropped off into the sitting room with the others.
Mewmota proved a helpful sidekick, leading Saihara, Makoto and Hajime to Kinyumi and Kiimew, the female cat watching helplessly as Kiimew cried from the box he’d somehow gotten stuck in.
Mewmota was reminding Saihara more and more of a dog. Could animals have identity dysphoria?
“How did he even get stuck in a box?” Hajime asked, freeing the smaller cat and holding it in his arms. The kitten seemed to like that, and snuggled closer to Hajime’s chest, making the tallest boy smile a little.
Makoto was left picking up Kinyumi who seemed rather docile and relaxed compared to the others. Saihara couldn’t say this was a bad thing though, if these two weren’t that chaotic is was fine by him.
Mewmota on the other hand, had taken a perch on Saihara’s shoulders, and Saihara felt unbalanced walking with the weight of a cat.
With Kinyumi and Kiimew now successfully located, Saihara led the other two back downstairs, because they’d seen Gokumeowra run in earlier, and surely the bigger cat had to be around somewhere.
“I think we have about half of them now.”
“This is harder than it looks.” Makoto sighed.
“You haven’t met Yonyaga yet…”
And what Saihara hadn’t realised yet, was that there was a far worse nemesis than Yonyaga waiting for him.
If cats could smirk, Kokitty would have the biggest shiteating smirk plastered upon his furry face, as he shuffled a little more under the bookshelves and out of sight.
Despite looking for Gokumeowra next, the three boys found Katede and Myu, alerted to the cats presence by the tunes of a piano, the Turkish Angora pouncing happily on the keys as Myu rolled upon the piano case, seemingly enjoying the vibrations the piano gave.
Katede seemed to come with no hassle, curling up to Saihara’s chest, while Hajime held Myu at arms length, the cat struggling and swatting at the taller boy with anger.
Mewmota still followed the boys around, after Katede and Myu were added to the collection of cats in the sitting room. Saihara ignored the crashes and smashes he could hear, knowing that his Uncles China set was now probably non-existent. The cats seemed to be causing a ruckus in the room.
“Should one of us stay in there with them?” Makoto suggested.
“It might be wise, since there’s more in there now then ones we need to collect.” Hajime agreed.
“Rock Paper Scissors?”
“Rock Paper Scissors.”
So that was how it was decided, that Makoto, the lucky little shit, dodged having to watch the chaotic cats, and Hajime was sent to babysit.
“Poor guy.” Makoto mumbled and Saihara nodded, feeling sorry for Hajime who left to deal with the disaster of the sitting room cats-
Mew.
Saihara looked down to see the big cat from earlier, Gokumeowra, who sat at his feet, dropping a cockroach in offering, except-
“THAT’S NOT DEAD.” Saihara screeched dramatically. Okay so maybe he was scared of bugs… Shush.
Makoto’s eyes widened as the Cockroach scurried about, before desperately stomping to try and kill the creature-
Gokumeowra started hissing and pounced at Makoto’s leg, which had Makoto freeze in fear and the cockroach escape.
“No- No- I’m not having that in my house-” Saihara tried to calm his breathing, still shaking a little. Bugs were a sin. A SIN.
“It got away-” Makoto admitted, as Gokumeowra calmed down, seeing the bug survive.
“What sort of cat likes bugs?” Makoto asked, trying to pick up Gokumeowra who only hissed at him, somehow offended by Makoto’s actions still.
Saihara had to pick him up instead.
“I feel like none of the cats are that normal.”
“I get why you called now..” Makoto replied with a grimace.
“Mmh.” Saihara only hummed in response, taking Gokumeowra to Hajime who was struggling to hold Tenyo back from attacking Rynyoma and had Kiimew perched on his head, hissing in distress and fear.
Okay what-
Makoto and Saihara just backed back out of the room, with a apologetic look as Hajime struggled. They’d treat him later, maybe with some cake and orange juice- for now, they still have cats to find.
“So who do we have left?” Makoto asked, looking at the list Saihara held, only four cats left to find.
“Yonyaga, Korekinyo, Kokitty and Ameowmi.”
“He really wasn’t good at naming huh?” Makoto asked and Saihara gave a sad look.
“Not really… but.. I don’t think I’ll rename them. It reminds me of him.. And how outgoing he was.”
Makoto nodded.
“I understand. I guess you miss him.. Well I mean- Of course you would- I-” Makoto stumbled over his words. He was no good at this.
“Yeah..” Saihara trailed and the conversation went dead.
“Ameowmi seems to have a habit of getting stuck in odd places, so he shouldn’t be too hard to find.” Saihara admitted, wanting to change the topic, Makoto caught on and did so, understanding that Saihara didn’t want to talk about his Uncle anymore.
“Right. What about Korekinyo?”
“He was the one with the bag earlier, he’s probably still with Yonyaga, so it would be easier to find the two of them first.”
“And Kokitty?”
“I haven’t managed to catch him at all, I haven’t seen him since I moved in, I only know he exists because my Uncle used to bring him to work the most, and he’s still listed as alive on the certificates I was given, naming me their new owner. I suppose he’s sneaky- for a cat?” Saihara suggested.
“So we should save him till last if he’ll be hard to find?” Makoto suggested and Saihara nodded.
“We should focus on Korekinyo and Yonyaga first, if they’re still together, and then Ameowmi. Kokitty might show up while we look, or at least we can pray her does-” Saihara suggested and Makoto nodded. It sounded like a good plan, but plans never go the way they’re intended, do they?
Ameowmi came first, rather than Yonyaga- but the male cat WAS with Korekinyo, the two tangled in a large ball of red yarn, both struggling against it, only tangling themselves more so, distressed mews from both, as they continued to fight the accursed yarn that trapped them.
“Wha-”
“Could you grab some scissors, Makoto? They’re in the kitchen-” Saihara asked, having no idea what else he could do, except cut them free.
Makoto nodded and dashed off, while Saihara bent down to try and calm the two cats down, and possibly try and get that paper bag off of Korekinyo, who was probably having breathing issues.
“Shh.. Sh… it’s okay-” Saihara tried to reassure the cats, as he tangled his hands through the yarn to reach for Korekinyo, fingers curling round the edges of the bag. Korekinyo froze at the contact, allowing Saihara to remove the bag.
Could cats look feminine? Saihara wasn’t really sure. He just got a sense that somehow the cat tangled in yarn in front of him seemed to have a very… feminine cat face-
Okay Saihara shook his head. What was he even thinking anymore, that was a dumb thought. Cat’s weren’t like people-
Still, Korekinyo was a pretty cat, so Saihara was glad he took off the bag.
He placed a hand on Korekinyo’s neck reassuringly, and the other tangled to reach Ameowmi, the presence of his hand calming both cats, to be still.
It was nice, Saihara felt bonded with both, that they’d stopped for him and responded nicely. Mewmota eyed the red yarn from the doorway, seemingly uninterested with the item, and mostly just jealous to not have Saihara’s attention.
Saihara remained still, rubbing his fingers into fur gently, to reassure them and keep them calm, until Makoto returned and helped cut them free.
“Careful Naegi-” Saihara hummed, as Makoto got a little close to Korekinyo’s tail as he cut the yarn.
“I am-” Makoto reassured the other boy and Saihara gave a weak smile. It was nice he had someone he could trust, and that finally he wasn’t dealing with a chaotic cat.
When Makoto finally freed Ameowmi, Korekinyo and Saihara’s hands from the yarn, both cats rubbed their heads against Saihara’s legs, affectionately, and sat staring at him. Apparently they trusted him now or something? Saihara wasn’t sure, but he lead the two downstairs with Makoto and Mewmota, and left all three cats in the care of Hajime, who was now trying to stop Myu from ripping up some cushions while Harumeowki had gotten into a fight with Katede.
Saihara had decided it was best to leave Makoto with Hajime as well, since the tallest boy was obviously struggling.
Makoto compiled, and Saihara set off alone in the large house, to track down Yonyaga and Kokitty, the last two cats they had to find.
“Yonyaga? Kokitty?” Saihara called. They weren’t dogs, it’s not like they were trained to come when called. Saihara didn’t really have much hope. Both seemed like they’d be a handful, hard to find and restrain. Saihara wasn’t going to say it, but he’d actually prefer to be with Hajime and Makoto in the chaos downstairs than alone.
Of course, there was the factor that neither could be in the house currently. He was assuming Yonyaga was still present in the building because he’d seen her earlier, but what was to say Kokitty wasn’t outside?
So, Saihara headed out into the garden. While he didn’t find Kokitty, he did find Yonyaga, so it worked out.. In a way.
Yonyaga was busy pouncing in the muddy puddles, remnants of a storm yesterday, where the garden had flooded in patches and left muddy pools of water that had yet to dry and evaporate,
This must have been how Yonyaga got dirty earlier.
“Yonyaga-” Saihara started, approaching, not wanting to spook the cat. If anything, he wanted to wash her before he even let her back in the house but how was he going to do that…
Yonyaga snapped her head up to glare at him upon approach, and took off towards the fence as soon as she saw him. Saihara gasped in shock and held out an arm, willing her to stop, but alas, she did not. Instead, Yonyaga climbed up onto the fence, perching on the top gracefully, and meowing pridefully at Saihara.
How was he going to catch and clean her? What could he use…
Nope, Saihara was not mean enough to blast her with a hose pipe no matter how much she muckied up his Unc- HIS house, and no matter how much she fought him.
He’d just have to suck eggs, take her in dirty and try and force her into a bath before he looked for Kokitty.
“Yonyaga… I won’t hurt you-” Saihara tried to beckon her over, holding out his arms, slowly edging forward to the fence. Yonyaga seemed to tilt her head a little in confusion or perhaps she was weighing up her options. Eventually she slinked down off the fence and padded over to Saihara.
Saihara wasn’t sure if maybe he’d become a cat whisperer since saving Ameowmi and Korekinyo, because his luck was improving, but he wasn’t going to jinx it by saying this outloud.
Instead he begrudgingly took the cat into his arms, cringing internally at the mud now plastering the front of his shirt and carried her into the house, pleased to see a sudden change, she was a lot nicer and cooperative no-
NEVERMIND.
As soon as they got inside, Yonyaga sprang from Saihara’s arms, onto the cream carpet, dropping muddy water and paw prints onto the fabric, taking off down the hallway.
“YONYAGA!” Saihara shouted helplessly as the cat took off.
Okay, Saihara officially hated this cat.
Why was she an uncooperative shit?
Saihara sighed and slide down the door behind him, sitting on the floor.
“Yonyaga I swear to god-” He sighed again. He was now talking to himself- or-
Mew .
Saihara snapped his head up. In front of his sat a cat in a fancy checkered scarf, wearing a slightly oversized tatty hat- his hat.
His.
Hat.
!!!
So it wasn’t Kiimew who’d wrecked his boxes. It was Kokitty.
“Kokitty…” Saihara trailed. He’d met this cat the most, and was hoping the small Maine Coon would come willingly and give him his hat back, upon recognizing Saihara.
Nope.
Kokitty gave a playful mew and shook Saihara’s hat from his head, grasping it in his teeth and fleeing the same way Yonyaga had, obviously teasing Saihara into chasing him.
How childish.
Could cats BE childish?
Evidently these two could.
“When I get my hands on both of you-” Saihara swore his revenge to no-one in particular, back on his feet and after Yonyaga and Kokitty.
These two cats were the death of him, he knew it, he could see it.
But for now, while he still had the energy, the patience, the motivation, he was going to catch these two cats and deliver them to Makoto and Hajime.
“GET BACK HERE-” Saihara yelped again, rounding the corner only to trip over a box he was sure wasn’t there when he’d gone past earlier.
Kokitty gave another teasing noise from behind the box, scampering in a different direction, and through Saihara’s legs who missed in grasping the chaotic kitten.
“Ko-” Saihara’s eyes widened in growing anger. Cats weren’t meant to be this intelligent, right? For the briefest of moments, Saihara had the horrible thought of how more so chaotic Kokitty would be as a human, and shuddered at the thought. Bless the universe for at least not bestowing Kokitty with opposable thumbs, lest the apprentice detective would be doomed.
When Saihara turned on his feet, to chase Kokitty in the other direction, he found Yonyaga running alongside the Maine Coon, the two fleeing the same way, towards where a lot of Saihara’s boxes of books were stored.
Kokitty wasted no time in climbing up the boxes, knocking some over and leaving claw marks in the sides of others, while Yonyaga met the same fate Kiimew had earlier, box falling onto her, trapping her inside it.
Saihara would have praised Kokitty for helping catch the muddy menace, if only the cat wasn’t an even bigger trouble maker-
Still, Saihara took the opportunity to trap Yonyaga in the box. As much as he wanted to get Kokitty too, he couldn’t risk losing Yonyaga yet again, and so left, giving Kokitty respite, and delivering a muddy Yonyaga to the other two boys who seemed to have gotten the other cats under a little better control now there was two of them.
“There’s just Kokitty left but-” Saihara exhaled tiredly. “He’s an absolute menace.”
“I… good luck?” Makoto offered and Hajime gave an encouraging thumbs up, from where he was being used as a climbing pole for Korekinyo.
Welp. Well that was to be expected. The two had their hands full and couldn’t come help, but Saihara had no idea how to catch Kokitty or where he could be now.
This called for a plan. A detailed plan.
And plenty of...
Hope
.