A mid-grade, used convertible pulls up to a building on the side of the road as out steps Daisuke. He sighs and brushes down his school uniform as he finishes a cup of coffee. He walks to a nearby trashcan and drops in the empty as he walks to the back of the trunk and pops it open. "Alright..." he says. "That's the collection. Now. These have to be cleaned and sorted..." he begins texting someone.
He waits. and waits..... and then it dings back. Then he sighs and seems to deflate in an 'ugh' manner. Fricken. Never count on snotty rich club members to actually keep a promise to help you with good works. He sighs. How's he going to get all these boxes in. Well. He places a box on top of another box. on top of another then picks it up the stack by the bottom. He sighs. "Okay. Just going slightly up the sidewalk. This should be a cakewalk." he says.
Step. Step. Step. Hopefully...
Everyone else around him should be able to see him right. Everyone ELSE is paying attention. Right!?
This may end poorly.
Hoping that everyone else would be minding where they were going might possibly have been just a little bit overly optimistic.
In point of fact, Makoto is usually pretty careful, because tall as she is it's easy to mow someone over if she's not paying enough attention to where she's going.
On the other hand, there's been a lot going on lately. Lots of new information to sort out; the Dark Kingdom's been busy, the senshi working hard to keep up. It's a preoccupied Mako that's making her way along the sidewalk, deep in thought - until her shoulder bumps an ambulatory stack of boxes coming the other way and the collision snaps her back to reality.
"Ack!" she yelps in surprise and dismay, as the boxes teeter. "I'm sorry - watch out--!" A little too energetically, she reaches to try to help steady the load before the inevitable happens.
Daisuke Hansuke is almost there. "A--ack..!" he lets out as he he tries to steady. Luckily, two of the three boxes remain in Daisuke's arms- but the other one tumbles to the ground and old used clothes explode out of it. Daisuke sighhhs. "N--no--don't-- ugh." he sighs and places the two boxes down as he grabs the other. "Not your fault. I was supposed to have help..." he mutters. He begins to pickup clothes and starts putting them into the box. "Tried to do everything myself--and--- well."
He sighs. "No harm no foul, right?" he asks.
He smiles and gives a soft bow. "I'm Daisuke Hansuke." then he pauses.
That passing Deja Vu again. ugh. At least it's not horribly strong. Or making him feel wrong. So there's that.
"I'm really sorry for that." he says. "I'm trying to. Gather clothes for a clothing drive going someplace. Was bringing these to the volunter who's going through and checking them and cleaning them and fixing them up if any aren't severely damaged." he says.
"I can't do any of those for the life of me." he says.
Then he pauses. "Sorry! I nervous talk a lot. Lemme see and make sure the box is going to be okay!" he says leaning back over a moment.
"Oh geez, I'm so sorry." Hastily, Makoto scrambles to help collect the scattered clothing before any other passers-by can step on something. Only when it's all at least up off the pavement does she take the time to really look at poor Daisuke, her arms full of fabric and her expression screaming apology. "I should've been paying more attention."
No harm, no foul, he says, and she cracks a lopsided smile. "I'll help, since it's partly my fault--" She begins to shake out and fold the clothes she's picked up, but her back straightens and her eyes widen with recognition at the sound of his name. "Ah! Hansuke-kun!" This time, the smile is bright and friendly. "Makoto Kino," she says. "I'm a friend of Ami Mizuno's, she told me a bit about meeting you." A beat; the green eyes sparkle. "Nothing bad. It's nice to meet you!"
Daisuke Hansuke tugs at the box. "eugh. It broke. Just a moment." he says as he stands back up and walks back to the car and fumbles around in the back until he pulls out a roll of duct tape. He walks back and blinks. "Eh...I shouldn't had tried to strong arm it all." he says.
Then he blinks rapidly. Then there's a blush. Then he clears his throat. "I see." he says. "Yes. I'd be that Hansuke." he says softly. He' talk about how a talking cat also mistrusted him at the same time but that'd be silly.
"...what did she say?" he suddenly asks. He bets. 'Not much'. Or she can't say, or it's a secret. He still asks.
"It's nice to meet you too, Kino-san." he says as he begins to tape around the boxe's edges with the duct tape. "Do you go to Seishou, too? I'm in 10th year at Verone." he says. "Animal Care Club. Aiming to become a veternarian." he says.
"That's a secret~!" Well, it's not like he didn't expect some answer like that. Makoto seems all the more cheerful at the question - and at that blush. "She really didn't say anything bad, though; I've been looking forward to meeting you sometime. I just didn't think it would be like this."
By the time he's gotten the box taped up, she's neatly folded all of the clothing to go into it, and helps to stack it neatly inside. "Right," she says, nodding as she does, "I'm in the same grade as Ami-chan. So it should be Hansuke-senpai, then. I don't think she mentioned you were in high school..."
For like half a second Mako looks very faintly wistful. Older guys are the best. Too bad this one's very definitely off-limits. "That's really cool," she says instead, with honest admiration. "I'm not in a club this year since I transferred schools in the middle of the year, but I'm planning on joining the Cooking Club when I can."
Daisuke Hansuke isn't that much older! Well. Maybe. A little. He closes the box and sighs. "I don't suppose you could help me by taking this box." he says offering it over with a smile. He seems ready to pull it back if she says no, but she's hoping she'll say yes!
He picks up the other two. "Come on, it isn't far." he says motioning to a red building not too far away. "Looking forward to meeting me? I'm not really that special..." he mutterss. "..but it seems lots of people think I do, so there's that..." There's another blush. Well!
Wait what's that wistful look about. Regardless.
"I uh. Do a lot of charity work. Sometimes I over do it. This is one of those times." he smiles shyly. "Cooking club?" he asks softly. "So you like to cook?" he asks. "Anything specific or just cooking in general?" he asks as he walks along. Two boxes are WAY easier and let's him actually look about. "I don't cook much myself, but dorm living does that when they don't allow hot plates or even a microwave." he says.
He scarcely has to ask. Makoto hoists the box without hesitation and follows Daisuke's lead toward the red building. "It seems like I know a few people like that," she muses as she walks. "It's a good thing to help other people, but you have to take care of yourself too or you can't help anybody."
She feels like she's had this conversation before. Possibly with the same guy? Hard to be sure.
"Well," she says, when he asks about cooking. "I do a lot of cooking anyway - mostly just Japanese food, homestyle stuff. A lot of baking, too. Really I'm interested in all kinds, but there's a lot to learn."
She makes a sympathetic face and a mental note to put a word or two in Ami's ear, at the mention of the woes of dorm living. "It's hard for me to imagine not being able to cook for myself," she admits. "I don't think I could cut it in a dorm."
Daisuke Hansuke seems to be thinking for a few moments. Then realizes it's rude to put somebody on the spot by asking what he wants to. No- nothing silly magical like. "I see, that must be fun then." he says. Now he goes about his roundabout way of asking the thing without putting someone on the spot!
"Hey... since you're here then, and---" he says. "Are helping me with this." he says as he gets to the building. He knocks on the door. A middle aged woman comes out. He smiles and waves. "Here are the clothes, Itami-san." he interupts his line of thought. He motions to the box Mako is holding, ask if to ask for it to also give over. "Itami-san, this is Makoto Kino, she helped me today since my help bailed on me."
"Again?" says the woman. "Well at least you had help!" she smiles to Makoto. "I'll get right to work on this, it should be all sorted by the time you need them back."
He bows politely he turns away and turns back to Makoto. "Sorry about that. That crept up faster than I thought." he says.
He clears his throat. "Anyways. If I buy some supplies..." he says softly. "How many cookies do you think you could make by say... the tenth of December." he politely asks.
"I mean...I know it's a little prethemuspohous of me to ask something like this so I apologize, you can say no, but well..." he says. "It's going to help make some kids happy, I'm hoping." he says, not being specific. "..and while I could just buy trays of cookies..." he says.
"Money can't buy everything. Like you know. The idea someone cared enough to bake a boatload of cookies." he says.
"But you know, as I said. Asking a lot." he smiles. "So where were you headed off to when we hit each other?" he asks softly.
Mako bobs her head politely to Itami-san as she hands the box over, but she's distracted by curiosity over whatever it was that Daisuke was clearly working his way around to asking before they reached the place. As a result, she's waiting fairly expectantly by the time he actually manages to ask.
"Hmmm, by the tenth?" Looking thoughtful, she mentally counts days. "When it comes to something like cookies, the only real limit would be ingredients and how much I could fit into my oven at a time. If you wanted decorated Christmas cookies it'd take longer, but if it's something simple like gingersnaps or chocolate chip or regular sugar cookies, I could make a lot. Especially if you can help cover the ingredients." A beat; her grin turns a little wry, but even with that she seems enthusiastic about the idea. "I'm kind of on a budget. But I'd be happy to help out, it sounds like a great idea."
Daisuke Hansuke grins. "That's why I said I'd buy the ingredients. Don't worry about that. Just I can't cook if you gave me a cook book and explained everything, I'd put in cookies and turn out a roast chicken somehow." he smirks a little more coyly.
"Just tell me what you need and I'll just buy 'a lot' of it all and you can keep any extra for your own purposes. I'm not picky." he says.
"That's totally irresponsible of me, but, good cause and all." he says. He pulls out his phone and presses the button on the side. "Besides, if you're a friend of Ami's, you're a friend of mine." he says. He closes the trunk of his car and sits on the back , as he thinks.
"So. I'm trying to think what's in a cookie. Let's say uh. Chocolate Chip. And Sugar... and.. maybe we can..ice the sugar all Christmas like." he smiles.
"So.. that's. Flour... and.. uh." he says. "That's all I know what's in a cookie." he says. "What's the rest I need?" he asks.
Makoto can't help but giggle. "Trying to make cookies and coming up with a roast chicken would be a really neat trick, though!" she quips back merrily. "But, I get it. I'll totally handle the baking, and..." she pauses for a moment to think about ingredients. Flour, sugar... brown sugar for the chocolate chip cookies... butter, eggs...
"How about I make you a list?" she decides after a moment. "Better than trying to keep everything in your head. Or, if you've got time, all I was going to do today was some grocery shopping anyhow, it wouldn't be bad to get a jump start on it since you're going to want a lot."
Daisuke Hansuke goes about making the list and abanonding it. "That sounds fun actually. I had nowhere to go after this so that's fun." he says. He motions around to the other side of the car. "Should be unlocked. Least I can do is drive you around if you're going to help me." he says.
He steps into the car. It's a second-year mid-grade convertible. The top is up because it's December.
"Okay. So where to?" he asks as he taps the wheel. "Oh, you can adjust the seat with the lever underneath the seat there." he says. "If you have to." he says.
He thinks a bit. "Thanks, by the way." he smiles. "For humoring my request. I'm going to an orphanage soon to help out soon for a few days." he says. Well. He'd do that ANYWAYS, of course there's an ulterior motive for 'scoping the place out'. Someone important asked him to do an important job!
"I don't like putting people on the spot and I like to make sure everyone gets enough."
Before she even tries getting in, Makoto pushes the passenger's side seat back with the habitual manner of someone well accustomed to not having leg room in cars. "The grocery store I usually go to isn't far from here," she says once she's settled in and buckled up. "I'll show you."
Between giving directions, she grins over at him. "It's really no problem," Makoto assures. "I think it's a wonderful idea. I'm sure the kids will be thrilled. Honestly, I wish I'd thought of something like that myself, I could've gotten started sooner."
Daisuke Hansuke begins driving. He follows directions well enough. He listens as he taps the wheel of the car. "Well!" he says. "I don't think less of you because you didn't- nor does it make you less kind or nice. So if that's the why of the wish, don't worry about it. My dad's a doctor and does a lot of things like 'free visits' and 'check ups' for places and organizations like that. I'm going my own path and becoming a vet though."
"Because I think animals are cute." he insists.
"- and I dunno. I like helping animals a little more." he mutters. He ruminates on something.
"Ami's friend's cat doesn't like me too much thou." he says. They should be pulling into the parking lot now.
"Luna?" Makoto guesses - not really a guess, given what she knows. She nods with a certain air of sympathy. "She can be a little... hmm... standoffish. Especially to guys, I think. She's still not very fond of Mamoru-san, either, but I think she's started to warm up to him some."
Casual namedropping! She clearly expects him to know who 'Mamoru-san' is. Mako's shoulders lift in a little shrug as she continues. "I think it's just a cat thing. They're pretty territorial, right?"
Daisuke Hansuke hehs. "Sure...let's call that. Territorial." he says. He probably shouldn't be talking about how the cat called him 'Snake Staff' and other similar names and he sighhhhhhs. "Chiba-san." he says. "Yea." he says suddenly quietly as he stops a moment. Well that made him suddenly quiet. He sighs.
He steps back up and out of the car. "Heard from him recently? I heard he has mono. He doing okay? I'd text him but I'm sure he has better things to do. Like dealing with mono." he says. Gotta keep up appearances, mutter.
He begins towards the grocers and passes through the door. He grabs a cart.
"I think these workers are going to be upset at me when I clear out all thier stock." he says.
It's clear that Mako notices his sudden lapse into quiet, but she doesn't comment. If she's curious, she keeps it to herself - or perhaps she has an idea of what might've caused him to go quiet.
She smiles as she climbs out of the car, nodding. "He's okay," she promises with the assurance of one who knows it for a fact. "Just trying to stay out of trouble for a while until he's... y'know, recovered."
Makoto is not a very adept liar, it must be noted.
She laughs, though, as they head into the store. "Well, there's no need to go *too* overboard," she cautions cheerfully. "Even I can only bake so many cookies at a time, and I still have school!"
Daisuke Hansuke hehs. "Yeah." he says as he walks around. He lets Makoto just place whatever in as he walks along. He sighs. "Yeah...." he sighs a bit. "Oh- sorry. I guess my morose is showing now~." he says as he tries to chipper up a bit. "Yeah. Just... get what you think you'd need for a good amount." he says as he walks along.
"Ugh. I like never come into grocery stores. Stuff like that makes me feel out of touch sometimes." he mutters.
"Maybe I outta find more reasons to go into one." he considers.
She definitely knows what she's about, moving through the aisles picking out ingredients to lad into the basket. Dry goods first: flour, three kinds of sugar, baking powder, baking soda, bags of chocolate chips. "Well," she says, as she pauses to muse over the selection on the last of these. "If you're not cooking for yourself, there's not usually much of a reason to shop for groceries, is there?"
A beat, then she looks toward him, pointing at the shelves of chocolate morsels and their kin. "What do you think, just basic chocolate chip or do you want to get a little fancier with some of them?"
Daisuke Hansuke thinks. "Well. I might suggest something like walnut. But not at all of them?" he ponders. "Can you do that?" he asks. "Or White chocolate chips? It'd be like snow." he considers. He thinks a little bit. He looks around. "Maybe... M&Ms..." he mutters as he thinks.
"Wow this is getting intresting. Pick what you think would make the most happy of course." he smiles. "If you can handle it, then put it in the cart." he says.
"Yeah. I just eat at the cafeteria at school, or the Game Crown is right across the street and milkshakes are my happy place. I am really surprised I am not dying from something like hypoglcemia~" he says.
"Ah, walnuts! That's a good idea." Makoto grabs a bag of nuts, then considers and gets a few more - those bags are small. White chocolate chips. Peanut butter chips. M&Ms will be another aisle. "Haha, it's a little surprising that we haven't run into each other before now. I'm in the Crown *all* the time. Paths just didn't cross, I guess. Their milkshakes are the best, definitely." She'll be keeping more of an eye out for him now that she knows his face, though.
"Hmm, I should have enough ginger and clove and cardamom and all that for gingersnaps, but we'd better get some vanilla..." Spices are across the aisle; she starts to scan a row of bottles, then hesitates, looking back. "This is gonna add up," she observes, looking faintly worried. His car is pretty nice, especially for a high school student, and he did mention his dad's a doctor, but the whole thing is starting to nag at Mako's innate sense of frugality. "Are you sure it's okay?"
Daisuke Hansuke gives an A-okay sign. "It's okay." he says. "I'm not gonna be specific just if you're worrying about cost, don't." he says. "Just save the receipt. It's mostly for a chairtable purpose- and you know, whatever you feel like stealing off for your friends." he grins.
"---and yeah. This is important enough for me to tank the cost of say, you know, Milkshakes for the rest of the month. Also I go through like ten a visit on a bad day." he says.
"Like I said, I should be dead." he insists.
"So don't worry about it." he grins.
"Oh, don't forget your own groceries in the rush! I'd hate for you to forget that." he says.
"Wow!" Mako's eyebrows lift, and she regards Daisuke with bright eyes, both amused and no little impressed. "And I thought *I* went through a lot of milkshakes. You weren't kidding about the happy place, huh?"
Her concerns seem to have been eased, particularly by his instructions to save the receipt. "In that case, I'm getting the real stuff," Mako declares, homing in on one of the *large* bottles of vanilla extract. None of this 'imitation vanilla flavoring' nonsense!
"Okay~!" she declares in a sing-song tone, really motivated now. "Next is the cooler aisle for milk, eggs, and butter! And then we'll just want M&Ms and some stuff for dinner and lunch tomorrow. We're gonna make a lot of kids happy, Hansuke-senpai."