Mamma Mia, Here I Go A-Skein

There was a mystery occurring in the Fire Gardens.

For a few months now, Hanzo would occasionally come across small crochet animals, hidden away in obscure but still easily findable places. The animals ranged in species and design, although the size of them was always roughly the same. It was clear the person making and hiding them intended them to be found but for why he didn’t understand.

Initially he was just extremely confused. It was harmless enough but he couldn’t wrap his head around any possible reason.

Then the children of the Shirai Ryu got wind of it.

It started to become a collecting game for them, who could find and keep the most of these little animals. It even became a status symbol to have a particularly rare animal. There were plenty of little bears, but not everyone had a penguin or an octopus. The children were extremely jealous of Hanzo when he stumbled upon a little scorpion toy hidden in between a weapons rack. It was apparently the only scorpion, but the children let Hanzo keep it, because he had found it fair and square and those were the rules they had come to agreement of.

Hanzo hated to admit he was glad because he actually really liked his little scorpion.

Still none of this explained who was doing it, and why. The children had no idea, none of their parents knew, and none of his higher ups seemed to even know what he was talking about. The only person who eluded to knowing something was Takeda, but even then it wasn’t him. New animals were showing up at times he was no where near the Fire Gardens. Whatever he knew however, he was being tight lipped about it.

Hanzo was determined to find the mastermind behind this scheme.

He began to take note of when new ones would appear and where. He had a notebook with dates, and made sure to keep track of where they had been placed. Next, he began to cross-examine these dates in combination with his own diary, and noticed a very interesting correlation.

The appearance of new animals seemed to coincide with visits from Kuai Liang.

Hanzo didn’t know for sure, but he knew he had to try and catch Kuai in the act. There was a spot behind a bridge that seemed to be a favoured hiding spot. So the next time Kuai was at the Fire Gardens, he excused himself for important business, and then lay in wait a little way from the spot. He wasn’t sure how much time passed, and he was starting to think maybe he’d gotten it wrong.

Until he noticed Kuai creeping out across the path and towards the bridge.

He stopped at the spot, looked around for a bit like he was trying to make sure no one was looking. And then, from his pocket he pulled out a small blue crocheted cat.

Got you!

Hanzo moved out into the open, approaching just in time for Kuai to place the cat in it’s hiding spot. Kuai didn’t notice him until Hanzo coughed to get his attention. Or at least, Hanzo hadn’t thought Kuai had noticed, but he reconsidered that when Kuai turned his head to him with a sly smile on his face.

“So, you finally figured it out?” Kuai asked standing up and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I will concede you were elusive.” Hanzo picked up the cat and observed it. It was cute, he had to admit. “Are there more?”

Kuai reached for Hanzo’s wrist to guide him to put the cat back down. He then took Hanzo by the hand and led him back through the gardens and back inside. When they went inside Hanzo’s quarters, Kuai finally let go of Hanzo’s hand and walked over to where his suitcases were. He pulled out a small bag, and when he unzipped it, a small collection of various animals started to pop out.

“Did you make them?” Hanzo asked, reaching down to pull out a small pink octopus. There was one little girl who was clambering for an octopus and loved the colour pink, she would be so happy if she got her hands on this one. Kuai hummed in acknowledgment of his question. “You’ve never mentioned getting into crochet.”

“Cassandra decided I needed a hobby that wasn’t combat related or physically active,” Kuai explained, slowly pulling out more of the animals. “We tried a variety of different crafts, but somehow crochet was the one that stuck.” He picked up a small purple and blue racoon, popping it on his own shoulder. “I didn’t mention it at first because I wanted to get better and surprise you with a scarf or something, but then I got really into the animals and the idea of hiding them around here got planted into my mind, so…”

“Okay, so, why did you decide to hide them?” Hanzo questioned, picking up a red and orange tiger and putting it on top of Kuai’s head.

Kuai looked amused by the action before saying “well, admittedly at first it was because your face when your confused by something is really cute.”

“So you did it to annoy me,” Hanzo summerised, picking up a bear and also putting it on Kuai’s head as payback for putting Hanzo through months of unanswered questions.

“Aw, I know you like them really~” Kuai teased, getting his own back by picking up the octopus and balancing it on Hanzo’s head. Hanzo tried to give him the best unimpressed look he could muster, but the way Kuai bit his lip seemed to imply he did not believe Hanzo disliked the animals. “What about Pinchy over there?” Kuai carefully pointed in the direction of the crochet scorpion and Hanzo scoffed.

“Firstly, his name is Nobutoshi. Secondly-“ Hanzo paused, realising what the first thing he said was, and the triumphant grin on Kuai’s face. “I am not going to be able to argue against me liking them when I’ve named the one I own, am I?”

“Nope~” Kuai practically sang, knowing he had won. “Anyway, that is how it started, but when the children started finding them, I saw how happy it made them.” Kuai stuck his tongue out as he carefully placed a penguin on Hanzo’s head. “Every time I see them comparing their collections or going out hunting for them, it makes my day.”

Hanzo couldn’t disagree with that, the kids really did love these things. This life was draining sometimes, and it could be hard to see the good things in between all the bad. But seeing something so small bring the children of the Shirai Ryu so much joy was definitely one of those good things.

“Well, I suppose they would be upset if they suddenly stopped appearing one day.” Hanzo felt justified by the way Kuai’s grin grew wider, understanding Hanzo’s subtle permission to continue the game. “That said I think you definitely need to add another scorpion to the army, I fear for Nobutoshi’s safety.”

“Noted, I’ll add another to my todo list.” Kuai finally went to pluck the animals from his head and shoulder, carefully putting them back inside his bag. He then finally removed the ones from Hanzo’s head, before asking, “do you want to help me hide them?”

“Well, if you insist.” He picked up the octopus again and smiled, knowing exactly where he was going to hide this one. There was a spot that the little girl he’d believed would like it checked religiously and was always the first to check there. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction when she found it waiting for her.

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