Though he had left the Captains presence confident that a solution to his dilemna, the three minutes it took him to get to teh distillery was all the time he needed to think the situation over more and fall once again into near complete panic.

What was I thinking!? How can this possibly be a good idea, Daikoku is a major fortune! I don't want him to hate me, he could ruin my whole familly! ... But there must be cats!

Looking quite distressed, Choukichi enters the distillery looking for O-Washi, who he prays can somehow save him from certain misfortune and inevitable doom.

Doom was an interesting concept and one the big Phoenix was currently considering as he peered into the network of tubes running from his still into a smaller collector barrel. One of the heimen had told him that sometimes such things exploded. It had been a jest but it had set gears to turning.

Thus, Choukichi's arrival was a blessed distraction. Straightening at the approach, O-washi turned a smiling face to the Mantis. "Konnichiwa, Yoritomo-san, can I help you?"

"Heavens, I hope so."

Remembering that this time he should actually introduce himself, Choukichi bows as properly as he can with the basket in his arms. When he rises he looks very serious, and still quite distressed.

"Yoritomo Choukichi, newly assigned to The Half Moon. Captain send me to talk to you in hopes that you might have a solution to the terrible misfortune I may have inadvertently brought upon myself and maybe the Captain as well."

Blue eyes blinked and black brows rose.

"What, you have ningyo sushi in there or something?"

Choukichi lets out a quiet curse then shifts his basket to one arm so he can make a warding gesture and utter a short prayer.

"Why does everyone keep thinking I have something terrible in here? Cats, I brought cats, twins to bless the voyage and take care of the rats."

"Oh." Damn it, Captain, I'm a doctor, not a veterinarian!

O-washi wondered just what he'd done to have the Captain sic this young lad on him but resolved to deal with that later. "Well, then, let's have 'em out and have a look while you tell me just what the problem is with them."

"What? Nothings wrong with them. They're young and healthy, here to bring us good fortune."

While he talks, Choukichi opens up the basket to reveal two healthy and energetic kittens.

"Nothing wrong with the cats. Problem is the captains wife, she's blessed by Daikoku-kami and the priests told her that if she abides any cat that kills a rat she'll lose his favor. Captain doesn't want to draw the fortunes wrath on his familly. Said he'd consider it if there were something that could be done to make sure that any misfortune falls on me instead of his familly for bringing the cats on board. Was hoping you might have an idea how to do that... Or an idea that doesn't involve me being cursed by Daikoku-kami."

"I see..."

And he did. Captain was clearly having a bit of sport here but O-washi wasn't about to ruin his fun.

"You picked out which of the two is the more dominant one at all? It might save me a bit of trouble..." Even as he spoke, the big man started flipping through scrolls, picking one from the rest by memory.

"Huh?"

Choukichi shifts uncomfortably and blinks at the large man, unsure where this is going.

"No... I only found them earlier this morning."

"Mmmph."

With that rather non-commital grunt, O-washi flipped the scroll open on his lap and lifted the larger kitten out of the basket, his big hand gentle on the tiny thing.

"Shut the hatch, will you? In case they decide to scurry."

Then he muttered a few things under his breath, invoking the kami to let him speak to the tiny thing. Apparently, it wasn't much of a conversationalist because he grimaced. "Gah...cats..." He sighed, glancing at Choukichi. "Don't suppose you thought to secure some milke to bring on for 'em, did you?"

Choukichi watches in confusion, but does as asked and shuts the hatch, a little worried about what he intends, and ready to leap to the kittens defense if he has to.

"Ah... I figured the ship would already have at least one cat so there would be supplies aplenty for them."

"Nope. Cook keeps ferrets instead...she's allergic to cats."

This was said absently as O-washi patted the little kitten in his lap, getting it less nervous before he picked it up and stared into it's little fuzzy face. "Now, then, small one. No rats...."

He tilted his head, listening as the kitten mewed back. Then he turned to Choukichi. "We've got a problem here..."

"Cooks allergic to cats?"

Bad signs everywhere!

"What's wrong?"

"Not so bad that she'll do worse than sneeze but it's enough to annoy her...can't cook if she can't smell what she's making, or so she says. As to the problem...."

O-washi sighed.

"These are too young to know what a 'rat' is. We'll need to find one to show them."

"Well that shouldn't be that hard right?"

Choukichi sounds very doubtful of that, that's why he brought the cats.

"If they just need to see one we should be able to spot one in the cargohold easily enough... maybe."

The Isawa looked rather dubious. "You might ask the eta, I suppose...they're the ones who are around the places rats like to live. They also dispose of what the ferret's don't quite finish."

Choukichi nods his head, not particulary bothered by the task of getting some eta to show him mangled rat corpses.

"Shall I take the kittens with me and come back once i've shown them one then?"

He shook his head. "Ije, they'll need someone they understand to tell them."

Slowly, a grin spread over his face. "I could try to teach you the right inflection on 'meow' but I think that it'd be beyond most human's range of hearing to pick up the accent."

Choukichi smirks and motions towards the door.

"Well, you are more familliar with the ship than I so I will let you lead the way."

Grumbling good-naturedly, the big man, still cradling the kitten, strode out and toward the aft stairs.

"If these do turn out to bring the wrath of Daikoku-kami down on us all, I'm going to haunt your line down the next seven generations, just see if I don't..."