Title: Turtle
Author: seal.step
Characters: Ooishi Syuuichiroh, Kikumaru Eiji
Disclaimer: If I owned these boys, I wouldn't be sharing. ;;
Author's Notes: This ... is horrible, and probably doesn't deserve to see the light of day, but it refused to not be written, sorry! Also, many thanks to Ces for the initial read-through. ♥
Eiji was waiting for him at the gate when he finally managed to excuse himself. His bright, "Hurry up, Ooishi!" went a ways to erase the memory of Tezuka's careful, questioning glance, and Ooishi fell into step with the other gratefully. The last thing he wanted was to explain his choice in high school to anyone; he'd been putting off telling nearly all of his friends for that very reason.
"Ooishi, pay attention," Eiji ordered, pout evident in his voice. Ooishi looked up at him quickly, meeting his teasing smile with a grin of his own.
"Sorry," he said, "I was just thinking."
"About what fish you want to get today?"
He hadn't been expecting Eiji to jump to fish like that, and shook his head a little in confusion. "What makes you think I'm picking out another fish already? I still don't even know if Koharu is pregnant or not!"
Eiji laughed at him, hitting him lightly in the side with an elbow. His wink, when Ooishi mock-glared at him was slow, teasing, and Ooishi could feel himself start to blush even though he knew no one was looking their way. For once, Eiji seemed to take pity on him, because he relented almost at once and let go of the bag slung over his shoulders to tap his own temple once with a single finger.
"You keep forgetting I'm the smart one, Oishii! I know these things."
The deliberate mispronunciation was enough to start him flushing again, but Ooishi laughed at the childish face Eiji pulled to punctuate his words, and took a particular delight in drawing out his own words after Eiji flashed a 'v' at him triumphantly.
"Well, Kikumaru-sama, your omniscience must have failed you, because I'm not actually getting another fish. My aquarium is just right for now, and if Koha-chan really is pregnant, I shouldn't introduce another fish now, anyways."
He couldn't help the small note of embarrassment in his voice at the last, because while Koha-chan's possible pregnancy was a valid enough excuse, she wasn't the reason he felt his tank was perfect as it was. The addition of Eiji-fish had given it the exotic, lively aspect that had been missing with his small school of tetras, and Ooishi was far too fond of watching the delicate angelfish to even think of stressing her. Plus, a new fish might try to eat at her fins. He just didn't know how to explain that to Eiji-his-friend without leaving himself open to even more teasing.
"Ooishi should watch where he's going," Eiji intoned gravely, just as Ooishi's shoe caught on the curb. The two of them shared a small grin once Ooishi recovered; his apologies to the group of high school students behind them were filled with enough good humour, that two of the girls smiled back at him as they walked on.
By then they'd reached the pet shop, one of Eiji's favourites. Eiji raised an eyebrow, clearing his throat meaningfully. "So. We're here to get something, but not a fish." Ooishi chuckled at the way Eiji spoke, emphasizing the caveat as though it was of the utmost importance.
"Who are you buying a pet for, Oishii?"
"Eh?" Again, Ooishi felt his cheeks heat a little, and focused on opening the door to the shop. "Can't I buy something other than a fish, without you thinking it's for someone else?"
Eiji appeared decidedly unimpressed, and Ooishi opened his mouth to argue the point, stopping as he glanced at the aquariums against the far wall. Eiji had gotten Eiji-fish here, and Ooishi had been coming by regurlarly since then; he had yet to see an angelfish half so active and perfectly coloured. A self-satisfied hum sounded just behind his ear, interrupting his thoughts, and Ooishi laughed once, caught out.
"Okay," he admitted, "maybe not. But maybe I just want to pick up some more fish food, or another plant! Did you think of that?"
"Nope, not it!" Eiji was unapologetically smug. "You let me feed your fish on Wednesday, silly. You've got plenty of food left, and you just changed the water. I don't think you need another plant, but you wouldn't get one now if you did. Come on, Ooishi, tell me who we're getting a pet for!"
Gaping at Eiji seemed like the best response, and Ooishi went with it. Since when had he paid any attention to things like that? If the look on Eiji's face was anything to go by, Ooishi's habit of supervising when he fed the fish had been unnecessary for quite some time, which was a little disconcerting. Of course, so was Eiji's tendency to insinuate himself into every part of Ooishi's life. Tell me who we're getting a pet for - the idea of giving his sister a gift from the two of them was ... right, somehow. It fit, and Ooishi fought down the blush that threatened to rise with the thought.
"Well, Rika's birthday is coming up, and once she's in middle school, she's allowed to have a pet of her own. I thought maybe you could help me pick something out for her, even if we can't get it yet."
Eiji positively beamed at the idea. "But, of course! Nobody knows pet shops better than Kikumaru-sama." The statement was followed with a firm nod, as though he had made a momentous decision. "Good thing you asked me - Rika-chan would've ended up with a turtle or something if I let you in here by yourself!"
Ooishi spluttered, mildly offended, but more amused by the fact that Eiji took no notice of it. Instead, he was peering down various aisles, biting down on his lip as he thought.
"It has to be something that can stay in the apartment, though, Eiji! What's wrong with a turtle, anyway?"
The look of disdain thrown his way was so patently Eiji, even without any heat behind it, that Ooshi waved it off with a laugh. "You can't get your sister a turtle for her birthday, dummy. You've got to get her something nice, something she'd want in her room. Rika-chan's too pretty to get a turtle."
It wasn't exactly the soundest piece of logic Ooishi had ever heard, but it was Eiji, and he knew from experience that arguing any such pronouncement would be the utmost folly. Only Fuji got away with that.
They wandered around the store in silence for a while. The hamsters and gerbils Eiji waved off as cute, but too common, ("Oishii's sister deserves better than those!") and the ferrets as just silly ("You're joking, right? They smell, and they're grumpy. Not for Rika-chan."). Ooishi wasn't sure why Eiji was suddenly so particular, since he normally gushed over all the animals in the shop, but it was interesting, to see him focus on each different one, almost as though he was judging them. He was playing with a soft, charcoal-grey rabbit ("Cute, but their cages stink after a while. And they nibble on everything!") when he realised Eiji wasn't even with him. The thought that he'd given up was a little disheartening, and he went in search of Eiji.
The sight of his friend, however, happily chirping at a cage full of small finches, brought him up short. When Eiji turned to him, smiling brightly, he didn't have to say a word. It was perfect