Animal Attraction: The Sequel
Author Notes
8D
I'm excited. Are you excited? –laughs- XD Sorry, I'm on high tension when it has to do with "Animal Attraction" XP
Those who have yet to read the prequel "Animal Attraction" by Major Mike Powell III should get to reading it already! (Well, this can be read on its own too, but I totally don't recommend that~) *W*
I hope you enjoy this, Major Mike~ XD
And may every other reader enjoy~
Nine teenage girls ran towards the wolf pen of the national zoo, or more specifically; seven girls followed behind their leader who was leading the way with her girlfriend that would gladly follow her to the ends of the Earth if necessary.
"Look at this awesomeness!" The energetic gingerhead who is also the Leader of Muse, Kousaka Honoka spreads her arms out referring to each member of Muse.
"We're awesome!" Rin runs up to the pen and does a spin, before posing with both thumbs pointing towards herself, a wide, cat-like grin on her face as she stared down one of the wolves inside.
"Rin-chan...Be careful not to make the wolves angry..." Hanayo felt like Honoka and Rin were trying to provoke the carnivorous animals.
"No one can beat the universe's cutest idol, nico!" Nico does her Nico-ni pose before breaking out of character. "Not that any of these wolves can even be described as cute." A wolf inside growled which made Nico flinched.
"Honoka...What is this about?" Eli had her arms crossed and eyebrows raised as she questioned why the nine of them was gathering in front of a wolf pen.
"It's probably for something silly." Maki shrugged, and looked away as she felt like one or some of the wolves were looking at her.
"I think this is quite interesting~" Nozomi grinned at the scene of a Muse vs Majestic Wolf Pack showdown.
"Previously when Kotori-chan and I came to the zoo for our date, which was rea~lly fun!" Honoka flashed Kotori a wide smile which the ash-grey returned with her own wide smile; the love aura around the ash-grey tripling just from receiving a smile from her beloved. "I spoke to the alpha wolf over there."
"Spoke to the alpha wolf?!" Eli was wide-eyed in disbelief.
Honoka pointed to the full-black alpha wolf in the pen that was now staring directly at the Leader of Muse. "And I thought it's easier to just show how we are the better pack." Honoka smiled proud of herself.
"Show? Wait, we're not a pack! We're an idol group!" Eli could not stop herself from pointing out what is wrong with Honoka's sentences.
"Oh, o-oh! And I'm totally not a wolf whisperer!" Honoka strongly emphasized her 'not' while pushing her face close to Eli and winking.
"Wolf whisperer..?" Eli's eyes widened in disbelief as she breathed out the words.
"Honoka..." A low and clearly upset voice called for the Leader of Muse, sending a chill down her spine. "I knew nothing good was going to come up from your suggestion to visit the zoo as a group..." Umi breathed deeply, trying to curb her anger, her aura was still intimidating though as she singlehandedly made three of the wolves step back and whined softly.
"I think I'm getting a good inspiration for Muse's next costume~ Thank you, Honoka-chan!" Kotori hugged her girlfriend, her arms around her neck and gave a quick peck on the blushing ginger's cheek.
"Ehehe~ You're welcome, Kotori-chan~" Honoka was caught in the lovey-dovey moment when Hanayo speaks up to ask a question.
"C-Can Nozomi-chan understand what the wolves are saying too?"
Everyone turned to look at Hanayo, except Honoka who was distracted by the warmth in front of her since Kotori has yet to pull away her hands that hooked around the ginger's neck.
"I-I mean…Honoka-chan mentioned being a wolf whisperer…and Nozomi-chan has spiritual powers…" Hanayo shifted on her feet as she felt nervous from her friends' stares.
Eli looked over questioningly to her bestfriend who just grinned.
"Sorry to disappoint, but…I don't speak wolves. In fact, I don't speak any animal language."
"So much for spiritual powers." Nico scoffed but quickly hid behind Rin when Nozomi lifted her hands up in that ominous manner also known as the "washi washi" stance.
"However, it's not unheard of for some people to be able to understand and communicate to a certain animal…" Nozomi's grin widened as she kept silent. Everyone's attention was now on the spiritual girl. "There's a chance that we each have our own animal that we can speak to too."
Eli chuckled nervously, obviously afraid of such a possibility. "Come on now, Nozomi. There's no way-"
"That's it!" Honoka pointed a finger at Nozomi, excitement dancing in her eyes.
"W-What's it, Honoka?" Eli did not really want to hear the answer.
"That's it!" Honoka repeated with the same energy, otherwise even more vigour.
"Like I said, what is it?" Eli was exasperated.
Honoka beamed. "We all have an animal we can speak to! That's it for sure!"
Eli, Umi and Maki were the non-believers, however, the way Honoka said it with such assurance, they could not help but believe that that might be true indeed.
"Well, my animal is definitely a really cute animal, befitting of the universe's cutest idol!" Nico performed her Nico-nico-ni with the cutest smile she could bring forth at that very moment.
"Oh! Oh! Rin wonders what animal Rin will be able to speak to, nya!" Rin raised her hand excitedly as she bounced on the spot.
"Wouldn't it be a cat?" Maki commented without looking at Rin.
"Rin will get to speak with a cat, nya? Rin can't wait!" Rin's eyes were sparkling.
"I…I don't think any animal would want to speak to me…" Hanayo stared at her feet.
"That's not true, Hanayo-chan!" The brunette yelped in surprise when Honoka took both of her hands. "There's surely an animal that you can understand and will speak to out there! Trust me!"
A broad smile grew on Hanayo when she was met with Honoka's broad smile. "Mmph! I…hope there is!" Hanayo nodded, positivity flowing into her thanks to Muse's leader.
Honoka spun around to face one of the non-believers. "I think Eli-chan will be able to speak to bears!"
Eli's face paled. "W-Why would you think that, Honoka…"
Nico snickered. "Isn't that obvious, Russian?"
"Q-Quarter Russian!" Eli countered weakly.
"Eli-chan will find out that she can speak to bears, so when Eli-chan visits Russia, you'll be able to make many new friends!" Honoka placed both of her hands to her hip, proud of her analogy.
"New friends? Wha-?! No!" Eli shouted which surprised the ginger. Eli shook her head. "I mean…Can we go back now?"
Honoka smiled, thinking that there's nothing wrong. "No way! Let's go around the zoo to find our animal!" Honoka ran back to the front of the wolf pen. "I'll see you later!"
The wolf in the middle growled as though it was responding to the Leader of Muse, and this response only made Eli and Umi more worried.
Not everyone in Muse was jumping on their feet, all excited to find out what animal they could possibly speak to like Rin, so they just stood around or loitered about at their own pace.
Nico won't show it, or at least she thinks she's not showing how curious and interested she is to meeting her destiny animal. The black haired twin tailed girl had a skip in her steps as she headed for somewhere with cute animals.
However, when she was passing by the Parrot's home, someone stopped her.
"Looking at this parrot reminds me of Nicocchi~"
Nico stopped in her tracks as she frowned at the purplenette.
"It has two different colours as its feathers~"
"What are you trying to say?" Nico sent an accusatory finger to the taller girl who was grinning.
"I wonder~" Nozomi waved at the parrot which turned around to look at the bickering duo. "Hello~"
Nico crossed her arms and stared at the parrot. "You think the parrot is your spiritual animal?"
Nozomi giggled. "Who knows~"
"Hello." Came a response from the green and red feathered parrot.
"Hey, it's talking to you." Nico snickered, but Nozomi did not respond in the way Nico expected as there was no witty comeback.
"But the parrot looks like it's looking at you, Nicocchi~"
"Wha-?!" Nico made eye contact with the colourful bird. "H-Hello?"
"Hello." The parrot parroted.
"Okay, so the animal I can speak to is a parrot?" Nico was not impressed, she thought she'd get something more grand, majestic or at least cute. Not…a talking bird.
"Alright! I got it!" Nico waved excitedly as she had an ingenious idea strike her. "Say 'Nozomi is an idiot'!" Nico pointed at the parrot commandingly.
"Nozomi-" The parrot started.
"Niccochi, that's so mean~" Nozomi faked a pout.
"Ha! This is payback for all the times-"
"Nico. Idiot." The parrot continued.
"Wha-?!" Nico's head spun back at the talking bird infuriated at what it just dared to say. Nozomi giggled, a hand covering her mouth. "What did you just say?!"
"… Nozomi. Say. Nico. Idiot." The parrot wing-picked the words it wanted to say from the spoken words the two girls has offered.
"What the heck? No. No! You don't call me an idiot! I said-"
Honoka ran up to Nico and Nozomi, curious as to what the commotion may be, but spotting the parrot, she already knew what she wanted to do. "MUSE IS AWESOME!" Honoka shouted with her hands spread wide as she had this massive smile, and making eye contact with the green-red parrot.
The parrot blinked once and, "Muse. Is. Awesome." It turned its head away and then back in one fluid movement. "Muse. Is. Awesome."
Honoka gave it a double thumb up and skipped off.
"Right. And you can say what Honoka wants perfectly!" Nico threw her hands up in the air. "You know what? You're not the bird, I mean animal I can speak to. You're a parrot. Parrots can speak to anyone, yeah."
Squawk. Squawk. Squawk. Was what everyone else heard, except the twin-tailed girl with the red ribbons. "Oh, I can speak to you." Squawk. Squawk. "And you can understand me.
Nico's eyebrows rose and looked between Nozomi that was just standing there and the bird that suddenly took a turn for cocky instead of silly.
Squawk. Squawk. Squawk. "I just chose to tease you, that's all."
Nico laughed. "Ha! Right! Make fun of me? You don't have to rights to do that!"
Squawk. "It's freedom of speech here in the zoo." Squawk. Squawk. "Humans are…like such." The parrot spread its wings to sweep a wide ark indicating whoever who's in front of it.
"We-"
"Mama, look! The parrot is so cute!" A kid shouted as he pointed at the bird.
Nico didn't miss this one; the parrot had a smug smile, if a bird can have a smug smile with its beak. "Parrot. Cute."
The kid laughed happily at the words uttered by the parrot, while Nico facepalmed; the parrot is not normal, that's for sure.
"T-Team up with me…" Nico felt like she had to catch her breath first before she can speak.
Squawk. "Team up?"
"Praise me. Tease her." Nico pointed at the purple haired girl who was highly amused at Nico's exasperated actions, expressions and conversation, even if she could not understand the parrot, it was interesting nonetheless.
The parrot pretended to be a parrot, or it really had to jerk its head to different sides before it could speak. Left. Right. Up. Left. The movement kind of ticked Nico off. "Nico. Cute."
Nico smiled broadly.
"Idiot." The parrot added.
"UGHHH!" Nico groaned.
Somewhere else in the zoo, the three first years have walked around aimlessly, while Rin shouted to each attraction, "Can you understand Rin? Can Rin understand you?"
At first Maki tried to stop the orange haired girl because it was embarrassing, but it took too much energy even when Hanayo tried to help, so she gave up. Thus they ended up with a ball of energy running around seeking mutual understanding from the animals.
Hanayo sighed.
"What's wrong?" Maki decided to show concern, though she looked away while twirling her hair.
Hanayo smiled, happy that the dishonest redhead noticed her unease. "Um...Are you not afraid of finding out what animal you'll be able to speak to…Maki-chan?"
Maki glanced back before returning to twirling her hair. "Not really. It's not like I believe that we can speak to some animal."
"Mmph…" Hanayo looked down.
Maki looked back to see that Hanayo was still distressed, and sighed. "It's not like being able to speak to the animal will lead to anything more." Maki crossed her arms. "Maybe make friends like Honoka. But that's about it. So…What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing to be worried about, okay?"
Maki turned and saw Hanayo smiling broadly, the brunette's purple eyes shining with admiration. "Maki-chan…"
"J-Just stop worrying about it okay?" Maki quickened her pace to catch up to Rin in front.
"Mmph! Thank you, Maki-chan!" Hanayo jogged to catch up.
Rin led them to a room where they get to feed the monkeys.
"Let's feed them!" Rin enthusiastically got some nuts from the box, while Maki and Hanayo took a seat that was available so that visitors can just watch the monkeys.
"Kotori-chan, ah~" The three first years turned to their leader's voice.
"Ah~ Wait, Honoka-chan. Those are for the monkeys…not me…" Kotori played along before playfully pushing her girlfriend's approaching hand away with a blush.
"Ehehe~ That's right, I forgot." Honoka laughed sheepishly as she rubbed a hand behind her head.
"You're so forgetful, Honoka-chan… But that's what makes you cute too." Golden and blue orbs shared a loving gaze as Kotori took Honoka's free hand into hers and she leaned in closer, the gingerhead doing the same.
The redhead at the opposite bench cleared her throat and jerked her attention back to her fellow classmates. "R-Rin, you want to feed the monkeys, right? D-Do that."
"Ah! T-That's right, nya!" Rin was blushing at the scene her seniors were sharing as she moved robotically to the monkeys.
"H-Honoka-chan…and K-Kotori-chan…" Hanayo was unable to peel her eyes away as she hid her burning face behind her hands.
After the heart-thumping, doki doki, love scene Hanayo witnessed, she stood up and went over to where her childhood friend was.
"R-Rin-chan…Are you having fun?"
Rin laughed. "Yup! Kayochin should try too!" Rin poured some nuts into her friend's hand.
"Ah, um…" Hanayo looked over to the monkeys waiting.
"Ten! I think I want another ten!" The first monkey shouted.
"You already had twenty earlier. Could I have one please?" Another monkey commented before asking Hanayo politely.
"This is hardly enough! Give me your share!"
"Go find another visitor then."
"Um…Here." Hanayo passed ten nuts to the first monkey, before adding another. "If you want ten, or more. You can just ask again."
"Thank you! Thank you!" The first monkey threw the nuts in the air and into its mouth.
"Eat slowly, sheesh. Thank you very much." The second monkey chided before thanking Hanayo.
"Kayochin…You understand what the monkeys are saying?" Rin looked over excitedly to her childhood friend, when she noticed a semblance of a conversation going on.
"Eh? I…" Hanayo did not even noticed, so she looked back to the monkeys. "C-Can you understand what I'm saying..?"
"Oh, we understand all that humans speak! Though some speak in the weirdest of tongue!" The first monkey answered while grabbing another nut to eat. "Oh, but I can appreciate that tongue that your friends over there showed!" The monkey winked, Hanayo thinks she just saw the monkey winked. And since she knew what exactly the monkey was referring to; a certain ash-grey and orange-brown haired couple making out just minutes ago, the brunette exploded into a blushing mess.
"Watch your tongue!" The second monkey chided with a slap to the first monkey's cheek.
Rin gaped. "W-What are they saying, Kayochin?" Rin looked over to her steaming friend. "Wah! Kayochin, are you okay?!"
"I-I'm okay, Rin-chan…" Rin took a bottle of water that the redhead behind passed over for Hanayo to drink.
"So, it's more about whether you understand us." The second monkey returned her attention to Hanayo who downed half the bottle of water to cool down.
"I-I see… I think I understand you…" Hanayo stumbled back to the seat, but when she sat down, her phone started playing "Wondeful Rush". Taking out her phone, she realized that she hit play on the video she was watching – Muse's PV, Wonderful Rush. She stared awhile longer before closing it, feeling more at ease from watching idols, even if it's her own group.
"K-Kayochin…?" Rin sounded afraid and in awe at the same time which caught the attention of both Hanayo and Maki.
They turned around to see a bunch of monkeys gathering into a formation.
"We know that performance. The keepers played it once on a moving bus that stopped outside us." The second monkey informed.
Without further ado, the monkeys started performing Wonderful Rush – singing and dancing included. Everyone stared, even Honoka and Kotori broke out of their flirting to watch, their jaw agape, unsure of how to react.
At "Wonderful~" which Maki's marvellous voice would sing, one of the monkey representing Maki jumped with its arms outstretched as how Maki danced, though everyone had their hands to their ears. Why? Because the monkey sounded like a high pitched screech, to everyone but Hanayo who actually heard "Wonderful".
Maki frowned. "Okay, this is…crazy. And I can only compliment their dancing, because their singing is…" Maki shook her head. "Just no." She turned and left, her ears were throbbing, and they are still continuing.
After their performance, Honoka started clapping enthusiastically. "That was great! That was so~ cool! Right, Kotori-chan?"
Kotori smiled sweetly at the gingerhead. "Mmph…It was…different."
Rin started clapping along. "Honoka-chan, you saw that?"
"I sure did! It was really cool, right, Rin-chan?" Honoka and Rin ran up to the monkeys to offer their applaud.
"Kayochin! Kayochin! Are you able to hear them singing for real?"
"Eh? Hanayo-chan can understand the monkeys? That's so cool~" Honoka looked over with the same starry eyes as her orange haired friend.
"Ah, um…Mmph." Hanayo nodded.
Rin and Honoka showered Hanayo with questions as the nervous brunette played translator for the conversation between humans and monkeys for some time before they decided to bid farewell.
Maki was outside waiting for her first year classmates, since she wasn't so mean as to just leave without a word, plus she was not interested in looking at the animals on her own.
"Maki-chan~" Rin hugged the redhead who tried to pry away the huge hug.
"Rin… Get off me…"
"Thank you for waiting for us!"
Maki looked away. "I-It's not like I was waiting for you…"
Rin laughed and ran back to Hanayo to pull her over and began sharing about the monkeys and how Hanayo could talk to them to Maki.
Luckily for Maki, Rin had a short attention span as she quickly got attracted to some other animal to check out.
The next animal the three first years visited read "Fishing Cat".
Rin was excited from the word 'cat' already as she ran up to the pen. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Kayochin! Maki-chan! Look, nya!"
"W-What is it, Rin-chan?" Hanayo ran over and asked while catching her breath.
"Those cats are swimming! In the water! They are swimming, nya~"
"Well, they are able to, so why not?" Maki commented while reading the description of Fishing Cats.
"They are so cute, nya~" Rin propped her elbow on the fence and rested her chin on her hands as she stared at the Fishing Cat's swimming form with shining eyes.
"How about joining in? I betcha it's hot above~"
"It is kind of hot…But Rin did not bring her swimsuit…" Rin answered dreamily.
"Swimsuit? Who needs that, you're already in your skin for swimming all the time, no? Hop in!" The Fishing Cat that was speaking to Rin jumped into the water and floated coolly; enjoying the water's flow.
"That's true, nya! Who needs swimsuits, nya!" Rin declared and started climbing the fence.
"R-Rin-chan?!" Hanayo rushed over to grab her childhood friend. "D-Don't jump!"
"Rin?!" Maki went wide-eyed and went over to help Hanayo in bringing Rin down.
"N-No! Rin wants to swim with the cats, nya!" Rin struggled.
"No one is swimming with the cats!" Maki raised her voice which startled Rin to stop struggling so the two was able to bring the orange head back to the safer side of the fence.
"I-It's dangerous to jump from the fence too, Rin-chan…" Hanayo had tears around her eyes which made Rin want to cry too.
"R-Rin is sorry, nya… Sorry, Kayochin. Sorry, Maki-chan…" Rin lowered her head. "Rin should not have done something so dangerous to worry Kayochin and Maki-chan."
Maki relaxed with a lopsided smile. "Has long as you understand."
Hanayo shook her head and wiped the tear from her eyes. "I'm just glad you're okay, Rin-chan…"
At the other side of the Fishing Cat attraction, Honoka sweatdropped.
"Honoka-chan…" Kotori linked her arm around the ginger who was laughing nervously.
"Guess I'm not swimming today, huh?"
Honoka was going to join Rin and the Fishing Cats when she heard Rin talk about swimsuits, but when the whole No Swimming commotion happened at Rin's side, Honoka and Kotori was going to rush over to help. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary in the end as they could tell Maki and Hanayo had things under control.
"Nope, you're not." Kotori tugged her girlfriend's arm closer to her.
Honoka leaned into a hug, and whispered into the ash-grey's ear. "Can we go swimming together? I want to see Kotori-chan in her bikini~"
Kotori's ear felt really hot as she squeezed the arm she was holding. "M-Maybe…"
Honoka grinned and left a kiss on her already blushing girlfriend's cheek. "I can't wait~"
The first year redhead was getting kind of tired from all the commotion about dancing monkeys and fishing cats inviting her friend for a swim. So she excused herself from her classmates, and headed for somewhere quiet.
Maki sat in silence for perhaps five to ten minutes before she felt someone welcome herself beside her.
"Enjoying the silence, Maki-chan?"
Maki remained quiet for a minute; the peace intruder stood up and approached the water where the dolphins are in. Maki looked up to see a dolphin surface and nuzzle the intruder's hand.
"Hehe~ Aw, you're so cute~ Aren't the dolphins cute, Maki-chan?" The intruder flashed a broad smile over to the redhead.
"Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?" Maki smiled at the gingerhead's energy.
"Ehehe~ I kind of lost Kotori-chan somewhere when I helped a lost kid find her parent…" Honoka's right hand was still patting the dolphin, so she used her right hand to rub the back of her head.
"So you got lost while helping a lost kid." Maki smiled wryly.
"I'm not lost…" Honoka stared at the dolphin thoughtfully, wondering if she's lost.
"Your friend gives a really good pat~"
Maki's eyes widened, she looked at Honoka incredulously, hoping that it was the ginger faking a voice.
"The dolphin's skin is so…interesting to touch~ Maki-chan should try too!" Honoka beckoned Maki over.
"Huh…" Maki stared at the dolphin.
"I'm totally pat-able~" The dolphin jumped into the water causing a splash before resurfacing at Honoka's hand.
"That's not a word…" Maki muttered as she approached Honoka and the talking dolphin.
"Where do you like it best?" Maki asked.
"I like it on the head." Honoka answered cheerily. "And sometimes under the chin."
Maki ignored Honoka, she wouldn't mind pampering her senior from time to time, but right now the dolphin was of priority; it piqued her curiosity after all.
"I'm with your friend here. Close to my nose and under my mouth. Those feels great~" The dolphin raised its body so that Honoka can rub its underside while Maki can reach for its head.
Maki sighed. "Apparently the dolphin agrees with you." Maki patted the dolphin.
"Eh?" Honoka cocked her head to the side, confused.
Maki sighed again. "I can understand the dolphin."
Maki did not like the gleam in Honoka's bright blue eyes. And Honoka does not disappoint, "Can you sing, Dolphin-chan?"
The dolphin went back under the water before jumping out again. "Yes. Yes I can~ In fact, I have a favourite song right now~"
"And what's that?" Maki asked.
"Eh? What did Dolphin-chan say?" Honoka hovered around Maki for an answer.
"It's one of the songs I hear from the keeper when it's feeding time."
Maki waited, and the dolphin started singing.
"Aishiteru banzai~ Koko de yokatta~ Watashitachi no ima ga koko ni aru~"
Maki was surprised, not only was it a Muse song, the dolphin actually sounded okay, in fact, it sounded great. So Maki decided to grace the dolphin with the original singer as she pick up the next line.
"Aishiteru banzai~ Hajimatta bakari~ ashita mo yoroshiku ne~ mada~ gooru janai~"
"gooru janai~" The dolphin joined in.
Honoka clapped for the impromptu duet.
"So Dolphin-chan can sing? Maki-chan and Dolphin-chan should totally sing more together?" Honoka took one of Maki's hand, and extend her other for the dolphin to take, which it gladly did.
"Why would I want to sing with a dolphin?" Maki looked away since she could not pull her hand away.
"Because singing can help you relieve stress!"
Maki looked over to Honoka. "Who's stress?"
"Maki-chan is. That's why you came here to relax! But it isn't working out for some reason, so you should sing!" Honoka wore a broad smile encouraging the redhead to agree with her.
"Your friend is right. Singing is fun and takes your mind off things~ I enjoyed singing with you too~" The dolphin did a flip.
Maki raised an eyebrow. She wasn't feeling as stress as before already. Honoka wasn't exactly on high tension, so the gingerhead being around isn't bothering Maki that much, and she also did enjoy the singing session earlier.
"I'll have you know I own that song." Maki had a wry smile, while Honoka slowly let go of the redhead's hand and took a step back.
"You mean you have a copy in those things you call mp3?" The dolphin asked while underwater.
"No, I mean I composed it." Maki smirked at the dolphin's in awe reaction.
"No way~ L-Let's shake hands and sing together, and maybe you can sign my bucket?" The dolphin swam around at a record speed before performing flips and returning to the surface to greet the singer it admires.
Maki laughed. "I'll think about it."
When Honoka heard singing behind her, she smiled widely. "Time to look for Kotori-chan~"
Laughter that could only belong to her black haired friend broke through the air as it echoed to Honoka.
"Sheesh, Eli. Do you even need to freak out that badly? I mean, it's stuck on the other side of the barricade! It can't come over to give you a bear hug. Get it?" Nico laughed again.
"E-Eli-chan…"
Honoka could tell whose voice that belonged to immediately and she jogged up to the scene.
"K-Kotori…Tell me this is only a short-term illness of some sort. I-I can't understand bears and speak to them right? Right?" The taller blonde was barely standing on her own as she was being supported by the worried ash-grey.
"Eli-chan…I think it's cool to be able to speak to bears..?" Kotori hope she was helping, but the usually cool dance instructor of Muse was cowering in her boots at the memory of the bear saying "It's beary nice to meet you…"
"Kotori-chan!" Honoka ran up to her girlfriend that immediately looked over with relieve washing over her.
"H-Honoka-chan! Help me…help Eli-chan…"
Honoka ran over to help support Eli up. "Eli-chan, what's wrong?"
"H-Honoka…Talk to the bear!" Eli was now hoping that she's not the only one to be able to hear the bear.
Honoka blinked and thought why not. "Heya, Bear-chan!"
"I prefer the honorific kun…" The bear growled lazily.
Eli relays the message when Honoka looks over to the blonde who was leaning heavily on the ginger's shoulder.
"Nice to meet you, Bear-kun. How are you? Can you teach me how to do karate?" Honoka was quite excited to be able to chat with a bear, even if a translator is needed.
"It's beary nice to meet you too…I can be better…You know what a chop is..?" The bear continued slurring his words as it took slow steps around his space before raising a paw.
"Like that?" Honoka readied her hand in a chop position, following the bear.
Eli took that as a sign of "Honoka understands too", so she felt better and stopped overly leaning on the ginger's shoulder.
"Go over to the laughing girl down there and chop her…" The bear instructed.
Eli widened her eyes and looked over to Nico who was still laughing at Eli's initial reaction to talking to a bear and over Nico's own joke. Eli shook her head and whispered the translation to Honoka.
Honoka laughed before going over to Nico. "I'm sorry, Nico-chan."
"W-Wha..?" Nico barely rubbed a tear off her eyes from laughing so much, when Honoka chopped down at the exact time the bear inside karate-d a log that split in half.
"Harasho…" Eli saw both happening at the same time and was wowed by the synchronism.
"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?" Nico raged, while Honoka put two hands out in surrender.
"Hey, I was just doing what the bear wanted!"
Nico turned to scold the bear but was stopped by Eli.
"He says he'll personally come over to chop you if you don't stop being so noisy, Nico!" Eli said in a hush and stern voice as she clasped a hand over Nico's mouth to stop the thrashing girl from spewing more insults.
The bear growled again and pushed the broken log into the water.
"Just like that…" The bear shot a lazy glare at Nico who received the message. She gulped and tapped Eli's hand to let go in a manner that Eli understood that it'll be okay to allow Nico freedom to breathe.
Honoka chuckled behind, while Kotori came over to hug the gingerhead.
"I missed you, Honoka-chan…"
Honoka returned the hug. "I missed you too, Kotori-chan! Sorry for running off on my own…"
Kotori shook her head. "It's okay." Kotori nuzzled her nose with Honoka's. "Give me a bear hug?"
Honoka chuckled when Kotori winked at her before nudging her head at the bear to tip the gingerhead of her intended pun.
"Honoka-bear hug~" The Leader of Muse wrapped her arms around her perfect hugging target, her soft and warm and loving partner.
The two lovers plus Nico could not understand the bear as it growled again. "You have nice friends…"
Eli smiled. "I think so too."
"Excluding the noisy one…" The bear sat down.
Eli chuckled. "She's someone you take time to warm up to."
"You're okay with speaking to me now...?" The bear pointed to itself.
"I…" Eli smiled wryly, wondering when she was comfortable with this craziness. She turned around to see Nico, Honoka and Kotori chatting happily. "They have a way with me…And I know you're nice."
The bear smiled. "That's beary good news…"
Eli chuckled once again, she doesn't really mind the bear puns anymore.
"This is rare."
Nozomi slowed her pace when she heard an unfamiliar voice that seemed to be speaking to her.
"I rarely see visitors alone."
Nozomi smiled. "And I rarely see iguanas."
The iguana didn't move, but Nozomi could tell it was surprised. "Who are you looking at?"
"I'm looking right at you, no?" Nozomi returned a question.
The iguana stood still for five minutes. "You have a lot of patience."
"Right back at ya." Nozomi grinned, before looking thoughtful. "I would have never guessed that the animal I can understand would be such an interesting reptile~"
The iguana walked from the leaves to the ground, showing itself for a few seconds before camouflaging in brown.
"Perhaps we are similar."
"Perhaps~" Nozomi thought about how she could be similar to an iguana.
The iguana walked again, Nozomi noticed how to iguana can camouflage even when it's partly in green, brown or yellow.
Is this about me finding the place I belong in?
"Nozomi-chan~" The purplenette was tackled into a warm hug by the smiling ginger.
Nozomi giggled. "You're going to make your girlfriend jealous~ Honoka-chan~"
Honoka looked over to Kotori slightly worried. The ash-grey haired girl giggled. "I'm not that petty, Nozomi-chan."
"My bad~" Nozomi chuckled again and purposefully hugged the ginger. "Honoka-chan is very huggable~ Maybe I'll keep her~"
Honoka laughed and returned the hug. "Nozomi-chan is nice to hug too~ But." Honoka pulled away, and Nozomi thought that the ginger was going to say that she prefers Kotori, but she didn't. Honoka took Kotori's already outstretched hand and pulled her in for a hug. "Group hugs are even better~"
Kotori wrapped her arms around the Leader and Mother of Muse, and Nozomi felt Honoka's hand pulling her in too.
"I like group hugs too…" Nozomi smiled broadly, hugging her two dear friends tightly, while they laughed.
"I see you've found your place."
"That's true." Nozomi replied. "It's more than I could ever wish for."
Honoka understood what was going on. "What are you talking to?"
"It says 'iguana' here, Honoka-chan." Kotori answered while looking at the sign.
"Oh~ Hey there, Iguana-chan! Or kun…" Honoka furrowed her eyebrows as she remembered that the bear preferred 'kun'.
"You can see me too?" The iguana asked in disbelief.
Nozomi giggled. "Honoka-chan has that kind of powers."
"Eh? What powers?" Honoka cocked her head to the side before looking between the spiritual girl and the iguana.
"What an interesting girl." The iguana climbed the tree as it camouflaged. "Tell her I don't mind any names she wants to address me by."
Nozomi smiled. "The power of love, Honoka-chan. And it doesn't mind you using 'chan'."
"Eh? Eh?" Honoka was even more confused. "Power of love?"
"They say love conquers all after all~" Nozomi exchanged a last look with the iguana before continuing her stroll around the zoo.
Kotori walked over to slip her hand into Honoka's, and the gingerhead smiled. Honoka looked back to the iguana that was now near the top of the tree. "Bye bye, Iguana-chan. And I'll take care of Nozomi-chan."
Kotori blinked. "You can understand it, Honoka-chan?"
Honoka smiled and squeezed the ash-grey's hand. "Nope, but its eyes told me."
Kotori smiled and returned the squeeze. "Nozomi-chan isn't alone."
"Of course!" Honoka and Kotori walked elsewhere, knowing Nozomi from time to time enjoys her alone time, and now seems right.
Umi considered leaving the zoo, or just sitting at some café until the rest gathers back at the front gate. But an hour in, and she felt that she might as well walk around to see if she can get any inspiration for a song, or just to move her legs.
Umi being the organized and prepared girl she is, grabbed a mini map for the zoo and headed for where the small animals are; she prefers to not get overwhelmed by the larger animals just yet. In case she could speak to an animal and it turns out to be a giraffe or elephant, or maybe a lion; Umi might faint on the spot.
Rabbits; they are white, small, cute, and generally easy on the eyes for observing. That was the lyricist's pick for the day. Umi stood near the fence while watching the white furry creatures walk about, minding their business. She bend over slightly to get a closer look at an individual rabbit, it actually looked kind of lonely at a corner.
And the moment Umi fell on her butt occurred. "Why won't they spare some time for me?"
"W-What?" Umi asked aloud, staring incredulously at the lonely rabbit.
"My sister and probably distant cousin started dating, and now they tend to do that." The rabbit used its carrot stick to point at the other white rabbits it was referring to.
Umi followed, and what greeted her was two other rabbits nuzzling each other; flirting. "Well, that's a familiar scene."
Umi knows about rabbits, they aren't just cute and cuddly. They are also known to feel lonely easily and when that happens, they might pass away sooner. "You're lonely?"
The rabbit nodded. "We used to be so close…Stuck to the butt literally."
Umi sympathizes with the rabbit, but frowns at her own thought when she imagined her childhood friends as those two flirting rabbits.
I'm not lonely.
"How about hanging out with the other rabbits?"
"It's not the same." The rabbit replied almost immediately.
I know.
"You should tell them how you feel? Letting them know is better than feeling lonely on your own, right?" Umi reached in to stroke the rabbit.
The rabbit gladly welcomed the warmth. "Mm…I don't want to disturb them…"
"I know what you mean." Umi and the rabbit sighed in harmony.
While Umi was focused on her talk with the lonely rabbit, she did not notice two figures approaching her, and now right beside her.
"Umi~" A voice from her left.
"chan~" And another to her right.
"Found you~" The girl on her left hugged her arm.
"H-Honoka?!" Umi almost loses her balance again, but the person to her right did the same as Honoka, hugging her right arm. "K-Kotori?"
Honoka giggled. "Umi-chan blushing is as cute as those rabbits~"
"I think it's slightly cuter, Honoka-chan~" Kotori added.
"Oh~ That's true!" Honoka chuckled.
"Y-You guys…" Umi smiled at the warmth surrounding her, and the familiar back and forth, even if she's the one being teased. "What are you doing here?"
"We were looking for you, Umi-chan!" Honoka nodded at Umi with determination in her eyes.
"You sure you weren't just enjoying your second date at the zoo with Kotori?" Umi joked, while Honoka had a guilty blush.
"Well…We had fun while looking for Umi-chan!" Honoka added.
Kotori giggled. "It isn't the same fun without Umi-chan. Right, Honoka-chan?"
"Yup!" Honoka snuggled Umi from her left, almost causing the three to fall to the ground. "It's not the same without Umi-chan!"
Umi smiled. "You should go tackle your sister."
The rabbit smiled. It could feel the loving aura between the three childhood friends from inside; and that gave it the necessary boost of confidence. "Okay!"
It charged at its sister and her couple, they rolled for a bit, before the rabbit apologized, shared its carrot and told them how it felt. They nuzzled altogether as a trio. Umi smiled when the rabbit shouted "thank you".
"Tackle Yukiho? Why?" Honoka asked while Umi stood up.
"I wasn't talking to you, Honoka." Umi was still smiling.
"I don't have a sister, Umi-chan." Kotori was confused too.
Umi sighed happily. "Then tackle each other." Umi took a step back and pushed both of her childhood friends together.
Honoka and Kotori connected into a hug naturally while giggling happily.
"Wait, don't you want to hug us too?" Honoka pouted.
Umi wasn't feeling lonely anymore. She understands that Honoka and Kotori are going to be lovey-dovey, and commit those shameless actions even if she didn't want to see it. But she also knows that Honoka and Kotori are still her best of friends and they have never thought about leaving her alone.
"No. That's shameless." Umi smiled lovingly at Honoka puffing her cheeks out, while Kotori attempted to give a pouty look too.
Umi could never win, Honoka held Umi's hand and Kotori's on the other side as she skipped along happily.
Walking about aimlessly, the three second years met up with the three third years. They walked together until Honoka tried following a brown horse that was trotting its way along the fence. Kotori following beside the gingerhead.
"This horse's hair looks silky~" Honoka commented while looking over to Kotori. "Not as silky as yours though~" Honoka took a playful step closer to the ash-grey haired girl while taking some of those soft tresses.
Kotori giggled. "I think it's not as soft as Honoka-chan's too." Kotori did the same with Honoka's orange-brown silky hair, while the ginger laughed from the ticklish feel.
"You know, Honoka-chan…"
"Hm?" Honoka hummed.
"I haven't met the animal I can speak to…" Kotori lowered her head sadly.
Honoka's eyes widened slightly. "Mm…"
"We tried checking out a bunch of birds in the zoo, because everyone kept suggesting those…" Kotori had a small smile, while Honoka nodded.
"What have we not tried..?" Honoka crossed her arms together as she tried to think of what animal might be fitting for Kotori.
"Ne, Honoka-chan. How about that pretty peacock we saw last time-"
"No." Honoka stated flatly.
"Eh?" Kotori blinked.
"No. It's definitely not that bird." Honoka pretty much spat out the last two words.
"Um…Honoka-chan, are you upset?" Kotori could see that her girlfriend's mood just took a dip.
"No, I'm not." Honoka pouted. "Just…The…thing that you're suggesting, is absolutely, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT, not the animal you can speak to." Honoka remained adamant in not letting the second meeting occur with the sack of feathers that already stood no chance in courting Honoka's mate, but the ginger still felt disdain for it, so she rather not see it again.
Kotori didn't fully understand the reason for Honoka's strong disapproval of visiting a peacock, but she understood not upsetting the ginger any further over a bird or an animal to speak to. The ash-grey haired girl wrapped her arms around the ginger, pressing their bodies close.
"Honoka-chan~"
"K-Kotori-chan?" Honoka placed a hand on Kotori's arms, holding her closer.
"I don't need an animal I can speak to in the zoo. All I need is you~"
Honoka could not help but grin widely. "And all of me you have~" Honoka spun around still wrapped in Kotori's arms as she planted a slow, sweet, loving, and one-and-only kiss on the soft lips of her love.
Kotori melted into the kiss as she relish in the moment of the world consisting only of Honoka and Kotori.
Before Muse left the zoo, Honoka made one last visit to the wolf pen.
The seven other girls that were still above the pen were very worried for their leader and designer's safety.
Honoka approaches the full-black alpha wolf once more, right in the pen, and she did not say a thing.
"Hmph." The alpha wolf growled.
Honoka waited with an eager smile.
"Your pack was mighty great too. Perhaps I could say equal." The alpha wolf conceded.
Honoka's smile broadened. "Your pack is awesome too!" Honoka rushed up to the wolf and did a quick bro fist with the alpha that reacted equally quick. Kotori was wide-eyed at the back.
"H-Honoka-chan?" Kotori tugged at Honoka's arm.
"Ehehe…It's no problem, Kotori-chan. We're buddies, right?" Honoka looked back to the alpha that made a low grunt.
"Yeah."
Author Notes
*W*
I had the hardest of time thinking of what animal should Nozomi be able to speak to…
What do y'all think of the animals I chose for each member? (Research was done, fawning over cute animals was done, and imagining conversations with each animal to Muse member was done to reach these decisions~)
Again, this story goes out to Major Mike~ XD Thank you for your lovely story that sparked the inspiration, and then you giving your full support and endorsement to make a direct sequel for the love of [(Honoka x Kotori) x Muse x Zoo!] LOL. XD
Also, today is the day for that next dental appointment, right Major Mike? Read this and feel better! XD
So, dear readers~ What animal might you like to speak to? XD
And more importantly, I hope this story was interesting, maybe put a smile on your faces~ *O*
Leave a comment if you like~ XD