Disclaimer: The rights of the 'School Rumble' characters belong to Kobayashi Jin-sensei and their rightful copyright holders. I do not claim to own any of these characters. No profit is made out of this story.
Author's note: Like I said in the summary, this is a series of unrelated oneshots of Harima and Eri's life as a couple. I called the series 'Visitors' because it's loosely based on the theme of 'visiting' – our heroes visiting others, or others visiting them. The stories have no connection to each other, and they do not follow a specific timeline. Just so you know, I will post stories in this series whenever I'm inspired to write something, so don't expect very regular updates. As always, thank you for reading, and I look forward to your reviews.
VISITORS
Story 1 – Pet Society
"…And in other news, one of the most popular inmates of Yagami Zoo has been missing since this morning. Unbelievable as it sounds, the missing animal is none other than the zoo's giraffe. The shocking discovery was made early this morning by caretaker Sakurai Saburou-san, during his daily feeding rounds. Although giraffes are peaceful, herbivore creatures and do not pose a threat to public safety, we encourage our viewers to report any sightings of the missing giraffe to the authorities, or contact the number displayed on your screen as we speak. With your cooperation we hope that one of the main attractions of Yagami Zoo will be soon safely brought back to its home. For more details, let us go live to our reporter Shiroyaki Hanako-san who is at the zoo right now…"
Eri raised her head from the fashion magazine she was reading and gave the TV screen a surprised look. How on earth did they manage to misplace a giraffe? Come to think of it, didn't a panda escape from that zoo a while back too…these fellows must be really lax in their duties. She kept on staring at the TV for a few seconds, then she shrugged and turned her attention to her magazine again. Unusual as this news was, it wasn't really any of her business and she had no intention of wasting her relaxing Sunday afternoon worrying about fugitive giraffes.
Now that she was working too she could truly appreciate the value of a day off, she thought. Six months had already passed since she had become Harima's girlfriend and left her parents' mansion to live with him. Although their lifestyle as a couple was completely different from the one she had before, she had adapted soon enough and now she was quite used to it and had even grown to like this 'commoner' life.
But despite living in the same house they did not always have time for each other, busy as they were with studies and work. Both of them attended college and worked at the same time. Eri worked part-time four days a week at a clothing store; she liked it there because apart from earning a fair bit she also gathered experience for her career as a fashion designer. Harima on the other hand didn't have a steady part-time job; he went to short-term gigs whenever he could, but most of his time outside of college he spent working on his manga.
From what Eri could gather it was becoming quite popular among the magazine readers, and there was more demand for his work in general; which was good, of course, but it also meant his deadlines were tighter now and he had to put in more hours of work. Even today, on a Sunday, he had gone to the publishing company to work since early morning, and would most likely not come back till the evening. But even though she missed him, she didn't really have time to feel lonely since she had plenty to do as well. After seeing him off she had done the laundry and cleaned the house, then she had eaten the lunch he had cooked the day before (although she had already more or less mastered all the other household chores, the art of cooking still eluded her), and after that she had done her college assignments. When she was finally done with everything early in the afternoon, she settled in the living-room with a nice cup of tea and a trendy fashion magazine, determined to spend the rest of the day there. It was still early and she could've gone out if she wanted to, but Mikoto and Akira were busy today and besides after doing all that housework she'd much rather get some rest at home. She wasn't completely alone anyways; their other two housemates were there to keep her company.
These housemates weren't human, but despite that – or maybe because of that – to her they were much more agreeable companions than most people, except maybe her boyfriend and her two friends. One of them was, of course, Eri's dog Shiba – one of the few things she had brought with her when she came to live here, aside from clothes and personal effects. She was really glad she had been able to take him with her when she moved in, because she was extremely fond of him. She had him since he was a puppy; her father had given him to her as a present when she came to Japan and she would have been devastated if she had to leave him behind. Fortunately that was never an issue; there was something to be said about moving in a house with a garden and an animal-loving boyfriend. As expected, Harima and Shiba got along swimmingly – in fact Eri was slightly annoyed to discover her dog obeyed him more than he did his rightful mistress, but all in all she was happy they got along so well.
The other member of their household was Iori, Yakumo's cat. When she had left a few months ago to join her sister in America, Yakumo had originally intended to take Iori with her; but unfortunately Tenma's apartment did not allow pets. Having no alternative, Yakumo had left Iori in Harima's care along with her house; she was almost heartbroken by this decision, and her only comfort was that her beloved cat would be in the hands of someone she trusted more than almost anyone.
At first Iori had not taken kindly to Eri at all, to the point she often wondered whether the cat was blaming her for Yakumo's departure. Whenever she tried to get near him, Iori would either scratch her or run away; not even tempting him with food worked. He didn't get along with Shiba either; he would forever provoke him to chase him around the house, causing a regular mayhem. Eri had begun to despair of ever having some peace and quiet in this house, when Harima finally decided to take matters into his own hands. He sat the two animals down for an entire afternoon and lectured them as though they were humans; and much to Eri's amazement, it worked. After that Iori wasn't as hostile anymore; he was still mistrustful but Eri felt he was giving her and Shiba a chance. Gradually the cat had warmed up to her, and now the four of them were sharing quite a peaceful coexistence together. Take this afternoon for instance: Eri was sitting on a cushion in the living-room with her magazine on a low table in front of her and Iori snoozing on her lap while Shiba was outside, dozing in front of his doghouse.
It was all thanks to Hige's rapport with animals; she had never met anyone as gifted as he was in that regard. He could probably tame that giraffe too if he ran into it, Eri thought idly as she turned the pages of her magazine. She was perfectly peaceful and relaxed when suddenly the silence in the house was broken by a loud sound like rustling of leaves coming from outside. A second later it was followed by even louder barks from Shiba; surprised, Eri turned her head just in time to see the dog dash towards the back yard, barking like mad. She got worried; this couldn't be Hige, Shiba would never bark at him; and if there were visitors they'd come from the front door, not the back yard. An intruder, perhaps? Quickly she got up, dropping Iori off her lap; the cat meowed irritably at first but then he seemed to have sensed something; his ears twitched and he prowled carefully towards the half-open sliding door to the back yard. No sooner had he got to the edge of the porch than he hissed loudly and froze where he was, his fur standing on end. Eri was seriously alarmed now; she knew better than to overlook animal instinct. Looking around for a potential weapon, she finally grabbed a broomstick she had left against a wall while cleaning earlier and walked over to the porch as well on full alert.
Looking cautiously around her in search of the intruder she got out to the porch, then down the steps leading to the back yard…and then her mouth fell open at the sight she was met with. For right across her, next to the gingko tree opposite the living-room stood a giraffe about the same height as the tree, leisurely feeding off the tallest branches. Obviously it had stridden over the fence – it wasn't any obstacle to speak of for an animal of this size anyway – causing that rustling sound, and now it was just standing there and eating, calm as you please. Shiba was running in circles around it and barking continuously in an attempt to scare it off, but he might as well be a buzzing mosquito for all the gigantic animal cared.
At first Eri rubbed her eyes incredulously a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating; then she drew a deep breath and tried to think this through logically. This must be the giraffe they talked about on the news…but why did it have to stop for a snack here of all places?! The biggest question though was what to do with it; this wasn't a normal stray she could capture or shoo away. It might not be dangerous but it was more than she could handle, and moreover it was bound to attract attention sooner or later. She thought of contacting the authorities but she was afraid they wouldn't believe her…and besides, what if the giraffe got scared when they came to detain it…if such a huge animal ran amok it could easily trample the house down! No, it had to be someone any animal would obey without question…and fortunately she knew just the person for that. Normally she didn't like disturbing Hige during work but she decided that a giraffe in their garden qualified as an emergency.
She ran back inside and grabbed the wireless phone, swiftly dialing Harima's cell number. He didn't keep her waiting long; after one or two rings he picked up. "Hey Ojou, what's up?" she heard his cheerful voice.
"Hige? Um, sorry to bother you at work, but…I've got sort of a situation here," she said hesitantly.
He turned from cheerful to serious in an instant. "What's going on?"
Okay, now how do I say this so it doesn't sound too crazy… "Umm…first off let me say I know how insane this will sound and I swear I'm not pulling your leg…"
"Ojou, you're starting to get me worried here," Harima cut her off tersely. "Quit dilly-dallying and tell me what's wrong."
"Well…to put it simply…right now there's a giraffe in our back yard," Eri said in one breath and waited anxiously for Harima's reaction. Oh God, he's never going to believe this…
But to her astonishment Harima wasn't in the least bit surprised by this extraordinary statement. "Oh, so Pyotr came to visit, did he?" he said in his usual good-natured tones.
Eri gave the receiver a dumbfounded look; somehow his response didn't seem to be in keeping with what she had just told him. "Huh? W-who's Pyotr?" she asked in confusion.
"You said there's a giraffe over there, right? That's Pyotr, he's my friend. Come to think of it, I haven't been to see him in a while…I guess he missed me and dropped by to say hi."
We're still talking about a giraffe, right? Giraffes aren't supposed to make social calls! Eri grabbed her head and silently counted to ten in an effort to retain her composure; she loved her boyfriend to death but sometimes his logic was just so…out there. "W-well then, since he's your friend, shouldn't you get over here and deal with…I mean entertain him? Like, right now?" she demanded, her voice getting edgy in spite of herself.
"Hm, I suppose I should…he came all this way to see me after all," Harima said thoughtfully. "I'm done with most of the work anyway…I'll just finish the rest at home. Okay then, I'll be there soon so wait for me. And relax, will you? There's no need to be so much on edge over this."
"Oh, so you think I'm on edge, do you?" retorted Eri, already on the brink of losing her patience. "Well, at this moment there's a giraffe escaped from the zoo munching off the trees in our yard, so I think I have every right to be on edge!"
"Oh, you didn't tell me that," he said, growing serious again. Finally a logical response, thought Eri with relief, believing he was worried about the 'escaped from the zoo' part, but… "Which tree is he eating from?"
Scratch that; nothing logical about this response. "D-does it matter which tree he's eating from?" she asked, bewildered once again.
"Of course it does, why else would I be asking?" Harima said impatiently. "Now come on, which one is it?"
"The – the gingko tree opposite the living-room," Eri said still baffled, at the same time taking a look outside to make sure Pyotr was still feeding off the same tree. "But why…"
"Oh good," Harima cut her off, sounding relieved. "I thought for sure he'd go for the maple tree behind the kitchen. He's very fond of maple leaves, but they tend to give him indigestion."
Now there's something I never needed to know in my entire life, Eri thought. "Well it's very nice of you to be so concerned about your friend's health, but…"
"Ojou, it's you I'm concerned about," Harima interrupted her again, perfectly serious. "Trust me, you don't want to be around when a giraffe breaks wind."
"…Breaks w…A-anyway, just hurry up and get home, will you? What if someone passes by and sees him…how am I supposed to explain what he's doing here?"
"Okay, okay, I'll be right there," he reassured her. "You hang out with him in the meantime, and make sure he stays away from that maple tree."
And with that he hung up, leaving Eri wondering how on earth she was supposed to 'hang out' with a giraffe, and above all how was she to stop him from feeding off wherever he wanted. Thankfully, she probably wouldn't have to wait long; Hige's publishing company was about half an hour from the house by motorcycle. She only hoped no one would pass by the house in the meantime; fortunately it was a bit out of the way and on Sundays the roads around it were even more deserted. She went out again and sat on the steps of the porch, and then called Shiba and Iori over to her to calm them down. The three of them sat there, keeping a watchful eye on the giraffe which was still chomping and chewing down the gingko leaves, calmer than Buddha himself.
Apparently luck was on her side, because during their wait not a soul passed by and Pyotr showed no interest in the indigestion-inducing maple leaves. Still, Eri was worried he might want to perform other bodily functions besides eating while he was there; but she decided that if Pyotr happened to relieve himself in their yard it would be Hige's job to clean up his mess. She didn't mind having his friends over, but she had to draw the line somewhere.
At long last the familiar roaring of Harima's motorcycle sounded from the front entrance. Eri got up and hurried to the front door, followed by their two pets. She opened the door just as he was getting off his motorcycle and taking his helmet off. "Oh good, you're here…welcome home," she said, running up to him.
"I'm home," he answered, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "So, is he still here?" he asked her as they walked up to the house together.
"Yup; stuffing his face like he's in an all-you-can-eat buffet," Eri said, grimacing a little. "Well, look at it this way: you don't need to know how to cook to feed this guy," Harima said with a laugh as he set his helmet down and put his slippers on at the entrance.
"Is this supposed to be funny?" Eri asked coldly, glaring at him. Harima who was starting towards the living-room paused and turned to look at her. "Gee, you must be really upset if you can't even take a joke," he remarked, caressing the side of her face with his fingertips. "Don't tell me you got scared? Pyotr wouldn't hurt a fly, you know."
"I know…I never thought he was dangerous, it's just that…I'm not used to this kind of company," Eri said, somewhat mollified; maybe she was being soft on him but it was becoming more and more difficult for her to get angry with him these days, even when he was essentially responsible for her house being invaded by a giraffe. "Don't worry, you'll get along just fine; he's a great fellow once you get to know him. Come on," he urged, putting his arm around her shoulders, and they went out to the back yard together.
Harima walked up to the giraffe without hesitation saying genially, "Hey Pyotr, long time no see!" while Eri with Shiba and Iori stayed back watching them. Eri's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the giraffe instantly letting go of the branch he was in the midst of chewing at the sound of his voice. Pyotr bent his long neck down, allowing Harima to caress the front of his face; his eyes were closed in pleasure and he let out soft snorting sounds vaguely resembling the neighing of a horse. "Yeah, I know old buddy, I've missed you too," Harima said, petting him affectionately. "I promise I'll come to see you more often from now on." He carried on petting him and talking to him as though he understood what the sounds Pyotr made meant; and incredible as it sounded, Eri was pretty sure he did. When they were finally done catching up, Harima half-turned towards her and motioned her to come over. "Get over here, I want to introduce you."
Eri advanced towards them apprehensively; she knew she'd be safe even with a man-eating tiger as long as Hige was there, but she had never been so close to such a humongous animal before and she couldn't help feeling nervous. Harima took her hand and brought her face to face with Pyotr who was staring at both of them with his large round eyes. "Pyotr, that's Eri, she's my girl. She's kind of tough but a really nice person, and I love her a whole lot; so you get along with her too, okay?" Eri was really moved by his words, so simple and yet full of feeling; but before she could say anything she was startled by Pyotr sticking his snout near her neck, sniffing her noisily. "Stay still and don't be afraid," Harima said reassuringly. "He's just learning your scent."
Eri did as she was told and remained immobile while Pyotr was sniffing her. It wasn't that bad, and as the minutes went by she gradually started to feel less nervous; he seemed to be perfectly harmless and docile after all. But just as she was thinking he was actually kind of cute, an enormous eggplant-colored tongue unfurled (A/N: yes, giraffes have purple tongues, you can look it up) and licked the entire side of her face from chin to hair. Eri was so shocked she could not even have a fit; she just stood there petrified, with Pyotr's drool dripping down her face. And to top everything off, Hige didn't even bat an eyelash at the scene unfolding before him; he simply smiled serenely at both of them. "See, he likes you," he said.
"Oh good! I was so afraid I wouldn't get on his good side!" cried Eri sarcastically while still shaking in shock; unfortunately, as usually her sarcasm was completely lost on Harima. "Don't be ridiculous, of course he would like you," he said seriously. "Animals can always tell who has bad intentions, you know." Then he called Shiba and Iori to introduce them as well, and a lot more sniffing and licking was exchanged between the three animals; if anyone of those animal documentary guys on TV happened to pass by their yard right now they would have a field day, Eri thought. This reminded her that Pyotr was essentially on the run now, and turning to Harima she asked,
"So…what do we do with him now? Not to sound inhospitable or anything, but the zoo people are looking for him as we speak…and no matter how I look at it we can't exactly hide him here."
"No, I guess not…" Harima sighed regretfully. "I'd love to have him and the rest of the gang around, but they're just too high maintenance." He sighed again and added, "Well then, I'd better take him back to the zoo while it's open. It's still early, but it'll take a while to get there on foot and back."
"Is it far from here?" Eri asked him; come to think of it, she had never gone to the local zoo before. "Not very far…I'd say about forty-five minutes on foot," replied Harima. Then he thought of something and asked her in turn, "Say, d'you want to come along too? It's been a while since we've last gone out…we could make a date out of it."
Eri gave him a startled look; no one but him would have the gall to suggest a date chaperoned by a giraffe to her, but then that was one of the reasons she loved him so much: he always did the unexpected. Chuckling a little she answered, "Sure, I'm free right now anyway…if you'll just give me a minute to get dressed." She got back inside to change while Harima remained in the yard with the animals; when she returned, they put Shiba and Iori's food out and closed up the house, and then they set off for Pyotr's home with the giraffe following behind them.
Fortunately the zoo was a little outside of town and the road there wasn't all that frequented; but still, every now and then they would pass by someone and Eri could not help feeling uncomfortable under their astonished stares. But getting all embarrassed wasn't helping any, so after a while she decided she would act like everything was fine, this was a perfectly normal walk with her boyfriend and there was nothing unusual about a 6-metre giraffe trotting behind them. Harima seemed to think the same way because he walked in the most carefree manner possible and even chatted with Pyotr, probably without even realizing he looked like he was talking to thin air. Eri wasn't sure whether she should feel awkward or laugh it off, but one thing she knew for sure: no other guy in the world, no matter how rich or famous, would ever be able to give her such an experience.
After a while she did notice, however, that whenever she got a little closer to Harima the giraffe tended to bend his neck and stick his face between the two of them, as if he didn't want them getting cuddly in his presence. "Looks like I got myself a rival here," she told Harima, kind of amused. "Is he mad at me for butting in your alone time or what?"
"Nah, I don't think it's personal," Harima said, a bit amused as well. "Come to think of it, he does that a lot whenever he sees me together with a girl. Remember back in second year, when we all went to the beach together? On the way back I walked Tsukamoto home, and I thought I'd take this chance and confess to her. We were on that bridge further down the river," he pointed at somewhere behind them, "and I was this close to confessing, when this guy showed up out of nowhere, picked me up and carried me off. I know he didn't get in my way on purpose, but it was hard not to get mad at him that time," he went on, patting Pyotr's head currently nuzzling his neck. "Then again, if I had confessed Tsukamoto would definitely have rejected me and then I'd probably have jumped off that bridge, so I guess he did me a favor."
Looks like I owe that giraffe one too after all, Eri thought silently, giving the animal a somewhat softened look. She also thought it was good Hige hadn't managed to confess back then…not because there was any chance of Tenma accepting him, but because at the time he hadn't yet bonded with the rest of the class quite as much. If he had been rejected, even if he didn't jump off that bridge he'd probably have dropped out of school again and cut ties with everyone…and then she and he would never have had a chance to get together.
Then it occurred to her it was strange how she didn't mind her boyfriend talking to her about confessing to a previous crush. Before they became a couple she'd probably have been mad as hell to hear such a story…but now it didn't really bother her. But maybe it wasn't so strange…maybe the reason she wasn't bothered now was because she knew she could trust him and his feelings for her. And because she knew he trusted her too, and that was why he felt so much at ease about sharing these things with her. She smiled a little and without warning she scooted closer to Harima, grabbing him by the arm. "Well, my sympathies, Pyotr, but this guy's staying on the ground this time," she said firmly, staring at the giraffe defiantly. Pyotr snorted loudly and stared down at her as well; after several moments of staring contest he conceded the field and raised his head again, allowing them to walk side by side.
"Wow, look at you getting all possessive," Harima said with a merry twinkle in his eyes. "Makes me feel kind of happy." "Hmph, don't get so full of yourself," Eri said haughtily. "I'm just making sure he understands our positions, that's all. Animal or not, I don't like anyone getting the upper hand over me."
"Yeah, I know," snickered Harima. "You made that very clear last night." "D-don't talk about such things in front of him!" Eri burst out beet red and smacked him over the head, but he simply laughed again and held her tightly by the shoulders. Above them Pyotr was staring at their exchange, more than a little mystified. That female had just hit his friend, and yet he seemed happy about it…humans were indeed such weird beings.
When the zoo finally came into view they headed for the front entrance, causing quite an uproar amidst the couples and families who were waiting in line to get their tickets. However, the employee at the entrance did not notice anything unusual about them since he could not see Pyotr from within his cubicle. "Two tickets?" he asked indifferently.
"Oh, we're not here to visit; we just came to drop off someone," Harima said calmly, gesturing at Pyotr to lower his neck so that the employee could see him. The poor fellow's eyes bulged like a frog's and he remained frozen for a few seconds; then he scrambled for the phone, obviously to call someone in charge.
A few minutes later another employee came running out; he seemed surprised as well but not quite as astonished as his colleague at the entrance. "Harima-san, nice to see you again," he greeted Harima with familiarity. "I see you brought him back…Bad boy, you got us all worried here," he added, scolding the giraffe.
"No, don't hold it against him…I'm sure he's reflecting on his actions," Harima said, patting Pyotr's backside. "May I walk him up to his cage?" he asked.
"Of course, of course, after all we're in your debt again," the employee said immediately. "In fact, here's a free pass for you and your lady friend…it's kind of late now but I believe you still have time to take a look around our zoo," he added, smiling cordially at both of them. Then he opened the gate for them and guided them to Pyotr's compound; but even after the giraffe was securely back inside Harima stayed for quite a while behind the fence, talking to him. Eventually he tore himself away, after promising Pyotr he'd be back to see him again soon, and he and Eri started strolling towards the cages housing the rest of his friends.
"So…how come that employee knows you by name?" Eri asked him. "And why did he say they're in your debt 'again'?"
"Oh…that's probably because Pyotr and the others come to see me from time to time, and afterwards I bring them back here," replied Harima. Eri gave him another startled look. "And he's thanking you for it even though you're the reason they ran away in the first place?" she asked incredulously.
"Well…I don't think they realize that," Harima said thoughtfully. "I would've told them if they asked, but they always seem to think Pyotr and the rest are running away, not that they're going to visit a friend."
"Yeah, well, they'd probably think you're crazy if you told them that anyway, so you might as well leave it at that," Eri said. "So, who else of your friends is around here? I remember you had quite a few back when you were pretending to be a fortune teller," she asked him, smiling faintly at the memory. Back then she would never have imagined the two of them would one day end up together.
Harima smiled as well. "That's right, you haven't seen them since then…it's a good chance to get to know them better," he said and dragged her along towards the cages.
Eri had been to zoos before, but visiting one together with Harima was a totally different experience. All he had to do was call to the animals and they'd come running to him like he was jungle boy or something. The zoo employees seemed to know him as well, because they let him get near the cages of even the wildest animals and stick his hand inside, something which was of course forbidden to all other visitors. She almost toppled over with surprise when she saw him do just that at the lion's cage – and the lion licking his hand instead of chomping it right off!
"Unbelievable," she remarked, her eyes still wide with amazement. "If you don't make it as a mangaka you can always make a living as an animal trainer, I'm sure."
"I don't think so," he said seriously, in the midst of ruffling the head of a particularly fearsome-looking brown bear. "Just because animals like me it doesn't give me the right to order them around, you know."
Eri stared at him silently for a few seconds, thinking she just might have found yet another reason to be in love with him. Without warning she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, and Harima turned to give her a surprised look; it was very rare for Ojou to show him affection in public. "What was that for?" he asked with a smile.
"Nothing, I just felt like doing it," Eri said, shrugging and looking down awkwardly. Harima didn't insist, he just looked at her with eyes full of longing; he really wanted to kiss her right now, but he knew from experience that once he got started down that road he'd never be able to stop. So instead he took her hand and said, "Come on, I want to show you something nice," and guided her to the petting section. There were a lot of cute bunnies, hamsters and the like for the visitors to pet over there, but even though they were tame it wasn't all that easy to catch them, much less make them stick around for long. Harima, however, certainly didn't have that problem. No sooner had he and Eri shown up than the entire population of the petting section scurried towards them, crowding around their feet; some of the bunnies even tried to jump on Harima's lap, much to the amusement of the children playing there with the pets. "Do you have carrots in your pockets, Onii-chan?" asked a cheeky little boy, whose bunny had just abandoned him in favor of Harima.
"No, they like me 'cause I'm a really nice guy," Harima said to him. "You don't look like a nice guy," declared the child after sizing him up. "Kyouichi, don't be rude!" the boy's mother hastened to scold him. "Please excuse my son, young man," she added, bowing to Harima. "That's okay, I know I look kind of scary…" he said awkwardly. "Hey you, don't laugh!" he added in a huff, turning towards Eri who was snickering behind him; but he could not keep up the 'angry' act for long and ended up chuckling as well. Looking at them, the boy's mother let out a wistful sigh and murmured something like 'it's good to be young' as she went off with her son.
"So, which one do you want to start with? They're all yours to pet," he told Eri while squatting down among the bunnies and hamsters which were eagerly trying to hop or clamber onto him. "Why thank you," Eri said, squatting down as well, "but I think we shouldn't hog them all to ourselves or the children will be sad." She picked up a plump black and white bunny and Harima whispered a few words to the rest of the pets, and they scattered around to play with the children again.
They stayed there for quite some time, petting the bunny together. It was really cute but in Harima's opinion Eri was way cuter as she smiled and fondled it; and it was all he could do not to embrace her right there in front of everyone. When they finally left, for a while they strolled in front of the various cages, occasionally stopping for Harima to have a chat with someone of his friends. Then at some point they got to the zoo's aviary and their attention was drawn by it. It consisted of a very large cage, big enough for entire trees and bushes to grow within it, on which numerous birds were nesting. For a small additional fee the visitors could enter from a specially fenced entrance and wander around among the birds.
Eri and Harima paid the fee and went inside; and all the birds immediately rushed towards them in a flurry of flapping wings. They circled around them, chirping loudly in a variety of pitches; and several of them even sat on Harima's shoulders and arms. Eri gaped at the sight of him with her mouth wide open once again; she ought to expect this by now, but there was just no getting used to it. "My word, it's St. Francis all over again!" she exclaimed.
"Who's that, someone famous?" Harima asked curiously; like a great part of his countrymen, he knew very little about Christianity. "St. Francis was a Christian saint," Eri explained to him. "Legend has it that when he was passing through a forest he stopped to preach the word of God to the birds, declaring they could understand it just as well as the humans. And the birds stayed with him and listened to his preaching, and would not leave him until he told them to go forth and praise God with their singing. It was said he could communicate with other animals as well, even wild ones; that's why in Europe he's revered as the patron saint of animals."
Harima was silent and thoughtful for a long time after she was done talking, absentmindedly petting a parakeet sitting on his shoulder. "Well I'm no saint for sure, but I understand why this St. Francis fellow believed animals knew what he was telling them," he finally said. "Most people think animals are dumb…but I think they're way smarter than humans when it comes to judging characters. They don't care about rumors or what people look like…as long as you treat them right they'll never turn on you. If you love them they'll love you back, it's as simple as that…and yet you don't get that often with humans."
Eri nodded in understanding without saying anything, gazing at him with concern. She knew all too well how much he'd been hurt in the past because of other people's misunderstandings, even to the point of being afraid to show his true self in front of others. It was only natural he would appreciate so much the company of his animal friends, the only creatures who accepted him without any reservations back then. But at least now he didn't have just them; she, too, accepted and loved him for who he was, and would always love him regardless of what anyone else thought of it. She stepped closer to him and took ahold of his hand; the birds hovering around him were agitated for a few seconds but they quickly settled down again, a few of them sitting on her shoulders as well. She couldn't understand what their chirping meant, but at that moment it sounded like they were giving them their blessing.
When they left the aviary shortly afterwards, there was an announcement from the megaphones requesting visitors to take their leave as the zoo would close in ten minutes' time. "Aw, what a pity," Eri said plaintively. "We were having so much fun…"
"Yeah," agreed Harima, "but it's okay, we can come again some other time; I've promised the guys to visit again soon after all. Let's go home for now…it's getting late, and besides…" he clasped her waist and pulled her close, whispering in her ear, "…I've been wanting to let my other animal instincts loose for some time now…"
"…Geez, you're such a pervert," Eri scolded him, blushing; but she did not pull away from him. They exchanged a knowing smile and set off for home at a brisk pace. Spending time with friends was all well and good but now both of them wanted to be alone together, and fast.
A few hours later they were lounging together in bed, exhausted after having satisfied their animal instincts multiple times over. They were silent for quite some time, when Eri half-turned inside Harima's arms to look at him and asked, "You know, I've been wondering about it…why 'Pyotr'?"
Harima raised one eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked back.
Eri shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, it seems kind of weird…I mean, giraffes come from Africa, right? They don't have anything to do with Russia…so why would you give a giraffe a Russian name?"
Harima shrugged as well. "I never thought of that…this name felt right for him, that's all," he said.
"Well I still think it's a bit weird," Eri insisted. "But now that I think about it, you always choose unusual names for your pets, don't you? I remember you had a frog you called Alexander…and wasn't there a pig named Napoleon too?"
"And you think these names aren't fitting for them?" Harima asked in an amused tone.
"I just don't see the connection, that's all…what could possibly two of the greatest rulers in history have in common with a frog and a pig?"
"Like I said, there doesn't have to be a connection…I just liked the sound of those names," he answered. "Besides, for your information I wasn't the first to call a pig 'Napoleon'…I'd read it in a book before."
"You mean Orwell's Animal Farm, right? So you've read that too?" Eri asked with interest. When they moved in together she'd been quite surprised to find out he was into reading classical Western literature; and pretty deep stuff at that, like Dostoyevsky. It was one of the most unexpected things she'd learnt about him; since she had never seen him pay any attention in the literature class in school, she had always assumed he never had any interest in reading. But as it turned out he had a preference for foreign books and music, which was a bit strange since he mostly liked traditional Japanese things, such as food and movies. Well, it was exactly contradictions such as these that made him all the more interesting.
Harima nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, and I got to say it kind of creeped me out…good thing animals aren't really like that," he remarked. "I don't think I'd be so fond of them if they were dishonest."
"Maybe that's why they like you too, because you're honest with them," Eri said; then she added jestingly, "Then again, maybe they're drawn to you because they can sense the animal in you."
"Yeah, could be," Harima said with a smile, picking up the joke. "And maybe that's why you like me too…you're a regular wildcat in bed after all."
"Oh, is that what you think?" Eri asked menacingly, climbing on top of him. "You'd better watch it then, because I just might bite you!"
"I was hoping you'd say that," Harima said grinning, and pushed her down under him. And both of them knew they'd be really late for class the next morning.