Title: Penguins
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Character(s): Eriko, Sei, Sachiko
Summary: Her legs were beginning to hurt from all that crouching, Eriko Torii was still standing next to her and one of the penguins apparently decided it was a good idea to have a staring contest with her.
It was summer and she had nothing to do. Nothing except watch flightless birds waddle in snow.
They weren't even pretty. In fact, they were quite ugly.
But she couldn't - or rather - wouldn't leave the relative dryness of the aquarium. She glanced outside only to confirm what she had already known; the rain wasn't letting up, thus causing her to curse at it.
And Eriko Torii.
For deciding today, of all the other days in the summer, to visit this aquarium, of all the other aquariums in town. She cursed her even more for deciding to visit the penguins (why couldn't she have gone and visit the mollusks or something). Sei briefly wondered if she was being stalked.
The idea wasn't immediately dismissed.
What Sei didn't wonder about was what Eriko wanted to talk about. She didn't have to. Yoko had been near Sei more often than usual lately. To comfort her.
About Shiori.
And she was thankful. The incident with Shiori had left a void in her, and that void had shrunk, little by little, each day. But that didn't mean she wanted to join the student council like Yoko did. Afterall she couldn't be around Sei all the time. Especially not with her in the Yamayurikai. It would take a miracle to convince Sei that the student council is fun. So it figures she enrolled Eriko in this- this- whatever it is.
But Eriko didn't say anything, so Sei didn't either. And it continued on like that.
The rain still hadn't let up. And Sei was bored out of her mind. Her legs were beginning to hurt from all that crouching, Eriko Torii was still standing next to her and one of the penguins apparently decided it was a good idea to have a staring contest with her.
And damn it all, she was not going to lose!
The penguin didn't seem to like the idea of losing either. As they stared at each other, Sei started to notice similarities between this penguin and the Lilian students.
Specifically, a certain first year who had been making a name for herself as an ice princess.
The corner of her lips quirked up as her mind played with the image of Youko's petite soeur waddling through the snow.
"Hey," Sei blinked in surprise from the sudden sound, having been too lost in her thought. It took her a moment to realized she had lost because of it. The penguin looked positively smug as it waddled away.
She decided to name it Sachiko.
She continued to glare at Sachiko as she made a sound of acknowledgement towards Eriko. Though she didn't seem to mind that Sei was paying more attention to the penguin than her as she continued, "The Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica."
Sei didn't say anything and the scowl on her face deepened. Seconds turned to minutes and she finally decided toa glance at Eriko.
If Eriko noticed, she didn't say anything. Continuing to watch Sachiko play with the right side of her lips quirking upwards. Sei returned to her glaring of Sachiko.
Seconds, minutes and hours passed and Sei had already lost track of how long she had been crouching in front of the penguin exhibit. She was bored out of her mind, she was certain her legs would be numb from staying in the same position for so long, Eriko Torii was still standing next to her, she was fighting a losing battle to keep the scowl on her face, she had lost a staring contest with the penguin version of Ogasawara Sachiko and the rain had stopped a while ago.
But neither she or her current company made any indication that they had wanted to leave. And although Sei managed to keep the scowl on her face for just a little longer, although she pretends to not notice anything, she can feel the void in her chest shrinking just a little, tiny bit more.