"Mari-san, what exactly is going on here?" Dia's eye twitched with restrained annoyance. Mari flashed her a big smile, putting her hands behind her back and shrugging her shoulders. A suspicious squawk sounded from behind her legs. She closed her legs together tighter.

"Absolutely nothing, Dia." She dropped her smile, adopting a more stern tone. "You know, you shouldn't come into a poor girl's room uninvited. What if I had been naked?!"

"Eh?!" Dia faltered, startled at the sudden change in tone. Then she remembered who she was talking too, and all she could do was sigh and try not to immediately lose her cool. "Since when did you care about someone seeing you naked? And poor? Hardly. I came here because I was suspicious of your activities at the aquarium, and now I know that I was correct in my assumption." Another squawk caused her to narrow her eyes.

"Dia, I have no idea what you're talking about. There's nothing suspicious going on here." She returned to her usual sweet smile. "Who would've given you the idea that I was doing something so devious, hmm?"

"Kanan-san."

"I knew it!" Mari whispered to herself crossly. "How dare Kanan snitch on me! I'll make sure she regrets the day she crossed Don Ohara." She looked back up, all traces of dark revenge gone from her face. "I think Kanan is mistaken. I've just been in my room training myself to become a proper school director. The aquarium is just fine."

"Then what's that?" Dia pointed towards the ground. Mari looked down to find the lost penguin she had taken from the aquarium had wandered out from behind her legs and was now standing there where anyone could see it.

"That's... a robot! I've been working on it in my spare time! You like it?" The penguin squawked again. "It even makes noise!" Dia's eyes narrowed further. She didn't seem fooled. "Uh, look! Eli's right behind you!"

"How stupid do you think I am?" Dia just shook her head and sighed deeply. "We're taking it back to the aquarium. Now."

"Aww Diaaa!" Mari didn't want to give the penguin back. What ever happened to finders keepers? She was going to need a better distraction, and it didn't take her long to think of one. Before Dia could walk over and try to take the penguin away, Mari grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up.

"M-Mari-san?!" Dia yelped and covered her eyes, embarrassed at the sight of Mari flashing her. "What the hell are you doing?!" It was the distraction that Mari needed. While Dia was attempting to maintain her modesty, Mari grabbed the penguin and ran for the door, the creature letting out another squawk. It alerted Dia, who dropped her arms just in time to see Mari leaving the room. "H-Hey! Get back here!"

Mari hugged the penguin tightly against her as she ran, hearing Dia's footsteps behind her. She was going to have to use her knowledge of the hotel to her advantage. Luckily they were closing in on the perfect room to abet her escape. Turning into the next hallway, she headed for the second door on the left, opening it up and stepping inside. Leaving the door open was all part of the plan.

As Dia turned the corner, she saw Mari disappearing into a room: a room where she didn't close the door. Grinning, she knew that she had Mari now. There would be no escaping that room. She ran straight into the room, and then suddenly there wasn't a floor. Her eyes widened as she fell, unable to scream before she splashed down into a body of water.

Swimming back up to the surface, she gasped for breath as she looked around in a panic. It looked like she had fallen into a room completely filled with water. By the look of things, someone - one didn't need to guess who - had completely deconstructed some of the hotel rooms and turned them into a small aquarium. When she looked up, that someone was standing on the only remaining part of what had once been the room's floor.

"Mari-san, what is the meaning of this?!" Instead of answering, Mari just smiled and waved before running out of the room with the penguin. "Mari-san!" She floated in the flooded room with a look of total frustration, but that quickly turned to terror when something brushed against her leg. There was something in there with her! Had Mari put sharks in her makeshift aquarium, or snapping turtles? Forcing herself to look down, she immediately realized that it wasn't anything dangerous. It was a seal, swimming around and looking at her curiously from beneath the surface.

"WHY ARE THERE SEALS IN THE HOTEL?!"

At the entrance to the hotel, Kanan entered with a worried expression. She had figured she'd have heard something from Dia by now. Once she had mentioned that there was something suspicious going on with Mari, Dia had rushed off to figure out what had happened. She hadn't wanted to get involved personally, but it looked like it was time to step in and figure out what was going on.

Standing in the lobby, the only other person there besides her was the guy behind the counter who would check guests into their rooms. What were the odds that every time some shenanigans were going on, nobody else was there to witness it?

Speaking of shenanigans, it was at that moment that Mari rushed into the area, clutching a penguin in her would explain the suspicious activity, at least, though there were no signs of Dia. Mari came to a halt before reaching Kanan, smiling sweetly. "Ahh, Kanan! Are you here to stay in one of our luxurious rooms?"

"Uh, I have my own place."

"Oh, so you're here for my personal services?" Mari wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, making Kanan blush.

"N-No! I..." She was saved from having to respond when Dia appeared, dripping water everywhere as she staggered over to them. "Dia?! What happened?!"

"Mari-san... has a room full of water... and the seals..." Dia gasped, clearly out of breath. She then turned her attention to Mari, trying to look as intimidating as possible when she was completely waterlogged. "Return the penguin at once, Mari-san!"

"No!" Mari stuck her tongue out in response. "Dia Jr. is mine, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Kanan reached out and deftly took the penguin from Mari's arms, catching her off guard. "What?!"

"This isn't the place to house a penguin, Mari. The aquarium will be looking for it too. I'm going to return it right now." Not willing to listen to any more excuses on why the penguin should stay there, Kanan turned around and headed for the hotel entrance.

"But Kanan, I've already started making an ice room!" Her cries were to no avail, as Kanan didn't even turn around. "Dannazione!" She and Dia could only stare at the door, the sound of water dripping onto the floor echoing in the emptiness. then Dia turned to look at Mari, not having enough energy to even be mad.

"Why did you name a penguin after me?"

"Because you look like a big pengin!" Dia just groaned, slumping down to the floor. All the while, the only worker there didn't even give this transgression a noticeable facial expression. These kinds of things had long ago become normal occurrences. All in a day's work at the Awashima Hotel.

Kanan wondered if Dia Jr. - wait, why was she using that name now? - was feeling hot outside of its normal habitat. She wished that she'd thought about bringing an ice pack, but her worry over Dia had caused her to not even consider it. Well, at least the ocean was likely to be cool. She'd take the penguin there and let it cool off in the water, then hurry on over to the aquarium.

At the beach, she put the penguin down and smiled as it began to swim around in the shallow end. She would need to make sure that it didn't go too far though, so she casually stripped off her shirt and jeans, stepping into the water with a happy sigh. The ocean always felt really nice at this time of year.

"Kanan-chan? What are you doing?" Chika appeared on the beach with an ice cream cone in her hand, staring curiously at Kanan, then at the penguin swimming next to her.

"Oh, I had to take this penguin back to the aquarium that Mari stole it from." Chika nodded in understanding. That sure sounded like something Mari would do. "I forgot to bring an ice pack, though, so I'm letting it cool off before I head over there."

"You're going to head over there dressed like that?" Chika gestured to Kanan, lounging in the water in her bra and panties. "No shirt, no shoes, Kanan-chan."

"I'll just put my clothes back on."

"But they'll get wet." That stopped Kanan in her tracks. Why hadn't she thought of that? She really didn't want to get her clothes wet, especially her jeans. The last thing she needed was for them to shrink. "Don't worry, Kanan-chan! I'll help you out! Let me take it to the aquarium and I'll sort things out."

"You'd really do that for me?"

"Mhm!"

"That'd really help me out. Thanks Chika!" Smiling, Chika gave Kanan a thumbs up and walked to the edge of the water, offering up the rest of her ice cream cone in exchange for the penguin. She helped the penguin get back onto the sand, watching as it gave itself a little shake to dry off somewhat. Then Chika picked it up, careful not to hold it against herself. She didn't need wet clothes as well.

Then she went off to the aquarium, with Kanan watching her go. She decided to swim around a bit more before getting out. It was at that point that she realized her clothes would still get wet if she carried them home. She could call someone to help her out, but then she'd get her phone wet. It seemed like she had gotten herself into a no-win scenario.

She ended up walking home in her underwear so that she could grab and towel and hurry back before anyone decided to take her stuff.

Mari leaned over her balcony, letting out a dramatic sigh. Dia and Kanan were so mean, taking away Dia Jr. from her. She was well-equipped to take care of it. The freezer room had already been half-completed. Now what was she going to put in there?

Nobody had made a fuss like this when she'd caught those seals. Riko and Yoshiko had been... Well, they hadn't been happy exactly, but they didn't make her send them back to the ocean. She'd at least gotten to keep them and give them a nice home, though she hadn't been allowed to make them official members of Aqours. Nobody was even alright with them becoming mascots. Well, except Riko, who was all for it after Chika suggested Shiitake.

She'd been waiting by the window for awhile, her thoughts only of her beloved penguin, taken away from her way too soon. "Ah well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be..." She then heard a faint shout from the ground, which broke her from her thoughts. It sounded like her name, just barely reaching her ears. She looked down, smiling brightly at what she saw: Chika standing outside the hotel, holding a familiar black-and-white creature in her arms.

"Don Chikaleone!" She screamed happily, running back into her room and heading for the elevator. That freezer room was going to be useful after all!