I was out of town this weekend and work has been kicking my butt and I got super distracted watching "Kyoukai no Kanata" (which is great and I would highly recommend it - especially if you like Trigun because this anime goes from :D and XD to D: and ;_; in like two minutes flat just like Trigun does) so this chapter took a little longer to get out. I'm going to quit my job and move to Bermuda I swear. I'll serve coconut water on the beach or something.
Seijuro waited a moment after Gou disappeared from view for her to reach the bedroom. There was no sound of the bedroom door closing but Gou never seemed to close doors unless she was in the bathroom or changing. Seijuro could only assume she was one of those people that hated closed doors for some reason. He didn't think she was claustrophobic. Then again he had never asked her either.
He opened the front door. "Matsuoka."
Matsuoka's usual glowering visage greeted him. It couldn't be said that Matsuoka was always scowling but he never seemed to look very happy either. So Seijuro had come to refer to his usual expression as glowering. He thought that was pretty accurate.
"Captain," Matsuoka said in return. The words were a little stiffer than Matsuoka's normal gravely tone. "Sorry for disturbing you so late."
"Don't worry about it, it's fine. Come in." He held the door open for the shorter boy. It would have been preferable if he could have kept him outside and talked to him from the doorway, but that would have been considered not only rude but a little suspicious. The last thing Matsuoka needed to be.
The other boy entered and as he did so even his movements seemed stiffer than normal, almost high strung. He was definitely tense.
"What's brought you over here at this hour?" Seijuro tried to sound pleasant rather than intrusive.
Matsuoka didn't answer for a moment, looking about, and a sliver of concern snaked up Seijuro's spine. Had Gou left something out that would give away her presence? No, she couldn't have. All her stuff was in the bedroom. Thank god she had unpacked yesterday. Matsuoka may not have known by sight alone that it was Gou's luggage but trying to explain to him why Seijuro had a bunch of flower decorated luggage sitting in his living room would have been a little difficult.
More than likely Matsuoka was just surprised at the place and how much room Seijuro had to himself.
Well room he thinks I have to myself anyway. It wasn't exactly just his own anymore but Matsuoka couldn't know that.
"I wanted to apologize," Matsuoka said at last. He turned to face him. "For what happened earlier today. And for causing so much trouble."
Ah so that's what he had come over for. Matsuoka did seem like the type who would want to say something like that in person and not over the phone or through text. And someone who would want to say something as soon as possible regardless of the hour rather than let it wait. Matsuoka had probably not been able to relax since the incident, and had been waiting impatiently for Siejuro to get back. That would explain why he had shown up so shortly after Seijuro's return.
"It's alright," said Seijuro. "I understand why you acted the way you did. You were protecting your little sister; any big brother would have done the same. Considering the circumstances I think it's understandable."
Matsuoka relaxed a little but not completely, and a second later Seijuro understood why. "What about the host country?"
"Everything's been worked out. They're agreed to let the incident go without punishment. No harm, no foul has been done."
Matsuoka let out his breath in a long exhale. His high strung shoulders lowered and he visibly relaxed. "Good."
"Still," Seijuro continued, adopting more of the tone he used when he had to be serious with his swim team. "I'd recommend we not repeat this sort of incident. If it does occur again they will not be so forgiving. We could lose anything from swim time to even our spot in the competition. Let's make sure that doesn't happen."
Matsuoka nodded. "I understand."
Seijuro let out a breath of his own. He was so tired. He had already been sleep deprived and dealing with the incident and the scolding of the host country had been draining. He was ready to not have to deal with anything else for the rest of the night.
"Is that…"
Seijuro looked questionably up. His eyes instantly widened. Gou's notebook! He had completely forgotten about it. It was still sitting on the table.
Matsuoka was staring down at it. "Is that Iwatobi's?"
"Ah..." Quickly Seijuro moved around Matsuoka and picked it up. The other teen looked like he wanted to start pawing through it and if Seijuro left it there he just might. "Ah, yes. It's Rei's," he lied quickly.
Matsuoka raised an eyebrow. "Rei?"
He doesn't know Rei by sight alone? That was a bit surprising. Had the two never been properly introduced? "The tall boy with the glasses."
"Oh." Matsuoka's glowering turned into an actual scowl.
So he does know who Rei is. Well, somewhat. Matsuoka simply saw Rei as the fourth person of Iwatobi. The person he viewed as the boy who had replaced him. Even though that wasn't true – Rei was not a replacement, Seijuro had seen that for himself in the way his teammates treated and interacted with him – and despite the fact Matsuoka had left of his own accord that was the way he would see it as.
I should have said it was Makoto's. That wouldn't have bothered Matsuoka so much and as the swim team captain it would have made sense for Makoto to have such a thing and to swap information with Seijuro.
"What's he doing over here?"
It was a rude question. Matsuoka knew that but in his irritated state he didn't care. When it came to Iwatobi Matsuoka always acted recklessly, Seijuro was slowly coming to realize.
"I've been tutoring him a bit."
Matsuoka's scowl deepened. "Tutoring him, huh?"
He looked as though he wanted to ask more but was holding back. It must be a rude question – well, ruder - he wanted to ask, or one that would pry even more into Seijuro's business. Or possibly one that might challenge Seijuro's position. For someone as hot headed and temperamental as Matsuoka that was not surprising.
Still the fact that he was reluctant to ask was a good sign. He respected Seijuro's authority, at least to a certain degree, as much as someone like Matsuoka could anyway.
Matsuoka turned and headed towards the door. "Sorry again for disturbing you, Captain. I'll head back now."
"Not a problem. I'll see you in the morning."
He waited until Matsuoka closed the door with a soft click and then he lowered the notebook with a sigh. Getting scolded by the host country had been exhausting but this…this was worse. He had felt like he was on pins and needles almost that entire time.
"Is he gone?" Gou's voice came quietly from the hall even though Seijuro couldn't see her. She must be crouching down.
He furrowed his brow. "Why would you come out if you weren't sure?"
There was a moment of silence then Gou popped into view. "Giving me that response, I know he's gone." She moved her shoulders as if they had been held stiff for a long time. "That was a close one."
Seijuro grunted in the affirmative. More than close. If Matsuoka had opened up the notebook…he may not recognize his sister's handwriting off the bat but all the diagrams and notes about muscles would have likely given it anyway. Or he would just have thought Rei has really strange taste. Actually in that case it might not have been hard to convince him it was Rei's notebook.
"That was really unexpected of him to show up here. He didn't go into the kitchen did he?" asked Gou.
"The kitchen?"
"If he saw those schedules posted there…"
Seijuro grimaced. He had completely forgotten about the duel schedules hanging in the kitchen! He would have been sore pressed explaining that one to Matsuoka. The best excuse would have been he was keeping an eye on the competition and even that Matsuoka was unlikely to believe. Just wanted to keep an eye on your sister, you know. He could just picture himself saying something stupid like that. Then I'd be the one sporting the shiner.
"Here." He held out the notebook. "Best to keep this in the bedroom. I don't think anyone else will be dropping by unexpectedly but best to stay on the safe side."
She took it. "Should I move the schedule too?"
"I think that'll be fine. I doubt many will go so far as into the kitchen and they're pretty much identical anyway. You could write Samezuka's name in place of Iwatobi's and no one would know the difference."
But then, if that were true...why did they have both schedules hanging up if they were identical? I…I don't know. He was too tired to figure out that conundrum.
"I'm going to head to bed," he announced. "You should too. You need the sleep"
He turned to the couch and a slight frown pulled at the corner of his mouth. His pillow was on the opposite side from where it usually was. Gou…she had been using it. Vaguely he remembered she had before Matsuoka had shown up. Funny, that was something he never would have expected.
"What do we have tomorrow?"
"Swimming," she answered right away. "Early in the morning."
"Both teams?"
She nodded. "It's a joint event like the one we had the second day we were here. I think they're going to be cycling all the teams through throughout the day."
They're gauging our performance from when we first arrived. Well considering they had been hung over the last time, tomorrow's performance was likely to blow the last one out of the water.
Seijuro fell back onto the couch, an arm draped over his eyes. He hadn't eaten much but he was too tired to eat. He didn't even want to change out of his clothes. He'd sleep in what he wore today, so what if he stunk and he'd wake up feeling uncomfortable? Nothing mattered right now except the darkness having his eyes closed brought. "Anything else?"
Gou made a strange sound in her throat. "You still don't have it memorized?"
I don't need to memorize it if you already have. Seijuro made sure not to move his hand so Gou wouldn't see his grin. She'd only yell at him for it and then she'd yell at him some more for him getting amused at her yelling at him.
"We have the afternoon free," she continued. "And then the zoo that evening."
He moved his hand slightly to look at her with one eye. "The zoo that evening? Is that normally a daytime activity?"
She gave him a flat look. "Did you even read the schedule? It's a nocturnal zoo. It's only open at night. That's likely why we have the afternoon free."
"Oh."
It was a good thing Gou was around. He'd be lost otherwise, or he'd just surprise himself each day with what they were going to do. Was that what he had done before? He couldn't really remember and then again he hadn't many days before their little situation had developed into what it was. Already he had gotten so used to having Gou around he relied on her to know what they were doing.
"We still have to get up early though."
"That we do. You should head to bed."
There was another moment of silence. Seijuro could feel her presence at the end of the couch near his feet. She wasn't moving.
"Um." She hesitated. "I-if you want…I can sleep on the couch tonight. You can have the bed."
This again, huh? Did she really feel so bad about it? I gave her the bed of my own free will. She has no reason to feel bad about it.
"That's alright. I'm fine on the couch."
"A-are you sure? You look really tired."
"You're really tired too."
She knew that was true and her face said so, but it also said 'you look more tired than I am'. She felt bad about what had happened today and what he had to deal with because of it, which was why she was offering to let him have the bed. It was pretty sweet, even though it wasn't her fault – she hadn't punched the poor guy. She would still feel responsible for it regardless.
"It's fine," he reiterated. "Really. The couch isn't bad at all."
Her face smoothed out. "O-okay." She turned to head into the bedroom. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
The light in the hall went out a second later, bathing Seijuro in darkness, and he turned over. The couch wasn't so bad. What a shitty lie that had been. He couldn't even fit on it completely all stretched out. His feet hung off the edge when he did.
Still, it was fine. He preferred it this way. He wasn't going to make Gou sleep on the couch while he took the bed. She might feel unwelcome if he did that and that was the last thing he wanted. She may not have come here on her own free will but here she was. Seijuro wanted her to feel like his home was her home.
And it is…Because we're married.
Seijuro sighed. He covered his face with the pillow and was glad when sleep took him quickly.
"I can't believe you slept in your clothes." Gou covered her nose as she headed towards the door. "You were wearing those all day, you know. Gross."
"I'm not wearing them now!" Seijuro held the door open for her. "I even took a shower! I don't stink!" He had even gotten up earlier than usual to do that. He had to beat Gou to the shower. If she got in there first he ended having to take a cold shower. Is this what married couples fight about? Who gets to shower first so they get all the hot water? Seijuro wasn't sure.
"Mmm," hummed Gou. The 'mmm' really meant 'thank god for that, I'm surprised you didn't have flies buzzing around you'.
Seijuro scowled. Now she was making him worried that he smelled bad. He didn't smell bad. Did he?
"Why shower when you're just going to get into the pool anyway?" she asked, heading down the pathway. "Seems a little repetitive."
Seijuro opened his mouth, stopped then tried again. "Because I slept in my clothes overnight?" He wasn't going to admit it but he had felt pretty grungy when he had woken up this morning. He didn't want to give Gou another reason to tell him he was gross though.
"…Good point."
They parted at their usual place at the end of the walkway, Gou heading off to the Iwatobi lodges while Seijuro went to get his own swim team together.
"Noro's hungover," was the first thing he was greeted with upon arriving at their typical meeting place. "He didn't realize we had swimming today so he went out drinking last night."
Seijuro sighed. He would have thought his members would have learned their lesson after that first night but he guessed not. Then again they hadn't woken up to a marriage certificate on their bedside table either. That was likely why they still indulged in it and Seijuro was willing to permit it so long as they weren't stupid about it. He wasn't about to let it get in the way of their practicing however. Not with a competition on the line.
"Tell him to get up and throw up if he needs to, but he's coming. We hardly get any swim time as it is. He'll have to toughen it out."
The Samezuka members were generally good about being ready and being orderly, but there were always at least one or two people that forgot something or were running a little late. So while they weren't necessarily late to wherever they were going, Iwatobi always managed to beat them. Today was no different.
Seijuro didn't miss the scowl that crossed Matsuoka's face at seeing the other team at the pool. It must be getting on his nerves seeing them all the time and constantly having them around no matter what activity they did.
Well, not like anything can be done about it.
They didn't speak much too each other. Each swim team was busy and it would be weird if they suddenly started socializing. Short acknowledgements and polite nods was the extent of their interaction. If the Iwatobi boys had tried anything further Goro would have started yelling they were wasting valuable time. Not that that stopped the coach from coming over to Seijuro and talking to him for several minutes, which Gou scolded him for.
The host country was there to watch them and while they weren't writing anything down, Seijuro knew they would be collecting data regardless, whether it be only mentally. Nothing would be decided until the competition, and everything would be determined by that, but it certainly didn't hurt to make a good impression. Seijuro stayed out of the water and managed rather than focusing on himself. He needed to give his prime members the most swim time but also permit the others to improve or prove they too could be at the top. It was a delicate balance he had to focus more on given the circumstances – the limited swim times, the limited lanes they were allotted, the large amount of members they had - therefore his own swim time was sacrificed.
The dual swimming time was not only valuable practice for themselves but a good time to evaluate the competition. Seijuro observed them out of the corner of his eye as he called out between sets. There were several Australian and US swimmers that were quite impressive, as well as a few from Hungary, China, and Brazil.
And then, of course, there was Haru. That swimming prodigy. Haru was an abnormality of nature, a person naturally born with an outstanding talent. He still had to put effort towards it in order to keep his speed up but it was minimal compared to others. Others had to throw themselves into it furiously to gain ahead, working at it like a dog at a bone or a man trying to break a concrete wall with his body alone. For Haru it was more like he had found something he loved doing and just happened to be extraordinary at almost as an afterthought. Some people would find that sort of blasé talent infuriating.
He called out recommendations when he needed to but for the most part Seijuro just maintained order and kept things running smoothly. At one point he heard Gou and Nagisa, who were in the lanes next to them, talking close by enough for him to hear.
"Nagisa, you need to be more streamlined. You're creating too much water resistance. You need to-" Gou paused to flip open her notebook and Seijuro was faintly glad Rin was in the water. If he happened to catch sight of Gou using the very same notebook Seijuro had decreed as being Rei's last night, he might be in a little bit of trouble. "You need to start and end each stroke in a streamline."
Using my words. He held the whistle purposely in front of his mouth so Gou wouldn't see him smiling if she looked over.
"What does that mean, Gou-chan?"
"It means, ideally, just under the surface of the water," Rei answered. The taller teen attempted to peer over the top of Gou's notebook to look at her writing more closely. "Where did you get those notes from, Gou-sempai? They sound vaguely familiar…"
Gou clutched the notebook protectively to her chest. "N-no where!" Was she blushing? "Y-you should get back in the water and work on your streamlining, Nagisa!"
"I still don't even understand what that means," Nagisa replied sulkily but slipped back into the water regardless.
"You got those notes from Captain Mikoshiba, didn't you?" Rei accused and even Seijuro was impressed at how fast he had figured it out. "It has his knowledge written all over it."
"Non-none of your business!" Gou spluttered. "Shouldn't you be practicing?! C-coach Sasabe! Rei is-"
"D-don't tell on me!" Rei flushed and Goro turned his wrath on the hapless teen, yelling at him for socializing instead of training.
Seijuro laughed and accidentally blew on his whistle, sending in swimmers at the wrong time. It took him several minutes to get the mess he had created straightened out.
They were allowed to swim most of the morning and into the early afternoon before being sent off for their rest period prior to going to the nocturnal zoo. As they made their way outside, waiting for other members to finish changing, Seijuro took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself when Gou stood by herself checking her phone, either sending a text or checking the time. The Iwatobi boys were close by but that was fine. So long as Samezuka, and Matsuoka especially, were elsewhere he could speak with her freely.
"Yo."
She jumped a little at the unexpected greeting. "H-hey."
"I have something for you." Seijuro dug into his pocket.
She blinked. "You have something for me?"
"Yeah." He dug around for another moment then managed to extract it from his pocket. "Here." He held it out to her.
She stared at the item in his hand. "A key?"
"Yeah. It's to the house."
"The house?"
He nodded. "This way you don't have to worry if it's locked or not."
"A-are you sure?" She was still staring at the key hesitantly. "I mean it is your house."
"It's our house now, isn't it?" said Seijuro. "Half and half. You live there too after all."
Something crossed her face, something he was unable to identify. Some thought or memory from the past flashing through her mind perhaps.
Is…is she blushing again? He couldn't believe it. Was she really so embarrassed receiving a key from him? Was that something embarrassing? Seijuro had thought it would be the most logical thing to do rather than force her to always text him and make sure he was there before being able to come over. Now he wasn't so sure.
God now I'm getting embarrassed.
He was about to tell her never mind, that it was a mistake, when she said, "O-okay." She took the key from his hand. "When did you manage to get it made?" She slipped the key into her pocket.
"Yesterday after the hosts were finished scolding me."
"O-oh. Is that why you were so late getting home?"
He nodded. Then he twisted his mouth, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "Speaking of which, how did you get in last night?" He was pretty sure he had locked the door.
She rubbed her hands together, looking embarrassed again. "I…I climbed through the window. Makoto helped."
"…Oh." That's…actually really impressive. "Sorry to make you do that. But now you won't have to do that. You can come and go as you please."
"Y-yes." She smiled at him. "Thank you."
"Gou." Makoto called from behind her and she turned slightly.
"Time for us to go." She turned back to him. "I'll see you at the house later?"
Seijuro shook his head. "I'm going to stay here for a few hours. Azuma's going to escort the team back, he can handle things."
"You're going to stay here?"
He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the building. "I'm going to set some practice in. They've agreed to it since there's a lull and it's only me. Plus they understand the situation."
"O-oh." She turned to where the Iwatobi crew was starting to walk off. "I'll see you at the zoo then."
He watched them leave then he turned and headed back towards the pool. He had a few hours uninterrupted with no one to worry about himself. He'd best make the most of it while he could.
He tried to give himself enough time but he lost track of it while swimming and it was he this time that made them late. This will look poorly as me as a captain. Luckily the swim members were too excited at the prospect of going somewhere at night rather than during the day, so no one made a comment about his lateness.
Although Noro had still been too hung over to come along. "How much did he drink last night?" asked Seijuro but the answers he got were vague.
"A drink or two…"
"I wasn't watching him."
"Some girls kept buying him drinks I heard. Lucky guy."
"Not really. He didn't get anything out of it but a hangover."
"It's farther than you've gotten."
"What are we going to do at the nocturnal zoo, Captain?"
Changing the subject, huh? Seijuro made a mental note about who that person was. "Look at animals I suppose." Honestly he had no idea and Gou wasn't around for him to ask. Surely she would know. She was good about that sort of thing.
The zoo was close enough they could walk and so they met up with Iwatobi at the front. Nagisa had somehow already procured himself a funny looking hat that resembled a tiger head and green plastic sunglasses by the time Samezuka walked up. He had also purchased some stuff for Rei, who stood there looking like he wanted to melt into the ground underneath his hat of an ostrich and pink sunglasses.
"This isn't beautiful at all," he muttered.
"Rei-chan looks great!" protested Nagisa. He put a finger to his lips. "Do you not like ostriches?"
"It has nothing to do with ostriches! I told you to get the butterfly one!"
"Can you even see out of those things?" Seijuro couldn't help but ask curiously. It was night after all.
"Barely," Nagisa acknowledged. He adjusted the glasses to peak over the top of them. "But that's the fun of it! And Rei-chan, he can't see without his glasses on regardless of the sunglasses or not."
Rei spluttered but even he, smart as he was, couldn't think of a proper protest.
Seijuro left the two to their antics to greet the others. "You didn't buy anything, Gou-kun?"
"It's Kou," she replied what seemed like automatically. She dug into her pocket. "I bought a map."
"A map?" That sounded incredibly boring compared to the stuff Nagisa had purchased. But indeed it was a map, a map of the zoo. It depicted all the trails and exhibits as well as any other significant areas like food stops. Trust in Gou to think of something like that. "That's great, Gou-kun! Now we'll know where to go."
"Well, one of us needs to be prepared." She tucked the map back into her pocket. "And it's Kou!"
The host gathered them together quickly and after a check in process that took a little while, she led them to an area just inside the zoo where a tram was waiting for them. The tram consisted of three different cars with three seats to each row.
"This is one of four nocturnal zoos in the entire world!" the host told them. "It was built ten years ago and features over two thousand animals in their naturalistic nighttime habitats! Tonight we will be taking you on a guided tram tour ride that will take you across seven geographical zones of the world! The animals will be right beside you so you'll be able to see them up close and personal! But please don't try and pet them or touch them in any way!"
"They're not caged?" whispered Makoto.
"I'm sure it will just be herbivore animals," said Rei from under his ostrich hat.
"I bet it's going to be fun!" Nagisa was moving around so much his glasses were about to fall off. "I hope there are lions and tigers and bears!"
"They won't have those out roaming about freely!"
"Mackerel," Haru said mysteriously, and Seijuro was unable to determine if he meant he wanted to eat some mackerel or he hoped they would feature mackerel on the tour somehow. Maybe both.
"Now!" The host clapped her hands. "To make things easier let's stick pretty closely with the same assigned seats we've been using on the bus." She pointed to Seijuro, Gou, and Makoto. "Leaders in the front!" She beamed.
"O-oh." Gou rubbed her hand on the bottom of her face, glancing discreetly behind herself.
She had to be looking for her brother, and Seijuro was careful to not turn and look himself. If he did Matsuoka might feel like Seijuro was trying to rub it in his face or something.
He ended up between Gou and Makoto. It would have made a little more sense for Gou, the smallest of them, to take the middle seat but she had climbed in first – likely because she wanted the seat with the rail next to it - and he had followed. The seats were small and there wasn't much room between them, especially considering Makoto and Seijuro's larger than average heights. Neither male could stretch out their legs comfortably without hitting the metal wall in front of them and their shoulders were practically brushing against each other. Seijuro would have liked to scoot over a bit more but that might have made Gou uncomfortable. So he stayed squished up against Makoto and was a little relieved Makoto understood the situation. Otherwise he might be a little freaked out having him so close.
In the seat directly behind them Haru, Nagisa, and Rei had piled in. Haru looked a bit put out. Had he wanted to sit next to Makoto? The two did seem awfully close. I'd gladly switch with you if I could, Nanase.
Matsuoka was all the way on the third bus, mostly out of sight and out of earshot. Still, Seijuro swore he could feel the other boy's gaze burning into the back of his skull regardless.
Once they were all seated the host clapped her hands. "Very good! Now that you're all set, we'll begin!" The tram started with the sound a lawn mower makes and it jerked violently forward once before settling out. The host waved to them. "Please enjoy your tour! Remember to not make too much noise! Otherwise the animals won't come out!"
As the tram started its journey Gou held out the map for them to look at. "This is the way we'll be taking." She traced a line with a finger. "We'll start off going through the Himalayan Foothills. It's mostly different kinds of mountain goat and sheep."
"Good," said Makoto. "Herbivores. I like those."
"Then it's the Asian Riverine Forest," she continued. "That has tapirs and bearded pigs." She grimaced. "B-but after that…it's Africa."
"Africa?" asked Seijuro.
"It consists of a hyena and hippo exhibit."
"Hy-hyenas?" Makoto gulped.
Gou's smile was more strained than comforting. "I-I'm sure they're caged."
"Don't worry, Mako-chan!" Nagisa's hand fell on Makoto's shoulder, startling the taller teen. "Animals can sense good in people! I bet they'll love you!"
"They'll love eating me you mean!"
"That is unlikely," said Rei. "Predators typically go after the wounded, the sick, or the young. In this case they are much more likely to attack Gou-sempai before the rest of us."
The map scrunched in Gou's hands as she tightened her grip, eyelids lowered to half mast. "Thanks. Thanks a lot."
"I'm sure they'd go after Nagisa first," said Seijuro. "He's louder. They'd be more drawn to all the noise he makes."
Nagisa's burst of laughter even drew the attention of the man driving the tram. "Captain Mikoshiba is so cruel!"
"Regardless, in the case of being attacked by a predator," Rei continued, "you don't have to be the fastest in order to survive."
All of them, but Haru, who just looked bored, blinked, not understanding.
Haru sighed. "You just have to be faster than the slowest person is what he means."
Nagisa burst out laughing again and Gou mumbled, "Is that Haru's version of a joke?"
Seijuro could only shrug back.
The Himalayan Foothills exhibits were nice and calm. As Gou had said there were different types of hoofed creatures residing there. The tram driver stopped the tram for several minutes, rattling off facts about the animals, and pointing them out by species. There was one animal Seijuro found most interesting. The largest goat in the world, the markhor, which had a beard that would put any Guinness record holder to shame. Some of the animals came within feet of the tram but everyone, even Makoto, was relatively relaxed in their presence. The main thing that seemed to frighten the Iwatobi captain was the rustling of the leaves and grass when the animals moved out of the sight of the lights of the tram, things in the dark he couldn't see. It seemed like suspense was really the thing Makoto was scared of.
The Asian riverine area went just as smoothly. There were lots of tapirs sedately grazing on grass though they saw no sign of the bearded pigs, which disappointed Nagisa.
"The tapir kind of looks like a pig," said Rei, as if trying to appease Nagisa. "Although they are more closely related to odd-toed ungulates, like horses and rhinos."
"Rei-chan is so smart," said Nagisa and Rei blushed.
Come to think of it those two seem awfully close too, Seijuro reflected. The Iwatobi team was certainly a strange one.
They left the Asian Riverine area and started to transgress into the Africa area. As they drove it only got darker and the vegetation denser. Makoto jerked and twitched with every noise that came. "Now we are approaching the hyena and hippo visit!" said the driver. "It is good to note that hippos are extremely aggressive and territorial, and are the cause of the most deaths in Africa than any other wildlife! Please make sure not to make any sudden movements!"
"Is he joking?" whispered Makoto furiously.
"I want to see the hippos!" said Nagisa.
The foliage became so dense even the tram lights had difficulty penetrating. Makoto shrank back and when there came some rustling, he let out a sound somewhere between a bleat and a squeak. "This is ridiculous," he muttered under his breath. "There is something seriously wrong with this country."
"Surely they'll be in cages." Seijuro looked over to find Gou stretching her neck and looking around. "They wouldn't leave dangerous animals like that out with people around them, would they?"
Was she nervous. She looked a little nervous. An idea crossed Seijuro's mind and he had to fight to not let the grin show on his face. Was it a good idea? No, no, it wasn't. It's a great idea! No, it wasn't, at all! But still he couldn't resist. Besides guys were supposed to offer stuff like this if a girl got scared around them.
"If you get scared," he tried to sound casual, "you can always grab onto me."
Her face flushed. "I-I don't need something like th-"
There came the snapping of a twig and a grunt and the bushes next to them moved. Makoto yelped and before Seijuro knew what was happening Makoto flung himself towards him and wrapped his arms around Seijuro's bicep. Gou froze for a moment. Then her whole face scrunched and she made the sound a balloon might make when it deflates.
Seijuro sat there staring for a long moment, not entirely sure how to react to this. "I didn't mean for you to grab onto me…"
Nagisa laughed. "Makoto is scared!"
"It's scary!" said Makoto, who had still failed to let go of Seijuro's arm. There was more rustling and he only tightened his hold. "Why do they have hyenas and hippos roaming about?! They should be cages!"
Out of the corner of his eye Seijuro saw Haru's mouth drop a little. The quiet teen crossed his arms over his chest and glared out at the darkness. He actually looked like he was pouting.
Nagisa noticed it too. "Haru-chan, don't worry!" he cried out. "I'll grab onto you!" Then he promptly latched onto the dark haired teen like a squirrel to a tree.
"But then who will I grab onto then, Nagisa-kun?" wailed Rei. "It's scary for me too!"
"Don't be scared, Rei-chan! You can grab onto me!"
With a rather unmanly squeal Rei fell against Nagisa, grasping onto the smaller one's shoulder. Poor Haru was squished against the railing as Nagisa held onto him and Rei onto Nagisa.
Gou was having a very hard time stifling her laughter, which was coming out in grunts. Her eyes were so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of her head.
Her noises were attaching a bit of attention. Seijuro could hear his members muttering in curiosity, and when he glanced over his shoulder he saw it was more than just curiosity they were drawing. Matsuoka was glowering over at them, an almost scowl on his face.
Seijuro managed to prevent the grimace from crossing his own face. "Gou-kun, uhhh," he said. He tried to think of something that would distract her. "Would you like some water?" Shit, I don't even have any water. A plus planning by Seijuro.
"D-d-" Gou was wiping a tear away. "Dun cull me Gou-kun."
Makoto, who had finally started to release Seijuro's arm, suddenly latched on once again when there came more rustling. Gou let out another spluttering laugh.
"Gou-chan, shhh!" said Nagisa. "You're going to scare all the animals away!"
She covered her whole face with her hands in an effort to stifle it. She flopped like a fish trying to contain her laughter.
Seijuro watched her with a hooded expression. "I'm glad you're amused by this," he commented dryly. "My arm is starting to go numb."
Gou fought it for all of three seconds. Then she burst out like a volcano erupting and was unable to stop. And that was how they got kicked off the tour.
"I'm-I'm really sorry, guys." Her statement might have been believable if not for the spurts of laughter she was still fighting to control. "I really-" Snort. "Am."
Rei's half lidded eyes regarded her. "You're not a very good liar, are you, Gou-sempai?"
For some reason that only made her laugh more. She waved a hand, unable to form a vocal response it seemed, then toddled off into a corner to try and contain her bubbling laughter.
All six of them had gotten kicked off the tram. For being too rowdy, the driver had said, and frightening away the animals. Funny, Seijuro would have thought the animals would be frightening them rather than the other way around.
How embarrassing. Seijuro, Makoto, and Gou were supposed to be in charge and here they were, enduring their punishment. We're setting some pretty poor examples here.Still at least this time no one had gotten punched in the face. Now if Matsuoka had been allowed off the tram with them like he had wanted, then someone might have been. Most likely me.
He sighed and flexed his was finally starting to get feeling back into it. Makoto had quite a grip. He might have lost the arm if they hadn't gotten kicked off.
Well, all things considered it wasn't too terrible. The rest of his swim team would be fine on the tram. It was a controlled enough environment he didn't have to worry about having someone in charge. So while getting kicked off would certainly reflect poorly on him, it wasn't disastrous.
"We didn't even get to see the hippos!" Nagisa moaned. "I wanted to see them!"
"Those are dangerous, Nagisa!" Makoto stressed. He had been sitting on the curve with his head in his hands, though whether it was from embarrassment or fear Seijuro didn't know. Haru had been hovering over him like a mother hen. It was…actually kind of cute.
"Didn't you hear the tour guide?" Makoto continued. "They kill people!"
"Exactly! It would have been exciting!"
"Your idea of excitement and other's are completely different," muttered Rei, which only made Nagisa laugh bashfully.
"Still, I wanted to see the animals! What's the point of coming to the zoo if you don't get to see anything?" demanded Nagisa. "
Seijuro pulled out his phone. The screen glowed as he checked the time. "Well, we do have some time to kill. The tram won't be done for another hour and a half. If we want, we can walk around and see some exhibits."
Nagisa's eyes lit up like he had just been told his birthday had come early. "Yes, let's do that! Gou!" He turned about to try and locate her.
"It's Kou." She stepped away from the rock wall she had been leaning against. She had finally managed to stop laughing. It was sort of amazing she hadn't laughed herself to death.
"Gou," Nagisa said promptly, "what's on the map?"
She sighed and rolled her eyes, but still pulled out the map and held it so all could see. The boys leaned in close to look.
"I want to do the cave of bats!" Nagisa said almost immediately.
"I'd like to see the flamingos," said Rei.
"They don't have any water exhibits," observed Haru.
"They have otter exhibits, Haru-chan! Those have water."
"Anything that has bars or moats between the animals and us," mumbled Makoto. "No more exhibits where the animals are running free to eat us."
"Oh, look!" Nagisa pointed eagerly at a spot. "The Bridge of Suspense! Let's do that!"
"Absolutely not!"
"It'll be fun, Mako-chan!"
"They should have a butterfly exhibit," said Rei. "It is not very beautiful for them to not have that."
"Butterflies aren't active during the day," Haru informed him.
"The Cave of Terror!" Nagisa clutched the edge of the map like it was a life line and leaned so close his nose nearly touched the paper. "We have to do that!"
"I'm not doing anything that has terrible words like that in it!" Makoto refused to budge on the matter.
Gou sighed again like a mother who was dealing with too many toddlers. "We're not going to be able to do anything if you guys can't agree."
"Let's do it all then!" said Nagisa.
"I don't think we have enough time for that…"
"We might." Seijuro leaned forward to look over the other boys' shoulders. "If we keep it to what everyone wants to see and make short cuts. And look." He traced a path on the map. "There's a path here that goes around that Cave of Terror. Tachibana-san can take that rather than go through the cave."
Nagisa beamed at him like he had just solved the hardest math problem in existence or something. "See! Sei-chan has it all figured out! It's no wonder he's the captain of such a great swim team!"
Sei-chan? Seijuro wasn't sure how to respond to that. At least Nagisa hadn't been calling him that in front of his swim team. He would never hear the end of it otherwise. And maybe he was a little flattered to hear that last part.
Makoto rubbed his chin. "Captain Mikoshiba does have a point. If we do stick to just what we want to see we might be able to cover it all."
"Let's do it!" Nagisa tore himself away from the map. "Come on, Rei-chan! Let's go through the Cave of Terror!"
"I never agreed to such a thing!" He still followed him regardless.
"Let's do the otters first," Haru declared, already taking off towards it. Makoto trailed after him, protesting that they should stick together.
Gou watched them walk off in different directions. She peered down at the map. "This is going to be a lot of ground to cover. On top of your swim practice, you guys are going to be exhausted."
"I bet it will be fun."
"Oh, I bet it will be too." Gou folded the map and placed it back in her pocket. She started forward and Seijuro walked with her. "But it's going to be exhausting. I mean you should see these guys shop for swim suits! Exhausting."
"Are you kidding! Shopping for swim suits is the best!"
"…My point exactly."
The walk back to their housing was quiet and serene. Iwatobi had departed a short while ago for their lodges, leaving Samezuka to itself. Gou had gone with them. It wouldn't do having her continue walking with Samezuka when the rest of Iwatobi had left so she had had no choice but to go along with them. She would likely spend the night over at Iwatobi. Seijuro couldn't blame her for that. In her situation he would likely have done the same and one night wouldn't hurt.
Some of the Samezuka members chattered softly but for the most part it was quiet. Everyone was tired and it had been a very long day for everyone.
Gou had been right. Seijuro was incredibly exhausted. From the flamingos, to the otters, to the Bridge of Suspense. They had gone from one corner of the zoo to the other multiple times. It had been a great time had by all. Exhausting but worth it.
Worth it, like when they had been in the Cave of Terror, a tunnel that was dark and full of bat exhibits that wouldn't have been scary if not for the noises they made without any forewarning. Gou – who likely came just so Nagisa wouldn't comment on her being scared - had jumped at one of those noises, gasping, and then, quite unexpectedly, she had immediately ducked over into Seijuro's presence like it was the most natural thing in the world. How funny, to think she may trust him to keep her safe.
Seijuro couldn't stop the smile from developing on his face. His feet hurt terribly and his legs felt like lead, and he knew he was going to be super sore tomorrow but it was worth it. Completely worth it.
I wasn't planning on doing a Mikoshiba PoV chapter this early but I couldn't really do his conversation with Rin from Gou's PoV so I just went ahead and tweaked the rest of the chapter to be from his PoV instead. This fic just kind of does what it wants anyway, I just work here.