Thank you for reading on to chapter 2! Perhaps Claudine can find out more about this peculiar girl...

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

Chapter 2. The Jellyfish Girl

The following day, Claudine wakes well-rested and energetic, eager to get to her second day at the aquarium. After eating and saying goodbye to her parents, she takes the bus to work.

Today, she uses her new employee ID card to get inside the building, as the guard is off talking with one of the janitors. Claudine greets her boss and co-workers, gets changed, and heads off to prepare for her day.

Typically, the Monday crowds aren't as big, and the number of customers increases throughout the week. They had given Claudine both Saturday and Sunday off this week so she wouldn't be thrown into the most chaotic days right off the bat, but that means she'll be working 5 days in a row to begin with. So she'll need to make sure to be mindful of not losing her voice or anything like that.

She drinks plenty of water as she makes her rounds through The Undertow, greeting all of her creatures. She even gets to watch the handlers feed the eels their breakfast.

And before she knows it, the doors have opened and the first batch of customers has arrived, and her second day begins.

It's very similar to yesterday, both in terms of the number of people and the flow of events. Claudine has her first three tours, then her lunch break, and then during her fourth tour recognizes a very familiar girl with long black hair. Naturally she's wearing different clothes today, but the star hair-pin and her taciturn personality remain unchanged.

And like yesterday, she stays at the jellyfish for the remainder of the afternoon, keeping to herself.

At the very least, Claudine can assume she hadn't been stood up on a date yesterday waiting here for someone. It seemed this girl just really liked the darker section and the soft, glowing lights of the jellyfish tanks.

She stays until closing, then is gone the next time Claudine turns around.

And Claudine is sure she'd seen the last of the girl. Because surely no one, tourist or not, would come to the same aquarium three days in a row by herself. Not only was it just highly unlikely, but it was probably rather expensive too, especially for a girl Claudine could only assume to be in high school like herself.

But to her surprise, at the very same time the very next day, Claudine spots the same girl in her tour group once again.

And the day after that, the girl comes in even earlier than the days before, and loiters around the jellyfish for even longer.

Claudine has entertained a lot of characters over her first four days on the job, from the whining, demanding child to the skeptical adult who felt the need to challenge her knowledge of the animals. Of course those were few and far between, and the majority of people were kind and appreciative.

But overall, the jellyfish girl is definitely the strangest and most perplexing person Claudine has encountered.

On Friday, her final work day this week, Claudine is given her first school field trip group to handle. They come in as her first group of the afternoon, and by that point in the day, the jellyfish girl has already taken her usual spot at the end of the hallway and made herself comfortable.

However, when Claudine finishes leading the group of twenty-something six-year-olds and their frazzled caretakers into the darkened section of the hallway, the children erupt with squeals of excitement and begin scampering all around.

Claudine can't help but notice the startled look that comes across the poor jellyfish girl's face when her tranquility is shattered and her train of thought interrupted. She has no choice but to move away and let the children get close to point at the tanks.

Claudine almost feels bad for her - not because she hasn't gotten to see the jellyfish enough for herself this week, but because she doesn't seem to be good with social interactions at all.

Several of the children look at her and say things like, "Onee-chan, look at the jellyfish!" and "Aren't they the coolest?!"

But all the jellyfish girl can manage in response is a half-frightened nod before she scurries away. Claudine watches her hurry off to the next room to escape the rambunctious children.

She doesn't see her again for the rest of the day.

After finishing with her final group, it's closing time before she knows it. Claudine says goodbye to her co-workers for the weekend and receives her schedule for the coming week, when she will have Thursday and Saturday off.

She returns home and uses her weekend to rest up and enjoy herself, going shopping with some friends from school on Saturday, while showing them pictures from her new job. They all express their interest in stopping by sometime this summer, and Claudine welcomes them to do so.

She takes it easy on Sunday and hangs out at home, practice a bit of her dance so she won't be rusty when she returns to theatre school in the fall.

Then on Monday morning she heads back to work.

And sure enough, the same girl slips her way into the jellyfish section with the crowds.

And then she's back again on Tuesday.

And finally, on Wednesday, Claudine can't keep to herself any longer. She has to talk to this girl.

Therefore, the moment her lunch break officially begins, Claudine straightens up and makes her way toward the darkly-lit end of the hallway. The usual light chatter of people and the faint hum of music drifts through the air as she spots the girl she's looking for.

Claudine may have had the weekend off, but she's positive this girl had been here on those days as well. Her curiosity is far too great by now to hold back any longer.

So she puts on a kind smile and walks slowly up to the girl, who is the only one here at the moment. She'd been gazing up at the cylindrical tank of jellyfish for a while now, so Claudine doesn't want to startle her. She clears her throat first, but when the girl doesn't hear that, Claudine speaks up softly.

"Excuse me?"

The girl jumps a little, much like she'd done the first time Claudine had addressed her directly. Her sky-blue eyes grow wide with nervousness and start to dart around like a fish trapped by a predator. Claudine keeps a comfortable distance between them and tilts her head curiously.

"Sorry to bother you. But do you have a moment to chat?"

The girl clutches onto the strap of her hand bag and looks down at the floor, bowing her head.

"Sorry…" she mumbles. "Am I not allowed to be here…?"

Claudine is a bit surprised she'd actually spoken, but even more surprised by what she'd said. She can only assume the girl had thought she was in trouble for loitering too long in one spot. Since Claudine was in-uniform, the jellyfish girl likely assumed she was being scolded or escorted elsewhere. Claudine quickly shakes her head.

"Not at all. You're perfectly fine to stay here as long as you'd like, and you've always left properly before closing time. I didn't mean to worry you. It's just…"

Claudine tries to think of the nicest way to say this. But before she continues, she thinks it might be best if they move to a well-lit area so she and this girl can see each other comfortably.

Claudine motions invitingly to have her guest follow her back out into the main hallway of The Undertow. The girl hesitates at first, but eventually comes along.

Claudine brings her off to one side beside some parrot fish, away from the other customers. She notices how the girl has to blink her eyes to adjust to the brighter lighting, since she's clearly adjusted to the darkness of the jellyfish room.

When Claudine gets a better look at her, she notices just how pale this girl is, so it's obvious she spends most of her time indoors, be it here at the aquarium or elsewhere.

Claudine drops the more formal language she uses for her job and instead talks a bit more casually, wanting to show she's just a regular high school girl, too.

"I'm just curious," she confesses. "You've been here every single day for a week and a half now, and you always spend most of your time back there. And I couldn't help but notice you were always by yourself. Maybe I'm being nosy… but I just wanted to ask if you were all right…?"

She isn't exactly sure if she'd said it correctly. After all, it's really none of her business. Perhaps this girl had a difficult family life and she preferred coming here as an escape or something like that. So long as she paid properly, there was no issue with that.

The jellyfish girl twiddles her fingers a bit where she's still clutching the strap of her bag, which Claudine can now see has little keychains of the same white bear she'd noticed on the girl's t-shirt before. She opens her mouth as if she's about to speak, then pauses, and instead begins pawing through her bag. The movement reminds Claudine of an eel slowly popping its jaws open and closed.

Claudine waits, her curiosity mounting by the second.

A moment later, the girl pulls out a small blue-and-white card with the Blue Seas Aquarium logo printed across the top. Claudine reads it to herself.

Blue Seas Aquarium Special Prize Season Pass

Finally, it makes sense as to how this girl could afford to come here every day.

"Ah," Claudine nods. "That explains it."

The girl nods and puts the pass back into her bag.

"We just moved to Japan for my father's work," she says. "He was entered into a raffle and he won a season pass for this place. He gave it to me because it's only for one person, and he and my mom work a lot."

"And you're sure using it for all it's worth," Claudine smiles. "Congratulations to your father for his win."

"Thanks."

With that established, Claudine flounders for how to continue the conversation.

"You know… I don't want to sound rude or anything. I've only been working here for a little while… But there's more to the aquarium. Up until the jellyfish room, that's only about half. You've still got the sea lions and the dolphins and the penguins, and a lot of other cool things. Have you seen any of them yet?"

The girl blinks, then shakes her head.

"Not yet. I have all summer to get to them." Then, for the first time since they'd started talking, a smile comes to her face. "I just really like the jellyfish."

Seeing her light up like that, Claudine almost feels guilty for having taken her away from the creatures she loved so much.

"I see. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help but notice you back there every day by yourself."

"No," the girl shakes her head. "I get it now that I probably looked weird being there for so long every day."

"It's fine."

"Okay."

Another beat of silence. Claudine remembers she hadn't even introduced herself yet.

"Ah, that's right. By the way, my name is Saijou Claudine."

"Yeah," the girl nods. "It says it on your name tag. And you say it at the start of your tour."

Claudine blushes a little bit when she remembers these obvious facts.

"R-Right. Well, if you ever need anything, you can always ask me whenever I'm here."

"Okay."

"If it's safe to assume you'll be a regular here, may I ask your name as well?"

The jellyfish girl dips her head.

"Kagura Hikari."

"All right. Nice to meet you, Kagura-san."

Hikari dips her head again.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Saijou-san."

"Oh, there's no need for that. I'm just doing my job."

"No." Hikari shakes her head at looks at her in earnest. "You were worried about me, and even last week you offered to help me if I needed anything. You're really kind."

Claudine feels another blush coming on. She doesn't know what to say, so she simply bows her head. A moment later, she makes a new offer.

"Well then, Kagura-san, I'm sure you've heard me recite facts about those jellyfish over and over again these past few weeks. But there's actually even more interesting things about them that I don't always get to mention."

Hikari's eyes flash.

"Really…?"

"Mmhm. Care to listen?"

"Okay."

So Claudine leads her back to the jellyfish room, where Hikari instantly seems to relax again. Claudine leads her to the largest cylindrical tank first.

"As I'm sure you know, these guys are the Crystal Jellyfish."

"Mm."

"But did you know they can eat other jellyfish half their size?"

Hikari's eyes grow wide.

"They can…?"

"Yup!"

"How can they do that?"

"By expanding their mouths!"

"Wow… That's cool." Hikari looks back into the tank of a dozen jellyfish drifting around. "But… it's a little sad to think about jellyfish getting eaten…"

Claudine feels a twinge go through her heart.

This girl is really precious.

In order to not make her sad, Claudine continues on with different facts.

"Ah! Did you know those little white-spotted jellyfish over there actually migrate around the ocean sometimes by attaching themselves to boats?"

Hikari shakes her head to convey she didn't know that. Claudine can infer she's a girl of few words, but she's very expressive about what interests her.

Claudine ends up giving Hikari her own miniature tour of the jellyfish room and telling her facts she doesn't always get to cover in her usual tours.

Hikari is absolutely mesmerized, as if hearing more about the jellyfish while looking at them now makes them even more incredible to her.

The pair walk around to admire the fried-egg jellyfish and the pink meanie jellyfish, and finally the atolla jellyfish.

By the time Claudine has finished telling Hikari all she knows about them, Hikari's jaw has dropped open slightly. Claudine chuckles.

She's a sweet girl. I'd like to see her smile more often.

When they've finished, they walk back to the brighter portion of the hallway, where Hikari dips her head to Claudine.

"Thank you, Saijou-san. I learned a lot."

"Those information plaques on the tanks only have the basic facts," Claudine explains. "But there's so much more about these little guys people can learn about."

"Yeah." Hikari smiles for a moment, but then frowns as she tilts her head. "Saijou-san… you don't have any tours right now?"

"No. It's my lunch break."

"Then shouldn't you be eating?"

Claudine blinks, then laughs lightly.

"I guess you're right. I got a bit carried away talking to you."

"Sorry."

"That isn't your fault. I'm glad I got to talk to you today, Hikari. Ah- sorry! I usually call my friends by name."

"That's fine. I don't mind."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, all right then. Either way, I assume I'll be seeing you back here all summer if you've got that season pass, right?"

"Probably. I don't have much else to do. I just moved here so I don't have any friends."

Claudine's heart aches a little, but she puts on a smile.

"Nonsense! As of today you have me, Hikari!"

Hikari blinks up at her.

"Really?"

"Bien sûr! Of course!"

"Was that French?"

"Oh? You know it?"

"A little. I just moved from London."

"Oh, how interesting. I'll have to chat with you again soon, Hikari. You can tell me all about London and I'll tell you about France! I'm off tomorrow, so maybe I'll see you again on Friday."

"Okay."

Claudine gives her a brief wave.

"Well then, I should be off to have my lunch. I'll see you later, Hikari."

"Okay. Bye… Saijou-san…" Clearly she isn't used to saying other people's first names just yet.

She really must not have any other friends here yet…

Claudine will do her best to be the first.

She hurries off to eat her lunch in the remaining ten minutes of her break, then returns for her next tour. Hikari lingers at the jellyfish room as usual, only now she and Claudine catch each other's eyes from time to time.

A little before closing, Hikari wanders off before Claudine can catch her to say goodbye again. But she can imagine Hikari was probably still shy about all of this, so she might've felt better to slip away without saying anything.

Claudine wraps up her day and says goodbye to her co-workers, then takes the bus back home as usual.

She decides that on her day off tomorrow she'll research even more about jellyfish, and tell Hikari all about them, come Friday.

A/N: I'll never get over the sheer adorableness of their dynamic. As demonstrated by Aiai in the live when she had Claudine hug Hikari out of nowhere, her bright, peppy, outgoing personality is such a cute contrast to Hikari's quiet, aloof, awkwardness. I enjoy them together so so much.

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