'I can't believe Michiru is making me do this,' Haruka 
thought darkly.  She glanced again at the small plastic 
object that had been drawing too much of her attention as 
of late.

"Stupid tamagotchi!"

********************

College Life
Omake Theatre 2: Pet Peeves

by Greenbeans <gbeans@tyrlen.org>

********************

There was a muted beeping coming from Haruka's pants right 
front pocket.  She sighed, then pulled the annoying egg-
shaped toy out.  It was in need of attention according to 
the icon.

"Get a dog and leave me alone," she growled before pounding 
on the appropriate buttons to make her little electronic 
friend happy again.  Beans, who was seated next to her, 
raised an eyebrow in question.  Haruka ignored her by 
focusing on the professor's lecture.

After class, Beans cornered Haruka on the subject.

"It's Michiru's idea," Haruka strode purposefully through 
the hallways, half hoping to lose Beans behind her, thus 
not having to discuss it anymore.

"What?" Beans jogged beside her to keep within speaking 
distance.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she grumbled as the crowds 
of students parted before her.

"Why not?"  Beans' voice was light and playful.  "I think 
it's kind of cute."

Haruka glared at Beans steadily.  "*Never* refer to me as 
'cute'."

The effect she was hoping for didn't happen because Beans 
was too busy laughing.  "Haruka and her 'gotchi sitting in 
a tree P-L-A-Y-I-N-G," Beans sang lightly, causing Haruka's 
annoyance to increase exponentially.

"I- I'm going home," Haruka took a deep breath to cool off.  
"You, my friend, are treading on thin ice."

She turned away, stomping down the hallway towards the 
parking lot where her car was.  Beans called after her; 
"I'm lucky that it's winter, eh?"

*****

Once Haruka reached the peace of her car, she laid her head 
on the steering wheel.  Why did she have to prove herself 
to Michiru in this way?  Wasn't raising Hotaru enough to 
prove she was a capable parent?  Even a houseplant would 
offer her more dignity then a stupid toy.

Beep.  Beep.  Beep.

Haruka glared over the wheel before sticking her hand into 
her pocket and drawing the toy out.  It demanded attention.  
Haruka continued to glower as she obliged.

**********

Day 4 and all was quiet on the tamagotchi front.  Beans was 
merciful and hadn't spread any weird rumors about her, but 
she did hum that annoying tree song occasionally to get 
under her skin.  

Haruka was feeling as though she was the one on the leash.  
Her daily schedule was changing to meet the tamagotchi's 
needs.  First thing she did in the morning was to feed it.  
Last thing she did before joining Michiru in bed was to 
turn its light off.

In many ways, it did remind her of taking care of Hotaru, 
but this was an annoyance in ways Hotaru could never be.  
Though, in its defense, it isn't as capable of breaking 
Michiru's flatware as Hotaru.

Perhaps she would get along with it after all.

**********

Day 9 and she was well adjusted to her added 
responsibilities.  Its needs were now anticipated and 
addressed early.  Though, one minor problem did present 
itself...

"You want me to *babysit* your toy?" The look of amused 
disbelief on Beans' face was unmistakable.

"Yes, I want to take Michiru out and not have it beeping at 
me.  Will you do it?" Haruka swallowed her pride.  She felt 
like a fool asking for this, but Beans was her only resort.

The smaller woman considered it briefly before nodding her 
agreement.  "No problems, I'll just lay out some 
newspapers, give it a sock to chew on and it'll be fine!"

"This is serious, Beans!" Haruka exclaimed, frustrated with 
the situation as a whole.  "If anything happens to it..."

Beans grinned impishly.  "Don't worry, I'll take good care 
of him, her, it- what's it's name?"

Haruka looked down at the toy in her hand, then up at Beans 
with a distrustful look.  "Promise you won't laugh."

"Considering what you're asking of me, no.  But you might 
as well tell me any ways."

Haruka sighed.  "His name is Tamago-baka."

Beans did try her best to not laugh, but a snicker or two 
(or three) escaped her efforts.  "'Stupid egg'," she 
finally burst out laughing.

Haruka endured with quiet dignity.  Not even Michiru knew 
her tamagotchi's name (because she knew that Michiru would 
certainly frown upon it).  It was the only thing she could 
think of that was fitting for the annoying piece of 
plastic.

The egg changed hands with Haruka giving quick instructions 
on how to take care of it.  "And remember, if it dies while 
in your care, or comes back an abused and neglected 
tamagotchi, they'll be hell to pay," she said with all 
seriousness.

"Alright, don't worry, have a nice date or whatever," Beans 
waved her off while examining the tamagotchi.

*****

Beans set the tamagotchi on her keyboard where she could 
keep an eye on it.  What could be so hard about babysitting 
a toy?

What she didn't count on were her friends.  Once one saw 
the egg shaped toy, the others had to look at it, and feed 
it, and play with it.  Then they played with it in other 
ways by tossing it around the room.  Not long after that 
someone suggested that it needed to be taken on a walk.

"Guys, it doesn't need to be walked," Beans protested.

"It's a pet right?" Dan grinned wickedly.  "Pets need to be 
walked."

"Goldfish don't," April contradicted quietly.

"Exactly, goldfish don't and neither do tamagotchi, now 
give it here," Beans held her hand out.

"Come and get it!" Dan bolted out the door and down the 
hall.

"Hey!" Beans was up in a flash and after him.  "Give it 
back, it isn't mine!"

Dan rounded the corner.  Beans wasn't fast enough to catch 
him before he made it to the stairs and was gone.

"For cryin' out-loud," she sighed.  It was going to be a 
long night.

*****

Haruka pulled out all the stops to wine and dine her dearly 
beloved.  The only thing that was on her mind was Michiru.  
Thoughts of Tamago-baka were miles away from her.

*****

Perhaps it was fitting that the toy itself was likewise 
miles away...

From the dorms.

Dan wasn't content with just kidnapping it, he wanted to 
play a game of hide-and-go-seek as well.  He and John 
hopped in Dan's car and went to hide the toy somewhere in 
town.  When they returned, a very angry Beans was waiting 
for them.

"Where is it?" She growled at them.

"Here's a list of clues," John handed over a hand written 
sheet.  April looked over her shoulder while she glared at 
the two guys.

"It isn't my tamagotchi.  If anything happens to it, I'm 
going to be in *a lot* of trouble," she explained slowly, 
biting off words as she spoke them.

"'Start where natural gas is made,'" April read the first 
clue off of the list.  "Bert's Pizza?" She glanced up.

Dan put a finger to his nose.  "Good luck, ladies!" He 
sauntered out of the room with John in tow.

"Let's go," Beans and April walked out to the student 
parking lot.

*****

Michiru leaned her head against Haruka's shoulder as they 
swayed slowly back and forth on the dance floor.  All was 
peaceful with the world.

*****

Beans kicked a clump of snow in frustration.  "We'll never 
find it before it freezes its little circuits!"

"We still have 2 more clues to unravel," April held up the 
sheet.  "I think we need to go 2 blocks south, then 1 
west," she pointed in the general direction.

Beans followed April as she led them through the clues.  
Beans wasn't in the mood for games and had been very little 
help when it came to figuring the riddles out.  April kept 
prodding her along when Beans stopped to kick a clump a 
snow.

The stopped in what they thought was the right building.  
April read the next clue.  "'When things are at their 
worst, what other direction do you have to look?'"

Beans scowled.  "What the hell kinda riddle is that?"

"Try looking up, Mame-chan," Michiru's rich voice 
suggested.  Beans spun around to find both Haruka and 
Michiru standing in the doorway of an after hours club.


"Up, right, I'll do that," Beans babbled, then scratched 
the back of her head.

"Good evening, April," Michiru nodded to the other woman.  
"What are you two doing out so late?"

"Playing a little game," April giggled.

"Is that so?  Well, good luck with it.  I'll see you in the 
morning, Beans," Haruka punched her lightly in the shoulder 
before leading Michiru to her car that was parked along the 
sidewalk.

The two adventures waved to them as they left.  Once the 
car had turned the corner, Beans looked up.  A crumpled 
paper sack was stuffed between a support an eave.  She 
jumped up, grabbing it.  Inside the bag was a bundle of 
hand towels.  She unwrapped the bundle.  A glove was at the 
center with the tamagotchi inside of it, none the worse for 
wear.  

Beans let out a sigh of relief after she checked that it 
was safely asleep.

*****

Haruka leaned against her dorm room door as she checked 
Tamago-baka's condition.  "Nice job, Beans, thanks a lot," 
she smiled.

"No problem," she answered modestly, already plotting 
revenge against Dan for last night's adventure.

"Think you'll be available for watching this little fellow 
next weekend?"

Beans hung her head.  "Oh no..."

**********

The tamagotchi did finally meet its maker after 28 days of 
virtual life.  Haruka proudly displayed her results for 
Michiru's approval.

"See? It lived a month under my watchful care."

"Not bad," Michiru nodded her head in agreement.  "I do 
believe that you're ready for the next challenge."

Haruka's jaw dropped.  "'Next challenge?'"

"Hai," Michiru left the room to return quickly with a small 
box.  "Meet your new charge."  

Haruka opened the box and pulled a Chia Pet out.  
"Michiru..."

"Remember that you have to water it everyday," her lover 
supplied helpfully.

"...when am I going to work my way back up to children?"

********** (End) **********
