Chapter 1
It was Saturday, in the middle of summer, and Terano and Yumi were on their way to the city's biggest aquarium.
"Explain to me again what we're doing here?" Asked Terano as Yumi pushed her towards the building.
"Because you've been cooped up in your room for the past week! You need a break!" Insisted Yumi. Terano sighed, knowing it was true that she had been busy with work, but if she didn't do it, then who would?
"I guess one day off won't kill me," muttered Terano. At most, this would only take a couple of hours and then she could go back home.
"Yay! That's the spirit!" exclaimed Yumi gleefully.
The pair entered the building and were immediately greeted by cool air, a huge relief from the heat outside.
"Thank you, air conditioning," both Terano and Yumi sighed gratefully.
"Wow, that's a long queue," said Yumi, looking towards the ticket counter where a long line of people was waiting.
"Guess this could take a while," said Terano as they got in the back of the line.
"How about I go buy some drinks from the shop while we wait?" Asked Yumi, pointing towards the small shop in the aquarium.
"Good idea, I'll keep our place in line then," replied Terano.
"What drink do you want?" asked Yumi.
"I'll have an ice tea," replied Terano.
"Alrighty!" Yumi flashed a smile before running off to the store. Normally, Terano would never let Yumi run off to a souvenir store alone. The last time that happened, Yumi had returned with multiple bags filled with cheap toys and plushies.
As Terano was holding her spot in the line, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure with long white hair at the front of the line. Her eyes widened in shock. Shit.
"Terano, I'm back!" Yumi called out, waving enthusiastically.
"So, they only had lemon iced tea. I hope you're okay with that," Yumi continued, but she was interrupted as Terano pulled her down to her level and signaled for her to be quiet.
"Try to look casually in that direction," Terano whispered, pointing to the front of the line. Yumi nodded and got up on her toes, looking intensely at her surroundings. Terano shook her head, knowing that subtlety was not Yumi's strong suit.
"Isn't that Kirari?" Yumi asked in shock.
"Yes, it is," Terano hushed her. She then signaled for Yumi to come down to her level again.
"What do you think she's doing here?" Yumi asked.
"I'm not sure, but it seems like she's here with someone," Terano gestured to the girl next to Kirari, who had long dark hair styled in a side ponytail and was wearing a white dress.
"I feel like I've seen her before..." Yumi pondered.
"You have. That's Sayaka Igarashi, Kirari's secretary," Terano explained as Yumi listened intently.
"Ohhhhh, do you think they're on a date?" Yumi asked excitedly.
"It's very likely. This definitely seems like the kind of place you would go on a date," Terano agreed.
"We should go say hi!" Yumi exclaimed, but Terano grabbed her arm before she could run off.
"No, we're definitely not doing that. It would be rude of us to disturb them," Terano said.
Yumi tilted her head.
"Are you sure it's not just because you don't want to deal with Kirari?"
"You know me far too well," Terano admitted.
"So, are we leaving?" Yumi asked.
"Yes, well, this is my only day off. I'm not going to spend it around Kirari," Terano replied.
"Aww, I was really excited to see all the fish..." Yumi said almost remorsefully, with big, droopy eyes.
Terano felt guilt swelling inside of her as she looked at Yumi, who was trying to conceal her disappointment.
She sighed. "On second thought, let's stay. It's a big aquarium, so the chance of running into them is minimal." Yumi hugged Terano in gratitude and exclaimed,
"Thank you! We're going to have so much fun!" Terano was amazed by Yumi's boundless energy.
"Shall we have a look around then?" She asked, and Yumi nodded excitedly, "Yeah, let's go!"
The two made their way through the aquarium and eventually stopped to observe a school of colorful fish.
"There are a lot of people here" Noted Yumi. Terano tried to raise her head to get a better view, but the crowd blocked her view.
"Can you see anything?" She asked Yumi who was jumping up and down to get a better look.
"Yeah, a bit! They look really pretty." She responded.
"I'll take your word for it."
"We can ask some people to move so you can see," Suggested Yumi
“Let’s not. There is no need to bother anyone,” Terano replied. It wasn’t like she was the one who wanted to go to the aquarium in the first place.
“If you say so” Yumi continued looking at the fish while Terano took a sip of her drink. The lemon flavor was a bit too sour for her liking, but she decided not to say anything.
Suddenly, Terano heard someone say not far behind her, "This way, Sayaka, there's a school of colorful fish over there!" She quickly turned her head and saw Kirari and Sayaka approaching the aquarium she and Yumi were looking at.
Terano whispered to Yumi, "We need to move on," and pointed at Kirari and Sayaka.
Yumi giggled, "Aww, look at them holding hands and everything."
"Yeah, very nice. Now let's move before they see us!" Terano replied. Yumi quickly grabbed the handles of Terano's wheelchair and the two quickly made their way to another part of the aquarium.
"It's not even been five minutes and we've already run into them again," sighed Terano.
"It would have been nice to say hi to them though, I thought you guys were friends?" Asked Yumi, curiously.
"It's complicated," explained Terano. "If she knows we're here, she'll assume we're here to spy on them or something."
Yumi looked confused. "Really? I don't understand."
"Don't worry about it," said Terano. "Let's just move on and hope not to run into them again."
"Alrighty!" cheered Yumi, and they continued exploring the aquarium.
Despite the crowd, they still managed to see several different sea creatures. However, their good time was interrupted by the sound of familiar laughter.
"Did you hear that?" asked Terano, looking around frantically.
"Hear what?" asked Yumi, also searching for the source of the noise. They turned around to see Kirari and Sayaka nearby, examining the sea creatures. Shit.
"We're doomed," whispered Terano.
"What do you mean? They haven't even seen us yet." Asked Yumi, still rather confused.
"With the luck we've been having, it's only a matter of time," replied Terano. "We need to hide."
"Where?" asked Yumi, looking around the aquarium in a panic.
"That way," said Terano, pointing to a nearby exhibit. They quickly ducked behind a wall and peered out, watching as Kirari and Sayaka walked past without noticing them.
"And here it seems like we have some sharks," said Kirari as she and Sayaka approached the area Terano and Yumi had just escaped from.
"I think these are actually dolphins," replied Sayaka, flipping through the aquarium's tour guide.
Kirari shrugged. "Close enough."
Terano breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," she said.
"We can't keep hiding from them all day," insisted Yumi.
"Watch me," replied Terano.
“You are so stubborn” Yumi sighed and they continued looking around the aquarium. As the pair continued their careful exploration, they suddenly came across another group of colorful fish.
“Look!” Yumi exclaimed as they passed by. “They’re so pretty!”
“Shh,” Terano hushed her, looking around to make sure they weren’t being followed.
“We have to be quiet.”
“Sorry! I forgot,” whispered Yumi back.
“It’s alright, just remember to be quiet.”
“Don’t you think you are taking this a bit too seriously, I mean what’s the worst that can happen?” Asked Yumi, tilting her head. Terano sighed.
“Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic…” She reluctantly admitted. Honestly, it was starting to get embarrassing with all the hiding and running away.
“So should we find them and say hi?” Asked Yumi with a smile.
“Never in a million years.” Responded Terano coldly, causing Yumi to giggle.
“Aww, but I wanted to tell them how cute they look together!”
“You’ll have plenty of opportunities to do that some other time.”
Finally, Terano and Yumi had looked around the entire aquarium. There had been a few close calls where Kirari and Sayaka and almost seen them, but it seemed like they had managed to get through the entire day without having been seen.
“Can we go have a look in the gift shop? I saw some cute plushies when I was in there earlier!” Asked Yumi excitedly. Terano was about to say no, remembering other incidents of Yumi going to gift shops. Even so, it almost felt like she owed Yumi after having her hide from Kirari all day with her.
“You know what sure, we can have quick look.” The pair entered the shop and began looking around.
“This is so cute!! Uh and this too!” Yumi began pointing in all different directions. Terano chuckled quietly at this. She had a feeling they would be bringing a lot of new things back home with them. Suddenly Terano felt a light tap on her shoulder. She froze.
“Boo!” Both Terano and Yumi jumped in surprise. They slowly turned around to see Kirari standing behind them, holding a plushie in front of her face. Next to her stood Sayaka, looking slightly confused. Shit.Shit.Shit.
“Kirari, Igarashi-san, what a coincidence seeing the two of you here,” Said Terano trying to sound as calm as she possibly could.
Kirari grinned. “Yes indeed, what a coincidence.”
“Oh, what a coincidence! I had noooo idea you guys were here,” Said Yumi in an overly exaggerated voice.
“Sayaka and I were here on a date. I had no idea you two were here either,” Said Kirari with a smirk, eyeing Terano. She definitely knew…
Terano sighed. “You knew we were there the whole time, didn’t you?”
Kirari grinned. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You are so annoying,” Said Terano, rolling her eyes.
“So anyways, what do you think of this shark plushie?” Asked Kirari changing the subject. She gestured to the large plushie she was holding.
“Pretty sure that’s a dolphin,” Responded Terano.
Sayaka agreed with Terano. "See, that's what I've been saying," she told Kirari. Kirari was still skeptical, so she took another look at the plushie.
“I don’t see it,” She finally concluded with a satisfied smile. Terano wondered if she should drag out the discussion, but at this point, there was no changing Kirari’s mind. It seemed like Sayaka had the same mindset as she didn’t argue back either.
“Here Sayaka, I’ll buy this for you,” Said Kirari, handing Sakaya the large Shark/dolphin plushie. Sayakas face turned completely red.
“Are you sure?” She asked with a stutter.
“Can I have a plushie too Terano?” Asked Yumi, pointing towards a large pile of different sea creature plushies. Yumi already had a countless number of plushies at home, she most certainly didn’t need another one. Even so, Terano couldn’t get herself to say no.
“Sure, but just one then. You can consider it as an apology for today,” Replied Terano with a soft smile. Yumi beamed with joy and ran off to find a plushie.
“My my, you really do have a soft side,” Teased Kirari.
“Shut up,” Responded Terano coldly. Yumi returned shortly after, holding a large, coral starfish plushie. It was probably around half her size.
“Can I have this one?” She asked with large, round, hopeful eyes. Terano sighed. She couldn’t go back on her promise now.
A while later, the group made their way out of the aquarium. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in orange and yellow. Terano was struggling to hold onto the large plushie as Yumi was wheeling her.
“How about something to eat, it’ll be my treat,” suggested Kirari.
“Yumi and I will pass, but you two go ahead, you are on a date after all,” Responded Terano with a smile.
“Well, we have practically spent the entire day together anyways,” Shrugged Kirari.
Terano raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” She asked.
“Hm? I didn’t say anything. Let’s get going Sayaka, I think we’ve teased them enough for one day!” Kirari took Sayaka’s hand and quickly fled the scene.
“Bye you two, hope you can do this again some other time!” Said Kirari almost tauntingly.
“Byeee!! Enjoy your date!!” Replied Yumi, completely clueless.
“Isn’t it great, they didn’t see us until the end of the day! Just according to your plan!” Exclaimed Yumi.
“I’m not so sure about that,” muttered Terano.
“What do you mean?” Asked Yumi.
Terano shook her head. “Nevermind. Shall we go and eat somewhere? You can decide on the place.”
“Yay! Ahh there are so many places to choose from!” As Yumi decided on a place, Terano had an inkling it would probably end up being the same place Kirari and Sayaka had chosen to eat at…