“Can’t you just admit that your coin was wrong for once?” As they made their walk going in the right direction instead of the left, Aoi made her complains on her regrets of listening to him clear. “I might not be from around here, but even I could see there’s more stuff going the other way.”

“It’s never once led me astray.” He countered. While even Kichi knew internally that this direction was less optimal. The boy kept his doubts silent as he knew he had to place trust in his lucky coin. It was something he always relied on during tough times, so he wouldn’t just abandon it now on something so simple.

“But there’s like nothing here.” She pointed out how they had mostly either passed by apartment buildings or office space. This area was less about things like recreation and shopping and more like designed for working. “Unless we’re planning on applying for jobs, I don’t see a point going any further.

“Relax.” He said. “Just because this place has less of the fun stuff around doesn’t mean it has nothing.” As they walked by, he stopped suddenly in his tracks as he saw the one thing that gave him hope.

“What’s this place?” She asked, noticing him stopping as she passed by him. “It looks like-”

“The aquarium!” He leaped in join upon seeing where they were going to head to for the day. “We talked about it before, so how about we go there this time?” When he suggested it as a potential location compared to the park. She was the one who wanted to pick it before being forced to go with his decision due to the coin flip.

“Lucky you.” She knew she was about a few minutes away from just walking away from him if they didn’t find anywhere to go. The aquarium was a spot she thought about going to, but in her mind it would be a place to spend time with her own sister. Not with a boy she barely liked as it were. “I hope tickets aren’t too expensive.”

“They shouldn’t be.” He replied as they walked inside. It wasn’t busy inside as it was a weekday, but there were still some dozens of people moving back and forth. The pair went through the booth to pay for their entrance and soon enough they were inside the main area.

The main area already left good impressions on them. It was dimly light, where only the glow from the water tanks lit the room. Multiple different species of fish big and small filled those tanks and they aimlessly swam within their containers.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in here before.” Kichi commented. Aoi didn’t respond for she was too enamored with the beauty of the sights to care she was with a boy she cared little about. He took note of it as he turned to look over at her. The girl’s face expressed her awe with jaw dropped and eyes staring into the abyss of the fake sea. “You like fish?”

“Huh?” She snapped out from her trance to remember that she was still standing next to him. “N-no, of course not.” Aoi answered bashfully. “Only kids are really into that kind of stuff.”

“I think marine biologists would disagree.” He responded disappointed with her constant need to hide her feelings. It was so painfully transparent and after some of the things Airi had told him. Kichi was more aware of how this girl operated. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being interested in the subject. I’m sure there’s plenty of things you think I’m weird for being into.”

“Definitely.” He wished she was a bit more modest in agreeing with him on that subject. At least between the two of them, he made more of an effort to extend himself out to her. The idea was to get her to open up a bit too, but that had been far from the case despite his and Airi’s best efforts. “Whatever, let’s just walk around and look at everything.”

“Sure.” He replied. “How about we join that tour guide over there.” Kichi pointed over to a group of people being led by a person explaining to them all about the difference species and how they fit in the world of the ocean. “I know you’re a bit... Reserved. So you probably don’t want others to misunderstand us and think we’re on a date.”

“Yeah, I’d hate for anyone to think I’d ever go out with you.” Again, he wished she turned that harshness down just a notch. It wasn’t as if the boy was mean to her at all. In fact, he had been nothing but kind to her since the first day they met. Not simply just because of her sister, but also because he was curious to see more about her. It was clear she had her walls up, trying to prevent others from getting too close to her heart. Had she been hurt before? If so, then he certainly didn’t want to be another dagger to her heart.

The pair quietly walked together and made themselves part of the crowd. She wasn’t a fan of being around so many people she didn’t know. It didn’t help that the only one she did know wasn’t her own sister, but some boy they knew in school. Anxious would barely begin to describe how she felt about this situation. There was no way to predict what would occur during this outing. Worse yet, there was no safety net like Airi there to help her in case things went south.

When they linked up with the other people in front of one of the exhibits. They had just begun a presentation on the numerous jellyfish housed in this aquarium. In the wall, there was a circular window that provided a view into the sea life present in this exhibit. Their eyes were treated to the visual spectacular of jellyfish floating about in the water. There was little light in the room, mainly illuminated by the lighting aquarium tank. It made the jellyfish appear as though they were glowing, basking the liquid in a plethora of colors.

Kichi stole a quick glance at Aoi to see how she took in this view. He could tell with the way her eyes were wide open, staring and soaking in the entire sight, that the girl did like what she saw.

“You like it?” He whispered over to her, hoping to begin a bit of conversation with her.

“Huh? Um, it’s all right. I guess.” Quickly, she had to put up the act once more to him.

“It’s real pretty.” He acted like she didn’t just pretend to be unimpressed. This girl wasn’t going to get the best of him so easily. So he simply had to change up his strategy. “You like to draw, right? Would you ever consider drawing something like this?” Unfortunately for him, there weren’t many things he knew about this girl. However, he could use what he did know as a mean to bounce off to gain more information from her.

“I’m not some amazing artist.” She responded by downplaying her skills. While he was no art critic. What Kichi saw from her doodling on their project looked good. Even their teacher had complimented her artwork when they received their grade. He recalled her getting red in the face and being modest to their teacher in response. What she did right now was no different to that.

“Were you planning on drawing some of the things we’re going to see today?” He asked, forced to be the one to direct their conversation as she attempted to derail it.

“It’s none of your business what I’ll do when I get home.” She replied. They failed to move along with the rest of the crowd as the slight argument continued. “I have to take of Airi, so there’s no time for me to enjoy for myself anyway.”

“But would you consider drawing what you see today?” He continued to prod at her. “I’d like to see it if that’s what you ended up doing.”

“Why would you care?” She sighed, turning away from him.” I’m no one special. You can get better art from a manga or light novel illustration.” While he knew that would be likely true, it didn’t matter.

“There’s nothing wrong wanting to see what you can do.” He told her. “I saw what you’ve already drawn and it’s pretty nice. Even the teacher thought that too.” Kichi attempted to put a hand on her shoulder in assurance, but she slapped it away before he had the opportunity.

“You’re just trying to be nice.” She snapped back. “Both of you. You’re only saying that to sound nice and make me feel good. But deep down, you don’t actually feel that way. You don’t think my art is good or whatever because it’s not.”

“…” He was speechless from her assault of words on him. Kichi had done nothing wrong, but he was being attacked for it.

“Sorry.” Aoi realized quickly that she had messed up yet again. The girl hastily turned the opposite direction from him and began to walk away. “I’m always ruining things.” She muttered to himself. For a moment, he was too shocked to go after her. However, Kichi was able to regain his awareness and gave chase.

“Hey, wait a second.” He said, though his words failed to stop her. But he wasn’t going to stop either.