Interlude: A Date

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

“I’m so bored...” I murmured.

I didn’t really have anything to do, so I’d been lazily lying on my bed, absentmindedly sorting data on my personal terminal. After getting all of the files neatly sorted into categories, an alert telling me I had an email appeared on my terminal screen, and I opened it.

From: Alice

Kouki, are you sleeping yet? Do you want to go somewhere on Saturday if you’re free?

This is... No way. Is she inviting me on a date?! Wait. She’ll probably invite Shingo and Aikawa, too... I might regret getting my hopes up, so I took a moment to collect myself. Right now, I don’t know what Alice has in mind. I guess I should reply? Actually, no. I’ll understand her better if I hear her voice directly.

Holding my excitement inside, I made a call to Alice’s terminal.

“H-Hello? Kouki?” she cried.

She answered! Judging from the sound of her voice, Alice was as tense as I was. This was definitely a date.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I said. “I just saw your email. Do you want it to be just the two of us?”

“Um, yeah.... If you’re okay with that.”

I’m more than okay with it! I need to play this cool and not seem overeager... If I seem too excited, she’s going to think, “This guy is so desperate. How gross.” I have to keep my cool no matter what.

“I don’t mind at all. Did you have a place in mind? If there’s somewhere you want to go, anywhere is fine with me.”

Nailed it! I played it cool and was kind enough to let her choose the place without making a big deal of it! I’m bound to have scored some points with her.

“I wonder where we should go...” Through the terminal, Alice sounded happy as she thought it over. “Oh, I know. Let’s go to that aquarium! I saw on TV recently that you can touch penguins and dolphins there. Do you know what the name of the place is?”

“You mean the Ocean Research Center, the Blue Aquarium?” I replied.

“Yes! You must have been watching the same program. I’d really love to pet a dolphin. They said it was popular on TV, but do you think we could get tickets to the dolphin show?”

“I think so,” I said. “How about we meet at the front entrance to the Blue Aquarium at 9 AM tomorrow?”

“All right! I’ll see you there. Look forward to it. And don’t be late. Good night.”

I replied, “Good night,” and ended the call with Alice.

The Blue Aquarium? I think that place has been popular with couples and families ever since it started being shown on TV recently. I’d heard that the show tickets for every time slot completely sold out every day before the morning was over.

I hadn’t actually watched the show Alice mentioned; I’d been watching another documentary about owls that aired on another station at the same time. So why do I know so much about Blue Aquarium? I wondered.

As soon as the call with Alice was over, I began looking at webpages on my terminal screen. I found a page that was for the Ocean Research Center rather than the aquarium, and I clicked a link on the page that lead to a list of researchers.

“Special research adviser... Miki Arakawa.”

Now I remember... I heard about the aquarium’s popularity from Mom. I looked over at my desk and saw there were two tickets lying on the desk. Those were the “Blue Aquarium Premium VIP” tickets Mom had given me after telling me about the aquarium. With these tickets, I wouldn’t even need to line up and buy show tickets!

“Mwahahaa! It’s too perfect! What were the chances of Alice wanting to go to the same aquarium? This is certain victory!” I cried.

With the success of tomorrow’s date all but certain, I went to bed feeling content, and I soon fell asleep.

**

The next day, I arrived at the entrance to the aquarium 20 minutes before the time we’d agreed. There, I found Alice was already waiting for me. It might not have been intentional, but leaving a girl waiting on our first date was unforgivable, so I hurried toward her while calling her name.

“I’m sorry. Did I make you wait?” I asked her.

“Not at all,” she replied. “I only just got here, so don’t worry about it. I’m really looking forward to this. Let’s go buy our tickets.”

“I already have our tickets, so don’t worry about that. I’m going to go collect our passes before the gate opens. Do you mind waiting here?”

“Ah, okay...” replied Alice, cutely tilting her head as if curious.

I smiled at her before running off to the VIP ticket window. At the window, I said to the lady behind the counter, “Excuse me, I’d like to redeem this ticket.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied. “This window is for VIP tickets only. Regular customers need to use the window over there.” She knitted her brow and gestured towards the ordinary ticket window.

That makes sense... I thought. I just look like a school kid. She wouldn’t expect me to be able to afford a VIP ticket when they’re so expensive. Especially since the recent popularity has made them hard to get a hold of.

I was sure she hadn’t intended to look down on me, so I took a VIP ticket from my pocket and politely handed it to her while trying to be as friendly as possible. “I think I’m at the right window. This is a VIP ticket, isn’t it?”

The lady quickly began apologizing. “I’m so sorry! Could you please show me some ID?”

I handed over my academy student registration card, and the lady became wide-eyed as she looked at it. Then she looked back and forth between my face and a terminal that I guessed was showing my face. Finally, she spoke in a trembling voice, “Oh... Kouki Arakawa... himself...?”

“Right. That’s me,” I replied.

Huh? My mom might be an adviser to this research center, but why would the ticket staff care so much about some big-name research adviser?

She immediately answered my unspoken question. “I saw it all in the news! You’re the one who developed the cure for the European tragedy, right?! That’s incredible! Are you by yourself? If you like, I could be your guide.”

“Thank you, but I’m here with a friend, so I’ll have to refuse your kind offer,” I said. “More importantly, if you’re done confirming my identity, could I get my passes now?”

Please. I was happy to be talking to a beautiful woman, but I’d left Alice waiting. I didn’t want to keep her waiting too long.

“That’s a shame,” said the woman regretfully. “Well then, here are your two passes. Please wear this wristband at all times once you’re inside. If you show this wristband to the staff beside each gate, you can go through without having to wait in line. There are also private walkways you can use in the busy areas, so please take your time to enjoy yourself.”

“Thank you.”

“Please enjoy your time here at the Blue Aquarium.”

The lady smiled as I turned to leave, and I hurried back to where Alice was waiting.

**

Alice Alford’s Point of View

“What’s taking Kouki so long?” I wondered.

He said he was going to collect our passes, but then he headed off in the wrong direction. I wonder if everything’s all right? More importantly, I wonder if what I’m wearing looks okay.

I was wearing a new dress that I’d gone shopping for with Megumin, but I didn’t know if Kouki would like it. As I checked my reflection in a window, I saw the reflection of Kouki hurrying back toward me, so I turned to face him.

“Sorry, Alice. I didn’t think it would take me so long. Here you go,” he said.

“What is this?” I asked while examining the wristband Kouki had given me.

Kouki smiled and told me, “That’s your identification wristband. I had VIP tickets, so these are our passes. This means we’ll get priority access to the dolphin show you wanted to see.”

Huh? Aren’t VIP tickets supposed to be incredibly expensive? And I didn’t even give Kouki the money for my ticket... I nervously began reaching for some money from my bag, but then Kouki reached for my hand.

“There are a lot of people around, so how about we hold hands? That way we don’t get separated. Look, they’re opening the gate.”

I took Kouki’s hand, and he smiled as he led us towards the gate.

**

“Oh!” he cried. “Alice, there’s a penguin parade.”

“Where?” I asked.

We’d looked at several exhibits and were moving on to the next when Kouki pointed out a group of super cute penguins waddling along. We went to take a closer look, and found about thirty penguins slowly waddling behind a person who was leading them. When I crouched down to get a better look at the penguins, one of them stopped right in front of me, and looked me in the eye.

“Huh? What is it?” I asked the penguin.

“It must think you’re one of them, Alice,” said Kouki grinning.

My legs aren’t that short! I was just about to tell Kouki to stop teasing me, when the penguin in front of me raised its wing.

The person leading them noticed and turned around. “Well, this doesn’t happen very often. Go ahead and shake his hand.”

I gently took hold of the penguin’s wing. The penguin seemed satisfied, and it went back to waddling along after the others.

“Wasn’t that cute, Kouki?” I asked.

“Yeah. I had no idea penguins were so friendly toward people. Where should we go next? The jellyfish are nearby. We could go see those.”

“All right, let’s go.”

We walked hand in hand into the building where the jellyfish tanks were. Many types of jellyfish of many different colors were swimming around in a surprisingly small tank. There were also some chairs where we could rest, so I sat there with Kouki, and we leisurely watched the jellyfish swimming.

“These jellyfish are so small and cute,” I said. “I thought they’d be bigger.”

“It depends on the species. Some jellyfish have heads that are four or five meters wide. Did you want to see those?”

A five-meter-wide jellyfish... I felt ill just imagining it. “I’d rather not.”

“Exactly. That’s why they’ve gathered these small jellyfish together. The way they pulsate is relaxing to watch.”

I looked at Kouki. He looked at peace sitting on the chair and watching the jellyfish. For some reason, I felt my heart racing.

I composed myself, and then I slowly rested my head against Kouki’s shoulder. For a moment, he was surprised, but he soon began to gently stroke my hair. For a while, we stayed like that, letting time go by. Then, suddenly, my stomach made a groaning sound.

“Ha. You must be hungry. Let’s go get lunch.”

I was too embarrassed to say anything. I stood up and silently took Kouki’s hand.

**

“You must have been really hungry, Alice,” Kouki teased. “Are you enjoying that?”

I groaned and replied, “Can’t you forget about that?”

Kouki was teasing me with a grin on his face while he watched me eat my pasta. I couldn’t believe my stomach had made such a noise while I was on my first date with the boy I liked, and I felt so embarrassed I could have died. I’d replied to Kouki with tears in my eyes, but he’d just laughed and carried on eating.

What is that he’s eating...? I wondered. “Kouki, didn’t you order any sandwiches?”

“No, this was the only thing I liked,” Kouki replied smiling.

In front of him was a plate of mashed potatoes with sliced hot dogs in it.

Does that mean he can’t eat rice, even though he’s Japanese? More importantly, that dish is meant to be eaten with bread, not just by itself. That said, he did look like he was enjoying it, and for some strange reason, that made me feel happy, too.

After eating, we drank some tea, and Kouki began using his terminal.

Kouki raised his head from the terminal and suggested, “Next, let’s watch the afternoon dolphin show, and then visit the store before heading home. I think it’ll be just starting to get late by then.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t let it get too late.”

I wish we could stay together like this forever, but I don’t want to get in trouble for staying out too long, I thought.

Kouki looked over at me just as I had that thought, and for a moment I felt my face becoming red, so I looked away.

“Alice.... I don’t know how to say this...” he began.

Just as I was thinking He’s going to say it! we heard an announcement: “The dolphin show will be starting in a few moments. Everyone with a ticket for the show, please gather in front of the show arena.”

I can’t believe that announcement! What horrible timing!

I looked back at Kouki, and he just smiled wryly and said, “Shall we go?” before getting up.

We showed our wristbands at the arena entrance, and we were guided inside to our seats in the front row. We sat in the seats we’d been given, and as we waited, the seats around us began to fill up until the arena was filled to capacity.

“This show really is popular. I’ve been looking forward to this, too,” Kouki said enthusiastically. “This is the first time I’ve seen a dolphin firsthand.”

“We don’t just to get to watch, we can actually participate in the show!” I agreed. “I’m really excited.”

I waited, full of excitement, and then we saw a lively group of dolphins swimming into view from a gate at the side of the pool. They swam around in a close-knit group, jumping up out of the water every so often. The trainer introduced the dolphins, and the show was full of surprises from that point on. At his command, they swam through rings in synchronization, juggled balls, and performed effortless high jumps. They were so adorable that I was completely entranced.

Kouki was excited, too. “They’re more impressive than I thought.”

“Now it’s time for a ring-throwing event with the dolphins,” the trainer said. “Does anyone want to join in?”

A woman in a wetsuit began looking for people who wanted to throw rings.

I really want to... But I’m too embarrassed to raise my hand. I didn’t know what to do, but then Kouki raised his hand and accepted some rings from the woman.

“Here you go, Alice,” said Kouki, giving me all of the throwing rings. “Here come the dolphins. Hurry up and throw the rings.”

I quietly said, “Thank you,” and then threw a ring toward the dolphins.

I threw the first ring toward a dolphin that was waiting just in front of me, and it deftly swam backward to catch the ring. It was so cute to see, and in no time at all, I’d thrown all of the rings. Before I could return to my seat, the dolphin that had caught the most rings came swimming over while making clicking sounds.

“Why don’t you reward it by petting it?” the woman suggested.

I petted the dolphin, and it began making happy noises before slowly swimming back to the other dolphins.

I watched it leave with a big smile on my face, and then returned to my seat where Kouki was waiting for me.

**

“You got to pet the dolphin!” Kouki said. “How lucky.”

“Yeah! That made me so happy.”

After the show, we did a little shopping in a store that sold souvenirs, and then we went back to a park in the premises to wait for the bus home. I’d bought a dolphin plush toy for Megumin, and Kouki had bought a shark mouth hat for Saito. I was sure Megumin would be pleased, but Saito was definitely going to pull a face. Kouki had probably realized that, and bought it to annoy him.

“Today was a lot of fun, Alice,” he said.

“It really was.”

I don’t know what to do. I just can’t get a conversation going. Kouki’s trying to talk to me, but at this rate he was going to think, “Wow, she’s so dull.” I desperately tried to think of something interesting to talk about.

Kouki began to speak in a serious tone. “You know, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while, but...”

Could this be what he was trying to say over lunch? I don’t know what to do... My heart’s racing. I wonder if I’m blushing...

“Alice... There’s a price tag on your dress.”

Uwah?! No way? Huh?

“Huh? No way... I forgot to remove it?” I cried.

“Yeah, I’m serious. The tag saying that you paid ¥23,000 has been on your dress since morning.”

“Uuuugh. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Telling me now just makes me feel bad.”

It’s all over. Kouki will definitely hate me. What kind of girl leaves the price tag hanging from her clothes without realizing? I’m the worst... I hope the bus comes soon. I just want to go home.

“Hey, Alice?”

“What...?” I mumbled.

“I really like you.”

For a moment, that didn’t even register.

What did he just say? He likes me? Kouki said he likes me... I’m happy, but... I don’t know what to say.... Well, I have to say something. Kouki isn’t saying anything. He must be waiting for a reply.

I was getting myself into a panic when suddenly he hugged me tightly.

“Is that bad?” he asked.

“It’s not bad at all!” I hastened to say. “I really like you, too. So... let’s just stay like this for a while.”

In contrast to a few moments ago, I felt so happy holding Kouki that I could have cried. Over his shoulder, I saw the bus approaching. But I wanted just a little longer... I wanted to stay like this a while longer, so I closed my eyes and pretended not to notice.