Today, the cool kids clique invited me to go to the aquarium. I could have save the ticket money and the time spent on queuing up when I can just dive under the ocean while wielding Gáe Bulg, but I guess that’s not the point.

Yui sent to me a text that we’re having both our breakfast and lunch outside, so I left my room without filling my stomach. When I reach the dorm’s entrance, the usual gang is already there.

‘Morning, Kagenashi-kun! How you feeling today?’ Oomori asks me energetically the moment she sees me.

‘I’m feeling hungry.’

‘Ahahaha! So am I! Well, we’ll having our breakfast soon, so keep it together, okay?’

‘Okay.’

Yui gives me her usual bright smile. Strike that, her smile’s even brighter than usual.

‘Morning, Kagenashi-kun.’

‘Morning, Kiryuu. Where are we heading for breakfast?’

‘Saya-chan found a fancy cafe on the internet. She proposed to check it out before we go into the aquarium.’

I look at Oomori with an astonished look. ‘Oomori, you’re into girly stuff?’

‘Kagenashi-kun, you’re being rude, you know! I am a girl!’

‘I know that, but you sure aren’t acting like one most of the time.’

‘Geez, I get it okay? I know that compared to Yui, I’m not girly enough! But just you watch, I’ll land myself a husband one day!’

‘...You’re definitely one of those girls who wrote that you want to be a bride on the career choice survey.’

‘So what if I did? For your information, so did Yui!’

‘S-Saya-chan! Why did you tell him?’

‘What’s the harm? You want him to know, don’t you?’

‘Wha-? No I don’t!’

While the three of us are having this exchange, Takayama and Miyahara are inside their own world. It’s simply amazing how they could flirt with each other without caring about everything else that’s going on.

Shimazaki, on the other hand, is standing all by himself.

‘By the way, why aren’t we going yet?’ I ask the two girls.

‘Shimazaki said he’s waiting for someone. He refused to say who though, not until the person arrives.’

A few minutes later, the girl whose Shimazaki showed pictures to Miyahara and I during the first night of the training camp appeared.

‘I’m sorry for being late, Shinra-san! Oh, and everyone here, too!’

She kept on bowing and apologizing to us. Shimazaki had to stop her, or she might do it for hours.

‘It’s okay, Saki. We only waited for a few minutes.’ Shimazaki comforts her by saying.

‘Um, Shimazaki? Who’s this? Why are the both of you on first name basis?’ Oomori asks in a stunned tone.

‘Ah, everyone, this is Ishibashi Saki, my fiancee.’ Shimazaki introduces.

‘Hello everyone. Thank you for always taking care of Shinra-san for me.’ Ishibashi says gracefully.

Besides Miyahara and I, everyone else is very surprised to hear that Shimazaki has a fiancee.

‘Fiancee? Shimazaki-kun, you never told us you had one!’ Yui says.

‘Sorry, Kiryuu. I never had a good chance to tell you all.’

‘But, Kagenashi-kun and Isao don’t look surprised at all.’ Takayama points out.

‘Well, I sort of told them on a whim when we’re inside our room in the training camp.’ Shimazaki confesses.

‘Seriously, you guys had a guy talk? You could have told the rest of us too, you know?’ Oomori complains.

I, however, am more interested in the way Takayama addresses Miyahara.

‘Oh ho? Takayama, you’re addressing Miyahara with his first name and without honorific?’ I approach them with an intention to tease.

‘Miyahara-kun, what about you? How are you addressing Shizuku?’ Oomori joins in.

‘Huh? Well, yeah. I call her Shizuku too.’ Miyahara answers with an embarrassed look.

‘My my~. aren’t you two intimate?’

‘How far have you two gone?’

‘Hey-’

‘Have you two hold hands?’

‘What about kissing?’

‘Gah! Yui, do something about these two!’ Takayama shouts.

‘Right away!’ Yui comes forward and pulls Oomori and I away from the embarrassed couple. ‘Stop that, you two. Can’t you see that they’re troubled?’

‘Yui, are you our mom or something?’ Oomori couldn’t help but asks.

‘What? I’m too young for that! Even if I am, I’m only your mom, not Kagenashi-kun’s!’

‘Yes, yes. We get it.’ Oomori looks at me with a knowing smile.

All of us are getting hungry, so we set out to the cafe. The place indeed looks fancy, and it’s full of cutesy stuff. The place is not that crowded, so we got ourselves a seat as soon as we go in.

I look at the menu. The stuff they serve is mostly western: salads, burgers, pastas, the likes. I decide to go with a Caesar Salad with raw salmon slices. The others made their decisions too, so we called a waitress and place our orders.

While waiting, we had a little chat with Ishibashi. Or to be more precise, Oomori did. The rest of us just listened and add stuff into the conversation every once in a while.

‘Ishibashi-san, was it? I’m Oomori Saya, nice to meet you!’

‘Yes, nice to meet you too, Oomori-san.’

Shimazaki introduce the rest of us to Ishibashi, and she greet us politely. We did the same.

‘Where are you studying at, Ishibashi-san?’ Oomori starts by asking.

‘The Saint Kateliya Girls’ School.’ Ishibashi answers.

‘Uuuh, you mean that ultra-gorgeous looking school? Tell me, is everything there made of gold?’

‘No, there’s not a single trace of gold being used there.’

‘Seriously? What a bummer~.’

‘Where did you even heard that rumor from?’ I ask Oomori.

‘No one. I just thought that school for rich girls are all sparkly and stuff.’

‘Metaphorically, maybe. But do you think they’ll really build a school by using gold? That’s so impractical!’

‘Hmm, I guess.’

After a while, our food arrived, so we cut short our chit-chat and get to the eating.

When I’m halfway done with my salad, I feel a tug at my shirt from the right side, which is where Yui is sitting. I look at her direction and find that she’s holding out a fork with a piece of pancake stabbed to it.

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She looks very embarrassed, but she also look very determined.

I lean forward, open my mouth and bite the pancake. Then I lean back and chew the pancake for a few times. Yui responds by showing me her happy smile that I can no longer live without.

I continue to eat my salad like nothing had happened. I look around. Everyone’s doing the same and try their best to act like they didn’t see a thing. That said, Ishibashi looks like she has a million questions to ask, but is too shy to ask them.

After we’re done and paid for our food, we head towards the aquarium. Since it’s summer holidays, there’s a lot people who’re lining up. Thankfully, Shimazaki had the foresight to book the entrance tickets in advance, so we didn’t have to line up to buy them.

‘Oh look, they have a dolphins and seals show. Let’s watch it.’ Oomori says after taking a look at the pamphlet given to us.

All of us agree.

Even though we didn’t have to line up, the inside’s still crowded with people, so I made sure not to get lost from them. Five minutes in, and I realized that I’m the only one who thinks that.

I really don’t know how did it happened. One moment, we were still walking as a group. A few seconds later, only Yui and I are left. It’s like they vanished into thin air.

I was about to propose to Yui to look for them, but based on her excited look she probably wished for this to happen, so I decide to play along.

‘Wanna walk around with just the two of us?’ I ask her.

‘But, they might be worried about us…’ Yui says while trying to hide the excitement in her voice.

‘...’

I say nothing, but keep on staring at her with a ‘Seriously? Do you mean that?’ look. After a while, she finally stops acting.

‘...Then again, maybe we should walk around by ourselves first.’

I nod, satisfied with her answer.

So that’s what we did. We pass through a glass tunnel that has a moving walkway. All kinds of fishes are passing through the tunnel. It’s all pretty and stuff, but I ruined the atmosphere by blurting out my chef’s opinion.

‘Oh, that one might taste better if I grill it with salt and lime. And that one’s probably best eaten raw.’

Yui lets out a long sigh. ‘Kagenashi-kun, we’re not in a market, you know?’

‘Sorry Kiryuu, I couldn’t stop myself when I saw them swimming around.’

After we pass through the tunnel, there’s an exhibition room which says it contains living fossils. We decide to go in.

There’s the obligatory horseshoe crabs, and there’s also the Nautiluses. There are also a lots of weird-looking fishes that I can’t pronounce the names.

Naturally, I wonder about their taste, but Yui might hate me if I say something stupid again, so I kept my curiosity to myself.

After we left the exhibition room, we pass by more fish tank filled with all kinds of fish. There’s also a huge tank full of sharks. It even has a whale shark in it.

Everyone around us keep on saying how big the whale shark is, but I don’t share their sentiment at all. I guess that after you’ve met the spirit of a sea monster whose eyes themselves are bigger than a four-storey house, you’ll find pretty much everything small.

There are also penguins here, and Yui got very excited when she saw them. Her eyes are all sparkly, and she couldn’t stop taking pictures of them with her phone. If they weren’t separated by glass walls, I bet Yui would have jumped in and hugged the birds.

‘Hawawawa, all of them are so cute~! Oh, that’s a baby bird right there! I wonder how old is it?’

While she’s getting captivated by the penguins, I look at the time. The dolphins and seals show is about to start.

‘Kiryuu, we’re leaving. It’s almost time for the show.’

‘Just a bit longer please! I’m not done with taking pictures yet!’

In the end, I had to drag her away by force. On the way to the show, we pass by a souvenir shop. There’s no line at the counter, so I decide to go in.

‘Um, Kagenashi-kun? Didn’t you say that we’re pressing for time?’ Yui asks me.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll be quick about it.’ I assure her.

After browsing for a while, I found what I was looking for: a fluffy penguin doll. I also got some keychains.

Yui looks at me in astonishment. ‘Kagenashi-kun, you’re into dolls?’

‘It’s not for me.’

‘Then, who’s it for?’

I pay for the doll and the keychains, then hands the doll over to her and put the keychains into my pocket. ‘You, of course.’

‘M-Me?’

‘You look kinda disappointed when we had to leave the penguins, so I bought this to cheer you up.’

‘Is it really okay?’

‘Of course, unless you don’t wan-’

‘I do! I want it! Thank you so much!’ she says happily in a voice that’s a bit too loud.

Naturally, the keychains are for the rest of the girls in my harem. I got one for Madoka and Sara too.

On the way to the venue, we meet up with the rest of the gang. They made a huge fuss of getting very worried about us and tried their best to look for us and whatnot despite the fact that all of us have working cell phones. Seriously, they’re not even trying to act like they’re worried.

None of them asked about the doll Yui is hugging tightly, but Oomori did elbowed me playfully and whispered ‘good job’.

It’s not raining now, so the show goes on as usual. Six dolphins and eight seals were trained specifically for the show, and they gave us a wonderful time by performing all kinds of clever tricks.

After the show is over, we leave the aquarium and head for a family restaurant to have our lunch. I order a Salisbury Steak lunch set and get myself unlimited access to the drink bar.

‘What are you getting for your drink, Kagenashi-kun?’ Yui asks me as I got up with my cup.

‘Hmm, it’s kinda hard to explain.’

‘How so?’

‘Come with me and you’ll see.’

Yui then watch in absolute horror as I fill up my cup with literally every drinks in the drink bar. As I mentioned several times before, I’m a water or iced-chocolate guy, but this is an exception.

‘Are you really going to drink that?’ she asks me in a worried tone.

‘You bet I am. I mean, it’s pretty much a given when you’re in a family restaurant, right?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Well, it is for me.’

Everyone else have the same look as Yui when they saw me concocted the chaotic liquid. Now, they await for my reaction when I drink it. I decided not to disappoint them, so I take a few sips right away.

The flavor’s extremely hard to explain, but it’s not so bad since I didn’t spit out the whole thing. Overall, it’s another good experience, and it’s nice to have all these audiences looking on with a mixed expression on their face. When I did it in the real world, I was sitting all alone, so I felt stupid for doing it.

‘It’s quite nice, actually. You guys should try it.’ I manage to tell them with a straight face.

‘Nuh-uh.’

‘No thanks.’

‘I’m good.’

‘Me too. I don’t want to have a diarrhea.’

‘I’ll have to pass.’

‘If Kagenashi-kun says it’s nice-’

‘Yui, stop right there!’

‘Oomori, I’m disappointed in you. I thought you at least would have joined me.’

‘What? What did you take me for, a weirdo?’

‘As a mat-’

‘Never mind, you don’t have to answer that!’

Yui is staring at my cup intently. She looks like she wants an indirect kiss, but is too afraid to take a sip since she’s worried for her health.

Anyway, we finish up our meal, and I somehow manage to drink all of the chaotic liquid. I hope I’m not going to get sick when I go back.

‘There’s still plenty of time left, so should we go somewhere else?’ Shimazaki asks.

‘Oh, I need to go to the bookstore for a bit.’ Oomori says.

‘Oomori, going to a book store? Is the world going to end?’ I couldn’t believe my ears.

‘Seriously, Kagenashi-kun! What kind of image do you have of me? I’m just going to get some light novels, alright?’

‘Oh.’ that calmed me down. ‘You read those too?’

‘Well, yeah. After Takagi-kun recommended some to me.’

Hearing that name after all this while give me mixed feelings. I’ve chatted with Iwata through LINE around a week ago, and he told me that he and the other two are thinking of transferring to the Research Department.

The Research Department is an independent section where the researchers strive to make new Pseudo-Regalias. The staffs are mostly adults, but they also welcome students.

While going to the bookstore, Oomori and I talk some more about Takagi.

‘You two got to know each other?’

‘Yup. I cheered him up when he barely passed his entrance exam, so I’m kind of surprised that we got paired up during the test of courage at the training camp.’

‘I see.’

‘He told me that he and Ueno-kun are feeling quite guilty of how they treated you during the training camp, but they just don’t know how to apologize.’

‘I’m not even mad though.’

‘Then it’s even easier for you guys to make up, right? You should go talk to them one of these days.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

We soon reach the bookstore, and Oomori proceeds to search for the light novels she wants to buy.

I look at the others. ‘You guys aren’t getting anything?’

‘Well, I haven’t been to this kind of bookstores. No offense.’ Takayama says.

‘None taken. You can just take a look around. Just one thing.’ I point at the BL section. ‘Never, EVER, go near that section. Don’t ask what the words mean. Don’t ask what genre it is. Just stay clear of that place. Don’t even go there out of curiosity. Got it?’

They are quite confused with my insistence, but they promised to do as I say.

‘Kagenashi-kun, can you recommend me some of those light novels Saya mentioned?’ Yui asks me.

That took me by surprise. ‘Kiryuu, you’re interested in light novels?’

‘Not really, but I’m interested in what you’re interested in.’

‘Is that so? Well, in that case…’

I recommend her a few series that are suitable for beginners, and she buys them immediately. I also end up recommending light novels for the others, just like how I recommended them to the trio from the Shut-Ins Club. At this rate, each and every one of my friends might become light novel readers.

After everyone purchased what they wanted, we went our separate ways. Shimazaki has to escort Ishibashi back to her house. Miyahara and Takayama are going on another date. Oomori wants to rush home to start reading the light novel that she just bought. Yui wants to head to the church to talk to Albanese about the soup kitchen that the shrine and the Church are co-hosting this Sunday. I want to hand the keychain I bought to Sara, so I follow Yui to the church.

Albanese welcome us with open arms with Sara right behind him. Now that he no longer has to act like a jerk, he has a much better look on his face.

While Yui and Albanese are discussing things, I hand Sara one of the keychains I bought.

‘Thank you. Was going to the aquarium fun?’ Sara asks me.

‘I guess. I kept thinking about how delicious the fishes look though.’

‘I-Is that so?’

Yui heard me, and even a nice girl like her couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes.

After the discussion is over, I escort Yui back to her temple. This time, I really kept my distacne from the temple so that I would not run into Yui’s father again.

‘Well then, Kagenashi-kun. See you this Sunday.’

‘Yeah. See you soon.’

I’ve promised to help out at the soup kitchen, and we will be attending the local festival at night along with our friends and the girls from my harem.

During dinnertime, after the girls and I ate our dinner, I take out the rest of the keychains and give them to the girls. Nowadays, even Madoka has joined us for dinner, so she saved the trouble of having her to come here (or I go to her) just so I could hand her the keychain.

I did invite them to come to the aquarium with us, but all of them said they had things to attend to, so they had to decline. From what I see, they were just giving excuses so that Yui could spend more time with me.

Anyway, since they couldn’t come, they had to make do with looking at the photos I took with my phone.

‘By the way, Akira. You do remember that you promised to come to my family’s dojo tomorrow with me, do you not?’ Ichika reminds me.

‘Yeah, I remember.’

Before the summer holiday starts, I promised Ichika to train with her at the dojo owned by her family for three days. I don’t mind training with her and the other disciples, but Ichika’s father is a different matter altogether.

Perhaps knowing that I will suffer greatly, Sakuya who knows Ichika’s father and Madoka who knows pretty much everyone look at me with eyes full of pity.