If Yukino ever modeled for a shop, that shop would sell out in no time.
Miura felt a surge of confidence so overwhelming that she was even more confident in Yukino than she was in herself.
"Is the aquarium our first stop?"
Miura immediately pulled out the map she'd prepared for their date the night before. "Let's get milk tea first, then go to the aquarium, eat lunch here, and spend the afternoon shopping at this mall. How does that sound?"
Yukino leaned in to look at the map and itinerary Miura had drawn up. "You really planned everything out."
As she leaned closer, the faint scent of her perfume gently enveloped Miura. Miura stiffened from head to toe, and was barely stopping herself from walking with her arms and legs on the same side.
"Haha, well, I am a thoughtful and reliable person..."
"I never would've guessed."
"Hey, Yukino! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hm-hm~"
Each holding a cup of milk tea, the two of them entered the city's aquarium.
Miura had never understood why the aquarium was considered the best date spot for yuri couples that year.
But as she and Yukino walked side by side through the underwater glass tunnel, surrounded by the dimming colors and the shifting light that rippled with the current, she finally understood. It felt as though the night had safely wrapped around them, in a way that was hard to put into words.
It was as if all the shyness and nervousness softened away here.
Yukino suddenly raised her head and let out a quiet gasp of admiration. Miura looked up too, and saw the fearsome yet graceful shadow of a shark gliding over their heads.
"It's a shark!"
It was a terrifying creature, but safely separated from them by the glass, all they could feel was its strength and beauty.
Miura's gaze shifted from the shark to the schools of fish darting through the tunnel. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Yukino's face.
It was only an ordinary aquarium, but Yukino was gazing around with such earnest fascination. She even rested one hand lightly against the glass, leaning closer to peer curiously into the underwater world beyond it.
Her expression was positively full of wonder.
Miura suddenly thought of something. "Yukino..."
"Hmm?"
"Have you really never been to an aquarium before?"
"Don't tell me you think I'm some shut-in otaku..."
She spoke softly. "I just never came with friends."
Not just the aquarium—she'd never gone to the library, gone shopping, or bought milk tea with friends, either.
Yukino had never had friends before.
After saying that, she turned her head away, looking a little awkward and uncomfortable. "...We count as friends now, right?"
"Of course we do!"
After answering firmly, Miura grumbled to herself, Still pretending we're just friends, huh? Hmph!
I already know you're in love with me!
After walking through the underwater tunnel and continuing on for a while, they reached a spacious pool. This was the animal show area. A few pale fish, each as long as a person, gracefully leaped out of the water and bumped a little ball their trainer tossed to them.
Miura was very interested in the show and excitedly hurried forward.
"Dolphins! They're dolphins!"
"Wow, wow, dolphins are so smart and pretty! Yukino, how do they do such amazing tricks?"
Yukino made something up. "If they don't behave, they get beaten up."
"Eee! Wouldn't that make the dolphins sad?"
"Dolphins don't get sad at all."
"...Seriously?!"
"Seriously. Because these aren't dolphins. They're beluga whales."
Miura: "..."
It was the perfect weekend, and Yui was still half-asleep when her phone, lying beside her pillow, began vibrating with one message after another.
Half-awake, she shut off her phone without opening her eyes, pulled the covers over her head, and went back to sleep. Some time later, she heard movement outside, between the living room and the kitchen.
"Yui, time to get up and have breakfast~"
Mrs. Yuigahama, who had already made breakfast, knocked on the door.
"Let me sleep a little longer, Mom..."
"Even on the weekend, you can't stay in bed forever. It's nine o'clock, Yui."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Yui got up, yawning, and ran her fingers through her messy hair. Still yawning, she went to the bathroom to wash up, then slowly made her way to the table to eat breakfast.
"Where's Dad?"
"Dad has to work overtime today, too. He ate breakfast and rushed off just now."
Mrs. Yuigahama, tidying things in the kitchen alcove, turned around with a smile. "He said he'll be on a business trip to the neighboring city for the next couple of days. Apparently, they have some really famous cute dolls there. He wanted to know if there's anything you'd like."
"I really don't need anything. I'm all grown up now—Dad still treats me like a little kid!"
"Yes, yes, Yui's all grown up, with grown-up tastes."
Mrs. Yuigahama smiled and asked, "Aren't you going out with Yumiko, Junko, and Kaho this weekend?"
Usually, as one of the popular Social Butterflies in class, the gentle and adorable Yui Yuigahama had weekends packed with plans. She was either out shopping with Yumiko, Junko, and Kaho, or getting invited out by other girls in her class.
It surprised Mrs. Yuigahama to see her daughter sleep in until she woke up naturally.
"Junko and Kaho are busy today, and Yumiko has a date. Besides, I wanted to catch up on sleep."
"Oho, a date? Is Yumiko in love, too? What a lovely age to be young and in love~"
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Yui calmly corrected her. "It's a girl who just transferred into our class. Yumiko's the class discipline committee member, so she's just going shopping with her to help her fit in."
At that moment, though, Yui couldn't help remembering something Junko had said, as if in passing.
[When Yukino first transferred into our class, everyone was watching her. You probably didn't see what Yumiko was like back then.]
Mrs. Yuigahama casually remarked, "Is that really a discipline committee member's job? Yumiko's so thoughtful."
Yeah. Even Mom had questions about such a flimsy excuse, but Yukino had accepted it without a second thought.
Whether Yukino had other intentions toward Miura, or Miura was special to Yukino... Either explanation filled Yui with an inexplicable, unspoken resistance.
After helping her mother put away the dishes, Yui went back to her room. She turned her phone back on and opened Line to find, just as she'd expected, a mountain of messages.
The group chat called "Peace and Prosperity" was unusually lively today. Yumiko had been chattering away in it since four in the morning.
Yui had left her phone beside her pillow with notifications turned on. It felt as though mosquitoes had been buzzing through her dreams all night.
Even now, Yumiko was practically buzzing with excitement.
Miura: [Well, I thought about it for a long time, and I still think the aquarium's a pretty good choice. Nothing else to it.]
Miura: [Kaho mixed up the data yesterday and spouted a bunch of nonsense. It's not just a yuri couple thing—regular friends can go to an aquarium together too.]
Miura: [Besides, Yukino looked completely calm. She didn't think there was anything special about the aquarium, either.]
Ono: [Heh.]
Kamizawa: [Heh.]
Yui casually copied and pasted another [Heh] after theirs.
Kamizawa: [Then should I send Yukino that ranking of the best date spots for yuri couples?]
Kamizawa always had some devious scheme up her sleeve. She loved teasing Yumiko when she got all tsundere.
Miura: [Hahaha, why don't I show you all a picture instead? I secretly snapped one of Yukino at the aquarium. She seemed so different from usual!]
Ono: [Taking pictures of her without permission? Yumiko's getting more and more creepy...]
[Hey, hey, do you even want to see it or not?!]
Yumiko's attempt to change the subject was pretty clumsy, but of course everyone was dying to see this whole new side of Yukino!
So Miura sent them a photo. In it, Yukino had one hand resting lightly on the glass of the underwater tunnel. She leaned close, looking intently and carefully at the underwater world on the other side.
The light shining through the tunnel reflected on her profile, dazzling and surreal, tinged with the deep shadows of the ocean.
Even her beautiful face, usually so calm and composed, seemed to soften in the dim light.
The way that aloof girl's expression suddenly softened was devastatingly beautiful.
Ono: [Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, Yukino's killing me with that face!!!]
Ono: [Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, nobody at Sobu High would've guessed the Ice Queen had such a soft, girly side!!!]
Kamizawa: [I'm going to confess to Yukino right now!]
Kamizawa: [Looking at Yukino's face, I feel like I could eat a few extra bowls of rice every day!]
Yumiko: [Get lost, get lost, get lost! Yukino is... She's one of the promising students in our class. She's focused on her studies, so don't you dare bother her!]
Yui couldn't really remember what the others said after that. She only remembered absentmindedly agreeing with them a couple of times before staring blankly at the photo Yumiko had sent.
Yui had known for a long time that Yukino was beautiful.
If blonde-haired Yukino had been a radiant peach blossom in full bloom, then black-haired Yukino was like a pure, untainted water lily—an even more beautiful version of one, with a quiet charm that took your breath away.
"By the way, Yui..." Mrs. Yuigahama took some meat out of the fridge to marinate. "I remember you had a pretty friend named Yukino. Why haven't you brought her home lately?"
Yui managed a weak smile. "Ah, she's busy catching up on her studies..."
Yui returned to her room almost in a daze. She pulled a cardboard box out from under her bed, took a photo frame from inside, and gently wiped the dust from the picture.
The photo showed a blonde girl and a pink-haired girl smiling brightly at the camera, their fingers making slightly silly V signs.
Back then, Yui had been carefree and happy, believing that a promise of friendship would last forever.
Yui stared blankly at the photo frame. Her face no longer wore the gentle smile she usually used to put others at ease.
"Why did it have to be Yumiko...?"
"I was the one who came first, whether it was being friends or being used..."
Yukino might have been so annoying, as Miura kept saying, but when they left the aquarium, Miura still looked like her grin was about to stretch all the way to the back of her head.
It was strange. She'd been to the aquarium with friends and family before, but it had never made her feel as happy throughout the day as she did now.
Just seeing Yukino looking so full of wonder, and so carefully happy, made Miura feel that bringing her here had been an absolutely brilliant decision.
After that, they went to have lunch. Yukino picked an ordinary Japanese restaurant. Miura had wanted to take her somewhere more upscale, but Yukino talked her out of it with a single sentence.
"I've never been to a place like this..."
The longing in her eyes, the way she tried to stay composed but still seemed awkward and bashful—it all sent Miura's blood rushing to her head.
Take her there!
Take her everywhere!
Forget a restaurant—if Yukino said she wanted to bomb the palace, Miura would take her there!
They each ordered a meal, one Pork Cutlet Bowl and one beef bowl.
It was simple, ordinary food, but Yukino seemed to enjoy it immensely, as if she were trying something completely new.
Miura's heart nearly melted.
Aww, what an adorable girl! How could anyone be mean to her?
All the rumors that had surrounded her in the past had to be lies and misunderstandings.
Before you continue