Trust

Michael and the others had been wandering around the aquarium for a full hour. Not only were there countless exhibits, but even the passages inside were like a maze. Despite the signs, one careless turn could lead them down the wrong path.

After making their way around, they finally found the stairs leading to the true top floor. This aquarium actually had a two-level design, which left Aozaki Aoko genuinely impressed.

Perhaps the real top floor could only be reached through this aquarium. No encore could possibly have been more surprising than this.

"Alice?"

Aozaki Aoko came back to her senses and realized that Alice, who had been beside her all along, had vanished. She instinctively looked around and quickly found her target. In a dark corner, Alice Kuonji stood blankly before a tank.

She simply watched it, as though looking at an everyday sight she had long grown used to.

"What's wrong, Alice? Are you in a bad mood?"

Sensing the subtle shift in Alice's mood, Aozaki Aoko asked softly.

"No. I was just looking at this unnecessary tank."

Her gaze never left the black shadow inside the tank, staring fixedly at it.

"Wow—so it's an ocean sunfish!"

Aozaki Aoko exclaimed in an overly dramatic voice, and Alice Kuonji silently nodded.

The tank had been placed in a corner, where it would have been impossible to spot without looking carefully. Even so, the ocean sunfish drifted gently through the water. It was no elegant, exotic creature; it looked like a giant plate, rather stupid-looking, with all kinds of scars across its body.

"Alice, let's go over there. They have whale sharks, you know. They're really beautiful."

Aozaki Aoko took Alice Kuonji's hand, but Alice's gaze remained on the ocean sunfish. She watched it sway unsteadily through the water, occasionally bumping into the tank walls.

"Aoko, this child doesn't seem very good at swimming."

Alice Kuonji lightly touched the outside of the tank, but quickly withdrew her finger when she realized it made her seem rather childish.

"Hmm... a fish that isn't good at swimming. Looking at it that way, ocean sunfish do have a cute side."

Since she could not pull Alice Kuonji away, Aozaki Aoko simply stayed beside her and admired the foolishly adorable ocean sunfish with her.

"Oh—so ocean sunfish are porcupinefish. What? Female ocean sunfish can lay three hundred million eggs in the ocean at once, making them the vertebrates that lay the most eggs on Earth... I see. Since their eggs can become excellent bait for other fish, producing so many is their way of ensuring their species survives."

Aoko read the introduction with great interest, but Alice did not seem concerned with the ocean sunfish's way of life. She merely watched the fish as it occasionally bumped into the wall, her eyes sometimes shining brightly and sometimes darkening with melancholy.

"Aoko."

She suddenly spoke. "Do you think he can be trusted?"

"Huh? Which he?"

The topic had shifted too abruptly for Aozaki Aoko to react at once.

Alice Kuonji silently looked in Michael's direction. He stood three tanks away, examining a creature that looked rather like coral.

"I don't know."

After pondering for a moment, Aozaki Aoko answered that way. Her tone was so sincere that there was not the slightest possibility she was pretending.

"Is that so..."

Alice Kuonji nodded gently. She had returned to her usual expression, carrying that cold aura that kept people at arm's length, whether inside the mansion or outside.

"Trusting someone is difficult. I know nothing about his past. If I cannot understand his past, how could I trust him?"

Aozaki Aoko spoke frankly. She was the Demon President who held the records of every student in the school in her hands. How could she so easily trust someone?

"That is certainly like you, but why do you..."

"But why do I still trust him so much?"

Aozaki Aoko also looked toward Michael. His pale, tousled hair reminded her of snow in a winter forest, and she could not help sighing softly. "It's really just my intuition. I made my choice by following my heart."

Just as that eccentric, long-lived old bastard had taught her: respect her own heart.

"In that case, I'll trust him too."

Alice Kuonji said it as calmly as though she were discussing what to eat for dinner.

"Eh—Alice, you..."

"Because I understand you. Your choices are always right, so I also trust the person you trust."

"Ah... That sounded pretty serious, Alice. I never thought you trusted me that much. Don't tell me you like me?"

Aozaki Aoko gave a foolish laugh, but quickly recovered and teasingly looked at Alice Kuonji with a sly expression.

"Whether I like you or not is another matter. I merely trust you."

Alice Kuonji straightened the hem of her clothes, then gently pushed Aozaki Aoko away and walked ahead. Before them was the exit of the Water Kingdom, the end of their wondrous journey.

"What if my choice is wrong? Wouldn't that mean you trusted the wrong person, Alice?"

Aozaki Aoko rose onto her toes behind her and called out loudly.

"Then it was wrong. It can't get any worse anyway..."

Alice Kuonji muttered quietly. Though her words were a complaint, the corners of her lips lifted slightly, carrying a rare smile Michael had never seen before.

By the time Michael and the others returned to Misaki City, it was already seven in the evening. The sun had long since set. The three of them had just gotten off the subway after returning from Arisaka, standing on a brand-new platform that had been open for less than half a year.

They still had to wait for another train to reach where they lived. Since the line had only recently opened and the fare was somewhat expensive, the new subway station was completely empty. It carried a bleak, bone-chilling air, like the underworld where departed souls dwelled.

"How about we rest for a while?"

Aozaki Aoko made the suggestion, not because she was tired from the trip, of course, but because she had suddenly become interested in the sound the subway made as it passed through.

"All right, but your interests really are strange."

Alice Kuonji helplessly sat down on a nearby bench. On any ordinary day, she would have already left Aoko behind and gone home herself. She only stayed today because she was in a good mood.

After hearing Alice Kuonji's answer, Aozaki Aoko turned to look at Michael.

"I'm fine with anything. As long as you're happy."

Michael shrugged, then sat beside Alice Kuonji. He yawned lightly and slowly closed his eyes, while Aozaki Aoko eagerly moved closer to the tracks, waiting for the vibrations to arrive.