Akito assumed his weekend would be uneventful, the same routine as always: morning and evening runs, some vocal practice, of course, and pushing his homework aside until it couldn’t be ignored anymore. He had no plans, and he was perfectly fine with that. What he didn’t expect was a few texts— first thing in the morning— from his senior. “Let’s go to the aquarium,” Tsukasa had typed, like it was the most important invitation in the world. “You and me! I have an extra ticket I don’t want to waste, and everyone else is busy.” Akito had stared at his phone in disbelief, still half-asleep. The aquarium? Of all places?

He didn’t particularly like fish— not after that childhood incident, back when Ena accidentally dropped his pet goldfish down the toilet. One second, it was swimming peacefully in its bowl, and the next, gone in a swirl of water. Kindergarten Akito had been traumatized. Since then, aquariums gave him the creeps. He’d nearly said no. Thought about texting back something like, “sorry, busy too,” or “maybe next time,” just to avoid the whole thing. But then he thought about Toya— how often Toya had nudged him to get along with Tsukasa, his enthusiastic, loud, impossibly earnest senior. And Akito, against his better judgment, had sighed and texted back: “sure.”

And now, here they were. They went through the dim, glowing corridors, Tsukasa pointing out jellyfish and colorful coral reefs like an excited puppy. Akito walked beside him, hands in his pockets, nodding at everything with the additional comment about how it looked. The air smelled mild, earthy, and faintly of the ocean. Everything was bathed in a soft blue light that shifted with the water in the tanks, dancing across their faces like slow waves.

Tsukasa stopped in front of one of the largest tanks and gasped, practically pressing himself against the glass. Akito looked up and saw it— a huge shark, gliding silently through the water, its caudal fin swaying side to side. He watched it for a moment, then glanced at Tsukasa, whose face was glowing with excitement. He stepped up beside him.

“That thing’s pretty big.”