Smooth Talker

An aquarium looks pretty huge, and if you're only looking at the map, it can almost give you the illusion that it would take days to fully explore.

But in reality, if you focus on walking around without lingering too long in one place, half a day is more than enough to cover most interesting areas. With another couple of hours in the afternoon, you could see every single worthwhile part of the entire aquarium.

After all, an aquarium isn't quite like an amusement park where each attraction might require an hour or two of waiting in line.

Aqua Park is no different.

If you dedicate the time to walking around, a bit more than half a day is plenty to cover everything.

However, Kotomi and Megumi both had a relaxed, almost laissez-faire attitude about whether they'd see everything in one go. To be honest, they hadn't thought about it at all from the start.

Even if they didn't see everything, it was no big deal. Sure, there was a bit of distance between Chiba City and Shinagawa, but it wasn't as if it required a flight to get there. If they missed anything, they'd simply come back next time.

The Aqua Park aquarium guide booklet could be taken home, so they'd marked off the areas they'd already visited, ready to pick up right where they'd left off on their next visit.

They weren't here to tick items off a checklist; they were here to have fun.

With that mindset, Kotomi and Megumi spent the morning wandering leisurely, taking their time to pause here and there. If they weren't interested in an exhibit, they'd look for a few minutes before moving on, but if something caught their attention, they'd linger for a while. Megumi captured many photos on her phone.

Kotomi wasn't one to take selfies often. In fact, she rarely thought about selfies. When she saw beautiful scenery or food that piqued her interest, she preferred to use her phone's camera to capture it without including herself in the frame.

Except for that recent penguin pajama selfie she sent Megumi, the last time she'd taken a selfie had been during her first year of middle school.

Which was several years ago, really.

But today, whether it was due to Megumi's influence or the change in their relationship's sweetness, every time Kotomi saw something she found captivating, she would happily scoot closer to Megumi, snuggling into her side, wrapping an arm around Megumi's shoulders, and leaning her head affectionately against her as they snapped a selfie together.

And Megumi, of course, played along perfectly each time, often with an amused, barely-restrained smile on her lips.

"Megumi! Look at this selfie—you're smiling sneakily again. What on earth are you so happy about?"

Sitting on a bench inside the aquarium to rest, Kotomi happily scrolled through their selfies from the morning and noticed that in nearly every single one, Megumi either had a barely-contained grin or was outright smiling.

"Am I really?"

Megumi leaned in close, looking at her questioningly.

"Of course! Look here. Your sneaky little grin is so obvious—can't you just smile normally instead of looking like you're hiding something?" Kotomi pouted slightly, pointing at the fifty-second selfie they'd taken.

Looking at the photo of herself, Megumi's lips curved into a slight smile as she glanced at Kotomi with an expression full of hidden meaning. "I can't help it—I'm genuinely happy, you know. I could smile normally, but I'm afraid if I do, I might lose control."

Hearing Megumi say that, Kotomi's curiosity was piqued, and she asked, "What is it that's making you so happy?"

"Because every time you pull me in for a selfie, you're either hugging my arm, resting on my shoulder, or snuggling up to me. It's just so... 'girlfriend-like.' And when I think of my sweet little girlfriend, my future wife, being so adorable and clingy, how could I not be happy?"

Megumi's voice was calm, but each word hit Kotomi's heart like a hammer, making her cheeks flush faintly pink.

"S-smooth talker…" Kotomi mumbled softly, her face warm and embarrassed.

Megumi smiled at her without responding verbally, instead gently but firmly tipping Kotomi's chin up and pressing a tender, lingering kiss to her lips. After a moment, she slowly pulled away, only to playfully nip at Kotomi's bottom lip before letting go, causing Kotomi's cheeks to turn an even deeper shade of pink.

Leaning close to her ear, Megumi murmured softly, "Am I a smooth talker or not? Heh, don't you know best? Or are you saying that my love for you isn't enough for you to see that clearly? No worries—I'll just turn it up a notch and show you even more love."

"T-that's not what I meant…"

"Oh? So you do understand my 'smooth talking,' but still… well, I get it now, Kotomi. You're like a little kitten with an endless appetite—no matter how much I show you, you just want more, don't you? I never realized you were such a 'hungry' girl."

Megumi's lips curved into a mischievous smile as she teased, making Kotomi's blush deepen until it seemed as if her cheeks would burn.

Explaining clearly didn't work, and staying quiet didn't either.

Faced with such a "no-win" situation, Kotomi threw caution to the wind and boldly declared:

"You say all this, but you're just craving my body!"

One of the main reasons that Kotomi always ended up flustered by Megumi was that she didn't know how to take the initiative. If only she knew how to be more forward, she wouldn't get teased into blushing every single time!

The fact that she could never manage to be the one taking control when they were together finally made Kotomi reflect and resolve to change things up. She'd had her share of frustration and felt it was time to figure out why she was always the one getting cornered.

Now, Kotomi felt like she understood. As long as she learned how to make the first move, she was sure she could turn things around in her favor and let Megumi know who was really in charge… Well, that might be looking a little far ahead.

With that thought, Kotomi shot Megumi a smug look, fully expecting to finally see her flustered and red-faced.

A minute passed, then another…

But instead, after two whole minutes, Kotomi was surprised to see that Megumi showed no signs of embarrassment. Her expression had actually changed into more of a mischievous grin, one that only grew more confident as she met Kotomi's gaze and calmly replied:

"Yep, you're exactly right—I'm totally craving your body. From the moment I first saw you, I've wanted you. Now that you're finally my girlfriend, of course, I'm not going to hold back."

"And it's not just your body I crave; it's all of you. If you're wondering how much I want you, well... I'd marry you right now if I could. I'd take you straight to a jewelry store to pick out wedding rings if I had enough cash on me."

Megumi shrugged, flashing a wry smile. "Is there really anything so shocking about that? I don't think so. All I know is that I don't plan to hold back my feelings in front of the person I love. In fact, I want you to feel my love in every possible way, every moment we're together."

After listening to all that, Kotomi's cheeks had turned the deepest shade of red, leaving her so flustered that she didn't know whether to sit or stand. Finally, red-faced, she ducked into Megumi's arms, mumbling softly:

"You're just way too good at this… I give up."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Megumi said with a soft laugh, wrapping her arms around Kotomi's back.

…

After they spent a little more time together, they decided to head over to the souvenir shop near the aquarium's exit, where they could buy various ocean-themed keepsakes to commemorate the day.

Just as they entered, Kotomi's attention was immediately drawn to a shelf of starfish-shaped cookies.

She couldn't look away.

"Wow! They actually made cookies shaped like starfish?!"

"If you're interested, you're welcome to try a few," said a shop clerk who noticed Kotomi eyeing the shelf.

"Huh? You have samples?"

Selling snacks at souvenir shops was common enough; even everyday snacks could sell at double the price when dressed up in theme-park packaging. Add a cute anime character to the design, and customers would pay thousands of yen without a second thought.

There was even the option to create limited editions, special or anniversary editions—the "premium" tag could raise prices to a full 10,000 yen, and people would still consider it a "bargain."

How did Kotomi know this strategy so well?

Because she'd fallen for it plenty of times herself. Even if she knew she was paying extra, if she saw her favorite anime character on the packaging, she'd usually end up reaching for her wallet.

Back to the present: Kotomi's interest in the starfish cookies was simply because it was rare to see cookies shaped like sea stars.

Curious to try them, she figured that 856 yen per bag didn't seem too expensive.

She was definitely surprised that they even offered samples; this wasn't a grocery store, after all.

One for Aimi, one for Yui and Yuka, one for Tomoka Yuigahama, one for Iroha, and one for Yukino...

As Kotomi mentally counted how many bags she'd need, the shop clerk came over with a tray of sample cookies, saying:

"While Aqua Park has sold cookies before, this is the first time we've had starfish-shaped ones, and today's actually the first day they're available. You must be hungry after walking around the aquarium, so please feel free to try some. No pressure to buy!"

With such a friendly invitation, Kotomi decided she'd buy a few bags if they tasted good.

She picked up one of the starfish cookies, popped it in her mouth, and began to chew.

Kotomi's face immediately froze, her expression stiffening as if she'd bitten into something unexpectedly unpleasant.