My Childhood Friend, a Cool, Beautiful Girl With a Pure Face, Is a Monopolising Yandere
Now, what should I do?
I stood next to Ran, who was standing still, and tried to sort out the situation. The sea lion show was sold out. No more tickets, no more time.
That’s the reason why Ran is now with a small slump on her shoulders. I guess she feels more like “I can’t forgive the oversight in my pre-determined plan” rather than “I was really looking forward to the sea lion show”. ……. She is a perfectionist.
We came all the way to the aquarium, and it shouldn’t all be ruined by a problem to the extent of not being able to see the show. I looked around to see if there was something else to look forward to.
Then I saw a small sign in the corner of the information panel in the show area.
[Backyard Tour with the Zookeepers!]
I was surprised to see such a sign.
A backyard tour?
It seems to be a program that allows visitors to take a peek behind the scenes of the aquarium, where they are not usually allowed to see the aquarium.
“Hey, Ran. That looks interesting, doesn’t it?”
Ran looked up and stared at the sign.
“It’s a backyard program, ……. That kind of program has a limited number of participants, and it’s probably full anyway.”
That was a very passive denial. But I wasn’t about to back down.
“It’s not as big a draw as the sea lion show, and it might be empty. It would be a waste to come all the way here and leave without doing anything.”
When I said this positively, Ran hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head.
I immediately asked a staff member, who happily replied, “There was a cancellation on the day of the backyard tour, and two more people are available to join.”
This is lucky.
“Thank God, we can join the tour!”
“….it’s really open. I didn’t expect that.”
When we headed to the tour meeting point, a female staff member in a keeper’s uniform greeted us with a smile and started the tour.
“Today’s backyard tour will last about 30 minutes! You will see the breeding area, which is usually closed to the public, the kitchen where food is prepared for the fish, and a special tank with rare creatures under protection.
Photography is allowed in some areas and not in others, depending on the location, so I will guide you accordingly.”
Oh, I’m getting excited. It is not often that a tour like this shows us the behind-the-scenes. It was a pity that we could not see the sea lion show, but it might have been a valuable experience.
“Yuto, are you surprisingly fond of this kind of thing?”
“It’s exciting. It’s kind of cool, it’s like a secret base. …… We didn’t get to see the show, but we were rather lucky, weren’t we?”
When I said this with a laugh, Ran’s expression softened slightly.
“It was …… inefficient, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Well, that’s okay. I’m more interested in this than in the sea lion tricks.”
When the tour begins and the staff opens the door, the back yard is surprisingly large, with a series of slightly darkly lit corridors.
Pipes and tanks are neatly lined up, and the breeding water circulatory system, filtration system, and oxygen supply system can be seen.
“This is the filtration system and water quality control system. The water quality is fine-tuned on a floor-by-floor basis, as each animal requires a different water temperature and salinity,”
Ran’s eyes lit up with curiosity as the staff explained.
“I’m sorry, the oxygen concentration in the stingray tank on the second floor–”
“You know a lot about it! That’s because–”
“The water currents–for a species that lives in freshwater–”
“In that tank, the temperature is adjusted according to the season–“
I was left behind again when the staff started discussing something technical with her
But I don’t care. It was good to have Ran back in the mood.
The tour is over in a flash as we are shown around the fish feeding preparation room and the rare species tank, which is not open to the public.
After buying some souvenirs, we left the aquarium and caught the train back home.
It was late in the evening, and we stood in line at the end of the slightly crowded train. Outside the window, the sky is a pale orange with buildings and the setting sun. It’s almost summer.
For souvenirs, I bought deep-sea fish cookies.
Of course, I didn’t use real deep-sea fish. They were in the shape of a butterfly anglerfish and a hawksbill crab, and the design was so comical and cute that I couldn’t help but pick one up.
Ran bought an illustrated book of deep-sea creatures ……, or rather a photo book of some kind. She put it in a bag and held it in front of her body.
“I’m sorry about today. It was a mistake of my own not to secure the sea lion show, even though I had planned for it.”
Ran let out a sigh.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. It was fun, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. It is not the first time I’ve seen the backyard, but it was interesting to see the ingenuity that only an urban aquarium can offer. But I was so engrossed in it that I’m not sure if …… Yuto could have enjoyed it.”
Ran looks a little worried. She seems to have calmed down after reflecting on her actions.
“It was fun! The production was beautiful and the atmosphere was great.”
The aquarium is located in the city, so it is not only a fish exhibit, but also an entertainment facility that is designed to entertain visitors. It was interesting enough even without any knowledge of the aquarium.
“By the way, I took a picture of you. Here.”
I showed her my phone. It shows the profile of her in blue light, illuminated by the aquarium tank.
“When did you take this ……?”
“In the first one, in the tropical fish tank.”
“I don’t like it when you take pictures of people’s faces without their permission.”
“Ugh …… sorry.”
She was right. I was sorry that I couldn’t explain that I was just looking at her face and didn’t think of it.
“I’m just kidding. Yuto is fine.”
“Oh, really?”
Ran said nonchalantly.
It’s hard to tell she was joking because she had a straight face!
“But if you took it, I’m going to ask you to take responsibility for it.”
Ran quickly reached out and snatched my phone away from me.
And then she began to operate it on her own.
“Oh, wait……”
I was impatient, but I couldn’t stop her because I felt guilty about the spy photography.
“Yes.”
Fortunately, she gave it back to me right away.
I checked to see what he had done, and to my surprise, the wallpaper of my phone’s home screen had changed to a picture of Ran.
“W-Wait a minute, …… what’s this!”
“What do you mean, it’s a picture of me that you took.”
“Why did you use it as my wallpaper?”
Why did you use a girl’s picture as my wallpaper?
Only loving couples would do that, I think.
“The memory tends to stick when it’s repeated. By setting this photo on your home screen, you can preserve your memory of today’s aquarium for the long term. This is the most efficient way.”
“I0I wonder….”
It is hard to argue when someone assures you of something.
“Or do you have any reason to refuse?”
“… No, I don’t. Yeah.”
If my classmates saw me like this, they would make fun of me again.
Be careful behind me when I look at my phone in the classroom. ……