"There are so many couples here."
Miura Yumiko stepped into the aquarium alongside Shirai Mio and glanced around. Beyond the clusters of parents herding young kids, the place was practically overrun with pairs.
"We count as one of them too, y'know~" Mio said cheerfully, threading her arm through Yumiko's.
Two girls with looks at the absolute ceiling of what was humanly possible—walking arm-in-arm, radiating an unmistakable air of closeness—became the center of attention the moment they entered. It was unavoidable.
If this had been a few months ago, the stares might have made Yumiko uncomfortable. But after their last date, she'd gotten used to it.
Honestly? The strangers' gazes weren't worth the mental energy. It was much better to spend that time looking at Mio—for educational purposes. Observing technique. Obviously.
She reined in her wandering thoughts and noticed Mio curiously scanning the hall, eyes bright with something like genuine wonder.
"Is this your first time at an aquarium?"
"Mhm. I've always wanted to come, but I could never find anyone to go with." Mio leaned her head lightly against Yumiko's shoulder. "In a way, this is kind of my first time, y'know~"
That was technically the truth. Before transmigrating, she'd always wanted to take a girlfriend here for a proper date. That girlfriend never materialized, so neither did the trip.
Now, with Yumiko beside her—first aquarium, first date of this kind. An unfulfilled wish that had finally found its ending.
Yumiko's face went red.
In school she could handle Mio's antics just fine. But alone together, Mio had this habit of saying things—technically innocent, definitely not. Like just now. A couple that had walked past caught Mio's words and shot both of them a distinctly loaded look.
Taking a breath to steady herself, Yumiko started wondering: how much of what Mio said was real, and how much was performance? She'd seen Mio act convincingly before. This could go either way.
Trying to steer her thoughts somewhere neutral, she looked around at the tanks—and had a thought.
"Wait. Aren't you supposed to be asking me what all these fish are?"
"Do you know?"
Yumiko shook her head. Marine life had never been her thing.
"There you go," Mio said simply. "If you don't know, asking would just make things awkward."
"...Fair. But how'd you know I didn't know?"
"Because if you did, you'd have already started telling me."
Yumiko blinked. Not wrong. She had, for a brief moment, genuinely thought: wouldn't it be nice to casually rattle off the names of these fish right now? And then Mio would do that whole wide-eyed 'Yumiko, you know all of this? Amazing' thing, and it would feel great.
She absolutely knew it was a technique. She knew it was deliberate.
It still worked.
"I know what you were thinking," Mio said, almost gently. "I taught you this one last time, remember? The key is to use it in an area your target already knows well. Pull it on Hayama about something he doesn't know either, and the whole thing falls apart."
"Got it."
Before Yumiko could even finish processing that, Mio switched back into girlfriend mode—swinging their linked hands lightly, voice going warm and sweet.
"Yumiko, those fish over there are so cute. Can we go look~?"
They found a massive exhibition hall not long after.
A wall of glass stretched before them—taller than either of them, wide enough to fill an entire field of view. Sea creatures drifted past on the other side in quiet, unhurried currents, luminous against the dark water.
For a moment, it felt like standing at the bottom of the ocean.
Even Mio couldn't hold back.
"...That's actually gorgeous~"
"Yumiko, let's take a photo~"
"Sure."
Mio found a good angle, pulled Yumiko close, and snapped a few shots—the kind of candid closeness that, from the outside, looked very much like two people who were actually dating.
She immediately set the freshest one as her phone wallpaper.
Yumiko watched this with an expression somewhere between fond and exasperated. "Won't it be a problem if someone sees that?"
"What's wrong with using a photo of my girlfriend as my wallpaper?" Mio asked, all innocent eyes and zero guilt.
Even knowing it was a performance—knowing every part of it was calculated—Yumiko's heart still did something stupid.
She caught herself. Getting flustered over a girl. Again. But it had happened plenty of times during their first date, and nothing had come of it. Today would end, they'd go back to being best friends, and that would be that.
...Right.
She let herself relax. Then, almost on impulse, she reached over and took Mio's hand first.
The water performances were cancelled for winter, but the penguin show was still on.
They found a quieter corner of the viewing area and settled in to watch the keeper's routine with the birds.
Mio, it turned out, was genuinely fond of penguins—in the round, waddling, harmlessly-chaotic sense. She had considerably less affection for a certain Antarctic creature whose existence she found personally offensive, but that was a separate matter entirely.
She was still watching the stage when someone leaned against her shoulder.
Yumiko didn't need to check. There was only one person it could be.
She hesitated a moment—then put her arm around Mio's waist.
Mio glanced up, mildly surprised. Then smiled.
"Look at Yumiko, taking the initiative~"
"You're my girlfriend today," Yumiko said, not looking away from the stage. "A little initiative is fine."
"Oh, if you're feeling bold, we could do even more than this." Mio touched a finger lightly to her own lips, voice carrying just a trace of mischief. "Couple-exclusive things. I don't mind~"
I am a bad influence, Mio thought to herself. And I am weirdly okay with this.
"Wh—who'd want to do that with you?!" Yumiko shot back, voice sharp—
—but her ears had gone the color of ripe tomatoes, and they both knew it.
······
[TL Note: "Antarctic creature" is a deliberate Chinese internet joke—Tencent's mascot is a penguin, and the original term (南極賤畜) is a common insult used by Chinese gamers and webnovel readers toward the company, particularly over their platform and copyright policies. Mio loves real penguins. Tencent's penguin is another story entirely.]