𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚢 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚕 - 𝙺. 𝚂𝚊𝚔𝚞𝚜𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

Chapter Six - Bloom

Chapter Six

"Wow, look at that one! You can hardly even see it."

Sakusa followed Sajima's gaze to a stingray laying flush with the sand surface floor. At the same time, a school of vibrantly coloured fish swam above. It was amusing how excited Sajima was over every little thing; a pair of sharks with a pup tucked at their side, an octopus propelling itself forward, and a colourful spiny lobster all gained more significant reactions than Sakusa thought the average adult would have. "Have you really never been here before?"

"I think I did once as a kid, but I would have been really young, so I don't remember it," Sajima explained. However, her eyes never left the Pacific ocean exhibit. She gasped and pointed out a blue marlin seemingly coming out of nowhere. "Oh my gosh! That nose looks way more frightening than I thought it would be up close."

With a simple hum of acknowledgement, Sakusa took a few steps away to look at the glass wall opposite them. "Sajima," he called over his shoulder and she scurried past a few running children to stand beside him. "Two feet above the barrier reef and to the left. The one that is the shape of a spade."

"The red and black one?" Sajima glanced over at Sakusa for confirmation, and he nodded.

"That one's an angelfish, but I haven't seen one this colour before."

Sajima smiled brightly, happy that her companion for the morning had found at least a little interest in their escapade. "It's so vibrant. Are all the different kinds brightly coloured? Or at least the ones you've seen?"

"Mostly," he nodded.

"That's really cool. Fish can be so pretty; it surprises me that more people don't have fish tanks at home."

"I hear it can be an expensive hobby. Perhaps that's why."

"Maybe," Sajima hummed, her mind immediately getting sidetracked. "Oh! Can we go check out the aqua gate? I think we're pretty close now."

Sakusa placed his hands in his pockets after motioning for her to lead the way. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he looked forward to that area. Once they reached it, both found themselves looking up in awe at the creatures swimming above the curved barrier only a few feet higher than their heads. Due to the tight encasement of the area, the amount of light was minimal, with only what glimmered through from the surface a dozen feet above them left to illuminate the various sea life and those standing on the other side of the glass.

"Wow..."

Sakusa couldn't help but look over at Sajima after she murmured. She still had her obsidian tresses tied up messily on the crown of her head and was in a very casual outfit consisting of a pair of black leggings and an oversized turquoise t-shirt, but none of that even registered for Sakusa. He was too preoccupied with how the azure hues tinted her incredulous features and how the light that broke it apart made her gemstone eyes more dazzling to have bothered to care about something as insignificant as her attire.

When Sajima's attention wandered over to Sakusa's unexpectedly, he quickly glanced away. Her smile widened when she caught him staring. She took the tiniest bit of time provided to her to ponder his sudden shyness and admire how cute it was that he always styled his hair the same way, showing off the punctuation mark above his eyebrow that was unique to him. Sakusa seemed so stoic a lot of the time that in those fleeting moments when he wasn't, it excited Sajima and made her curious. What was tucked underneath the surface? Noticing the flush that rose to the surface of his cheeks poking out from his cornflower blue mask, Sajima felt her heart flutter but couldn't resist the urge to tease him. "Enjoying the view, Sakusa?"