Aqua Terrarium (Nagi No Asukara)

Chapter Thirty-Three

So far, their luck was turning dim. They have yet to find a perfect gift for Akari and the day was already reaching the afternoon. The sales lady was kind enough to refer them some accessories found on the seventh floor so they were off to that direction while we were to head to the fifth floor for the ice cream parlor that Tsumugu wanted to take me to.

"So I guess we part ways on the fifth?" It was Hikari, surprisingly, who spoke on their behalf when we were all gathered by the elevator that would take us to the upper floors.

"Yeah. I'm sure you can make it there yourselves, right? The department store on each floor is connected via the elevators so you won't get lost." Tsumugu explained just as the door pinged to signal that it had arrived.

"Alright. T-thanks... For the help..." Hikari trailed off, the defeat evident in his eyes.

The sight only makes me realize the fragility of my situation...no...of our situation. It's stupid of me now to have let it gone this far. Tsumugu had to know, no matter how painful it was to accept.

"Aoi." Tsumugu's voice snapped me back from my stupor, a strong grip grabbing me by the hand before pulling me close to him, his scent reminiscent of the sea.

He had me sandwiched by the corner of the elevator, his hands resting on the wall behind me to make sure I wasn't being squished by the large number of people shuffling into the elevator. I couldn't see where Hikari and the others were, Tsumugu's frame blocking my view as he towered over me ever so slightly. He shouldn't be this tall, I think to myself, but then realized that it was because my knees had lowered a bit as if making myself smaller and farther from him as much as possible.

"We'll see you on the upper floors!" That was Hikari's voice that hollered from distance, Kaname - who sounded like he was beside us - hollering back an 'okay' before the elevator had closed.

"D-did we get separated?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper. It felt like my heart beat had gotten louder, almost bursting out of my chest at this unusual set-up we had ended up in.

I was glad that there were others in the elevator, even though they were the cause of this, at least their own sounds muffled the erratic beating of my heart.

"We reached the weight limit so Hikari decided to stay with Chisaki."

"O-oh..." I trailed off, realizing that with Chisaki and Hikari together...

I couldn't help but sneak a glance behind Tsumugu, trying my best to ignore the position we were in, my eyes searching for Kaname until I landed on his form that was near the other side of the elevator. He had an unreadable expression on his face, his hand grasping Miuna's who was also next to Manaka.

As I thought.

"Your expression changed." My head whirled back to Tsumugu's voice, his eyes meeting mine in a swirl of mixed emotions. "Can I make a request?"

"H-huh?" I nearly stammered, unable to comprehend the change of topic with his question.

By then the elevator had stopped on the third floor, several people already getting off. There wasn't much people who replaced those that had left, allowing room for us yet Tsumugu didn't budge from his position. It made me wonder if he had noticed the people had already thinned. That, or maybe he was too busy waiting for me to reply to his unusual question.

"What request?" I decided to humor him, his form slowly drifting away from me with a thankful nod.

"Just for today. Don't look away." I realized my mistake to listen to his request far too late to turn back now, my mouth unable to voice my opinion just as the elevator finally reached the fifth floor.