The aquarium was packed with visitors on the weekend.
"Ryosuke! Over here~" Yamada Elf shouted, waving at the boy in the distance.
She had a new hairstyle today. Her long, curly hair was brought forward over her shoulders, and the red bow hairband was gone. Her normally cascading golden hair was tied into a high, single ponytail.
Hiratsuka Ryosuke stopped when he reached Yamada Elf. Elf put her left hand on her hip, held two fingers of her right hand up in a peace sign, and placed it next to her right eye. She said triumphantly, "Well? Aren't I cute today? Are you smitten?"
"To be honest, no," Ryosuke replied calmly. The girl in front of him was indeed dressed very cutely today, but he wasn't so easily smitten just by seeing a cute girl.
Yamada Elf gasped dramatically. "Hiss! Saying something like that on a date is too much of a turn-off!" However, she understood Ryosuke's personality and didn't blame him. She waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. The goal today is to gather material. Although I write about other worlds, many events originate from reality."
She then took a step forward, grabbed Ryosuke's arm, looked up, and smiled with narrowed eyes. She pointed to the aquarium entrance with her other hand and said in a clear voice, "I'm counting on you today. Please let me personally experience what a real-life date feels like. Let's go!"
The aquarium was filled with a dazzling array of aquatic life. Yamada Elf pressed against the transparent glass, eyes wide as she observed the creatures, occasionally letting out soft exclamations.
Delicate, crescent-shaped jellyfish drifted gracefully in the water, looking like beloved moon-palace maidens. A school of shrimp, shaped like bananas, darted back and forth through dense clusters of algae.
This was Hiratsuka Ryosuke's first time at an aquarium, and the wide variety of aquatic animals also kept his eyes busy.
After a while, Yamada Elf turned her head, intending to call Ryosuke to the next exhibit. When she saw the relaxed smile on Ryosuke's face and the curiosity in his eyes, she just stood quietly to the side, choosing not to interrupt. She had known Ryosuke for a long time, but this was the first time she had seen this expression on him.
Ryosuke noticed her gaze, turned his head, and asked, "Fairy-sensei, what's wrong?"
Yamada Elf put her hand to her porcelain-white chin and countered, "Ryosuke, is this your first time at an aquarium?"
"Yes," Ryosuke nodded. During his vacations in Tokyo, he mostly spent his time practicing kendo and learning to cook. On the rare occasions he rested, he would either play with Shinka near home or play console games alone. It wasn't that he lacked the money or time, but he had simply never thought of visiting an aquarium.
Yamada Elf put her hands behind her back and asked gently, "Do you like aquatic animals very much? Then, would you like to come to my family's private island this summer? That island is the inspiration for the Elf Kingdom in Dark Elf of the Burning Flames! We can even go diving." She hadn't had many friends before, and this was the first time she had invited someone to visit her family's island.
Ryosuke felt her genuine goodwill and politely replied, "Thank you. Let's talk about it if I have time."
Yamada Elf walked over to Ryosuke, grabbed his arm again, and said with a bright smile, "We don't need to be so formal with each other! Let's go check out the next place."
The aquarium was large, and neither of them noticed that in another corner, a passerby was silently observing the two of them.
I saw Hiratsuka-kun again today. But this time, is he on a date with Yamada Elf?
Am I really as special as he says? Every girl around him is so dazzling. Compared to them, I'm just too ordinary.
Why are those girls with him always so happy? They always have smiles on their faces.
I rarely encounter anything worth being truly happy about. Perhaps most ordinary people are like me; there's no great joy or great sorrow in life, just the occasional frustrating triviality of daily routine.
Katō Megumi silently watched the two figures until they disappeared. She turned and looked at the transparent glass in front of her. Lively small fish swam past in schools. The glass reflected Katō Megumi's face, which should have been placid, but a faint curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
This surprised Katō Megumi. She extended both index fingers and touched the corners of her mouth. Yet, as soon as her fingertips touched her skin, the upward curve of her lips became even more pronounced.
The Proposal
At noon, Hiratsuka Ryosuke and Yamada Elf arrived at a restaurant with an elegant atmosphere. Ryosuke sat down, flipping through the menu, and asked, "How do you feel, Fairy-sensei?"
The girl sat directly opposite him, resting her elbows on the table and supporting her chin with crossed hands. She looked at Ryosuke across the table and said with a smile, "I had a lot of fun."
Ryosuke moved his gaze from the menu to her face and said flatly, "You know that's not what I'm asking."
Yamada Elf pressed her fair forehead against the tabletop, then covered her head with both hands, letting out a desperate and muffled groan, "Ah, I still have absolutely no inspiration. What am I going to do?"
She felt a little despairing. Ryosuke was the only boy her age she knew. A date is an essential plot point in every novel with romantic elements, but imagining a date out of thin air always had limitations. She had thought that going on a real-life date with Ryosuke would spark her creative inspiration. Instead, she had fun shopping, but she didn't get any sense of romance. What should I do?I have to submit the manuscript by Monday. I won't be able to force it out this time, even if I get locked up.
She realized for the first time that writing a novel was as difficult as solving a math problem. It's a date, so what is missing?
The food quickly arrived, looking very beautiful. Yamada Elf habitually took out her phone to take a commemorative photo. She noticed that this photo was different from previous ones. Before, she was usually eating alone, and the photos only featured the exquisite dishes. Now, although the dishes were in the center of the photo, she noticed Ryosuke's figure in the corner.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her mind. She felt she had vaguely grasped what was missing in their date.
She quickly said, "Ryosuke, don't start eating yet."
Ryosuke heard her, put down the chopsticks he had just picked up, and looked at the girl opposite him. At this moment, Yamada Elf twisted her body in her chair to face him sideways. Elf made a peace sign with one hand, holding her phone high with the other in a top-down angle.
Click!
The shutter sounded. Yamada Elf turned back to face Ryosuke. She held her phone with both hands, staring at the two faces in the photo, and finally understood what was missing. At the aquarium earlier, both of them were happy, but they were essentially doing their own things with little interaction. A date is clearly supposed to be a two-person activity!
Yamada Elf pondered for a moment and made a daring decision. She put down her phone, looked at Ryosuke with her clear eyes, and tentatively suggested, "Ahem, Ryosuke, how about I pay you to be my rental boyfriend for a day?"