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The door to the planetarium creaks as it opens
The young boy inside turns his attention away from the book in his hand to the door. There, stands an even younger boy whose face is filled with enthusiasm
“Oh, hello there Nanashi” Sora greets his friend
Nanashi visits him quite regularly, sometimes to go stargazing with him or to just hang out around
It isn’t something that Sora minds too much except for the fact that in the past, Nanashi used to come in flinging the door open, which’d cause Sora fright but since then he’d learned well thankfully and now opens the door very calmly
“Hi Sora! Would you like to go to an aquarium with me today?” Nanashi greeted him back and asked with a big grin on his face while waving two tickets
Sora blinked twice
An aquarium? Right now? On this day? What for??
“… Why an aquarium?”
“Because aquariums are cool!”
“Seriously?”
“Oh come on! Visiting aquariums is just as fun as stargazing. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
His maroon eyes glare in doubt, not really buying those words
“Pleaseeeee?” Nanashi pleaded, putting his hands together
Sora sighed “Alright fine, but this better not waste my time.”
“It won’t!” Nanashi responds confidently
It seems the weather outside is very nice today.
Upon arriving to the designated place, Nanashi’s excitement grows bigger and bigger. It seems you could fire a canon with all that energy , Sora thought
Heading in to the actual place, however, felt very cathartic. Though he didn’t want to admit it right away, the sight felt very mesmerizing
How the blue lights highlighted the fish in their natural environment, doing what they do and minding their own business. It was fascinating.
“Look Sora!” Nanashi suddenly points to the glass display on the right, “Those fish over there are the golden angelfish!”
“Did you do research before coming here?” Sora’s eyes move to the side, where Nanashi was
He laughs nervously as if he’s been caught red handed “Just a little! I read basic stuff, nothing much…. Wait!— look over there, that’s a brush-tail tang”
“Mm interesting”
The white-haired boy starts pointing to the left side display “And look! those are the Betta fish! They’re really gorgeous, aren’t they?”
“They do look nice”
Nanashi moves closer to the left side “Right?! they’re also known as the siamese fighting fish, which I personally think is such a cool name” he chuckles before going quiet. With his back turned to Sora, he can’t guess what’s going on in his head, he can only get that Nanashi seems to be observing the fish intently
Suddenly, Nanashi turns to face him again “Ok let’s keep heading forward, there are much more sea creatures to see”
The two were met with many interesting sights as they kept moving, Sora even tried joining in on the identification game with the animals he recognized
“Oh aren’t those batoids?” he asked
“Indeed they are, and would you look at that, next to them are zebra cichlids”
and with more time passing, Sora was actually having fun. he was enjoying his time at the aquarium without even realizing it.
Before, he opposed the idea and preferred to stay inside, It’s meaningless to go to there anyway he thought, but boy was he wrong. He had actually misjudged the situation
“Say, Sora” Nanashi starts speaking again, “Don’t you think that, in a way, the waters are the fish’s very own outer-space?”
“How so?” he raised an eyebrow
“Well, sea creatures swimming in the water is kind of like stars roaming in the skies. They are free to move wherever they like within their own space and live according to their nature while being so dazzling from a distance. Isn’t that right?”
“Hmm… If you put it that way, then I suppose so”
“Yes there’s many beautiful things to see in life and many beautiful things waiting to be seen. Let’s continue moving, Sora!” He points to the head end excitedly once more
The following time is spent with Nanashi and Sora continuing to admire all the sea creatures and their beautiful sights
They saw electric eels, puffers, dotty-backs, tetras, dolphins and penguins
From now on, Sora is sure he won’t think ill of aquariums ever again, nor will he deem them boring
If he was being honest, he’s glad that Nanashi thought to bring him here, to get tickets and to convince him because today, Sora has just made another beautiful memory.