CH. 54 - A Trip to the Aquarium

As the days go by during this winter break, Lucy, Chizuru and Shiori hangout in Chizuru’s room. Lucy lies on Chizuru’s bed with her head hanging over the edge and a bored look on her face as Chizuru sits crisscross on the ground with her eyes shining brightly as she listens to Shiori speak.

“And then I kinda, sorta... said I wanted an excuse for him to touch me..?” Shiori admits timidly and a bit embarrassed. Chizuru fights back the urge to scream as even Lucy perks up. She stares at her for a moment before laughing a little and rolling over.

 “Woahho! Way to go, Shiori. Now that’s something interesting.” Lucy says before Chizuru finally lets it out with a scream. Downstairs, her father is startled and fumbles with a pie he was baking.

“SHIORI! You animal! I can’t believe you did that!” Chizuru says excitedly. Shiori brings her knees up to her chest in embarrassment as she blushes.

“I know! That was so stupid! I don’t even know why I said that!” Shiori says.

“Does this mean you’re finally confessing to liking him??” Chizuru asks excitedly. Shiori shoots her head up with a serious look.

“It does not!” Shiori says firmly.

“So you just want to fuck him?” Lucy asks casually. Chizuru and Shiori both quickly look at her, stunned by her words and blushing, Shiori much more than Chizuru.

“Lucy! You can’t just say that! That’s out bestfriend you’re talking about!” Chizuru says to her.

“What? We’re teenagers. It’s on our minds. Tell me you haven’t thought about what he’d be like.” Lucy says to Chizuru, who just blushes more and looks defiant. Shiori puts her hands over her ears, basically steaming at this point, and turns around.

“Ahhhh! I don’t want to think about it anymore!” Shiori shouts. Lucy looks at her surprised for a moment before getting a mischievous look.

 “You live with him, Shiori... Have you seen it?” She asks. Shiori looks at her with wide eyes, totally shocked, before a loud bonking sound is heard even from outside the house. Lucy lays over the edge of the bed with a large bump on her head and smoke coming off of her as Shiori stands turned away and her hands covering her face, steam coming off her fist. Chizuru looks concerned.

 “Okay... I deserved that one...” Lucy says weakly. Shiori looks back over her shoulder and huffs, still blushing, but calming a bit. Chizuru giggles awkwardly.

 “She totally did, but still... Shiori, do you perhaps just want to get closer to him?” Chizuru asks gently. Shiori looks at her softly and grabs her bangs, rubbing them together timidly.

 “I don’t know... Maybe? I want to get closer to all of you, all my friends. I’ve just... never really done this before...” Shiori admits softly. Chizuru looks at her, and so does Lucy, with gentle, surprised looks.

 “Wellll, winter break isn’t over. Maybe we can all go do something together? Another adventure!” Chizuru offers. Lucy smirks.

 “Yeah, give Shiori another chance to touch Hiki.” Lucy teases as Shiori clenches her fist at Lucy angrily as Chizuru holds her back.

 “Okay, okay. No more teasing.” Chizuru says. Lucy exhales happily as she stands up and stretches.

 “Sounds good to me. I’ve been pretty bored this break. Not much going on other than you and Hikigaya coming out as literal superheroes but meh, who cares?” Lucy says sarcastically while cracking her neck. Chizuru sweats a little as Shiori glares at her. “If we are doing something, who are we bringing? The whole group, I imagine?” Lucy asks.

 “Yeah! We can bring Touma, Suiyoubi, oh! Maybe even that Sky girl, and-” Chizuru says excitedly as Shiori gets a little nervous.

 “W-wait. I’m not really sure I want to go with all of them...” Shiori admits softly. The girls look at her and smile softly.

 “A little too much too soon?” Chizuru asks as Shiori nods softly. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it, Shiori. We’ll just go with the regular group, okay?” Chizuru says softly as Shiori smiles and nods.

 “So much for wanting to get closer to all of us, right? Maybe just one in particular?” Lucy teases with a smirk. Shiori glares at her again and points a finger at her.

 “You’re starting to piss me off.” Shiori says quietly but firmly.

 “There’s the Shiori I know. More anger than embarrassment.” Lucy says back, stepping closer until Shiori's finger is pressed against her chest.

 “Yeah, well, I’m trying to be better about my anger.” Shiori says as Lucy steps closer.

 “Yeah? Show me, tease.” Lucy smirks. Shiori looks offended.

 “I am not! I just...”

 “Just what? Like the attention?” Lucy teases back as Shiori begins to blush at Lucy being so close. Chizuru sweats and looks a little worried as she steps towards them a bit quickly.

 “Uh, Lucy? What are you doing-” Chizuru asks as Shiori grabs her by the face carefully but firmly.

 “Y-you stay out of this..! I can handle her attitude.” Shiori stutters before looking at Chizuru’s face, struggling under her grasp. “Ah, sorry, Chizuru! I didn’t mean to...” Shiori says as she lets go. Chizuru pants as she looks down.

 “Woah...” Chizuru says softly before looking at Shiori with bright, intense eyes. “That was crazy...” She says passionately. Shiori looks worried as Lucy grabs onto her face and forces her to look at her.

 “Look what you’ve done. Now she’s all ready to go, thanks to you. Just remember this is your fault.” Lucy says as Chizuru makes her way closer to them, but Shiori grabs her neck, trying to hold her back as they both push her over. Shiori looks worried before yelping in fear.

 Later, on a different day, Shiori walks as she mopes with a tired sigh. She’s in street clothes with a bag across her chest as a few others walk around her.

 “Come on, Shiori. Why are you moping around?” Lucy asks while throwing her arm around her. She glares back at Lucy before rolling her shoulders, pushing her off of her.

 “Because of you two. You guys totally beat me up yesterday! Two against one isn’t fair!” Shiori complains as Chizuru sweats a little, smiling awkwardly.

 “Yeahhh, sorry, Shiori. I was trying not to hurt you, but Lucy said not to go easy on you.” Chizuru says, thinking about the day before when Lucy and her jumped Shiori and started beating her up playfully.

 “Yep. How else would we be able to get your mind off of things? At least now you can enjoy the day without thinking about the fact you basically told Hikigaya you wanted to-” Lucy says before Shiori quickly grabs Lucy by the mouth aggressively with a sweat, shutting her up.

 “What secrets are we talking about?” Haru says, coming out of nowhere, standing next to Lucy.

 “Nothing, Haru, nothing.” Chizuru says with a smile, trying to deflect the conversation.

 “Oh, is this about what she said-” Haru starts before Shiori dives at him.

 “Don’t even think about saying it!” Shiori shouts as she chases Haru around the other girls over and over. As they do, Hikigaya looks back over his shoulder with a slight blush on his cheeks.

 “Still thinking about it?” Ryuji asks softly. Hikigaya turns to face forward as they keep walking.

 “Not really. Just focused on the now, nothing else.” Hikigaya says, pretending to be perfectly calm.

 “That’s too bad. I heard Shiori has some plans with you in the future, but if you’re not interested in that..” Sugawara says smugly, teasing him. Hikigaya quickly stops and grabs Sugawara by the shoulders and lifts him off the ground.

 “Now let’s not get too hasty…” He says intensely with an awkward smile as Sugawara sweats a little.

 “Come on, guys, behave. Let’s not ruin the day before it begins.” Ryuji says. “Let’s enjoy ourselves. Just us, them and-”

 “Yippie! Aquarium time! This is gonna be so fun!” Riku shouts as he jumps with joy. The boys sigh with soft smiles as Riku looks at them excitedly. “Come on, you guys! You’re taking forever! Are you already getting so old you can’t move?” Riku asks as the boys stiffen up. They turn to look at Shiori, who just smiles awkwardly about it.

 “Sorry, big sister rules. Parents say he comes, he comes.” Shiori says as she thinks about the night before.

Shiori comes home a mess after hanging with the girls. Her hair is messed up, her clothes are ruffled, and she’s slightly bruised as she drags herself through the door. Hikigaya steps into the room and looks at her, surprised.

 “What happened to you?” He asks.

 “They beat me up…” Shiori groans.

 “… Why?” Hikigaya asks again.

 “I don’t know. Some lame excuse that probably had a better solution.” Shiori groans again as she plops herself onto the couch face first. Hikigaya leans against the back of the couch and smiles at her.

 “So you had fun?” Hikigaya asks. Shiori instantly perks up and looks at him after shaking her head, looking basically good as new.

 “Oh yeah. Speaking of fun, they want to go to the aquarium tomorrow.” Shiori says. Hikigaya sweats a little.

 “In the middle of winter break?”

 “Yeah, they said something about the ambiance being better with grey skies rather than blue ones. I don’t know, take it up with them.” Shiori says, sitting up. Hikigaya chuckles a little.

 “I guess so. Sounds like a plan then.” He says.

 “A plan indeed.” Asami says, coming into the room. The kids look at her. “Now, I’m gonna need to ask a favor.” Asami says with a smirk. A few moments later, the kids look shocked and upset.

 “What?? Why?” Shiori whines.

 “Because, your mommy and I have plans and need Riku out of the house and taken care of.” Asami says as Shiori droops.

 “Why can’t dad handle it?..”

 “Becauseee your daddy is busy with some stuff. Now is it too much to ask you to watch out for your sibling?” Asami asks, ever so slightly bothered by their response. Shiori looks at Asami, who looks at her with a specific look in her eyes. Shiori exhales and smiles a bit.

 “No, we’ll watch him. The aquarium might be educational for him too.” Shiori says.

 “Yeah, might give me the chance to beat the little guy.” Hikigaya adds. Asami looks at her son with a concerned look.

 “Don’t you mean bond?..”

 “That too.”

 “Woahhh! We’re going to the fish zoo?? I’m so excited!” Riku shouts as he rushes into the room and jumps into Asami’s arms. Hamasaki follows in.

 “Only if you behave, though. I’m not gonna ruin your sister’s plans for your bad behavior.” Hamasaki says firmly but caring, booping him on the nose.

 “Yeah! I promise I won’t bother you guys! I’ll be on my best behavior!” Riku says with a big smile.

Back at the aquarium entrance, Riku struggles and tugs at Shiori’s leg, whining.

 “Come on! Let’s just go in! I don’t wanna wait in this stupid line!” Riku whines.

 “I don’t care, Riku. This is how things work. We don’t get to just barge in.” Shiori says back, obviously upset by his whining. She then grabs him by the collar and yanks him up then placing him in Hikigaya’s arms, where he locks onto him tightly. Riku is surprised then struggles under Hikigaya’s grasp but can’t move an inch.

 “Hey! No fair! Hikigaya’s hugs are too strong!” Riku complains.

 “Yeah they are.” Shiori says, looking at Hikigaya with a half lidded smile before blushing and turning around sharply. “Y-yeah, well, you’re stuck there until you calm down. I promise you’ll have loads of fun once we’re inside. Just wait for now.” Shiori says to her brother, who huffs but stops whining.

 The others look at each other before sighing with soft smiles and shaking their heads. They go along as the line progressively shortens, but in the background of their scene, an ominous looking man in a cap watches them before making his way to a side entrance.

In the aquarium, the group looks around as Riku’s eyes shine brightly. They walk through a dark hall that has glass all around them filled with sea creatures and their habitats.

 “So cool! There’s so many fishies!” Riku says as the others watch. Ryuji looks around intently, and Lucy notices.

 “You like sea animals?” She asks softly, interested in his thoughts.

 “Just thinking if any of them are edible. What I could make with them.” Ryuji responds casually as Lucy droops.

 “You would think of that…”

 Sugawara and Haru hold hands as they look too. Haru smiles excitedly at his boyfriend.

 “If you had the power to, would you ever want to swim around down there where they normally live? No consequences.” Haru asks.

 “Hm. Maybe, with no consequences or gear needed. They are kinda cute, but as soon as we get to the deeper parts…” Sugawara shivers. “I don't even wanna think about the deep ocean.” Sugawara says with a sweatdrop. Haru giggles in response.

 “Hey guys! Let’s go see the penguins!” Riku says excitedly, pointing down a hall leading to an outdoor portion. Hikigaya leans over to Shiori and whispers.

 “Right before we check out the deep ocean part..” He whispers with a smirk.

 “That part is so creepy, I love it!.” Shiori whispers back as Sugawara droops, hearing them.

 “Yippie…” He mumbles as they head outside.

Elsewhere in the aquarium, in a workers only section of the penguins' enclosure, a staff member is mopping the floor happily when another man dressed in a similar uniform approaches him.

 “Hey, uh, boss man says you’re good to go on break. I’ll finish up here.” He says, keeping his head low. The worker looks at him confused.

 “But I just clocked in a bit ago.” The worker responds as the man sighs. He suddenly pulls out a tranquilizer gun and shoots the worker in the thigh. He’s surprised but then smiles dumbly before collapsing.

 “Shoulda just walked away.” The man says before whistling. Then two more people come into the enclosure dressed in black with some equipment at the ready. “Come on, we gotta move fast. Yilano can only keep security off us so long.” He says as the intruders make their way over to some penguins. The penguins look scared and sad as the people snicker to themselves, putting black bags over them.

In a dark room, shaded by the blue of the screens displaying different information about the ocean, the group walks through. Sugawara holds onto Haru close as Chizuru grabs onto Ryuji.

 “You said they don’t actually show any scary sea monsters here, right?” Chizuru asks as she looks around. Ryuji gives a thumbs up as he enjoys himself. As Sugawara walks, he keeps his head down, trying not to look at the screens.

 “You sure you’re okay?” Haru asks.

 “Uh huh. I’m just trying not to look at the deepest, scariest parts of the ocean so my anxiety doesn’t get too bad.” Sugawara says nervously as Haru pulls him a little closer with a smile.

 Riku looks around before seeing a picture of a creepy deep sea creature on one of the screens and gets a little scared. He grabs onto his sister’s hand for comfort, as Shiori looks at him.

 “Hey Riku.” She says. Riku looks up at her before she picks him up quickly and shows him a different screen. “What do you think about this guy?” She asks evilly as she shows him another creepy creature. Riku squeals a bit before wiggling around, closing his eyes tight and trying to look away.

 “Nooo! I don’t like it!”

 “Well, what about… this!?” Shiori says with a playfully evil smile before turning him around to a different screen. Riku slowly opens his eyes to see a blank, black screen. He looks confused.

 “Uh… there’s nothing there.” He says.

 “I know. Isn’t it so creepy? This is a recording of the deep ocean. It's so dark and empty, who knows what could be lurking down there?” Shiori asks, teasingly. Riku still seems unbothered, more confused.

 “Yeah, but there’s nothing there.” Riku says back. Shiori looks surprised before putting him down.

 “Oh yeah. I guess anxiety based horror is a bit above your mental capacity.” She says as Riku looks at her blankly.

 “She called you dumb, little man.” Lucy adds. Shiori looks at her sharply.

 “I did not!” Shiori shouts. They playfully banter a bit as Riku looks around, but then he notices something in the room.

 By a dark doorway leading who knows where, two people stand who look a little ominous and up to no good. Riku watches them as they look around before slinking off into the darkness. Interested in their actions, Riku decides to follow them, leaving the group and going into the darkness all by himself.

 “Hey Riku, look. We’re almost at the end of this part. … Riku?” Hikigaya says, pointing to the bright exit of the dark room where others are leaving before looking around confused. Shiori looks around too before her heart begins to race.

 “Riku? Guys, do you see Riku?” Shiori asks quickly as the others look around and instantly panic begins to set in all of them. They start rushing around looking for the small boy before rushing out of the dark room exhibit and into a more central area.

 “Did anyone see where he went?” Lucy asks.

 “Should we call someone?” Chizuru asks.

 “I don’t know. I just need to find my brother.” Shiori says with her heart racing and intensity in her voice. Haru puts his hands on her shoulders to help calm her down.

 “It’s okay, Shiori. We will find him, like, so quick.” Haru says comfortingly. Shiori looks worried but nods with a weak smile.

 “If we're checking everywhere, maybe we should check the backrooms and stuff.” Ryuji offers.

 “I would definitely feel better, but how are we gonna do that without getting in trouble?” Hikigaya asks.

 “Duh! Your superpowers??” Haru says excitedly.

 “We can’t just use them openly, and we don’t have our costumes with us.” Shiori whispers back frustratedly.

 “You just leave that to us! We’ll watch your backs. You guys just do what you gotta do!” Chizuru says supportively.

 “And security?” Hikigaya asks. Lucy smirks as she cracks her knuckles.

 “Leave that to me.” She says. Sugawara smiles as he reaches into his pockets.

 “Okay, here. Take these earpieces. I made them just in case we needed them.” Sugawara says as he opens his hands, revealing the professional grade earpieces. The group stares at him for a moment as he stares at the pieces before looking at the others. “What? I was bored.” He says. Shiori chuckles a little.

 “You’re so weird, Sugawara.” She says. Sugawara smirks back as they all take the earpieces.

 “Okay, the plan. Lucy is gonna get into the security room and handle the cameras and footage. Hikigaya and I are gonna get into the back areas and look for Riku while the others cover us and keep an eye out in the public areas.” Shiori explains quickly as they all break with determined smiles. As Shiori and Hikigaya quickly march towards an employee area, Shiori whispers to Hikigaya. “Did you already text Chief?” She asks.

 “Of course.” Hikigaya says with a nod.

 “Good. Now let’s do this.” Shiori says determined.

 Somewhere in the backrooms of the aquarium, Riku walks silently and cautiously as he looks around, doing his best to remain undetected despite not understanding what’s going on.

 “Those guys looked shifty… I wanna know what they’re doing…” Riku whispers to himself before looking over and seeing two people dressed in black make their way to the back of the room with a couple cages filled with otters. Riku sees this and gets upset.

 “What happened to that nosey feeder guy?” One of the criminals asks. Riku gets up and prepares to confront the men.

 “Don’t worry, I got him handled right here!” The other criminal says as he pulls a sheet off of a worker, revealing him to be beaten up and bloody. The sight makes Riku instantly stop with fear setting in the reality of the situation. He slowly steps back towards his hiding spot, but he bumps something over on the way. The noise makes the two criminals notice and look his way. Riku quickly hides behind the box, trembling in fear as they walk over.

 “What was that? Another animal?”

 “Either that or another nosey jerk. Either way, we gotta handle it.” He says as they slowly walk closer to Riku, who begins tearing up.

 On the way to the security room, Lucy walks over nonchalantly before peeking at the door with the label. She looks around a bit but notices there are no guards in the area. She thinks for a moment before smirking.

 “No way it’s gonna be this easy. The door’s probably locked.” She says while approaching it. She looks around and grabs the handle, giving it a twist and, to her surprise, it opens. “Okay, well.” She just says with an eye roll before opening the door and stepping inside. “This place needs better security.” Lucy says before she stops at the sight before her. There is a younger man standing by the security camera desk who turns around, shocked by her. Lucy notices the other security guard unconscious and tied up on the ground before looking back at the anxious man. He then quickly fumbles to grab the gun on the desk and turns back to Lucy, so she quickly dives behind a shelf by the entrance.

 “Uh, uh, boss man? It’s Yilano. We got kind of a problem here at the security room.?” Yilano says nervously into his radio after quickly grabbing it, keeping the gun pointed in Lucy’s direction. Lucy sweats nervously as she listens.

“Just use the tranq gun we gave you. Handle it.” The boss responds over the radio. Lucy perks up a bit hearing this.

 “Tranq gun?” She says before smirking. She gets up and steps out as Yilano anxiously points the gun at her again. He quickly fires a needle at her, so Lucy turns, the needle quickly lodging in her upper arm. She looks at it, takes it out, and smiles.

 “Heh.. that stuff works fast, huh?” Lucy says with droopy eyes as she tosses the needle over her shoulder. Yilano looks even more nervous as Lucy approaches him. He aims the gun again, but Lucy quickly grabs it, pulls it to the side and slams her fist into Yilano’s face, knocking him out in one punch.

 “Woohoo! And I can’t even feel my fist right now, so it didn’t even hurt. But I’ll probably feel it tomorrow, don’t worry.” She says to Yilano on the ground before turning and looking at the security system. She shakes her head a bit before getting on the computer. “Okay guys, I’m in. I’ll make sure the system isn’t recording anything you’re doing.” Lucy says while pressing on her earpiece.

Shiori and Hikigaya nod to each other before approaching a security guard standing by an employees only door. As they approach, he notices and puts his hand up at them.

 “Sorry, kids. This place isn’t part of the attraction.” He says.

 “Real sorry about this.” Shiori says with a sweat and an awkward smile before tossing her hands up and throwing a kind of sparkling dust at him. He breathes it in before smiling and passing out, Hikigaya catching him. Some of the dust falls on his face, and he shakes his head, obviously feeling it a bit.

 “Woah, that stuff works a treat. What is it?” He asks as they go inside. As this happens, a different man notices Hikigaya catching the guard and the sparkling dust and goes to say something before Chizuru speaks to him.

 “Excuse me? I think I lost my brother. Could you help me find him?” She asks, tugging at his sleeve. The man looks at her before looking back at them.

 “Uh, wait, uh- do you see that?” He asks, pointing their way. Chizuru looks over innocently as she responds.

 “See what? I don’t see anything out of the normal. Please sir, it won’t take long.” Chizuru says while pulling the man away, who follows.

 “Erm.. okay…” He says.