——Although she had been looking forward to this date for a long time, and had made a lot of preparations from the itinerary to the clothes, and she valued and cherished the importance of "the first experience of the two of them" more than anyone else...
But the two of them can have countless dates, and this may be the only chance for Deng to transform and grow as soon as possible!
Although she was extremely reluctant, in the end, Toyokawa Shoko made a rational choice between "precious" and "only".
"Mr. Narumi, the opportunity is now."
"I want Takamatsu-san to be as cheerful as possible, and then find a place where there are no people and ask her to sing "The Song of Wanting to Become a Human" a cappella!"
The girl clenched her fists in front of her chest and stated her plan with a firm look.
Her eyes, as clear and bright as gems, stared at Minghai closely. Even though there was guilt and apology in them, there was no uneasiness that would waver her will.
...Perhaps that's because she didn't think Ming Hai would oppose her.
Always tolerate her willfulness and always understand her innocence.
Even if I did something that might disappoint him, he was willing to hold me with his warm hands until I let go on my own initiative, and he would always cherish and care for me.
Don't worry that he will be disappointed in you, and don't worry about being disliked by him.
Minghai is her safe haven, and it is the source of her confidence that enables her to move forward courageously on the road to her dream.
It was also proof of her dependence that she was increasingly unwilling to let go.
——The moment her eyes met Ming Hai’s unchanged gaze, Toyokawa Shoko no longer had any doubts about this.
"That's great. Let's do it then."
No surprises, he chuckled.
Whatever the reason, the answer was already known... He just wanted to know what she was thinking.
And now, Ming Hai almost understands how high his position is in her heart.
Well, compared to the white moonlight, it’s not far off, right?
Therefore, he certainly would not give any advice to Toyokawa Shoko who was talking to herself. Instead, he had to add fuel to the fire and make her feel more at ease to rely on him.
"Toyokawa-san, are you like Takamatsu-san, forgetting what I said in the past?"
"Don't feel sorry, don't feel guilty towards me - as long as you need help, no matter how far away you are, I will come right away."
Next to the busy shop around the aquarium, Ming Hai smiled and walked to Toyokawa Shoko in a relaxed tone, neither affectionately nor gently, and leaned lightly against the wall, watching with her the tourists walking by with smiles on their faces and a joyful atmosphere.
"For me, the most important thing is not the date, but being with you."
"Next date, next date after that... Even if someone interrupts every date in the future, as long as you are happy, I can continue to look forward to the next date."
This is probably the answer she wants to hear, right?
Ming Hai thought a little distractedly while reading Zhenxin's lines.
...I suddenly felt that I was getting better and better at sweet talk, and I could even say such corny words as if it was a matter of course.
I can only say that Teacher Xiaoxiang really teaches well.
"If necessary, feel free to sacrifice me for your dream." He raised his hand and gently rubbed her head, like a brother who was several years older than her, and smiled gently and honestly, "It is my honor and happiness to be a part of your dream... Others don't have this qualification, right?"
"..."
Toyokawa Shoko opened her mouth slightly. For some reason, her heart began to ache slightly because of these words. A panicked feeling of suffocation instantly rose to her throat, and she almost reflexively wanted to deny his idea.
But...why deny it?
There was no sarcasm or unnaturalness in his tone. If he could sincerely think so, shouldn't it be something that everyone should be happy about?
Why did I suddenly feel scared? Why did his hand appear right above my head, yet I felt as if he might leave me at any moment?
The lights in the aquarium were bright, but in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, it seemed that a cold shadow was crawling out from the corner, gradually covering the not-too-distant future...
"What's wrong?"
Ming Hai then realized something was wrong, and put down his hand in confusion, looking at the noble girl who had crossed her arms, lowered her head and trembled for some reason.
"……nothing."
Toyokawa Shoko shook her head. She had no intention of telling him about her strange feelings and making him worry. She took a few deep breaths and quickly calmed down.
She took a step forward, smiled nonchalantly, and took the initiative to greet Takamatsu Deng who came out of the bathroom, and waved to Ming Hai who was still standing there.
"Let's go! Even if we can't be alone, we have to enjoy the rest of the time!"
-
The picture below shows the aquarium I took my parents to today, although it’s not the one in Ikebukuro.
The one on the far left looks like the excluded one, so I couldn’t help but take a picture of it, haha.
Volume 52: Chapter Chapter On the Strange Taste of Toyokawa Shoko
Because Takamatsu Deng wanted to go shopping in the nearby shops, the two of them followed him into the dazzling shelves, and their eyes wandered around among the stuffed animals of various marine creatures.
Ming Hai quickly lost interest and had no intention of buying any souvenirs to take back.
On the contrary, Toyokawa Shoko had a childlike curiosity in her eyes. She happily followed Takamatsu Deng around to choose, like a pair of sisters who came to the amusement park for the first time. They had innocent and happy smiles on their faces and their attitudes became more and more intimate.
"Teng-san! Look, this puppet is so cute!"
"That... is Captain Dark Octopus from the musical, the villain... I think he's a little scary..."
"Eh? Isn't it cool and cute? Especially this eye mask, which can be taken off. What a great design!"
"Ah... she really does become cuter after taking off the eye patch."
"That starfish over there is pretty cool too!"
"That's General Haixing... Xiangzi-chan, do you like villain roles?"
"Hmm... I don't know. I just think that their bad looks have a unique, cool and handsome charm!"
"So, do you want to buy it back?"
"Well... this is something I have to consider carefully."
Ming Hai, who was watching them from behind, was like a guardian, silently watching them having a happy conversation, with no intention of intervening at all.
After shopping around the surrounding shops, I kept saying that this Toyokawa Shoko was cute and that Toyokawa Shoko was cute, but in the end I only picked two penguin dolls.
As a regular customer, Gao Songdeng only bought three small turtle pendants and gave one to each of them.
Toyokawa Shoko wanted to return the gift, but she shook her head and said seriously:
"I bought most of the things I liked in this store... I bought this pendant just to commemorate it. There are only three of us here today... Every time I see this pendant, I can remember everything that happened today..."
After hearing such a heavy speech, the two of them naturally could not respond casually, and immediately hung the pendant on their bags in front of her.
Three people and three turtles dangling under the bag. Such a neat picture made Gao Songdeng smile the brightest smile of the day.
After a brief hesitation, Toyokawa Shoko handed the other doll in her hand to Minghai.
"Narumi-kun, this is for you."
"Huh? Thank you."
Ming Hai reached out to take it, and looked at the penguin doll with a ferocious and murderous expression, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.
Gao Songdeng explained at the right time: "This is also the role of the aquarium musical, the killer penguin couple... The husband is Kylar and the wife is Quinn. At the end of the first part, they died for love in order to save the ocean world..."
"Deng, Deng-san, there's no need to spoil the story!"
Subconsciously hugging the penguin puppet in her arms, which had the same ferocious expression but with long hair, Toyokawa Shoko first cried out in embarrassment, then secretly glanced at Minghai, hid her half-red face behind the puppet, and whispered:
"Although it's not an expensive gift, if I have to choose one from them to give to Narumi-kun... I think this should be the most suitable."
"I will keep it well, so...you should take good care of it too, ok? Narumi-kun."
Ming Hai smiled and nodded: "Of course."
"I'll check it out when we… later."
She spoke softer and softer, as if her voice was being sucked away by the puppet.
Ming Hai really didn't hear it clearly, and couldn't help asking: "What?"
"nothing!"
I don’t know if she was angry or not, but Toyokawa Shoko proudly shook her long hair, took a step with her long legs, and pulled Takamatsu Deng away from the spot.
Takamatsu Deng followed with a bewildered look on his face, looking at Toyokawa Shoko's blushing face, he really had no idea what she was shy about.
Wasn't it just a gift? She was so close to Ming Hai, why was she blushing with embarrassment?
……
Leaving the venue, the outdoor area of the Sky Forest Aquarium, the third floor known as the "Sky Journey", unfolds before your eyes.
This is also the origin of the aquarium’s name – the ocean forest in the sky, also known as the sky oasis.
The first thing you see is a penguin model swimming among the green plants, as if it is flying in the air; followed by a staggered arrangement of aqua blue glass, shimmering like an oasis under the warm sun. A space full of greenery, blue sky, sunshine and water waves is uniquely and harmoniously constructed.
There happened to be a pelican feeding show going on at that moment, and the area near the booth was crowded with people. Under the active leadership of Toyokawa Shoko, the three of them squeezed over and enjoyed the show with the children next to them.
After thunderous applause and a wonderful performance, the feeder touched the pelican's beak and explained the pelican's habits:
"Pelicans are very loyal birds. Once they mate, they will stay together for life. When a female chooses a male, she will perform a series of courtship actions. When the male approaches his mate, he will often dance with his wings and constantly use his mouth to rub and comb the female's feathers to please his partner..."
Toyokawa Shoko listened very attentively, nodding seriously from time to time, as if she admired this loyal bird very much.
The feeder joked, "And female pelicans are very jealous. If a feeder gets too close to a male pelican, or even touches its beak, the female pelican will rush over and chase you away. So once we find a pelican has found a partner, we will immediately put a tag on them to warn others to keep their distance from them to avoid being seen as a thorn in the eye by the jealous little bird."
Amid the audience's good-natured laughter, Toyokawa Shoko placed her finger lightly on her chin and nodded thoughtfully.
"If you have someone you like, will you become jealous? If the tag is worn by a female pelican, would it be considered a way of expressing possessiveness?"
Hearing her mumbling to herself, Ming Hai couldn't help but look over with a strange look.
——It’s just a show, why does it involve human psychology?
After the performance, the crowd of more than a hundred people began to disperse in a disorderly manner. The three of them also struggled to squeeze in the crowd and slowly moved outwards.
They had only taken a few steps when they heard someone shouting in front of them: "Kanto tour group members gather here!" Then several aunts and grandmas began to squeeze towards the three of them, saying sorry while taking advantage of the limited space.
As a result of this scramble, the three people who were originally moving forward side by side were separated.
"Narumi-kun! Hand!"
"Sho-Shoko-chan, Narumi-san..."
The panicked voices of the girls echoed in the crowd.
But in the blink of an eye, all that was left in Minghai's eyes was the small hand that was getting farther and farther away from him.
Without thinking carefully, he just squeezed forward among the aunts, ignoring their blaming looks, grabbed the little hand closest to him, and pulled it close to his arms.
"Hold on to me."
After whispering, Ming Hai held on to the crowd pushing towards him from behind, with his arms firmly protecting the girl who was clutching his clothes on his chest, and began to walk towards the edge where the crowd was thin.
Volume 53: Chapter Chapter Warm as the spring sun, his embrace
Edge of the booth.
Ming Hai stared ahead and moved slowly until the surroundings became a little empty, then he breathed a sigh of relief towards the sky.
Then, as if he didn't want to face reality, he reluctantly lowered his head and looked into his arms.
——Sure enough, I took the wrong baby.
He noticed it the moment he grabbed the hand. After all, it was the hand he had held not long ago, and the touch and shape still left residual warmth between the fingers; after the other party threw himself into his arms, there was no familiar gardenia scent that filled his nose.
There was a scent of unknown brand of shampoo on the smooth gray short hair.
Like the little white flowers on the roadside, you pick one and take a sip of their fragrance. It doesn’t leave a specific impression, but it still smells faintly nice.
Her shoulders are slender and small, and her body temperature is unexpectedly high; although she doesn't look very fleshy, her body is as soft as cotton candy. The feeling of holding her in my arms is like that of a lively little animal. I can't help but feel pity for her subconsciously, and want to comb her hair carefully, rub the back of her neck, and listen to her comfortable and delicate snoring.
Of course, Ming Hai is not in the mood to really do that right now.
Takamatsu Deng in his arms was not jumping around either, but curled up quietly against his chest, like a small captain who was tossed in the waves but still holding on to the rudder tightly - if he hadn't been able to hear her faint breathing and the occasional trembling of her pink fingertips grasping her clothes, Ming Hai would have thought she had fainted.
"So, Mr. Xiaoxiang, why do you want to walk in the front..."
Ming Hai sighed silently.
