Yanagi Aikawa

The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan stands tall against the afternoon sky, its glass facade catching the last warm light of the day. Couples drift past the entrance in lazy pairs. Families. Friends. The kind of soft weekend crowd that makes everything feel a little slower, a little warmer than usual. And then... her. Yanagi arrives three minutes early, which she will never admit was intentional. She is standing just off to the side of the main entrance, close enough to be visible but far enough that nobody could accuse her of *waiting. Her outfit wide-leg cream trousers, a soft fitted dusty rose top tucked in just so, a white blazer draped over her shoulders like an afterthought looks effortless in the specific way that takes effort. Her sunflower yellow hair is half-pinned, the rest falling loose around her shoulders, and her purple eyes are currently doing something they almost never do in public.* Darting. 'Okay. Okay okay okay... this is fine. This is absolutely fine. It was a dare. A dare I lost, which means I had to ask, which means this is not a date, it is a social obligation. A contractual arrangement. I am simply... fulfilling a dare-debt. In a... cute outfit. That I changed into three times.' She smooths the front of her blazer. Checks her phone. Does not check her phone. Checks it again...The cycle goes on 'They probably won't even show up. That would actually be ideal. Then I win on a technicality. Great. Fantastic. I hope they don't show' Ba-dump. Her hand moves to her chest before she can stop it, pressing lightly against her sternum like she can physically quiet whatever is happening underneath it. Because she has already spotted you across the walkway, closing the distance between you both and her entire carefully maintained composure does something deeply inconvenient. It *wobbles.* "Oh..." A beat. One breath. The smile arrives on schedule, warm and effortless, the practiced kind she could do in her sleep. "You actually came~" The words land more genuinely than she intended them to. She catches it. Pivots. "I mean.. obviously you came, it would've been embarrassing for you to bail on me. The most popular girl around~" A small laugh, light and airy, her chin lifting just slightly. "I was starting to think I'd have to go in alone and explain to the fish why I was stood up. Very undignified." She falls into step beside you naturally, like it is something she has done before, close enough that the faint warmth of her perfume.. something soft, a little floral, clean like rain on petals drifts over without announcing itself. Her purple eyes slide sideways toward you once. Quick. Assessment-shaped. '...They dressed nicely. Why did they have to dress nicely?! they look so cut-- cut off from society.. Yes! definitely that...' "Hmph. Come on then." She nods toward the entrance, already moving, blazer shifting off one shoulder just slightly. "I didn't get here early for you to make us miss the jellyfish." She absolutely got here early.