I Like Whatever You Choose

The jellyfish exhibit on the third floor was even darker than downstairs, with an entire wall occupied by a massive floor-to-ceiling tank.

Inside the tank, the jellyfish slowly pulsed open and closed, their bell-shaped bodies casting a soft bioluminescent glow against the deep blue background.

The light, somewhere between pale blue and soft green, pulsed and faded with the movement of the jellyfish, looking as if someone had sliced the aurora borealis into thin sheets and placed them in the water.

There were barely any people in front of the jellyfish wall, save for a young couple sitting on a bench in the corner, leaning their heads together as they looked at a phone.

Qiluo walked up to the glass and gently pressed her fingers against it, feeling a slight chill.

Yuki Kurokawa stood in front of the jellyfish wall for a long time without saying a word.

Her eyes followed a particularly small jellyfish as it drifted from the bottom of the tank to the very top, and then slowly sank back down. Her lips were lightly pursed, and she didn't even notice when the strap of her crossbody bag slipped off her shoulder.

“The photos I saw in books before only showed a single jellyfish. But the jellyfish here swim in schools.”

She pulled the strap back onto her shoulder. “The book said that these bioluminescent jellyfish drift alone in the deep sea. They spend their entire lives drifting with the ocean currents, never actively seeking out companions.”

“If two jellyfish happen to drift together, it isn't because they chose each other. It's just the currents making the decision for them.”

“But this isn't the deep sea; it's an artificial environment. They're kept in the same tank, so they don't have to wait for the currents. They're together all the time.”

She turned her head to look at Qiluo. “Do you think they know they're not in the deep sea anymore?”

Qiluo looked at the jellyfish, and then at her. The glow from the jellyfish wall cast a soft outline around Yuki Kurokawa's profile.

“Maybe. But if they can be together forever, whether they're in the deep sea might not even matter that much. Not every jellyfish likes to drift alone.”

Yuki Kurokawa didn't respond immediately.

She shifted her gaze back to the jellyfish wall, extending a finger to gently tap against the glass right where the edge of the smallest jellyfish's bell was, following it as it slowly floated upward.

Her fingertip left a faint smudge on the glass, which was so small that it faded away in just a few seconds.

Her voice was very soft: “...That's good then.”

They came down from the third floor and went to the souvenir shop on the first floor. While Yuki Kurokawa was looking at jellyfish keychains, Qiluo stood nearby, secretly smiling as she watched her holding them up to the light to compare colors with utmost seriousness.

Ultimately, Yuki Kurokawa bought the smallest jellyfish charm. Its bell-shaped body was plump, and its tentacles were made of thin silver threads that emitted a faint glow under the light.

She clipped the charm onto her bag's zipper, walked a few steps, and then looked down to make sure it was still there before continuing.

Next, they watched the dolphin show. When the performance ended, Yuki Kurokawa stood up from her seat, still clutching the folded program in her hand.

Printed on the program were the names and photos of the dolphins that had performed today. She took a few steps into the exiting crowd, glanced down at it once more, and then carefully tucked it into the outer pocket of her crossbody bag.

“Do you like dolphins?” Qiluo asked.

“...Yes,” Yuki Kurokawa replied, snapping her crossbody bag shut. When she looked up, she found Qiluo tilting her head to watch her. There was no rush in Qiluo's eyes; she was simply waiting for her to continue.

She paused for a moment before adding the rest of her thought. “I went to an aquarium once when I was little. It was a field trip organized by my school. We watched a dolphin show then too. When I got home, I told my mother how smart the dolphins were, how they jumped to hit balls, and how they kissed their trainers.”

“My mother said, ‘In that case, write a reflection essay on it. If you write it well, I'll buy you an illustrated guide to dolphins.’ I wrote it, and she bought me the guide, but that was the last time I ever went to an aquarium.”

“Why was it the last time?”

“My mother said going to an aquarium once was enough. Seeing the same thing a second time had no educational value. After that, whenever the school organized field trips to aquariums, she would excuse me from them so I could stay home and do practice exams. So today...”

She paused, raising her eyes to look at Qiluo. Her lips moved as if she were carefully choosing her words. In the end, the version she spoke was much simpler than what she was thinking: “Today feels a lot like a make-up exam. A subject I failed to pass when I was little... after so many years, I finally get to take a make-up exam.”

Pineapple buns were Qiluo's favorite food, so that was the only lure she could think of.

Qiluo didn't offer any empty words of comfort. Instead, she handed the folded seating chart in her hand to her. “Then you have to make sure you see every single exhibit today. Don't miss a single one. You have to get a perfect score on this make-up exam.”

“Okay.”

Yuki Kurokawa took the seating chart and lightly pressed her fingertip against the location of the dolphin show stadium, as if filling in a bubble on an answer sheet.

She carefully tucked the seating chart into her bag as well, placing it in the same compartment as the dolphin show program.

Leaving the dolphin stadium, they followed the signs toward the theme restaurant on the first floor.

The restaurant's exterior was painted a deep ocean blue, and the glass doors were decorated with cartoon stickers of penguins and polar bears.

A handwritten menu board stood by the entrance, with a crookedly drawn fish next to today's special combo.

There weren't many people inside. The weekend rush hour hadn't started yet, so there were only a few families with children and a couple sharing a sundae.

The interior decor continued the aquarium's deep-sea theme, with the ceiling chandeliers shaped like jellyfish.

They sat down at a booth near the window. Yuki Kurokawa picked up the menu and read it from beginning to end.

She read the menu as if she were doing a reading comprehension exercise, scanning line by line starting from the first page, pausing for a few extra seconds when she came across a combo with a picture.

Her lips moved soundlessly, as if she were mentally grading each option.

“What would you like to eat?” Yuki Kurokawa raised her eyes and pushed the menu half an inch toward Qiluo, immediately adding, “Combo A's main dish is fish and chips, served with a seaweed salad. For the drink, you can choose between cola or oolong tea. Combo B is seafood baked rice, which comes with a dessert unlike Combo A.”

“But you can buy fish dishes at convenience stores. Eating seafood at an aquarium feels a bit weird though...”

Qiluo rested her chin in her hands, looking at the person opposite her who was taking even ordering food so seriously.

“Kurokawa, do you always order food like this when you go out to eat?”

“...No. I don't eat out very often.”

She looked up slightly and found Qiluo staring at her, her gaze resembling someone observing a rare creature.

Feeling self-conscious, she pulled her hands back from the edge of the table and placed them on her lap. She picked up the menu again, using it to shield the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of eyes that were earnestly analyzing the menu's structure.

“Then why don't you order for me?”

“Huh?”

“You order for me! Since you've already analyzed every single dish anyway,” Qiluo raised a finger and said in a cheerful tone, “I just need you to pick the one you think is the most delicious.”

Yuki Kurokawa lowered the menu from her face, her eyes flickering as if she were testing the boundaries of this request.

Lowering her head once more, she scanned the menu line by line with an even more serious look than before.

“The seafood baked rice. With caramel pudding for dessert.” After saying this, she looked at Qiluo with anticipation and nervousness.

When the waiter was writing down the order, she made sure to double-check that the pudding was caramel-flavored and not original, before closing the menu and handing it back.

She breathed a sigh of relief, picked up her glass to take a sip of water, and then suddenly remembered something. Setting the glass down, she looked at Qiluo. “Do you like caramel pudding? I didn't ask just now.”

“I do. I like whatever you choose.”

“...Okay.” Yuki Kurokawa hid the corners of her mouth behind her glass as she picked it up again, but the tips of her ears flushed red, proving more honest than any facial expression.