[3.3] The Dream Aquarium Date

If there were another strong contender for the perfect Dream Date spot, it would be the aquarium.

It was several things: A classic romantic spot. A low-pressure, chill environment to walk together hand in hand. 

But above all, a masterful sight of marine life and a breathtaking sight of the world of the deep sea, all on display through glass windows.

Like this exhibit before him and Keina, located right at the end of the underwater jellyfish tunnel.

A herd of rhino...cero...s.

Teru did a double-take at the animals before them.

Rhinos.

Yes, clearly one of the iconic aquatic, marine mammals that one could expect to run into at the aquarium.

"I didn't think we'd see Rhinos here!" Keina's eyes twinkled as she got close to the enclosure, dragging him as well. They haven't let go of each other's hands yet.

Why Rhinos though?!

"Maybe they're water rhinos?" She chimed amusedly.

Her eyes were drawn to the ivory glint of their horns as they grazed on bushes, undisturbed by all the eyes on them in their enclosure that looked as arid as possible.

Forget being part of an aquarium; they look like they would take quadruple the damage if they came in contact with water.

"What would a sea rhino even look like?" Teru quipped. "A narwhal with a ninety-degree horn?"

She giggled. "I bet Nightmare me would like that."

He gave a nervous laugh.

They added keeping an eye out for the Nightmare Keina to their itinerary for today as well—a disproportionately ominous name for how it behaved.

In case it:

1. Wasn't a hallucination.

2. Was deliberately pointing him to the aquarium. 

And 3. It was somewhere in here.

But Teru couldn't really picture that shadowy figure being all like "Heck yeah, Rhinos!" at the aquarium, like the girl next to him.

That was probably the most compelling argument that it wasn't actually Keina.

"Hey!" She responded with mock offense.

The rhinos let out something that sounded like a "mmwonk", as if they were snickering along too.

"It suuure would be a shame if the rhinos suddenly charged at us and broke through the enclosure." Keina jokingly tempted.

"Don't you dare, Ms. Dream Host."

Teru paled as he led a giggling Keina by the hand away from the rhinos, before the Dream decided to follow her suggestion and include a subplot of runaway rhinos.

---

The next animal they came across in the exhibit, up the stairs, was at least a marine animal.

At least Teru thinks it was?

It was a massive fish that had the furry head and physique of a brown bear, and an aquatic body covered in spikes. Kind of like a porcupinefish. Or a hedgehog fish?

There were other fish in the tank with it, but they kept their distance as it proudly displayed its spikes with a roar.

"It's better than the rhinos, at least." Teru crossed his arms as he continued analyzing the monstrosity in front of him.

"It's pretty cool!" Keina's eyes twinkled once more. "I didn't think there was an animal like this!"

"There's no way this is a real thing." Teru stared at her deadpan.

"You never know," Keina leaned on the tank, getting up to the bear as close as possible. 

"I heard we know less about the deep ocean than we do about Mars. Maybe there is something like this out there!"

He shuddered as the bear fish amalgamation shook the tank with a much louder roar, sending her a step back.

Thank god he didn't run into this thing when he was in the water. It definitely would've tried to eat him instead of peacefully leaving like Nightmare Keina.

"Keina, please don't make it break the tank." He said on the off chance she decided to revisit that idea from the rhinos.

She giggled ambiguously.

"It kind of reminds me of Hariguma in a way."

Teru turned his head. "Hariguma?"

"Yeah!" She turned as well. "She worked with my dad a lot." Her voice had a hint of pride at the mention of her family.

"My dad was always really busy with work, so I ended up spending a lot of time with Hariguma whenever I visited him at work."

"But she was also pretty busy and sometimes prickly, like a hedgehog. But when she got angry, she got really intense, like a bear!" Keina curled her fingers to mime bear claws for emphasis.

"That sounds... Terrifying."

He silently prayed he'd never crossed paths with this Hariguma person.

Keina chuckled in agreement. "I was pretty scared of her at first, too, but she can be really nice! She was the one who came up with Hariguma to make herself less scary to me."

"So she was like honorary family, in a way?"

"Pretty much! Though she's getting pretty old now. I hope she's also doing fine. Especially since..."

 She trailed off, but didn't need to finish her thought for him to get it.

"It must also be rough for your dad as well." He mused.

Keina paused for a moment, her eyes on the now distant spiky sea bear chimera, evidently bored with the onlookers and now busy asserting dominance over the tenants of a coral reef, before answering.

"Yeah, I guess he is too."

---

There were thankfully more appropriate animals as they explored the rest of the aquarium.

A school of bulbous fish with an oddly triangular-shaped mouth and circular, dopey eyes.

"These are the happiest fish I have ever seen. It's like they're watching us back!"

Two distinct waddles of penguins, in an enclosure that was split down the middle between ice sheets and volcanic rock.

"They look like they're about to go to war with each other... Is that a bazooka?"

And when they backtracked at one point, the rhinos were replaced by a colony of sea lions. They could somehow see the penguins in a glass cutout in the corner opposite where they actually were located, like a portal.

"Hey Teru, it's your people!"

...They still weren't entirely normal by the standards of real life, but they were at least closer than rhinoceros and sea bears. 

Keina took it all in stride, all the same. More than that, actually, her excitement was palpable.

There was not a hint of Nightmare Keina among the crowd or animals. They spent an extra amount of time hyperanalyzing the sea lion exhibit, just to be sure that Teru turning into one had nothing to do with it.

It seemed like they really weren't here after all—if they weren't just another random part of the Dream to begin with.

Yumeppo would rub it in his face like "Told you-ppo," if they were together.

They last saw him at an exhibit that featured a pond of koi fish and a waterfall that extended to a collection of stars above.

It was by far the most tranquil spot, and even he was just seated on a bench in quiet solitude, holding a cup that looked like matcha, but it was presumably still alcoholic in some way. 

He considered calling out, but Keina didn't want to disturb him, so they quietly left the area.

The aquarium was still vibrant and lively, and relatively coherent. But Teru felt a pang in his body, a fainter version of the sensation he had when he was about to wake up from the Cafe Dream.

His time for today was running out, and there was only one last place for them to go.