The next day, Agri takes them to an aquarium. Not that they don't have aquariums in America, but the Churaumi aquarium is the best.
Or so Agri claims.
The Shibas can't really blame him as they wander about the facility. It is really beautiful and seems to have more variety than back home.
They're also surrounded by many languages. They can hear Japanese being spoken frequently, as well as Chinese, Korean, English, and even some Spanish. There are some languages that the Shibas don't recognize as well and they are fascinated by it.
"That was so great," exclaims Emily as they exit the theater where a twenty-minute movie had been shown about the fish in Okinawa's seas. "I didn't know such colors really existed. There were so many of them."
"You know you can't imagine a new color," Jayden adds, slipping his hand into Emily's. His wife laughs and shakes her head.
Wife. He still can't really get used to that word. It's just so…bizarre. But he loves being able to call her that. They're having the time of their lives now but honestly, it feels more so like best friends, except with more kisses and touching.
"Is that so?" Emily's expression is mischievous and she turns to Agri. "What do you think Agri-kun?"
"Eh?" The Japanese man blinks, looking up from his phone and stuffing it back in his pocket. "I haven't heard of that happening, no."
"Are you okay Agri-kun?" Emily feels a little concerned as she sees Agri has almost a bored look in his eyes. "Did you not like it?"
"Of course not!" Agri shakes his head, looking mockingly scandalized. "I enjoy it very much. I've just seen it a lot. So I am…sore ni narete. I am…family with it?"
"Familiar," corrects Jayden, smiling at the blush on Agri's cheeks.
"Hai. Familiar."
"What's that?" Emily points over to where there's a large glass tank with people bending over it, reaching their hands in. "Are they touching fish? Can we do that?"
"Hai, they are," answers Agri, leading them around a family with three little kids. "There are most of hitodes and namako." At the Shibas confused look, he smiles and juts his chin to the tank.
They find a clear space and look down into the water where fish lazily trail through it, not seeming to be in any hurry at all. Colorful starfish litter the bottom of the tank, attached to rocks and even to each other.
"They're so pretty." Emily dips her hand into the surprisingly warm water. "This isn't cold at all."
"The water is from Okinawa Sea," explains Agri. "It is same temperature. There is no difference at all."
"That's cool." Jayden puts his free hand in the water as well, a little hesitant to touch any of the animals. He's not scared but he is a bit wary of how they will feel. He never really got to go to the beach when he was younger-too busy training-so this is very new to him.
"It feels weird!" Emily giggles as she touches a pretty pick starfish. It's kind of bumpy and rough but not in an unpleasant way. She never really went to the beach either when she was little, since her home was far away from the ocean. "Touch it Jayden."
Jayden hesitantly lets his fingers brush the starfish, face breaking into a small smile as he does so. It's not as bad as he would've thought.
"So what you said before…hitodes I think…does that mean starfish?" asks Emily, reaching her hand even further into the water to touch another starfish, a blue one this time.
Agri nods. "And namako are sea…sea…" He pauses for a moment, trying to think of the word in English. "It's long…and it can be green. A food!"
"A food?" Jayden is puzzled. "Ah…you mean sea cucumbers?"
Agri looks relieved. "Hai, that's it. Sea cucumbers…English is weird."
Emily laughs. She thinks it's absolutely adorable when Agri tries to translate between English and Japanese. She's sure she won't be half as cute as him when struggling to speak Japanese. "Yes, it is," she agrees.
Jayden spots a sea cucumber and warily pets it for a second. It's slimy and smooth but doesn't feel bad. Just odd.
"It feels better than the starfish," he tells Emily as she touches it was well, her eyes sparkling as she does so.
"It's smooth versus rough but they're not as colorful," she says happily.
Jayden shakes his head affectionately. "Well my bad, Mrs. Shiba. Just putting that out there."
"And of course you're always right," Emily teases him, smiling.
The sand beneath her fingers shifts and she looks down in surprise, seeing a small, striped fish peek it's head out only to dart away seconds later. "What's that one Agri-kun?"
The young boy leans closer to the tank, having kept his hands dry up until now, and spots the tiny fish that dives back beneath the sand again. "Ah, sore wa hazeda. It's a haze. A goby."
"A goby?" Emily raises an eyebrow. "That's such a funny name. I don't think I've heard of it before."
"There aren't that many here." Agri gestures to the tank. "But you seem to be lucky Emily-san. Usually tourists won't see them."
"Why?" Jayden asks. He had seen a glimpse of the goby as it swam by him and doesn't see why it would be so lucky.
"They usually hide beneath the suna," Agri explains. "Sand. The colors are the same too, so hard to see. But we don't touch."
"It touched me," Emily says. Agri smiles.
"Well it must like you then."
"Very understandable," adds Jayden, laughing as Emily nudges him lightly, feeling her cheeks heat slightly.
"What's next?" She goes over to a small sink nearby, starting to wash her hands after touching the fish.
"Kuroshio Sea," Agri responds as him and Jayden follow her, sidestepping a group of Chinese tourists.
"What's that?" Jayden steps up to the sink as Emily dries her hands, throwing the paper towel away.
"The biggest tank. The entire wall glass," says Agri, trying to use his hands to demonstrate. "It's fun. You'll like it."
"I'm starting to think there's nothing in Okinawa I won't like," Emily whispers to Jayden as Agri starts to lead them towards their next destination, her fingers interlocking tightly with her husband's.
A/N: Hey everyone! How's it going? It's been over a month, I think? Sorry about that but you know, school and such. This might have been a little short too. I'm not fully satisfied with it, but that's usually how a writer feels all the time.
So I've said it once and I'll say it again-I have not been to Japan. I don't know much about it. All I know is what I've read or watched in dramas so if I get something wrong, I'm sorry. I'm doing the best I can here so forgive me if I get facts wrong or something. I'm just going off of what I've read or seen. Most of what I'm writing is based off of that, so don't believe it all since I don't know if it's one hundred percent true or not.
So now that I've got that out of the way (look at the reviews if you want to know why I did a little rant) thanks to everyone who has continued to support this story! Until next time…