A/N: Hey guys, first of all, thanks for all the positive response on the prior chapter and for bearing with me while I write this chapter here (which I about had a nosebleed over during the planning phase).

Second of all, people who commented on my apparently 'warped' definition of time; yes, I realize, I was late. However, we're past that now. I even put in the extra effort necessary to get this chapter out a little early for your sake, and I'm doing my best to not let myself slip up. But, it happens sometimes, and no amount of 'sorry' on my part will ever make up for that in my opinion.

Okay, off the gloomy stuff and on to a more cheery aspect of our lives, this chapter!

So what did Sanpei have planned when he asked Nijo about being an MC? What havoc could that trio of siblings wreak on a simple dolphin exhibition? There's only one way to find out; shall we?

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If there was anything Kaiyukan excelled at among its many other strengths, it was showmanship. And its outdoor exhibition plaza was yet another brilliant example of that said trait.

When one would leave the main aquarium from the main exit they would first come upon a large room filled with memorabilia of all the animals that had been on exhibit at Kaiyukan. It had the same style of tiling as the rest of the building, except its were many various hues of blue, and the walls were so crowded with newspaper articles and photos, one couldn't really tell what color they were anymore. From dolphins and sharks to manta rays and seals, it seemed as though Kaiyukan had held and exhibited everything one could think of. Articles dating back decades showed people of all ages (and all hairdos) cheering and rejoicing as a team of dolphins majestically crested, or a seal clapped at its trainer, and was rewarded with a scrumptious treat in the next photo.

After a stop in the memorabilia room, one would exit the main building and begin down a long, dark corridor. As soon as they reached the end of this, they would instantly be hit with the enrapturing, odiferous essence of the water, sourcing from the dolphin's 'stage'; a massive, circular pool. This particular pool appeared to be at least 15 meters deep, and more than double that across. Built around the pool were several platforms that the workers would gather on to give commands. It was also the area where the cameramen were positioned at that very moment, fine tuning their behemoth contraptions in all ways, shapes, and forms.

The bleachers, built on smooth, white, granite, were in 20 rows of alternating white and blue leather seats, separated periodically by several staircases with yellow rails that led down to a mezzanine which led to the exit. And directly behind the pool (in perspective to the exit), there was an enormous flat screen TV, most likely for those in the far back or for those who couldn't find seating in the amphitheater.

However, other than the main attraction, there was one more essential piece to this grand bowl. The MC's podium was a small platform elevated several meters above the pool and was several meters across. And upon this platform stood a sole man, dressed in a dark black, white-pinstripe suit with a bow tie and a pleated white dress shirt. He had slicked back red hair and sunglasses despite it being a cloudy, winter day. There were occasional peaks of the sun though.

The man took a seat upon the chair he had on his podium, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. Flipping the red device open, he rapidly dialed a number, then held it to his ear as the dial tone rang a few times before a familiar voice picked up.

"What is it now?" Sanpei droned on the other end of the line.

"The better question is, 'Where do I begin'?!" Nijo exclaimed, doing a double take to ensure that the mic was off. "How did you set this up?"

"The MC here is my friend, and after a brief explanation-" Sanpei begin before Nijo interrupted.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Nijo interjected, "you have friends?"

"Shut up." Sanpei promptly responded, "As I was saying, after talking with my friend, he said it would be permissible for you to cover, given the circumstances."

"Ah, so he's as lonely as you are, eh?" Nijo replied as he twiddled the microphone in his spare hand.

"I'm sorry, what was that? You want to wash all the dishes and clean all the bedsheets from Floor 22 when we get back to the hotel?" Sanpei shot back, "My, how generous of you, Nijo…"

Nijo silently bit his tongue, then replied, "So what do I do, huh? I don't have the first idea of what the dolphins are gonna do, nor do I have any idea what to say when they do it."

"Just ad lib it!" Sanpei responded, "But do it in a way that gets people pumped up."

"Sanpei, I provoke people, not pump them up." Nijo eloquently droned.

"Yes, and I got a paper cut this morning," Sanpei retorted, "but that's also among the 'List of Things Sanpei Doesn't Care About', now isn't it?"

Nijo cursed under his breath before casting a sigh and inquiring, "Is Ichinose ready?"

"Hang on, I'll add him to the call." Sanpei responded before creating a conference call between the three brothers.

It took a second due to the poor service in the area, but Ichinose's cheery voice picked up on the other end after a few seconds, and sang, "Hello~, Ichinose speaking!"

"Blegh," Nijo gagged, "if you're gonna do that every time I call you then remind me to delete your number."

"Ah, Nijo, good to hear from you!" Ichinose replied, "Are you already all set up up there?"

"I've been ready for the past 10 minutes you dolt!" Nijo angrily shot back.

"The better question is, 'are you ready'?" Sanpei calmly inquired.

"Ah, Sanpei, you too?" Ichinose responded before saying, "Yep, my camera's all set up and I have my eyes on the entrance. They should be here any time."

"Excellent." a pleased Sanpei replied, "Alright, when Nijo gives the signal, you're to position the camera on them, from there, the crowd will work to our advantage and coax them into it."

"You really are brilliant, Sanpei!" Ichinose said in awe.

"Yeah, I guess there is something under that moldy mop of yours after all." Nijo chimed in.

Sanpei withheld his remark, and instead said, "Naturally." in a dignified tone.

"By the way, Sanpei, there's still one thing I don't get about all this." Ichinose chimed in.

"And what would that be?" Sanpei responded.

"Where are you in all this mess?" Ichinose inquired.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing myself." Nijo added. "Where the hell are you?"

"I'm in the audience of course." Sanpei stated, "Where I can make a quick getaway in case one of you messes up."

"How comforting…" Nijo and Ichinose replied in unison. After Nijo finished that statement he made a quick scan of the crowd from his perch. He saw children of all ages, as well as an equal amount of adults, this was indeed a busy day. However, among them all, Nijo was able to pluck Sanpei from the crowd, thanks to his disguise. Sanpei was just to his right, in Row 5, casting a glance up to Nijo. Nijo flashed a cocky smile back at Sanpei, to which Sanpei responded by shuffling his newspaper around in a slightly disgusted manner.

"I see you down there, Sanpei." Nijo mused. "I told you that disguise would stick out."

"Oh, ok then," Sanpei began, "then why don't you take those ever so conspicuous sunglasses of yours, slather them in that disgusting hair gel of yours, and shove them right up your-"

"Eagles inbound," Ichinose interrupted, "I repeat: Eagles inbound."

"Finally," Nijo stated, "they kept us waiting long enough. I'd've thought that Mistress Seishirou would be a faster runner…"

"Comments aside, it's time for us to persecute." Sanpei declared. "Gentlemen, you know your roles, good luck."

"Yeah, good luck." Ichinose and Nijo said in unison before hanging up. As Nijo pocketed his phone and turned on his mic, he thought, 'Alright Sanpei, time for all those romance novels to pay off…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seishirou and Raku dashed out of the corridor, and were greeted by that oh so delicious aroma, one that made them both stop and gaze at the splendor of the amphitheater.

Raku's face was lit up brighter than Seishirou had ever seen. He looked more delighted than a child on Christmas morning, and his birthday, combined. Raku's eyes darted about the area, taking in every single small detail. From the people in the bleachers to the trainers that were subtly stroking the bottle nose dolphins and preparing them for their show, Raku looked absolutely enamored in all of it.

As his purple locks frayed in the chilly winter air, Seishirou allowed a small shiver to escape. Raku looked down at her, her strong yet frail figure underneath that gorgeous dress, which was currently rippling in the air, despite the scarf caused Raku's chest to ache.

Raku sighed as he began to unbutton his flannel shirt and said, "So the scarf wasn't enough, eh?" with a small smirk.

Seishirou pushed a few locks of her hair back into their original position, and reinforced her signature blue bow's hold on her hair before she looked up to Raku and replied, "D-Don't be ridiculous," she wrapped the scarf tighter around her neck, causing her face to flush even more. Be it from the cold or embarrassment, she wasn't even sure herself, "it's nothing I can't-"

"You know, you don't have to play tough around me," Raku said as he draped his plaid flannel over Seishirou, "it's fine. I understand."

Seishirou averted her gaze from Raku as she said, "Th-Thanks…"

'Damn,' Raku thought to himself, 'I really shouldn't have said that, should I…? But she seemed so weak, so-'

"C'mon," Seishirou spoke up, hiding her glaringly obvious blush from Raku's view, "let's go find seats."

"Uh…yeah…" Raku replied as he walked on with Seishirou.

'So, is she mad at me, or not? God, why do girls have to be so complicated…?' Raku mentally droned, unable to deny the slight blush beginning to cross his cheeks.

The duo eventually found their seats, front row, only a scant few meters away from the pool. Raku's attention was equally torn between Seishirou and the stage in front of him. However, that didn't put a damper on his enthusiasm for this (at least not too much of one).

Seishirou's mind however was fully on Raku, and on nothing else. 'He did it again,' Seishirou thought, 'and I liked it, even more than I liked it before…This pain in my chest, it grows every time he does something like this. This aching, this pining, it's for him…isn't it…I haven't been able to say it to myself, but maybe if I can say it out loud, then maybe…'

"S-Say, Raku-" Seishirou began in a demure tone.

"Don't you think that's kinda dangerous?" Raku interrupted.

"Hm? What is?" Seishirou inquired.

"Having those huge, expensive cameras so near water." Raku said as he gestured to one of the cameramen (Ichinose) who had his camera lowered to the level of the water's surface, and was carefully following one of the three dolphin's movements as it swam about, looking absolutely mesmerized as he did so.

"Well, I suppose," Seishirou replied, "but they look like they're securely mounted, so I would think it's safe for them to do dynamic angles like that."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, that's good for the people who can't be up front like us, isn't it?" Raku inquired.

"Well, it's not just that, it also adds a certain flair." Seishirou explained. "Plus, they'll most likely find a way to re-use the footage somewhere along the line. Probably for an advertisement for these exhibitions or something like that."

'Whew,' Raku thought to himself as he and Seishirou continued their conversation, 'she doesn't seem so uneasy anymore…'

'Did he sense that I was uneasy…?' Seishirou thought, 'Does he really care about me that much?'

It was at that moment that Nijo came booming over the microphone, and exclaimed, "WELCOME, one and all!" with great gusto. "Welcome to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan's dolphin exhibition, put on by our lovely group of trainers!"

As Nijo gestured to the two tall men, one had black hair, one had chestnut colored hair, along with a short, black haired woman, the shot upon the big screen changed to display them as they waved to the crowd, bringing on an uproar of applause.

"Thank you, thank you," Nijo declared, "and I'm your lovely, charming MC-"

'Shit!' Nijo thought in a split second, 'I never thought up a fake name because Sanpei never told me to! Damnit, damnit, damnit! Wait, I know!'

"Shiba Kazu!" Nijo finished.

'Charming?' Sanpei thought to himself.

Seishirou cupped her hand around her chin and muttered, "Hmm…"

Noticing Seishirou's concern, Raku spoke up and said, "Something wrong?"

"Well, it's probably nothing," Seishirou replied, "but doesn't that MC look kind of familiar?"

As Nijo prattled on and the trainers assumed their positions, Raku responded, "Well, I suppose. But his last name is Kazu, isn't it?"

"Come to think of it, that's right." Seishirou replied as she looked up to the MC's podium.

"Well, we'll just ask Sanpei when we get back." Raku replied. He chuckled as he went on to say, "But if he is one of their siblings, then…" Raku almost burst out laughing as he chuckled to himself, "Shiba…"

Seishirou cocked her head to the side and inquired, "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Raku replied as he calmed down and wiped a small tear from the corner of his right eye.

"If you say so…" Seishirou responded as she reverted her gaze to the pool.

'Damn…why does his laugh have to be so…cute.' Seishirou thought, her face immediately flushing as she thought the word 'cute'.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," Shiba boomed over the mic, "what you've all been waiting for, let's…BEGIN!"

In the half an hour or so that followed the basic things, a flurry of elaborate tricks and horribly ad libbed commentary ensued. However, the audience seemed to enjoy it.

First, the dolphins performed a synchronized figure-8 with their trainers, the sleek grey bodies' movements perfectly keeping rhythm with the slower, blue-swimsuited trainers as they cut the water's surface with perfect precision, entrancing the crowd, all save for Shiba who commented, "Yeah, but what other numbers can they do?"

Next, the trainers brought out large black hoops through which the dolphins performed synchronized jumps through. Their crests came to form not a single millisecond apart, and they hardly made a splash as their bodies pierced the water, bottle nose first. Shiba was less than amused and droned, "Can't we light those things on fire and get some real excitement going?"

Afterwards, the trainers brought out large, inflatable beach balls, which they used to play with the dolphins by tossing them at a dolphin, then immediately afterwards blowing a whistle a number of times, signaling them to bounce it in a certain direction. Shiba commented, "I could do the same thing by getting a few friends and a beanbag, show me something new…"

For the grand finale, the trainers exited the pool and gave the signal to the dolphins via their whistles. The dolphins submerged momentarily, but eventually crested, and skimmed the water's surface for several seconds, spraying water everywhere from their blowhole, drenching the majority of the audience in the front rows, save for Raku and Seishirou, who were tucked into a corner far enough that they avoided the majority of the spray. When it was all said and done, Shiba dryly stated, "I could get the same experience by sitting poolside and having someone swim by me on a boogie board with their thumb over a hose, but whatever…"

"Hey, have you noticed-" Raku began.

"Yeah, that MC…he's…" Seishirou chimed in.

"Annoying." The duo said in unison as they glared daggers at Shiba (A.K.A. Nijo).

"Achoo!" Shiba sneezed from atop his platform. "Whoa, excuse me!" he called to the audience.

"But the audience seems to love it…" Raku said as he looked around the bleachers at the laughing crowd. "For some reason…At any rate, that looks to be the end of the performance, so-"

Just as Seishirou and Raku were about to stand up, along with the majority of the crowd, Shiba exclaimed, "Just one minute, please." in a commanding tone, bringing the audience back to its seats. "There's still one last thing we have to do!" as an eruption of inquiries and murmurs came over the crowd, Shiba explained, "As I can see, there are a fair amount of couples amongst the crowd, am I right, or am I wrong?" Again, people murmured in concurrence with Shiba. He flashed a cocky grin as he responded, "Therefore, we shall pick a random couple from the crowd, and showcase them on…Kiss Cam!" a round of applause erupted from the crowd as they cheered this endeavor. All except for two people…you guessed it; Raku and Seishirou.

While neither of the two said anything, their minds were storms of thought.

'K-K-Kiss Cam?!' Seishirou thought as she cast a nervous and flustered glance over to Raku, 'I wouldn't have to do it…would I? I mean, that's completely ridiculous; me and him…k-kissing…' Seishirou would've shattered any EKG with the rate her heart was racing at as she thought, 'Why…Why do I feel, in the back of my heart, like I…want to…?'

'C-Calm down, Raku,' Raku told himself as he straightened up his hair accessory and fluffed his purple locks, 'there's gotta be at least a hundred, maybe more, people here. So…why do I feel like I wouldn't mind…? M-Maybe if I just pretend it's Onodera…W-Well, my racing heart aside, what are the odds we'll get slapped on Kiss Cam…?'

It was at that instant that Raku got his answer, as he saw the image on the flat screen behind Shiba change to that of him and Seishirou, bordered by many pink and red hearts.

"My my my!" Shiba boomed over the mic at the flustered and flushed Raku and Seishirou, "It looks like we have our winners, this lovely young couple right here!" As the crowd cast a plethora of 'aww's and 'oooh's at the duo, Shiba chanted, "Do it. Do it. Do it." and was soon joined by the majority of the crowd.

As the audience around them rhythmically chanted and egged them on in all manner of ways, Raku chuckled slightly as he brought his hand to his face to adjust his hair, and used the opportunity to mouth something to Seishirou, whose body's only color was the deep, crimson red of embarrassment.

Seishirou looked over to Raku at just the right time to see him mouth one thing:

"Sorry…"

before Raku took action.

Raku stood up, grabbing Seishirou's hand in the process as he pulled her to her feet. Nervous and shaking slightly, he pulled Seishirou close, and brought his lips to hers. Seishirou's eyes were opened in the beginning, but slowly closed as she melted into the luscious embrace. The cheer of the crowd, the nipping of winter's bitter winds, it all seemed to vanish in the fervor of the moment. 5 seconds seemed like an eternity as Seishirou felt the press of smooth lips against her own. Raku detected the slightest hint of strawberry flavor on the tips of Seishirou's already sweet lips, which he deduced to be from the crêpes they had eaten that morning. However, all flavors and textures aside, it was the pure passion that went into that kiss that made it such a show for people to see. It was as though something had just been created, something had been ignited in such an explosive way that the entire audience could feel it. Something denied finally accepted, and something unsure confirmed…perhaps they didn't know it yet, nor were they willing to admit it, but Raku and Seishirou both felt it.

When Raku finally broke the kiss, he looked a breathless Seishirou in the eye and said (blush painting his cheeks), "C'mon, my lady, let us be off!"

Seishirou, still dazed from what had just happened, was awoken when Raku swept her off her feat and into his arms, bridal-style, as he set foot onto the mezzanine and dashed as fast as he could without making it uncomfortable for Seishirou down the corridor and to the exit.

'This is insane…' Raku thought as he tread down the corridor, 'at first I just wanted to imagine it as Onodera, but I just couldn't at the moment. It felt like every desire I had to do that just…vanished…'

'I just had my first kiss…' Seishirou thought as she steamed and fumed, her heat matching Raku's own perfectly, 'It wasn't awkward, and it wasn't scary…it was…relaxing…comfortable…' Seishirou looked up to Raku as she thought, 'And the thing is…'

'The weird part is…' Raku thought at that exact moment.

'I want to do it again!' the duo thought in unison as Raku burst through the doors to the memorabilia room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The duo dashed about the aquarium for a while before before finally coming to rest at the gift shop near the exit. It was a quaint little shop with hardwood flooring, and blue and orange walls, all lined with every kind of marketable merchandise that Kaiyukan could slap its name/logo on. There were several aisles as well that all led to a back area where minor gifts were sold. The duo bolted to the back area where they came to rest next to the section where they sold postcards and other small souvenirs.

Panting and exhausted, the duo locked eyes for the first time after the kiss. Neither was sure what to say, Seishirou especially, but it was Raku who broke the silence and said, "Um…I'm gonna go see what they have up front…ok?"

"Y-Yeah…" Seishirou mumbled in reply as Raku walked a towards the main counter of the gift shop.

"Honestly, I can't tell what she's thinking…" Raku muttered to himself as he perused the merchandise on the counter, "Is she mad at me, is she fine with it? I just acted on impulse…" As Raku looked over the salt water taffy, he mumbled, "Maybe this really is my bad…She wasn't so mad about it the last time, but this time…" Raku had the sudden urge to see if this shop sold protective cups when something caught his eye. A subtle smile crossed his face as he called to the man tending the shop, (a man with chestnut hair who didn't look a day older than 30) gestured to a small wooden rack on the counter and inquired, "Excuse me, how much for these?"

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!" Seishirou silently panicked, "Did he do that because he wanted to? Did he do that just because he had to?! Gah!" Seishirou kicked the base of the wooden postcard rack, causing several of the cards and their envelopes to fall to the floor. Surprisingly enough, this drew no attention from the store hands on duty. 'Well, regardless of whether he enjoyed it or not,' Seishirou thought, 'I know one thing for sure…I liked it…' a surprisingly girlish squeal escaped Seishirou's lips as she thought, 'So, do I tell him? Or do I let him figure it out on his own? Oh, I have no idea how these things work! This whole thing is just-'

Before Seishirou could finish her mental rant, into her vision entered a small manta ray cell phone charm, held by none other than Raku. Seishirou traced Raku's arm with her eyes before eventually locking eyes with the man himself. Raku ruffled his hair slightly before saying, "Here…to make up for what I did…"

"To make up for-" Seishirou began.

"Look, I can understand if you're mad at me," Raku interrupted, his voice painted with sincerity, "I mean, who would want to kiss a guy like me, am I right? So, I got you this…" As Seishirou returned her gaze to the charm, Raku continued, "I also got myself one, even though they're not really my thing," as he pulled from his pocket his phone to reveal a dolphin charm dangling from it, "I thought it would be nice to match." As Seishirou's heartbeat skyrocketed, Raku finished, "Look like I said, if you're mad at me, when we get back to the hotel, I'll ask them to put me in an entirely separate room and we never have to talk again. I wouldn't blame you if you did that…"

'Even after he does something like that…' Seishirou thought, 'he still considers me above all else…'

Seishirou chuckled in a feeble attempt to quell her glaringly obvious blush as she took the charm from Raku's grasp and said, "That won't be necessary…" Raku looked at her with a confused look as she produced her phone from her pocket and clamped on the charm, "Because you can't apologize for something you didn't do wrong." Raku's face slowly lit up back into his usual smile as Seishirou continued, "I-I would've done the same thing under those circumstances, so I suppose I can let you off the hook this time."

The duo chuckled at Seishirou's sly way of saying that before Raku glanced at his cell phone and saw the time. "Oh no, we'll miss the bus if we don't hurry! C'mon!" Raku exclaimed as he grabbed Seishirou's wrist and dragged her out of the gift store.

All the while Seishirou had on one of the most honest smiles she had ever worn.

'I had always thought as much,' Seishirou thought as they dashed past the trout, 'but I could never say it to myself. Until that moment, that is…' as the image of their kiss ran through her mind, Seishirou's heart rate increased yet again. 'This sensation, this overwhelming feeling…it's what everyone told me, and up until now, I didn't want to say it. But now…I have to…

I'm in love with Raku Ichijo…'

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A/N: Well Seishirou's finally come honest with herself! So how will this pan out over the rest of this vacation? And does Raku feel the same way? And why do I have to pay for the Kazu sibling's bus fare?!

The answers to all these questions and more will come soon! Until then, keep reading!

Thanks for reading this chapter, if your really enjoyed it, why not write a review/favorite it/follow it? And if you don't that's fine, I'll still love you!

Thanks for bearing with me and I'll see you next week sometime!

Until then,

See ya!