Ikki and Kyoko return to the facility and explore the rest of the ocean-based theme parks and art galleries. Each stranger than the last.
Reminder: homework survey to do.
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The weather today is a heat wave.
[August 17, Friday - week 3]
As per yesterday's agreement, Ikki and Kyoko returned to the facility in Tokyo Bay without delay. It's a recently opened site based on Poseidon's undersea realm, with seven sections containing a gallery or a park ride. Though he was interested in returning as a birthday request, his main motivation was to find clues to the shady photos.
"Everything's still the same..."
"I'm so happy we're here again, Ikki."
"Right! Let's start exploring the rest."
"Sure! We'll skip the sea pearls part."
"Good." Ikki nods.
Kyoko then notices Ikki staring at her.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing..."
It turns out she's wearing the same clothes as before: the one with the jean jacket, a pair of jeans, and a sports bra. But Ikki is also wearing the same flannel shirt, jeans, and sneakers. To Ikki, this seems like a coincidence.
"Let's go!" Kyoko says. "I can't wait!"
Once they enter after paying the fee, they arrive at the fountain in the center of the lounge, before entering each site based on the seven oceans. They look into the map grabbed for reference.
"It goes around. Each has either a theme park ride or an art gallery. Seems it starts with the North Pacific site with a theme park ride. Let's start from there and make our way to the end."
"I don't see why not." Ikki agrees.
They enter through the North Pacific door, which looks empty. However, they fall through a trapdoor and find themselves sliding down.
"What the?!" Ikki utters.
They slide down through the interior tubes as fast as a racing car. But unlike regular water slides, this one appears to be humid, as if it were meant to simulate water. As Ikki slides down, he notices Kyoko isn't behind him because he can't hear her.
"I can't hear Kyoko. Did she fall somewhere else? Okay, this is suspicious, but I can't stop. I'm sliding down too fast, dammit!"
Ikki then makes it to the bottom of the slide. He sees Kyoko standing, as if she's already finished and waiting for him.
"Kyoko! Are you alright? Anything odd?"
"Um, no... The slide is so much fun!"
"I see..."
"For the photos to be taken, a camera must be somewhere. But I don't see anything resembling a camera. Must be hidden..."
"Let's head to the next one. This one has a mermaid gallery."
Kyoko refers to the door leading to the South Pacific site, said to contain a real mermaid gallery. They head there immediately and soon find themselves in a maze surrounded by mermaids.
"Amazing! These mermaids must be real!" Kyoko hollers with delight at seeing realistic mermaids freely swimming in their water-filled tanks.
"They're probably actors in disguise. There's no way mermaids exist. Then again, I was in Poseidon's realm, so it might be possible."
But as they traverse, a seemingly real mermaid observes them, and a familiar one at that. It's one that some of the BBs have seen before.
They exit the mermaid gallery maze and head to the door leading to the Indian Ocean site with another ride. This one has a whirlpool ride where visitors enter a chamber that spins continuously.
"Wait a sec! This is like the slide from before. I don't see Kyoko anywhere. We must've been separated. I wonder if this is a coincidence."
The whirlpool feels like it takes forever to finish, but the ride ceases, and Ikki exits the chamber. Likewise, he sees Kyoko finished and waiting.
"Kyoko! Say something!"
"My head is spinning but I like it!"
"I see... let's move to the next one."
The next door they head to is the Antarctic Ocean gallery, which contains live penguins freely roaming around. As such, the room inside is cold, even at the height of today's heat wave.
"Ikki, these penguins can be tamed if they can be freely roamed." Kyoko pats the head of a random penguin. "Look at this one. It's so cute!"
"Nothing suspicious here..."
After looking at the cute penguins, they head to the Arctic Ocean site for a jet ski ride. Two people can ride on a jet ski. As such, Kyoko grabs the handle while Ikki sits from behind her, reluctantly.
"You're sitting behind me. What a surprise!"
"Well, yeah. Not that I have a choice..."
"Alright! Let's ride!"
Kyoko rides the jet ski across the enclosed slide, with Ikki holding her from behind. The way she rides the jet ski makes him wonder if she has any experience driving a vehicle.
"You seem to be good at this..."
"Of course I am, Ikki. I can drive!"
"Do you have a car?"
"No but I'll get my license soon."
"Kyoko is the same age as me, so I'm unsurprised. And it seems she's been practicing so that explains how she's able to drive this. But I still can't see the hidden cameras that took those photos."
When Kyoko reaches the goal, she finishes the ride, and looks at the map for the next destination.
"The next one is the North Atlantic with the sea pearls, but we already went through that, so we'll skip to the South Atlantic site. That one only has a musical theater, which doesn't last long."
"A musical, huh? I can use some rest."
They head to the South Atlantic gallery to watch a musical event. The musical doesn't contain live actors but animated sea creatures that sing and dance for the audience. Kyoko enjoys it very much.
"Again, there is nothing suspicious. It is just a musical, nothing else. Finding the clues to the photos would be difficult. Wait! I almost forgot! There's a souvenir gift shop, so I could find something there."
"Kyoko, can we go to the gift shop?"
"You mean to buy souvenirs? Sure!"
Once they exit the theater, they head to the facility's gift shop. A simple store with souvenirs. Still, Ikki wants to confirm his suspicions about whether there is a section with photos.
"Kyoko, I need to look for something here. Can you wait by the fountain? Of course, you can still shop, but wait there once you finish."
"Sure I can, but what's this about?"
"I just need to see something."
"Very well. I'll wait." Kyoko nods.
Ikki walks around the shop when he stumbles upon a section where visitors can buy photos taken during rides and galleries. Intrigued, he asks the staff about the pictures taken a month ago. Ikki requests the staff to search for those particular photos, but they can't find them. He asks to search again, which they do, but the result is the same.
"So someone else did. Who can it be? It can't be any of my friends because they remained at the dorm that day. Would it be those other girls my friends befriended? That's the only thing I can think of. There's no way a teacher would do this, or maybe someone who knows Kyoko personally. I can ask her, but what if she refuses to answer. At least I know this place didn't take the photos, that's for certain. I better leave."
Upon leaving the shop, he sees Kyoko waiting by the fountain and holding a small shopping bag. Kyoko notices and waves him to come.
"There you are, Ikki!"
"Looks like you bought something."
"I sure did!" Kyoko pulls an item out of the bag. "Look at these! Sea pearl charm bracelets! We can match and connect like so. This one is for you, given that it's your birthday present."
Ikki receives and gazes at the item. "Thanks."
"You're welcome! It's the perfect memento of our trip. Come on, let's go home. The sun is starting to set. By the way, there's no need to dine at the Breadwinner since we already did that."
"I agree. This is enough. Let's go."
With that in mind, they head home.
To be continued...