—YAWN!
Kurofune let out a yawn as he stretched his arms. It was currently the weekend, so he had a chance to catch up on some sleep he might've been missing from all of the pent up stress he felt during the past week.
"It doesn't look like I've fully recovered though," Kurofune commented on his condition. "Maybe I should sleep some more?"
Just as he was about to doze off to sleep again…
"RISE AND SHINE KUROFUNE! IT'S TIME FOR AN ADVENTURE!"
He was startled awake by a loud and familiar voice.
"W-Who the hell is there!?" Kurofune asked with concern.
"What's with the reaction? It's just me," Tap Dance City, who was dressed in casual winter wear, replied as she stepped into his room.
"T-Tap Dance City!?" Kurofune looked surprised. "How did you get into my house!?"
"The front door, obviously," Tap Dance City crossed her arms. "I was planning on lockpicking your door open, but I didn't even have to do that since you forgot to lock your door last night. Man, you really got to be more careful. If I was someone with nefarious intentions, you wouldn't even be breathing right now."
"Wow, thanks for the reassuring words, home invader," Kurofune rolled his eyes. "What did you come here for, to the point where you were willing to lockpick your way inside?"
"Why else?" Tap Dance City looked at him like he was stupid. "The scent of adventure has never felt as strong as today, so I decided to bring the one who I know would be most willing to go."
"Well, that is true. I wouldn't mind going on this 'adventure' with you," Kurofune admitted. "But that still doesn't warrant breaking into my house. You could've just called me."
"But where's the fun in that, my dear Kurofune," Tap Dance City said dramatically. "Adventure is spontaneous and meant to bring surprise."
"What the fuck are you even saying right now?" Kurofune asked with a deadpanned look. "You know, forget it. I doubt I'd understand even if you tried to explain it."
He stood up from his bed.
"Go wait outside or something. I need time to change."
"Alright," Tap Dance City agreed as she began walking towards the door of the room. "However, don't take too long now, as true adventure doesn't wait for one to be prepared!"
"Aye Aye, captain…" Kurofune unenthusiastically replied as he shut the door to his room.
<><><><><><><><><>
A while later…
The two found themselves sitting in an area of land that was besides a pond. Their surroundings were filled with leafless trees as the cool breeze of winter swept through the air.
—Plop!
Tap Dance City cast her lure into the water. She enthusiastically waited for a couple of minutes, hoping for a catch. While they were waiting, Kurofune decided to ask an important question.
"Um, why are we doing this?"
"I already told you before. It's a part of the adventure."
"Don't you also need a permit for freshwater fishing? Otherwise, we could get in major trouble."
"Don't worry about that, I got the permit right here."
As she said that, she pulled out a piece of paper. Though it was hard to read from his perspective, Kurofune could concur that it was an actual permit to fish at this pond.
…
One minute turned into three. Three minutes turned into five. Yet still, nothing was caught onto the lure. At this point, Tap Dance City was starting to get impatient.
"What's going on? Shouldn't I have caught something by now?" Tap Dance City frowned. "Did I do something wrong or what?"
"It's winter time, so most of the fish aren't moving around as much," Kurofune pointed out. "During this time, you must be extra patient. Fish tend to become more lethargic with the cold weather, and don't move around much."
He then motions for her to hand the fishing rod to him, which she does without a fuss. He then proceeds to recall the lure as he continues explaining to her.
"During the winter months, you should make use of smaller hooks and bait. Since fish aren't as aggressive, the need for larger ones is lessened."
He proceeded to swap out the hook of the rod. He then gently takes out a worm from the small box of live bait that they had brought, attaching it to the hook.
"After all your prep is complete, you have to aim your lure out to the deepest part of the pond, which is usually the center. Hah!"
Kurofune cast the lure as far as he could, landing it perfectly into the center of the pond. He then hands the fishing rod back to Tap Dance City.
"And now, all that's left to do is wait."
"Right," Tap Dance City nodded seriously as she clutched onto the fishing rod.
…
…
…
—Tug-tug!
"I-I got something!" Tap Dance City shouted.
"Reel it in calmly," Kurofune advised. "If you make too erratic of a move, it might get away."
"Got it," Tap Dance City began reeling it in calmly…or as calmly as she could manage.
—Splash!
She managed to reel the fish in completely.
"Hmm…" Kurofune analyzed the fish. "It looks like you pulled a Stocked Pond Trout."
"Oooh! Is that a rare find!?" Tap Dance City enthusiastically asked.
Kurofune chuckled a bit as he replied, "Not at all! That's honestly the most common thing you could fish up in a pond like this."
"What!?" Tap Dance City looked devastated.
"Hey cheer up, you can always try your luck at it again."
"Yeah, no. That took way too long," Tap Dance City shook her head as she simply released the trout back into the water.
"You can try again during the summer," Kurofune suggested. "I'd say it's the easiest season for fishing, since the variety and quantity of fish are very high.
"That's a good idea. I'll definitely do that," Tap Dance City agreed. "I'm surprised though. You seem to really know your stuff about fishing. Have you done it a lot before."
"Just casually with my dad at times," Kurofune replied. "Back home in the countryside, we would always go out and fish during summer nights, since that was usually the best time to fish up a bunch of Catfish."
"Next time I end up going fishing, I'll definitely have to bring you along," Tap Dance City said before beginning to walk off. "However, that's a story for another time. Off to our next destination!"
"H-Hey wait!? That wasn't all you wanted to do!?"
Tap Dance City paused, turning back at him.
"Of course not, fisher boy! There are still more destinations for our adventure!" She declared. "The day is still young after all! Now make haste, adventure awaits~!"
"..."
—Sigh!
Kurofune reluctantly followed after her, dragging the fishing gear with him.
<><><><><><><><><>
The day continued on like so, with Tap Dance City dragging Kurofune along with her to places that happened to pique her interest. Time flows past them quickly, as sunset finally approaches. Due to the dormitory's curfew, they had to cut their "adventure" short, much to Tap Dance City's dismay.
Kurofune felt a little mixed about it. Sure, he was happy that he wouldn't be dragged around to so many places anymore, at least for today. But he could also admit that he ended up having a lot of fun exploring the many parts of Tokyo alongside the adventurous Tap Dance City.
'Spending the whole day with each other, then walking back home together.' Kurofune thought 'If someone were to see us, it would almost look like we're dating—'
Wait…
Wasn't this pretty much a date, minus the romantic tension?
'We spent the entire day together. We played, laughed, and we even went out to eat dinner together. Only couples do that right?'
Kurofune took a glance at Tap Dance City, who was cheerfully humming a tune without a care in the world. Once he got a better look at her, he calmed down.
'Oh who am I kidding?' Kurofune shook his head. 'I think I'm just overthinking it.'
"Why did you suddenly shake your head?" Tap Dance City seemed to notice. "Is something wrong?"
"I was just thinking about what I should do to prepare for my upcoming race," Kurofune lied. "It's a G1, so I can't just go at my training with a half-assed approach."
"Training, huh…?" She fell into deep thought. "Ooh! I got a great idea!"
She quickly moved ahead of Kurofune, turning around to face him.
"We could do some sort of training camp," Tap Dance City suggested. "We can get Air Shakur and Digi-chan to join us as well. That way, we can not only help get you ready for your G1 Race, but also spend more time together outside of school."
"A training camp, huh?" Kurofune rubbed his chin. "Not a bad idea. My trainer had told me before that I tend to make better improvements when I train together with others, rather than just on my own."
"It's settled then!" Tap Dance City pumped her fist. "I'll go tell my trainer about it the next time I see him."
"Sounds good," Kurofune nodded.
Soon enough, the two eventually arrive at the academy entrance. Since the two were going to end up going opposite directions, this is where they part ways.
"I appreciate you for bearing with my shenanigans today, Kurofune," Tap Dance City thanked him with a smile. "I had a lot of fun today."
"Don't mention it, I had a lot of fun too," Kurofune smiled back. "We should definitely do this again sometime."
"I'd love to," Tap Dance City nodded before waving. "See you."
"Bye," he waved back.
Tap Dance City began making her way back to the academy. As Kurofune watched her disappear into the distance, he fell into his thoughts.
'I never really made note of it until now, but actually she looks pretty cute when she smiles like that.' Kurofune commented. 'Or…beautiful? Not exactly sure how to describe stuff like this.'
He then shook his head.
At the end of the day, stuff like that didn't matter to him. All he cared about was achieving his dream no matter what. He didn't have any time to delve into those kinds of thoughts.
…
'Though maybe once I achieve my dream, I might try and understand them better.'