Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 7

Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 7

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Jay: Yeah, I came up with something pretty neat. Behold!

Keith & Dino: ......

Keith: ...Did you really design this, Jay?

Jay: Who else? Faith said it was “fashionably ugly”, apparently.

Dino: This is great, Jay! Amazing! I love it. ♪

Jay: Really? I’m glad you like it.

Keith: Well, it’s pretty good for you, Jay.

Faith: Why are you acting like you’re such an expert?

Jay: If the two of you approve, I guess there’s nothing to be worried about.

I was a little unsure about it, but Faith told me that the fans would probably want something with our personal flair mixed in.

Dino: For sure! I know I’d be happy as a clam if you handed me something as cool as this, Jay!

Keith: Wow, Faith told you that...?

Faith: ...What about it?

I didn’t do anything special—it's all the fruits of Jay’s labor.

Jay: Give yourself some credit. After all, the whole reason I was able to work so hard on it was because you were here.

Faith: ......

Keith: Looks like you two are getting on well.

Dino: Oh yeah! Love and peace...☆

I was certain you two were going to work together to come up with a single design, but that wasn’t the case, huh?

Faith: I mean, this is just kinda how things turned out. We weren’t given any specific instructions one way or the other, though.

Jay: A single design made by the two of us... That’s not a bad idea.

Faith: Huh?

Jay: The original request was for a veteran/rookie pair to work together, right? Having that pair collaborate on a single design would definitely stir up some conversation.

Faith: Wait, back up a second. You want to do that now with the deadline looming right over our heads?

Jay: We still have time! With the two of us working together, we'll pull it off in no time.

Come on, just imagine the smiles on the fans’ faces! ♪

Faith: ......

...Fiiine, I’ll do it. It’s kind of a pain, but at this point we might as well do it.

Jay: Alright, that settles that! Let’s get fired up and do our best!

Keith: Looks like he’s doing just fine...

Dino: Sure does! ♪ I’m excited to see where this love and peace will take them...☆

Keith: We should probably tell Brad, too.

Dino: Yeah, he was kinda worried too, huh. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear about this~♪

Faith: No way. He doesn’t need to know.

Dino: Err, I can just give him a quick rundown, yeah?

Faith: I said no. Don’t tell Shorty, either, or it’ll turn into a headache for me.

Keith: Hey now. Yeesh, you can never just say what you mean.

Jay: Haha, the atmosphere in here is great. It’s amusing to see what your team is usually like.

I’m glad that you and Keith seem to be having fun in your mentor roles, Dino.

Dino: Ehe, of course we are! ♪

Keith: We came here to check on you, so how did it turn into you comforting us?

Faith: That’s just Jay for you. Go on, treat Keith more like a kid while you have the chance.

Keith: Nah, I’m good.

Jay: Hahaha!

———



Jay: You ready, Faith?

Faith: How many times have you asked me that now? I’m all good–not nervous or anything.

Jay: Haha, okay, I got it. You do look like you’re pretty locked in. Is that because you’re used to having eyes on you?

Faith: Maybe, though not to the same extent as you.

Jay: Hey, I get nervous sometimes too, y’know? Today included.

Faith: Oh yeah? Well, I guess that makes sense. This kind of thing is outside of your wheelhouse, after all.

Jay: I’m confident the fans will be happy, but I’ll be a little on-edge until we get started.

Faith: ...Speaking of which, it’s almost time.

Jay: Alrighty. Let’s get going, Faith.

Faith: Okay. ♪

———

←Chapter 6 | masterlist | Chapter 8→

Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 8

Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 8

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Grandma: Oh, Jay-san. You look as lovely as ever.

Jay: Thank you. How have you been lately? Not pushing yourself too hard, I hope.

Grandma: Ohoho, not at all. Since I have my grandson here with me too, we wanted to come see what you’re up to.

Little Boy: Did you make this, Jay? You drew a pretty cool picture!

Jay: You think so? I’m glad you like it. I actually drew some of the fish that you can see here at the aquarium.

Little Girl: No way, they have weird-looking fish like this here?!

Jay: Ahaha, the real fish are much cuter. ♪

Little Boy: What about cool-looking ones?!

Jay: Of course, they have those, too. You can see them if you look from right here. Come take a gander. ♪

Faith: (No surprise there... Jay’s super popular with people of any age. He knows how to deal with them all, too.)

Young Woman A: F-Fa-Fa-Faith-kun! I’m a huge fan! Good luck out there!

Faith: Aha, thanks. You nervous? You don’t have to be so polite. Make sure you have fun today.

Young Woman A: Wow... He’s so cool... This is bad, I could just float away...

Young Woman B: Faith-kun! I want 50 T-shirts!

Faith: Whoops, sorry, we’ve got a limit of 5 shirts per person.

Young Woman B: Oh, my bad! I didn’t see that! Please don’t be mad at meee~!

Faith: Aha, I’m happy just knowing you came here to buy some. I wouldn't get mad at you for that.

Young Woman B: Wah... I love you... Oh god, I could just melt into the floor...

Jay: (Oooh, just as I thought, Faith is a real hit with the younger crowd.)

(He’s good at making conversation with them, too... But I’m kinda worried that the foot traffic is all backed up...)

Child’s Mother: My, the fish on this T-shirt is a pretty popular one here at the aquarium.

Child’s Father: You’re right. Not surprised that a stud like Jay Kidman chose it for the design.

Jay: Haha, this fish totally blows me out of the water in terms of popularity. Sharks are pretty awesome, after all.

Child: This shark is cuter! Like as cute as Jay was when I saw him at the park the other day!

Jay: Uh oh, what exactly did you see?

Child: You were playing with a doggy! It was cute how you were the one who was more scared!

Jay: Hahaha, sounds like you saw a pretty embarrassing side of me. Would you mind keeping that a secret from your friends?

Child’s Father: That’s just another reason why you’re so easy to like, Jay.

Child’s Mother: Agreed. I feel that friendliness in the design of your shirt, too.

Jay: I’m happy to hear you say so. Enjoy your family time together here at the aquarium! ♪

Child: Bye-bye!

———

←Chapter 7 | masterlist | Chapter 9→

Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 9 (Final)

Bringing Style to the Aquarium | Chapter 9 (Final)

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Jay: Whew, all done, huh.

Faith: You were pretty great, Jay.

Jay: So were you, Faith! I got the impression that there were a lot of enthusiastic young people here today.

Faith: I guess. We were able to sell out of T-shirts thanks to everyone, but I wonder if they’ll end up being good PR for the aquarium?

Jay: No need to worry. Look, everyone who got a shirt has a big smile on their face. ♪

Director: Exactly. See here? Social media is buzzing about it, too.

Faith: “I had so much fun!” “The shirts are so cute!” “They recommended the petting zoo exhibit so I tried it out, and it was as therapeutic as they said it’d be.”

Jay: Looks like we conveyed everything we wanted to, huh.

Faith: Fufu, looks that way.

Jay: I’m glad that the design we worked on together went over so well.

Faith: Of course it did. We made something great, after all.

Director: Exactly! Your collaboration resulted in a spectacular design!

The silhouettes of people enjoying the aquarium while the penguins and fish happily swim around them was a great idea!

Jay: It was pretty hard to portray it. After all, it’s not like the fish are swimming around thinking about how to keep us humans entertained.

Faith: You were really hung up on that part of it, weren’t you?

You said you didn’t want to “misrepresent the appeal of the aquarium,” if I recall. I couldn’t help but smile at how much you love this place.

Jay: Hey now, didn’t you promise not to tell them that?

Faith: Did I?

Anyway, that’s it for today’s job. We had all that lead up only for today to be over in an instant.

Director: Thanks to you two, today’s event was a huge hit! Thank you so much!

Jay: Haha, don’t hesitate to reach out to us again, okay? We Heroes are here for everyone.

———



Faith: Good work today, Jay.

I said it only lasted an instant, but aren’t you a little tired from keeping up the fan service for that long?

Jay: Haha, I guess I made you worry, huh? I’m fine, though; no problems here.

Faith: Aha, of course you are. ♪

Jay: You did a great job yourself, Faith. You really helped me out a lot this time around.

I was only able to come up with a design that felt personal because you were here to help.

If you hadn’t been here, I probably would’ve had to bug the crap out of the others instead.

Faith: Really? If you ask me, you had plenty of drive to do it yourself.

Jay: No way, if you hadn’t been here, that shirt would’ve never seen the light of day.

Since I don’t want to lose what you taught me about fashion, I thought I’d try to expand on it moving forward.

Faith: How ambitious. Good luck. ♪

I’m pretty tired, so I think I’m gonna take a stroll around the aquarium and then head back. You taught me how to best enjoy myself here, after all.

Jay: Haha, did you end up as invested as me?

Faith: Not a chance. But I do think it was a good experience.

I especially like the petting exhibit. ♪ Maybe I’ll go soak in the healing vibes from the background music there.

Jay: You really do like that place, huh? What can I say other than it makes sense?

Oh, right, since you taught me about style, would you mind taking me along sometime to the club you DJ at?

Faith: Uhh...

I mean, I guess I could. But why not just come by yourself?

Jay: I suppose that’s an option. In that case, I’ll invite Brad and the others and make a night of it.

Faith: Please, anything but that.

Jay: What, are you embarrassed? I think it’s great, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed abou—

Faith: That’s not it. Just don’t, okay?

Jay: Okay, fine. Then I’ll try inviting Billy, Gray, and Asch instead.

Faith: ...I’m outta here. If I don’t hurry, this place is gonna close.



Jay: H-Hey, wait! I’m coming with!

We don’t get chances like this often, so let’s stick together until we leave! Don’t leave me behind, Faith!

———

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