[𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪.] - 𝗔𝗸𝗮𝗹𝗶 𝘅 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

[2.] 𓆡 Your Typical Second Impression

Yoko couldn't go to pick out her fish.

She left for a doctor's appointment an hour ago. It's a little disappointing, but if Akali could stall Y/N for a few minutes, then she should be able to FaceTime her, at least.

She wore a white crop top with a gray jacket over it with and matching sweatpants.

The midnight vibes of the aquarium hit Akali the second she passed the threshold again.

She'd never seen another store quite like it. It's an aquarium store, but it looked like a tattoo shop with all the neon lights and dark vibes.

It was beautiful.

The floors were checkered black and white.

A squawk sounded from the back. It's loud. Akali almost jumped again, but then she remembered—it's just the bird.

The tanks glow softly in the otherwise dark shop. They're all sorts of colors between purple and blue and pink. There were two aisles; tanks of fish line each wall, then there's a large shelf down the middle that had all the aquarium gear and whatnot alongside a few more tanks with stuff like plants and live shrimp.

No Y/N to be seen.

So Akali looked around.

She first leaned to the right, looking cautiously at the cockatoo who's perched behind the checkout counter. He screeched at Akali again, so she moved to the left of the store.

There were lots of different goldfish here. She read the labels on each tank.

Common goldfish.

This tank had a fair blue light running through it. It's faint—just enough to illuminate the water. There's black sand and a couple of leafy plants.

Those were the run-of-the-mill ones. Akali watched them. They all had pale orange bodies that glistened under the light.

She moved over.

Oranda.

This tank's set up the same, but the light's hot pink.

The fish inside were the ones that looked like they had their brains exposed with this wrinkly little crest above their eyes. They're kind of funky-looking and way chunkier and rounder than the common goldfish.

Some of them were white with red crests, and others were fully orange. There's one that's entirely black. He's a little more energetic than the rest.

They're really little. All of these fish were, by the looks of it.

Akali thought goldfish were bigger. Unless... she halted in her steps as she realized.

These were probably all babies. She's in a nursery of sorts.

She stepped quietly to the next tank in the row. Purple light.