𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙀𝘿 on the 𝙎𝘼𝙈𝙀 𝙎𝙆𝙔 - 𝚔𝚎𝚒 𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚊

34 - Anchored To Your Side

Suddenly, I sense Kei's hand grabbing my head and gently places on his shoulder, tapping my hair in the process. "Take a nap. I'll wake you up before we arrive."

"How about you?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he replies, feeling the damp tingles of his breath against my head.

I stay silent. It is as though something has kissed me in the cheeks, obtaining a spring-colored rose against my fair complexion. I fight the urge of a smile wanting to break out. It doesn't feel awkward at all. It's not even fairly romantic, just an honest array of friendship.

Later that hour, I fall asleep.

I wonder how many minutes did I spend napping and give myself a moment to allow the light to absorb to my eyes, to see colors inside the train. So we haven't arrived, huh?

Then I lift my head up, and brush the remainders of sleepiness by stretching my head. I face Kei, and he's already looking at me. "What do I look?" I question him softly.

He hums, "You look the same."

I make a wry expression. "Do I have a drool or something that makes me look disgusting?"

He pokes my cheek and says satirically, "If there's something on your face, I should've called you disgusting."

"Kei, kei . . ." I make a pun of his name and I suck my breath to not stifle a laugh. But Kei is already familiar with my annoying sides and only shakes his head.

Even so, it comes, we arrive at the museum. And there soooooo much to see in this place! It's so huge! And I'm so disappointed with my capability as a human.

After getting out of the station, we walk for minutes to reach our first target: National Museum for Western Arts. Japan assimilated western modernization before, so. The building has a modern and post-modern design. Modern for the abstract vibes, post-modern for the strong grip of the history. So contradicting.

The next is the museum for Nature and Science. This museum concerns itself to astronomy and evolution of life dated back more than four billion years ago. The building is so spacious and I realize how small I am. But I love the solemn atmosphere, fabricated with stained glasses and lime stucco finishes. It's invisible, yet tangible, something I can feel with my five senses.

I then look at Kei. His eyes are gleaming with wonder. "What can you say, Kei Tsukki?"

He steals a glance from me before answering, "It's just like the universe: it came from nothing, it becomes something, and eventually becomes nothing again—a cycle of birth to death."

Hearing him, I realize Kei really has a profound knowledge of architecture, history, and theory.

We wander around the ground floor. It is filled with olden tools used for observing the natural environment. The huge telescope is the main highlight in this area. We move to another gallery, featuring the excavated fossils of organisms that once lived in the land of Japan.

For instance, the bone structure of a certain reptile. "Kei, look, look! A dinosaur! It looks so cooool!!"

"It's a dinosaur, but it's not named as a dinosaur, dummy." Kei hits me in the head. "It's an allosaurus."

I gawk at him, mouth wide open, amazed. Kei knows a lot about dinosaurs. And I'm just asking their names and he just knows them all. Dinosaur fanatic, Kei Tsukishima.

Then we move to the second floor—all about how the Japanese came into being, how the organisms evolved and affected by the change of climate through the years.