Max woke up before the sun even rose. For some reason, there was still no news from Flexy. Still, he shouldn't worry about that for today as he had decided to spend time with Nina and have fun together before she departed for the cooking school.
Facing the mirror, he took a look at his appearance. This time, he didn't wear his usual jacket but a simple white turtleneck with a blue bomber jacket on top and long pants.
Max also made sure to wear a black mask in case someone recognized him. His fame shot up after he appeared on the billboard. When he got out with Lily last time, he felt strangers' gaze on him many times.
"Clothes, OK. And money..."
He looked at his bank account. 27 grand was sitting inside. "All clear." He nodded in satisfaction.
It was supposed to be more, but he hadn't withdrawn his last payment from Punch. He wanted to accumulate it for a nice surprise on May 15th.
With everything confirmed, he left his apartment. The spring would end soon, and summer would arrive. It was already May 10th, and he deserved some rest today.
He didn't immediately go to Nina's place. Instead, he made a detour and went to the city center first. Before going to meet her, he planned to give her a gift.
'Thankfully, Lime City's Mall is open 24/7.' He thought. 'I already bought the ticket too, so all is good.'
Lime City's Mall was massive. It was the same size or even bigger than a stadium used for the Olympics in his past life. It also had 4 floors, which made it impossible to look around all the parts in just a day.
Coincidentally, the aforementioned aquarium was also located inside this mall, precisely at the center of the first floor. The entire area was transformed into a giant aquarium.
Entering the mall, he immediately went to the second floor to find the store he planned to buy a gift from. When he found the store, he entered immediately and talked to the employee inside, ordering something to be wrapped.
Thankfully, the store was willing to keep it until he picked it up, so he didn't need to bring it with him and ruin the surprise. After paying and leaving his information to pick up the item later, he left the mall and walked to Nina's place.
In the end, he decided not to stream this outing. That would ruin the atmosphere of their outing.
At this time, the sun had risen already. It peeked from between the skyscrapers. The warm light hit Max's face, making him smile.
'The weather is beautiful, perfect for an outing.'
After a while, he arrived at the restaurant. When he reached the place, he noticed Nina dressed nicely in front of the restaurant. She was wearing a layered white t-shirt tucked inside jeans and cream clothes.
While standing, she was playing with her hair and appeared to be nervous.
"Nina," Max called out to her and waved his hand. "Morning."
Upon seeing him, a smile blossomed on her face.
They continued walking in silence, side by side. The scenery was calming. Many people also walked outside the sidewalk. Passing the park, they found many people doing morning exercise like usual.
These were the daily lives they could see in Lime City. And in a week, Nina wouldn't be able to witness it as she would go to another city far away.
Still, both of them looked happy. Although a bit hard, they could always meet again.
After a short walk, they reached their destination.
"Woah! This is so beautiful!" Nina exclaimed, her eyes widened as she gazed at the large aquarium before her. Excited, she turned to Max and pulled his hand. "Max, let's enter!"
"Hahaha, alright. Slow down, Nina."
The dome-shaped structure sparkled under the sunlight that passed through the glass roof. It invited people to enter, immersing themselves. Fish swam freely, and there were various paths visitors could take.
Once their tickets were verified, they could finally step inside the aquarium. Inside, the sound of water was clear. Nina's eyes sparkled with delight as she looked around, mesmerized by the underwater world.
"This is the best." She exclaimed happily, turning to her friend. Her smile was so captivating under the bluish glow of the water. "Thank you for accompanying me here. Hehehe."
Smiling softly, Max let out a soft sigh, "It's not a problem at all. I also enjoyed this. It's as if we're directly underwater."
"Right? I wonder if we can catch them and cook them." She hummed curiously, looking at a large fish in the right tank.
Max couldn't know whether she was joking or serious. At least her eyes looked as if she would cook the fish without a second thought.
Noticing his gaze, Nina looked at him and giggled, "I was just joking, obviously. Those fish aren't tasty at all."
"Ha...haha..." He laughed dryly at that.
'Do you mean if it's delicious, then you will cook them?' He retorted in his mind.
He should be careful and not take his gaze away from Nina. Who knew what she would do to the fish?
Bringing a chef to an aquarium was dangerous, he took a note of that.
Putting that aside, Nina was too energetic and pulled him everywhere she found interesting. Max had a difficult time following her, but he still did his best to do that.
After all, it might be their last outing together for a while.
'As long as she's happy.'