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“Woah…!” Saki gasped as she looked up at the building in front of her, her eyes sparkling with wonder. “This is the Water Cube!”
“It’s nice that they renovated it into a tourist attraction,” Shiho commented, bringing a hand up to her chin.
“I agree.” Ichika smiled, then nudged them forward, as the line had moved forward.
“I was surprised when I found out,” Honami glanced at the line leading to the entrance of the building. “I wonder what it looks like…”
“Right? I haven’t seen it since it was on TV for the Olympics!” Saki grinned.
The four of them chatted as they waited to enter. Located next to the Bird’s Nest and with its iconic bubble-type design, the Beijing National Aquatics Center was one of the most recognizable buildings in the city.
They had taken the subway to get there — despite having to transfer a few lines, they ultimately made it to their destination. It wasn’t too hard to determine that they were going in the right direction; after all, countless visitors were making their way over as well.
It was a rare bright day, the blue sky peeking through the scattered white clouds. Even though the four of them had already been in Beijing for a few days, Saki’s enthusiasm had never waned.
They had gone to other famous attractions like the Beijing Zoo — where they had all bought matching keychains — and the Great Wall, although they didn’t walk very far along it as they wanted to make sure Saki didn’t overexert herself.
Of course, they had also gone to a KTV and tried out various types of street food. Though, they hadn’t gone shopping too much, as they were focusing on visiting the tourist destinations.
Already, there were countless photos from the past few days on everyone’s phones. Candids, selfies, pictures of scenery… Saki excitedly told them that they should put together a photo album after they went back to Japan.
“Ah, we can go in now!” Honami said as they reached the front of the line.
All four of them handed their tickets to the people at the door, then went through the bag check before formally entering the building.
“Woah, it really looks like we’re inside a bubble… and there’s two floors!” Ichika said, surprised.
“I think the one above is for people who want to watch,” Shiho pointed at where the balcony overlooked the main attraction.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Saki cheered. “I haven’t gone swimming since the Seaside School, but I’m sure I’ll impress you all with my skills!”
“I think most of it only goes up to waist height, though…” Honami smiled helplessly.
“Eh…?!” Saki gasped in disbelief.
“There is a wave pool though, I think…” Ichika hummed.
“Let’s get changed first and then we can go explore,” Shiho pushed all three of them toward the changing room.
“Yes, ma’am!” Saki laughed as they walked toward the changing rooms.
There weren’t too many people inside, so they were able to change quickly before stepping out into the pool area.
“It looks so different from when I watched synchronized swimming…” Honami said as she looked at the view in front of her, the lane lines replaced with twisting waterslides.
“Synchronized swimming…” Saki echoed, slowly turning her head toward the other three.
“No, Saki,” Shiho stopped her before she could finish.
“But Shiho-chan!” Saki pouted.
“Shiho’s right,” Ichika shook her head. “That’s too dangerous. Besides, this pool wouldn’t be a very fitting place to try it…”
“Haha… Saki-chan, what do you want to try first?” Honami steered the conversation in a different direction.
“Let’s try the waterslides!” Saki immediately shifted her attention to the colorful slides that spanned the room.
“Ah, Saki! Slow down!” Ichika called as Saki hurried over.
“Jeez, she’s so full of energy,” Shiho shook her head, a fond expression on her face.
Honami smiled. “It’s nice that we’re able to spend time like this together, though.”
“What are you all back there for? Come, come!” Saki had already started climbing up a flight of stairs, holding onto the railing and leaning over to call out to them.
“We’re coming!” Honami waved back.
“Save some of your energy, we’re still going to the National Stadium after this!” Ichika reminded her.
“Oh, right! But I’ll definitely have extra energy,” Saki’s voice quieted in volume as the others caught up.
“You said that last time,” Shiho chided her. “And then you fell asleep on the subway. We almost missed our stop on the way back.”
“Shiho-chan! You didn’t have to bring that up again!”
They all broke into laughter at that, their voices fading into the crowd’s.
“Come on! Let’s go on the water slides!”
“Ah, Saki, don’t push!”
“Be careful, you guys!”
“Jeez… some things really do never change, huh?”