"A fund raiser for Cancer, huh?" Kakeru asked as he looked over the paper in front of him, "and, of course, they want us to figure out how to do it and put it together." He placed down the paper with a yawn. "Yeah, we'll definitely figure out something extremely creative. Good luck, guys." He laid his head down on the desk and before anyone could stop him, he was sound asleep, snoring obnoxiously.
Nao rolled his eyes. "Once again, he leaves us to do the work, but he'll still take the credit for it."
Kimi shrugged. "You just dislike him because he's very open about your growth stunt."
"What was that?"
"Not now, you guys! This is serious. We need to think of something fun and effective!" Machi looked up, snapping back to the reality that had been hazy until Yuki's voice had woken her from her trance. She watched him closely, not hearing all he was saying, as he presented an idea for the charity to the Student Council.
Machi hadn't spoken to him at all since the dance. She didn't know what to say, and she was sure that if she did say something, it would be silly. She had never worried before if what she was saying sounded interesting to others. In fact, she had never really wanted to start a conversation with anyone before. Usually she tried to keep her head down and to blend in with the crowd. For some reason, she desperately wanted to capture the Student Council President's attention.
"Does that sound good?" Yuki asked about the idea he had just presented. He looked around the room until his eyes fell on Machi. "You've been awfully quiet. What do you think?"
Machi's eyes widened as she sat up. What did he mean by 'awfully quiet?' Was she usually more talkative? She couldn't remember talking at all before. More importantly, what was the idea he had presented? She hadn't been listening. Well, at least that was one thing that hadn't changed about her!
"No!" Kimi cried, indirectly saving Machi. "I object to this suggestion! Boys should donate money to charity and in return, get a date with me!"
"What about the girls?" Nao asked.
"I see that hopeful look in your eyes," Kimi teased, "but no, Nao. The girls would go to Yuki!"
Machi didn't know if she was hearing things, but Kakeru, who was supposedly asleep, let out a quiet laugh.
Yuki shook his head violently. "No way! We need to keep this school appropriate! The teachers would never let you do that! I think that a walk would be better!"
Kimi crossed her arms, a stubborn look spreading across her face. "I'll only agree if I can wear short shorts."
With a roll of his eyes, Yuki said, "Wear whatever you want to."
Nao took out a notepad and a pencil. "Now comes the organization."
Kakeru let out a groan and sat up.
"I thought you were asleep?" Yuki raised an eyebrow.
He shrugged, rubbing his eyes. "I was until I heard Nao say a very bad word – organization." He looked over everyone in the room, sighing. "Why are you wasting your youth locked inside a classroom, straining your minds to come up with spectacular ideas-"
"Smart people don't feel strained!" Nao interrupted.
"-When you could be outside, at the amusement park I have season passes for, chilling with your homies?"
"Your what?"
Nao shook his head. "We don't have time for that."
"The meeting's almost over, anyway," Kimi pointed out, siding with Kakeru. "If we can get in free, why not go?"
Kakeru looked over at Yuki. "Would this be your first time at an amusement park? Will the heights be too scary for Princess Yuki?"
Yuki glared at him. "Let's see who can go on the highest roller coaster, then!"
"It's a challenge!"
Everyone ran to gather their books and bags. Yuki looked over at Machi. "You'll come too, right?"
Machi stood up, keeping her eyes focused on her shoes. "I'm not too sure…"
"Are you busy?"
"N-no…" She continued to look at the floor, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, "I've just never been to an amusement park." She looked up and met his eyes hesitantly. She was sure he was going to laugh at her, but he was smiling.
"Neither have I, so you won't be alone," he reassured her with a smile. Then he turned and joined the others.
Machi stood still for a moment, lost in thought, before grabbing her backpack and dashing out of the room after them.
"How are we getting there?" Yuki asked the group aloud.
"I can't believe I agreed to this," Nao muttered.
"Bus," Kakeru answered, leading them to the bus stop.
The bus ride over was relatively short. Machi kept her gaze out the window, watching the white lines of the street flying by. Kakeru and Yuki teased each other as Nao sat holding his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. Kimi tried to flirt with the bus driver, and several times he almost rode into a ditch.
When they finally arrived, they rushed right to the entrance, anxious to get inside. The air was warm, but not hot, and it wasn't very crowded because of the time of day. The first ride inside was a water ride. Machi glanced at it once before turning away, not wanting to ruin her only uniform.
"YES!" Kakeru cried excitedly, rushing to it, waving his hands in the air ecstatically. "Yun-Yun! Get in line with me!"
Yuki sighed and joined him with a light smile. Kimi skipped off after them as Nao left to find lockers for all of their bags.
Machi sat down on a nearby bench, enjoying the breeze. She watched Yuki in line and how he smiled at Kimi and Kakeru. She wished she knew how to make him smile like that. He always seemed so quite and sad. But how could she make him smile if she didn't even know how to herself?
Nao returned and sat down next to her silently and they waited for the others to join them.
It seemed like hours until Yuki and the others returned from the ride. Machi looked up to see that they were soaking wet from head to toe.
Kakeru held his arms out, displaying his soaked attire. "Fashionable, right?"
Machi merely shook her head with a sigh before standing up.
"Where next?" Kimi asked, looking over the park. "Do you know where I can meet any cute guys?"
"I hope I don't," Kakeru muttered. Kimi rolled her eyes.
"I'm going off on my own for a while, then," she announced before dashing off into the crowd.
"Kimi will be Kimi," Nao groaned. "At least it'll be a little less noisy now-"
"LOOK AT THAT ROLLERCOASTER!" Kakeru screamed as loud as he could. "If it's fast enough, it can dry us off."
"I could use some drying," Yuki laughed, looking down at his uniform. He looked back up at Machi and Nao. "You two have to join us this time. No more sitting out!" He was only looking at Machi now. "If this is your first time, you have to make the most of it!"
Machi looked up at the roller coaster, not knowing what to think. She had never seen one up close before, and she felt slightly overwhelmed.
"You don't have to go on, though," Yuki reminded her in a softer voice.
"No," she said. "You're right. I'll go on!"
"Good job, Yun-Yun! I could never convince her to do something like that usually!" Kakeru laughed as they headed over to the roller coaster.
Kakeru made it first, rushing ahead of the group excitedly.
"He's a little too excited," Nao scoffed.
The three of them walked onto the ride, one by one, in a line. As Nao walked by, one of the people working the ride held him back.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but you're not tall enough to ride," he told him.
Nao looked at him, dumbfounded. "R-really? I'm…s-sh-sh-short?"
Kakeru burst out laughing. Nao shot him a dirty look before turning back to the man, who shrugged. "That guy over there said he'd slip me a twenty if I said that to you."
Nao crossed his arms and stormed off into the crowd, hissing under his breath.
Yuki hit Kakeru over the head. "That wasn't nice!"
Kakeru smirked. "That's why it's so great."
Machi looked once more at Nao as he stormed away before hurrying onto the ride. "Are you coming?" she called to Kakeru and Yuki.
They rushed after her and hopped onto the ride. Yuki sat next to Machi.
The ride started up with a clang and they began to slowly move up a hill. People watched them moving up, higher and higher, becoming smaller by the second. Treetops were beneath them as they continued upward. The entire park was visible. Machi looked down, seeing how far away the ground was, and felt her head beginning to spin. Wasn't it dangerous to be this high? She was going to fall. She knew it. She was going to fall! Her head began pounded and she could feel the blood rushing out of her cheeks.
They had reached the top. Below her was a large hill. They were going to drop straight down! Machi gripped onto the bar in front of her frantically, shutting her eyes tightly. As they plummeted down, she felt the air being knocked out of her lungs and her head being thrown backward, banging against the seat. Around her, people screamed loudly, adding to her headache. She tried to imagine she was somewhere else, but where was there to go? Was there a place she could imagine that would make her feel safer? She couldn't think of one.
She squinted her eyes open to find that she was upside down. She shut them again, not knowing how people could find this fun.
At last, the ride halted to a sudden stop, jolting her forward before she fell back again. A distant voice told everyone to remove their safety harnesses and to exit the ride. Something that sounded like Kakeru's voice complained that the ride had been too short.
Machi lifted her shaky arms and removed the harness, standing up on wobbly feet. The world seemed to swirl and she couldn't tell if she was still upside down or not. She tried to take a step forward, but she almost lost her balance and fell. Before she attempted another one, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and hoist her into a standing position. She leaned against the person's shoulder, finding it less difficult to walk forward.
At last, she felt herself sitting on a bench. She leaned her head back and tried to catch her breath. As she drifted back to reality, she immediately wondered if Yuki had seen her in this embarrassing state. Her eyes flew open with a jolt and she looked up to see who had helped her. Of course, it was Yuki. Kakeru was nowhere in sight.
She gasped. "I-I'm sorry!" He had come to have fun, but instead he had to sit around and wait until she woke up. She felt the color rapidly returning to her cheeks. "I'm sorry you had to waste your time like that when you could be with Kakeru and the others. I shouldn't have started out with such a huge ride."
"Don't apologize," he told her. "I was happy to get a break from Kakeru. He can be exhausting." He laughed. "More importantly, are you feeling better?"
She was about to respond when Kakeru popped up behind Yuki, flapping his arms around his head excitedly. "Machi! Yun-Yun! I made friends with Bob the Clown! Come meet him!" He pointed to a huge man who was chasing children with a seltzer spray.
"I'm feeling better, in case you were wondering," Machi muttered irritably.
"So you were goofing off this whole time your sister was sick?" Yuki demanded.
Machi stood up with a sigh, no longer dizzy. "I should be alright to walk around, so you guys don't have to sit around waiting for me. I think I'll just look at the souvenirs or something…"
Kakeru raised his hand, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Oh! Oh! Me too! I want to buy useless crap I don't need, too!"
The three of them set off to the nearest (air conditioned) gift shop. Machi scanned the shelves, looking for something to buy for Yuki. She wanted to thank him for waiting for her while she was sick. There wasn't much to chose from, though. It was either a huge T-shirt, a postcard, or a pen with his name on it. She still continued searching, becoming more and more discouraged until she settled with a mug that pictured the gardens in the park, figuring that the planter in him would appreciate it.
On her way to the check out, a small key chain caught her eye, probably because it was red. She looked a little closer and noticed it was a mouse. It had large, black, innocent eyes and huge ears, as if it wanted to listen closely to what she had to say. Somehow, it reminded her of Yuki, though she couldn't realize why. She lifted it with one of her fingers to get a closer look at it.
"Red, huh?" Kakeru's voice came from behind her. "You like red, huh? Get it, Machi? You like red!"
Even though he had used that one on her before, Machi felt her cheeks turning the color he had referred to. "Yes, Kakeru, I like the color red."
"And the Student Council Red…"
Machi put down the key chain and stormed up to the counter, slamming down the mug. Kakeru laughed before disappearing behind another display.
After she paid, Machi stormed out of the shop into the warm spring air. She leaned against a tree and waited for Yuki…or Kakeru…to come out.
Luckily, Yuki was the first one to come. He walked out, holding a small bag in one of his hands. Machi crossed her fingers, hoping that he hadn't bought himself the same mug she just had.
"What did you get?" he asked curiously, eyeing her bag.
Feeling the color returning to her face, she handed the bag over to him, not meeting his gaze. "It's just a thank you is all. All right? So don't get all sentimental and thanking me…"
Not listening, he looked up from the mug, smiling. "You didn't have to do that! Thanks, Machi! That was really thoughtful!" He held out his bag to her. "I saw you looking at that key chain and figured you would have bought it if Kakeru hadn't bugged you." She gasped, wondering if he had heard their conversation, but as if he had read her mind, he added, "I didn't hear what he was saying, but it looked like he was teasing you again."
She took it smiling slightly. "He was. But it's OK. Thanks…" She took out the key chain and smiled a little wider. "I don't know why, but I've always liked mice better than cats. I always felt bad that the cat was bugging the mouse, chasing it all the time and such…"
Yuki shrugged. "I'm sure the mouse is fine, and that the cat can get annoyed that it can always somehow out run it." He looked off into the distance, a thoughtful look on his face. Machi looked at him, then down and her key chain and back. His innocent expression matched that of the mouse perfectly. Maybe he really was like a mouse – always struggling to survive, but coming out victorious, just like her. She smiled silently and he finally looked back at her, meeting her eyes.
"Thank you. I'll put it on my backpack so it will always be with me," she said.
He smiled back. "Thank you, too."
Their eyes met for a moment, and they lingered there for a while, just standing there, looking at each other, with their minds blank. To Machi, the moment lasted too shortly before Kimi's voice came up, demanding that she be bought a souvenir, too.
As the four of them (forgetting Nao) left the park, Machi thought over her small moments with Yuki Sohma that day. Once again, he had brought out some strange emotions in her. She looked over at him, finding that she, too, was trying to catch the mysterious mouse that was hard to get a hold of.