Good things come in bunches. So, when I received the free ticket to go to Animeland, guess who was on Cloud 9?
Packing my clothes, phone, camera, power bank, charger, chocolate, mayonnaise, JUMP latest edition and lots of food, I was ready to leave.
Day 1: National Central Library, Amestris, FMAB.
I think I had scared Sheshka a little (okay, a lot) when I landed next to her dining table at 7 in the morning. After calming her down I explained the situation to her (she had the counterpart of the ticket!) and requested to visit the library. Her eyes started sparkling, I swear!
Yeah, yeah, I know, why the library? Well, would YOU miss the chance of atleast seeing those awesome alchemy books? Nope! I passed as her cousin who had come to visit (hmm, we do look a lot alike) and voila! The treasure trove!
I didn't realize where the day has gone and she had to come drag me out of the library at 9pm. I secretly had wished to meet Riza Hawkeye, but on subtle questioning I realized that she was at the Eastern HQs.
I was force fed by her (too tired to eat, she is really nice) and I crashed in bed almost immediately.
Day 2: Rush Valley, Amestris, FMAB.
Go ahead, call me a nerd.
You think I would miss seeing the genius of automail?
Ha!
Chewing on my wafers, I meandered aimlessly through the streets, looking at those awesome pieces of technology, sometimes stopping to gawk at the displays on the shop, when-
"Do you like them?"
I turned and almost fainted.
There stood in black tank top, grey trousers and blue bandana in all her majestic glory one half of my OTP, Winry Rockbell!
"Ye-yes!" I stuttered.
"Are you new here?"
"Yeah, I came for a one day tour," I shrugged. "These are really interesting, but I don't know where to go."
She smiled. "I have a half day free, want to join me?"
That was one hell of a trip. We went from shop to shop, she collected her supplies and explained the basics (they had way better knowledge in neuroanatomy), I soaked on all the titbits like sponge, I drilled her with questions, more info and so on.
As we sat outside Mr. Dominique's shop in the evening, sipping on lemonade, I handed her the powerbank.
"Hey, take this. This is an advanced technology from a distant country, which helps to store power." I explained. "You might find it useful."
Her eyes went wide, "That must be costly! I can't take it!"
I grinned, "A thank you gift for today. And of course, dinner is on you!"
Day 3: Dublith, Amestris, FMAB.
Most of the day was spent running away from Izumi Curtis's knives and Greed's gang.
What did I do?
Dunno.
The only thing I did was to break Izumi sensei's fences while climbing and accidentally had landed on the dog chimera as he left the shop.
Phew! What a day!
Day 4: Count D's pet shop, Petshop of Horrors.
"Quite an unusual choice for a magical tour, isn't it?"
I started at the smooth voice to face the owner of the said voice with a deer-in-headlights look on my face.
"Err, hi?"
His heterochromic eyes narrowed for a second before splitting into a gracious smile. "Would you care for tea?"
I laughed nervously as I accepted his offer (*cough* order *cough*).
"So, are you going to adopt a pet?"
"Um, I just wanted to see the shop, if that's alright?" I chomped on the raspberry cake. "This is good!"
"I see."
"Hey, D! You still alive in there?"
His eyes twitched.
"Could you look after Chris for a few days? I have to go out of . . . Whoa, is that your girlfriend?"
"NO!" We both shouted at the same time.
"Ahem! Anyway, like I have repeatedly mentioned, Orcot-San, this isn't a daycare-"
"You call me that once more, I'll run your fancy kimono through a shredder, you hear me? Oh, shit. I've gotta go."
_Hi!_
I looked at Chris. Wow, I understood him?
Just then, he was hug attacked by a group of people(animals?).
"Wow, she can see us!"
_Would you like a tour?_
"Yep!"
If I hadn't known it was a magic shop, I would've definitely freaked out at its size.
By the time afternoon rolled in, I have already seen a huge assortment of "pets" that I'm pretty sure I would never see ever again.
I flopped down on the sofa as Chris offered me a glass of juice. That boy was an angel.
"So, what did you think about the shop?" Count D asked as he placed another plate of cake in front of me.
"It was awesome! I mean all those people, err, pets, how do you collect them?"
Cue mysterious smile. "I have my methods. Are you sure you do not want anything?"
"Yep." Though I wouldn't mind taking you home. Hope he didn't read my mind. "So, mind if I crash here for the night?"
"Make yourself comfortable."
Day 5: Howl's castle, Howl's Moving Castle.
Loved the scenery. Hated the day.
Because all I did was to help Sophie clean the dirty castle as Howl was out for a few days and Markl had gone with him.
But that definitely did not stop me from fiddling with the dial and going out for walk in different cities.
Everything would have been perfect if I got to meet Howl atleast once.
Oh well.
P.S. Had fun poking at Calcifer.
Day 6: Cross Academy, Vampire Knight.
Finally, it was time to use the chocolate that I had packed.
If you had thought *seeing* those Day Class girls screaming was bad, try being there. I had wanted to reach the school during the exams, but my luck dropped me on St. Xocolatl's day.
I wrestled in the line for Takuma Ichijou (he's the only one who would even bother with opening the presents, duh).
The gates opened in an agonizingly slow manner and I briefly got a glimpse of the Night Class.
My queue moved quite fast and then it was time to hand him the chocolate.
God damn, he was HOT! And his smile! Oh my!
On an impulse, I grabbed his arms as he took my "offering".
Before he could pry my fingers away with a strained smile on his face, I said, "Don't trust Sara."
"Sorry?" Wow, he was super cute with his brows furrowed.
"Please don't trust Sara Shirabuki-"
"MESSING WITH CANON IS NOT ACCEPTED!" a voice boomed.
And just like that, my trip to VK was cut short.
Day 7: Edo, Gintama.
Ah, the final day!
And I landed on a dumpster.
A. Dumpster.
Can you believe that?
Well, maybe yes, considering this is Gintama.
Knock. Knock.
"Oi open the door."
"Don't wanna Gin-chan."
"Kagura! What if it's a customer?"
"Woof!"
"Shinpachi! Go open the door."
"You lot are unbelievable!"
The door slid open, revealing a very angry Shinpachi.
"Sorry for the wait. How may I help you?"
"No problem! This is the Yorozuya, right? I have a request." I chirped.
Immediately, the rest of the members were at the door.
"What do you want?"
"Gin-san! Be a little more polite!"
I smirked.
After sometime,
"Oiiiii, Oonishi-kun!"
"Who the hell are you calling Oonishi, you silver haired moron? It is Toushirou."
"Whatever. Here, this girl wants to go on a date with you."
Pindrop silence as everyone turned to stare at me.
I cheerily waved back.
"HAAAAAA-?"
"Is she MAD?"
"With the demon Vice-Commander?"
"QUIET! Look here missy, I don't want to-"
I took out a wafer and a bottle of mayo and covered the former with a thick layer of the latter and started munching. "You were saying, Mayora13-san?", I said to his awestruck and others' horrified expression.
"-disappoint a young girl like you. Where do you want to go?"
I smiled at Gintoki and handed him the JUMP. "Here's your payment, Sakata-san." I turned to my date. " I don't know. Where do you want to go?"
It was great. Though we were a bit awkward at first, but after an hour we managed to sustain a conversation, about his work, my college.
No, scratch that.
It was awesome!
We went to all the sites we could cover in one day, from the nearby park, to the shopping district, library, restaurant and finally, we made it alive to the amusement park, dodging Captain Okita's attack and Commander Kondou's fanboyishness.
The Ferris wheel felt nice. It was quiet. I had realized that this was the last day of the best vacation I'm ever going to have and the thought sobered me up from the hyper state I was in for the last few days. The amazing people I had met in the-
"Hey, what's the matter?"
I looked up to see him frowning.
"Oh, it's nothing."
I saw him stare at me thoughtfully. Then he nodded, as if he had won a mental battle.
"Can we do this again sometime?"
My eyes widened.
"I'd love to." Not a lie. Half-truth.
Being as brilliant as he was, he caught on promptly. "But, you won't be able to?"
I bit my lip and nodded.
He sighed. "So, this is it?"
I nodded once again as I didn't trust my voice to not waver at that time.
As the ride ended, I tugged at his sleeve.
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
I took a deep breath and the words came out in a jumble. "Can-I-keep-your-lighter-to-remember-you-by?"
Tilting his head to the side, he asked, "And what do I get?"
I was NOT crying when I stood on my toes and pecked on his cheek. Nope. It was just . . . nothing.
"Wake up!"
I jerked awake at my mom's voice. "You're gonna be late."
My eyes were still wet.
It was all a dream.
But as I checked my room, I couldn't find my powerbank, my secret stash of chocolate and the new JUMP I got online-all of them were missing.
Instead, there lay in my backpack a weird, mayo-bottle shaped lighter.
I clutched it and laughed.
Well that's that.