Oishi looked up and gulped. There, looming before him, was a metal monster. Sharp turns, loops, 110-foot drop… all in all, not his idea of a fun afternoon.
He hadn't even wanted to come to the amusement park in the first place. The Seigaku tennis team had decided to come here after winning the preliminaries against Fudomine. Never one to deny Eiji, Oishi had grudgingly agreed to come along.
"Hey Oishi!"
A loud voice broke Oishi out of his thoughts. Turning his head, Oishi saw Eiji, Momo, and Fuji heading towards him.
"Hey you guys. Are you enjoying the amusement park?" Oishi asked with a smile.
"Totally! Except I haven't seen you around since we split up at the entrance, so I've been lonely," Eiji whined, hanging onto Oishi's shoulder.
"But Momo and Fuji are with you," Oishi replied.
"But they aren't you! No offense," Eiji said, turning to give an apologetic look to the other two.
"None taken," Fuji replied with his regular smile.
"Hey, do any of you want to go on this ride? It looks really good," Momo interrupted, indicating to the ride in front of them.
"Yes! And you have to come with us this time Oishi!" Eiji jumped up and down excitedly.
Thinking fast, Oishi came up with an excuse to not go on the rollercoaster.
"Uhh, actually I was just about to… go buy some food! I'm getting really hungry"
"Aww, too bad," Eiji pouted.
"Let's not bother him anymore Eiji," Fuji said, already turning to walk towards the rollercoaster.
"Yeah, let's go before the line gets too long!" Momo yelled, jogging away.
Grudgingly, Eiji released Oishi and ran off after Fuji and Momo. Oishi waved goodbye to them as they rushed off towards the ride. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked up one last time at the metal structure. It gleamed in the sunlight, but Oishi shook his head as if to try and refuse it.
Instead, he spent the rest of the day wandering around the amusement park, watching the rides and looking at all of the different games. Somewhere along the way, the sun started to slowly sink down, casting long shadows on the ground.
Oishi realized that he was one of the few people left in the park as night fell. After hours of wandering, he had managed to end up in the exact same spot he had begun in: standing in front of the metal monster.
Almost against his will, Oishi made his way over to the ride, although he was much slower than Fuji, Momo, and Eiji had been. Walking up the ramp, he finally came to the spot where all of the cars where. There was only one other person up there, and it was the employee on duty.
"Want the last ride? We're going to close soon," the man said, jerking his head toward the cars.
Oishi nodded his head and climbed into the front car. He lowered the safety bar down a couple of clicks, and slightly panicked when he remembered that it wouldn't come up again till the end of the ride. His heart was pounding, but he couldn't back out now. Closing his eyes, Oishi took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He was so focused that he didn't even notice when a certain redhead slid into the seat next to him just before the cars started moving.
"You okay Oishi?"
Oishi looked up in surprise and saw Eiji sitting next to him, smiling.
"Just a little scared. I don't really like rollercoasters," Oishi admitted.
"Is that why you wouldn't come on the ride earlier with Momo and Fuji?" Eiji asked, looking concerned.
Oishi just nodded his head and looked away, slightly embarrassed. Suddenly, he felt Eiji's hand grab his own.
"Don't worry, I'm here!" Eiji said in his usual happy manner.
Oishi couldn't help but smile.
Sharp turns, loops, a 110-foot drop. But surprisingly, Oishi didn't feel scared at all.