The Joys of Rum Raisin Ice Cream
"Ayano!" A voice in the distance cried out her name. Looking over her shoulder, Sugiura Ayano nervously shifted her hands on her bag.
It was a beautiful Saturday morning, where the birds were chirping to the gentle spring wind and the sun was slightly covered by clouds, creating the perfect atmosphere for dating. Ayano had been waiting under the clock tower in the plaza for almost two hours, and it was clearly known to her that she was two hours early.
An hour ago, she had been pacing back and forth nervously, wondering if she was going to be stood up, and was almost at the point of leaving. However, she had woken up earlier than normal to prepare a lunch for two, and she couldn't let her effort go to waste.
"Toshino Kyoko! You're late!" Ayano yelled at the blonde, in the same tone she always took when addressing Kyoko.
"Ehh... it was only by a few minutes." Kyoko replied nonchalantly, casually walking up to Ayano. "Plus, aren't you the one who's early?"
Immediately flushing red, Ayano quickly turned her back to Kyoko, not wanting her to notice the deep red colour of her face. "I-idiot, I was worried..." Ayano whispered under her breath.
"Did you say something? We're going to miss the train if we stand around for too long." Kyoko didn't wait for Ayano to reply, but instead, started to skip towards the direction of the train station.
"I said that I was wo- Hey! Wait for me!" Ayano did not notice that she was standing alone, talking to herself, until she turned around again to see that Kyoko had already begun crossing the street to the station. Quickly hoisting her heavy bag over her shoulder, she began running to catch up to Kyoko.
A few days earlier...
"Toshino Kyoko!" The familiar voice of Ayano resounded in the room of the former tea club, along with the door being forcefully opened. Inside, Akaza Akari and Yoshikawa Chinatsu looked up from their homework, Funami Yui peered over the top of her manga, and Kyoko rolled around on the floor.
"Oh, it's just you two again," Yui calmly stated, going back to her manga.
On cue, Ikeda Chitose poked her head in from the side of the door. "Pardon the intrusion." Chitose smiled warmly.
"Oh, Sugiura-senpai, Ikeda-senpai, let me go pour you some tea." Akari said, hurrying over to the kitchen to get new cups.
Ignoring the other girls, Ayano strolled into the room to stand in the path of Kyoko's rolling. Ayano held out her foot to stop Kyoko face-up, before continuing to talk.
"I beat you again, Toshino Kyoko!" Ayano proudly brandished her latest test results, showing that she got 100%. "Now you have to do something that I tell you to." In the background, Chitose fought to hold back a nosebleed.
Kyoko glanced at the paper before rolling away. "Good for you, Ayano," Kyoko began, as she rolled over to her school bag and reached inside before pulling out her own test, "but I got all my answers correct as well."
Ayano stared at her rival's paper, jaw hanging. "Bu-but, it was such a hard test..." Ayano's initial enthusiasm died down.
"Really, I thought it was pretty easy. I just had to memorize the formulas and the rest just came naturally." Kyoko laughed proudly. Ayano turned away, partly due to anger, but mostly because she was on the verge of tears.
Noticing this, Yui had looked up from her manga and shot a glare at Kyoko. "Don't make fun of people like that, it's not ni-" Yui was planning to continue to lecture Kyoko, but was interrupted by Ayano hurrying out of the room.
"Oh dear..." Ayano heard Chitose say as she quickly strode past her, not wanting her best friend to see the tears already rolling down her cheeks.
Running back to the student council room, she was surprised, and relieved, to have found no one to be present. She threw herself onto a chair and laid her head on the table. It was a very quiet afternoon, enough that Ayano could hear her own heartbeat against the cold, hard wooden table. She wondered why she was so emotional today with Kyoko, but before she could get into any deep thinking, this student council door slammed open.
"Ayano~!" Kyoko cheerfully sung, oblivious to the mood. Ayano took a moment to glance up to confirm the presence of Kyoko, before setting her head back down on the table.
"Go away, I don't want to talk to you now," mumbled Ayano, too tired from earlier.
"But Ayano, why not? Everyone loves me!" Kyoko happily skipped over to Ayano's chair. Ayano could easily come up with many reasons as to why Kyoko was not so immediately popular with a lot of people. Ayano tucked her arms around her face, wishing that Kyoko would just leave her in her depression.
"Ayano?" Kyoko waited, but no reply came. "Yui made me come over here to apologize for some reason. Are you okay?" Ayano remained motionless. "Well, here it is: 'I'm sorry'." A silence permeated the room.
Suddenly, Ayano felt two arms reach around her stomach and wrap themselves into a gentle hug. She flinched and lifted her head quickly, almost hitting Kyoko in the head, who had embraced her from behind.
"K-Kyoko, what are yo-" Ayano started.
"I hope you feel better, Ayano," Kyoko whispered into her back. Pulling away, she reached into her pocket to produce a ticket. "Here, come with me to the new amusement park this weekend." Ayano stared at the ticket, frozen.
"I won it in a draw the other day, and I wanted to take Chinatsu, but I guess you can come with me instead." Kyoko took Ayano's hand and placed the ticket in it. Then, she skipped over to the door, but turned around once more before leaving.
"It'll be fun," Kyoko winked at Ayano.
Back to present day...
Ayano tried to contain her excitement as she sat next Kyoko, who was happily humming to herself as she watched the scenery pass the train windows. An open window allowed some of the spring wind to flow into the train, along with the smell of freshly blossoming flowers.
"Ah! There it is!" Kyoko excitedly jumped in her seat. Ayano turned to look in the direction that Kyoko was pointing to. On the surface of the ocean, a bridge was seen attached to a small island, where small lights peppered the landscape. A large Ferris wheel rose above the other attractions, followed by the intricate criss-crosses of the rollercoaster.
As they arrived closer to the entrance of the bridge to the amusement park, the sounds of carnival games, the various rides, and the crowd of people could be heard in a mix of joy. Ayano could feel her heart begin racing faster as they disembarked the train; this is her first time in a while that she had the chance to go to an amusement park.
"Let's go, Ayano! I can't wait to get it," Kyoko laughed as she ran towards the entrance, arms spread on both sides.
"W-wait up!" Ayano almost tripped as she tried to run after the blonde. At the entrance, Ayano shyly waited behind Kyoko as they handed their tickets over to the attendant, who wished them a good day together, to which Ayano slightly blushed. Before she could regain composure, Kyoko took Ayano by the hand and dragged the doubly-stunned girl into the park.
"I want to try the rollercoaster first. Apparently, it's the fastest one around right now," Kyoko merrily skipped through the park, with Ayano in hand. Being still early in the morning, they arrived to find that the line to the ride was still relatively short, and they went to the back of the line to wait. It took several more moments for Ayano to realize where she was standing.
"To-Toshino Kyoko," Ayano mumbled, "I don't like rollercoasters..." Her grip on Kyoko's hand tightened.
"Could it be that you're scared?" Teased Kyoko, playfully.
"Idiot, of course not!" Ayano pulled her hand from Kyoko and looked away, pouting.
"I'm just kidding," Kyoko laughed. "Come on, let's get on." Kyoko, ignoring Ayano's earlier complaint, grabbed her hand once again and pulled her to the front. Ayano had failed to notice that the line ahead of her had all but disappeared, and they were going to be the first for the next ride on the rollercoaster.
A female attendant warmly greeted the two girls as they waited for the previous group to finish their ride. "It's cute that you two are going out together," she smiled casually.
"Eh? I-it's not- we're not- " Kyoko stumbled, unable to find the right words. "We're just frie-"
"Yup! We're on a date!" Kyoko declared, loudly enough for people behind them in the line to hear them and snicker to themselves. "Right, Ayano?" Ayano felt her cheeks heat up as she flushed. She turned her head towards the ground, hoping no one would notice.
The attendant giggled. "Alright, it's your time. Have fun~!" Ayano looked back up to see Kyoko already through the gates and heading towards the front of the rollercoaster.
"Hurry up, Ayano! These are the best seats!" Kyoko waved at Ayano, who worriedly climbed up the stairs to the front of the ride. The two girls got strapped in together, and the pull-bar was placed over their legs.
The rollercoaster began moving forwards, and Ayano knew that it was now too late to change her mind and get off. The car went over a few small bumps and some gentle turns, but ahead, Ayano could see that a huge incline was next. The slow clicking sound as the car made its way up the hill caused Ayano's heart of beat faster and faster. At the top, the car levelled itself out, and Ayano could see that see was really high up. Looking around, she could see the entire park and all of its attractions, as well as how tiny the people were.
The car jerked to a stop at the end of the flat section, and remained still. Ayano closed her eyes shut in preparation for the fall. However, instead she felt a gentle hand over her own clenched fist, and heard a whisper from her side:
"Don't worry, it'll be alright." Kyoko gently reassured.
Then the car lurched forward, and there was nothing underneath her. Ayano could feel for a moment as the car separated from her bottom, and then the pull-bar and her straps pulled her down with the car. The speed of the descent felt so great, coupled with the rushing wind, that Ayano could not scream even if she wanted to. It all happened so quickly that Ayano didn't even have time to get over the fact that Kyoko's hand was on hers the while time.
And then, it was over. Ayano slowly released her fist, which was still covered by Kyoko's, as the car pulled into the station. Ayano looked over to Kyoko, who was beaming back at her. "It was fun, wasn't it?" Kyoko asked, pulling her hand away as an attendant came up to release them from the car. Ayano slowly nodded back at her, still remember the feeling of Kyoko's hand on hers.
After that, Kyoko continued to drag Ayano all around the park. Ayano enjoyed more of the other rides that they went on that were much less intense than the rollercoaster. The girls happily ate snacks at any of the food stalls that interested them, forgetting about lunch, and they both won at some carnival games. They played late into the afternoon, where the sky was painted a colourful orange of the setting sun. Finally, they decided, mostly decided by Kyoko, to sit down and relax with some ice cream.
Kyoko instantly decided to get her favourite: rum and raisin. Ayano, who was normally careful with her weight and didn't eat much sweets, had some trouble deciding, but ultimately chose to try the chocolate coffee flavour. They took their ice creams and went to sit on a bench to slowly enjoy them.
After licking her own a few times, Kyoko's face lit up. "Ahh, so delicious." Kyoko sighed happily. She then looked over to Ayano, who was taking her first cautious taste. Ayano licked the side a bit, and was taken aback by the flavours in her mouth.
"It's good." Ayano was surprised. Kyoko smiled at her friend, and leaned over towards her.
"Let me try." Kyoko reached out and grabbed Ayano's wrist before she could answer. Pulling Ayano's ice cream cone to her mouth, Kyoko stuck her tongue out and licked off a small chunk of ice cream.
"E-e-ehh?" Ayano stared in shock that the place that Kyoko had just licked, frozen in place.
"It IS good," stated Kyoko, oblivious to Ayano's state.
Ayano continued to stare at where Kyoko's lips had touched her ice cream. The soft indent was moist, partially from being licked, and partly from the warmth of Kyoko's mouth. The spot glistened as the sun came closer to the horizon behind the two, and Ayano's hand shook as her heart began to speed up again.
"Hm? Aren't you going to eat, Ayano?" Questioned Kyoko, who had already finished one scoop from her own cone. "It's going to melt soon."
"U-uh, r-right..." Ayano trailed off, realizing that Kyoko was watching her now. She lifted her cone to her mouth slowly, feeling the beat of her heart in her ears now. Ayano opened her mouth slowly, and stuck her tongue out towards the ice cream, in the same area where Kyoko had just licked. The pounding in her ears was so loud now that she could no longer hear the noises of the amusement park. It was just her, the chocolate coffee ice cream, and Kyoko.
Taking a gulp, Ayano closed her eyes and licked the ice cream. The first time she had tasted this ice cream surprised her, but she felt overwhelmed this time. The coffee flavour laid the foundation of the taste, while the chocolate added a hint of bittersweet, all covered by a prominent rum and raisin flavour. Ayano welcomed the awkward mix of tastes in her mouth, and her tongue tingled to the warmth that she could still feel from Kyoko.
Ayano opened her eyes again, and looked over a Kyoko, who was still staring at Ayano with a grin. "Want to try some of mine?" Kyoko offered her, holding out the cone of rum and raisin ice cream.
"U-um, s-s-sure." Ayano hesitantly agreed. She was about to reach her hand out to take the cone from Kyoko, but instead, Kyoko moved it in front of her face.
"Say 'ah'." Kyoko urged.
"A-a-ahhh~." Ayano leaned in to take a bite, getting a small amount of ice cream and wafer. As she bit, she could feel herself flushing again, while thinking: 'This is what Kyoko tastes like...'
Kyoko snickered. "You're so cute, Ayano." Ayano flushed even deeper after hearing the comment.
Later, the sun had finally set and night had covered the sky in a cloudless dark blue. Stars shone in the distance, but their light was dwarfed by the light spectacle that was the amusement park. In the dark, the Ferris wheel and rollercoaster had lit up with a bright glow that could be seen from far away. The smaller lights of the other attractions in the park come together to create a mesmerizing dance of lights.
Ayano and Kyoko had gotten on the Ferris wheel as their last ride of the day. Finally sitting down in the seat, Ayano realized that she had spent the whole day at the amusement park and how tired she really was, while Kyoko plopped herself onto a seat with a sigh of relief.
The Ferris wheel began its rotation, lifting the girls to the top and to a view of the entire park and its surroundings. "Wow! It's so pretty!" Kyoko pressed her face against the glass to see a better look at the lights below. Ayano smiled at Kyoko, happy to be alone with her.
"Hey, Kyoko," Ayano began. Kyoko looked over and beamed at Ayano.
"What's up?"
Ayano paused for a moment, and then smiled again, "Thanks for inviting me out." And without waiting for an answer, Ayano leaned in to give a soft peck to Kyoko on the cheek. Kyoko hesitated, and then grinned widely.
"You finally called me by my first name, Ayano."