Heights – KotoUmi
Muse and their fellow idol group, A-RISE, were having a day full of fun in the new a-MUSE-ment park that had just opened.
Fearing that they would be swarmed by their fans, especially A-RISE and Nico now that they had gone international, they decided to switch hairstyles and use the famous IncogNico sunglasses.
Honoka and Nozomi had their hairs freely flowing, Maki had her hair on a low ponytail hanging on the left side of her shoulder, Nico and Anju had their hair on a side ponytail, Eri had her hair in twin-tails, Umi had a high ponytail, Kotori braided her hair to the side, Rin, Hanayo and Tsubasa wore hats, and Erena had her hair in a low ponytail.
Surprisingly, no one recognized them.
"Hmmm~? I wonder who had said that using the ultimate IncogNico sunglasses was a stupid idea~?" Nico smirked -a smug one- to her red-headed girlfriend.
"Alright, I admit that it is not a stupid idea anymore," Nico grinned triumphantly. "But it means that you're not that well known enough for people to recognize you, even with disguise."
"Why you little-"
"Haaa, there they go at it again." Eri sighed.
"Come on guys, you both barely see each other and now that you had the chance to, you start with arguing?!" the blonde rubbed her temples. Knowing full well how scary Eri can be when she is angered, the once arguing couple abruptly silence themselves.
"Well, moving on now, let's all try to ride the attractions, but since going in a group of twelve would be a bit of a hassle, let's split into groups of fours." Umi lead the group into a discussion, typical Sonoda Umi.
"Rin will be okay with any group as long as there's Kayo-chin in it, nya!" Rin cheerfully glomped onto her lover.
"A-ah, I'll be okay with anything too." the bespectacled girl received the glomping well, having been with the ginger-haired for more than a decade did it's work of making her immune to randomly timed hugs.
"I want to be with Ericchi!" Nozomi wrapped herself around the quarter-Russians right arm.
"Like Hanayo, I'm okay with anything, really." Eri brushed the strands of her girlfriend's hair that went out of place. This couple is being overly affectionate as per usual.
"I'm okay with anything and I'm sure that Erena and Anju do not have any objections too." Tsubasa said, Erena and Anju nodding behind her. "B-but I guess I do want to be in the same group as Honoka."
"Ah! I want to be in one group with Tsubasa-chan too then!" Honoka said energetically, going from Kotori's side to the other idol group leader's.
"I'm okay with any too, how about you U-" Kotori shivered at the murderous aura that Umi was emitting. "N-nope! N-nevermind! I really, I mean REALLY, need to be by Umi-chan's side!"
"Y-yes, I think that it is for the best." Eri coughed awkwardly. Muse members felt the chill that was going around whilst Honoka and the A-RISE members were oblivious to the urgent "Angry Sonoda level 1" state.
"I'm fine with anyone too." Maki said nonchalantly. A certain raven-haired girl seemed offended.
"What?! Don't you want to be with the super idol Nico nii~?!" Nico glared at her junior. They started arguing yet again. Eri gave up keeping them both from their arguments.
"We've had everyone give their opinion for the groupings, but we don't really know how to decide the actual groupings, huh?" the purple-haired girl pondered, resting her hand on her chin. "Well, as one wise woman said, when in doubt… ask the cards!"
Without losing anymore time, Nozomi asked the cards on their groupings. They ended up with NicoMakiRinPana, NozoEriKotoUmi and TsubaHonoEreAn.
Team NicoMakiRinPana went towards the rollercoaster. They're starting with something extreme so that their adrenaline would be much more active, nya!- as what Rin had said. Nico and Maki were still arguing even with Rin pulling and Hanayo pushing them along so they wouldn't stay rooted to their places.
Team TsubaHonoEreAn went to the Love Lens Lake. Umi was about to follow them, but Kotori, Eri and Nozomi succeeded holding onto Umi. It was tough.
Lastly, Team NozoEriKotoUmi had decided to go to one of the cafés first to get some refreshments for this unbelievably hot summer day.
"Kotori! She's taking Honoka away!" Umi was crying while eating her salty caramel ice cream.
"There, there, Umi-chan~ They're only going on rides! Even if they're trying to do something, Erena and Anju will still be there to stop them (hopefully)! And Honoka-chan will come back too after the day is over!" Kotori was rubbing Umi's back while eating a whole cheesecake, nobody knows how she does it. The birb has her mysteries.
The girls were having fun the whole day, smiling and laughing like they have never been, but even the greatest days has to have an ending. Though, before it really ends…
"Let's ride the ferris wheel, Ericchi, Kotori-chan, and Umi-chan!" the purple-haired girl pulled her team along to the Ferris Wheel in the park.
"Yeah! Let's-" Kotori stopped mid-sentence. She had forgotten that Umi was…
"Ah! Umi-chan! She's falling!"
"I-I mean, you guys can go, Umi-chan and I will-"
"Kotori, do you want to ride the Ferris Wheel?" Umi asked the ashen-haired girl with a gentle smile on her face. Oh, how Kotori felt those butterflies from the first time that they had met again.
"B-but you can't-"
"Do you want to?" the blue-haired girl cut her off again, the gentle smile now accompanied those caramel-colored eyes that had just soften.
"Yea…" the little bird couldn't deny her. Even when Umi had not mean to "attack" her, the ashen-haired girl felt like she did.
"Then let's go. Eri, Nozomi, do you guys want to be in the same cart or do you prefer to be in separate carts?"
"Well, the cards said that it would be better if we went on separate carts. So, I'll go first with Ericchi and you guys can go to the cart behind us." Nozomi dragged her quarter-Russian to the line, the little bird and her sea followed them closely behind.
After waiting for what almost seemed like centuries, they got to the respective carts. Umi held her girlfriend's hand for reassurance and the ashen-haired girl gave her hand what it needed- a reassuring squeeze.
As the cart went further and further from the ground, Umi's hand tightened its grip at Kotori's. At some point, she had closed her eyes and had started sweating. Looking at the state her girlfriend was in gave Kotori an unsettling feeling.
"Umi-chan… you didn't need to push yourself, you know…? It would've been fine if we stayed on the grounds." Kotori used her free hand to caress her girlfriend's cheek. Umi relaxed a bit and started to open her eyes, only looking at Kotori, nowhere else.
"But…" the blue-haired girl couldn't finish her sentence without getting constantly reminded that they're high above the sea level, but she couldn't leave Kotori just hanging.
"I… want to at least try to fight my fear. If I can get past this stupid fear, we can go to more places with heights! You know, like the Eiffel tower? You wanted to go there, right?" Umi was looking at the ashen-haired girl with so much determination and Kotori felt like she fell in love with the cobalt-haired girl for a second time- no, it's the hundredth time already. Kotori just kept on falling over and over again, but she didn't mind.
"Umi-chan… then let me help!" the ashen-haired girl held her girlfriend's hands to her chest, looking at those soft eyes with an equal amount of determination.
"Yes… please do help…" they now had their foreheads touching each other.
"Awww, Ericchi, aren't they cute?" Nozomi and Eri, who were currently on the peak of the Ferris Wheel, were looking down on the cart before them, Kotori and Umi's cart.
"Well, we shouldn't look anymore. We've seen enough." the blonde went back to her original seat as the purple-haired girl does.
"Fufufu~ I wonder how their fate is going to be after this." Nozomi pulled out a single tarot card from her pocket and the card was…
An Upright Tower.
The carts began moving again, now it's the Seagulls' turn to be at the peak for two minutes.
"Woah! Umi-chan, look! The view is great!" the ashen-haired girl slowly brought her girlfriend's face to look at the magnificent scenery of the park. The sunset gave a beautiful effect at the attractions.
"Ah! Don't look down! Just look straight at the sunset!" she advised the cobalt-haired girl. (How can they look straight though?)
As Umi opened her once tightly closed eyes, she was met with a gorgeous painting and… an angelic angel.
"Woah…" was all the cobalt-haired girl could muster up. The view in front of her was too breath-taking.
"Pretty…" Umi wasn't sure herself if what she was referring to was the image or the girl in front of her.
It felt like they were in the same spot of the Ferris Wheel for long, but they couldn't care less. Things were going great for the couple until the intercom spoke.
"Attention please. Unfortunately, due to an unknown issue with the Ferris Wheel, it has stopped working temporarily. Maintenance are already on their way to find and solve the unknown problem. Please stay calm and relaxed until the Ferris Wheel is fixed. Thank you."
…
What a turn of event.
"K-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kotori-i…" the cobalt-haired girl stiffly turned towards the only other occupant of the cart.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm-m t-t-totally o-o-okay…"
Oh dear… Kami-sama, please spare Umi-chan's life…
