Oboro pulled Tetsuko away from the studio and around the amusement park. To her embarrassment, they were holding hands, with him pulling her along, leading the way. She didn't know where they were going. When she asked him where they would go, he didn't answer. He looked annoyed for whatever reason so she just kept her mouth shut. They ended up in a secluded bench, right behind the mascot where they were meeting before. He sat down and she sat beside him on the bench. They stayed like that for a few seconds until she finally asked him. "So what's wrong? Why did you pull me away from the studio?"

"Hmm? Nothing's wrong. I just don't like there."

"But you're the one who suggested that place."

"I changed my mind."

Tetsuko huffed in confusion and amusement. "You're weird. What's wrong? Tell me honestly."

Oboro glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. It took a few seconds until he said, "Honestly? Because you look like that."

Tetsuko was more than surprised to hear that. "Because I look like this?"

"Yes."

"You... don't like it?"

"No!" he said, frowning deeply.

She looked away, feeling dejected. Even with this new look, he stil didn't like her? Did she really have no hope? Then why did she have to go all out to dress like this for him when he didn't even appreciate it? Wearing make up felt like putting a second skin on her face and her feet, used in wearing flats, hurt from walking in heels so much. But she endured it all because for once in her life, she wanted to look feminine in front of him. But it all went to waste if he didn't even like it one bit.

Oboro noticed her sad look. "Tetsuko? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, turning her head away from him. He frowned in confusion. He reached out his hand to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped because he realized he would touch her bare skin if he did. She noticed this and bit her lip. He doesn't even want to touch me.

Tetsuko suddenly got up from her seat. "Sorry, I... I think I need to go... somewhere..." she said, still looking away from him.

"What? Where?"

"Somewhere." Anywhere but near you.

"No" he said firmly, grabbing her hand. "Don't go."

She sighed in exasperation. "Why?"

"You will stay here."

"I don't even know why we're here. Why do you choose this place?"

"Because it's secluded. No one's here but us."

She turned around to finally look at him and blinked. "Huh?"

"I..." Oboro suddenly speechless. He realized that his words could be interpreted in a different way. And with the way her cheeks reddened, he figured she thought of the same thing. "No! It's not like that! Look, I just don't want you to go back to the crowd."

"And why is that? Explain to me."

Oboro opened his mouth but nothing came out. Tetsuko waited patiently. Finally he let out a long breath from his mouth. "Just... please sit down."

She did what he asked and turned her whole body so it was facing him. "I don't like your new appearance" he began. She frowned. "It attracts unnecessary attention."

She blinked. "What?"

He put a hand on his face and rubbed it in frustration. And... was that blush on his cheeks? "It's just... you look... you look good you know... but, it's just... not you I guess." He sighed. "I'm so used to see you wearing men's clothes that I don't know how to react when you start wearing... well... women's clothes. You look different... Just different... I don't how to feel about it. At the same time, it looks nice, but at the same time, it doesn't seem... natural... And do you even realize how the other guys are reacting to you?"

"What?" she asked again in confusion.

"You really don't realize it, do you? That every man and guy that walked pass us in this park was practically... staring... at you?"

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

Tetsuko fiddled with her hands and there were butterflies in her stomach. He actually said she looked good. So... did that mean he appreacited her looks? But he said it wasn't really her and that it didn't seem natural. She didn't know wheter he liked her new appearance or not. She's so confused...

"I just... I don't like the way those men look at you. They looked like they wanted to gobble you. If they look at you like that because you look like this, then I prefer that you go back to wearing men's clothes." He looked at her seriously. "Personally, I prefer for you to dress just the way you used to."

Her heart skipped in her chest. So that's how he felt.

Oboro sighed. "Why do you have to dress like this in the first place? It's just a simple outing."

Tetsuko looked to the side, blushing. "But... this is... well... a 'date'... granted it's a group date but... still... And I..." She looked down. Should she tell him? Wasn't it too early? But now that they were talking about this, why not went for it? "I just wanted you to see at me as a woman for the first time."

Oboro blinked and turned to face her slowly. "What?" he murmured. "What... what do you mean by that? See you as a woman? You are a woman Tetsuko. And I always consider you as one. What you say doesn't make any sense."

She let out a long sigh. Good grief! She just had to explain to him, did she?!

"Oboro, what do you think of me?"

"What?"

"What do you think about me? What do you feel when you're around me? How do you see me?" Tetsuko looked at him with seriousness and it made him uncomfortable.

Oboro thought for a second. What did he feel about Tetsuko?

"I think you are my good friend. Well, you are not very feminine, but I never think much about that so I don't really care. You are..." He looked at Tetsuko. There was apprehension and anxiety in her green eyes, but also... hope? He didn't know what to think about her expression and suddenly, words just came out of his mouth. "...wonderful. You are kind, caring and understanding. You always know and understand what I'm feeling. And you know what is best for me, sometimes even when I don't know it myself. You are strong, physically and mentally. You take over all of the housework in your house after your mother died, and you even help your father and brother in their work. And..." He was stuck speechless after that. And so did Tetsuko. He looked at her closely, the way her green eyes shone in the sunlight and her blue hair framed her face nicely. "You are so beautiful" he said in a whisper.

Tetsuko's face reddened and a bright smile emerged on her face. "Really?" she asked softly.

"Yes" he breathed out. Why were they talking so softly?

Her smile widened and she let out a sigh. "Well, here's what I think about you" she said. Oboro blinked and leaned forward toward her. "I think you are wonderful too. You are devoted and dedicated to the people you love, particularly your family. You are hardworking, sometimes to the point of being workaholic, but it's not really that bad. Sure, you kind of lack social life, but that doesn't mean you are not friendly and polite to other people. And you also never mind it whenever I drag you to a social gathering, and you mingle with people just fine, albeit a little rigid. You never complain everytime I drag you to some places, and even if you do, you still come. And you are a sucker for children. I know you dote on your younger siblings, don't even try to deny it. You like putting things into order and can be quite a control freak sometimes, but you do it just to make other people feel safe and comfortable." She looked down on her lap, her face flushing. "And... I don't mind spending the rest of my life with someone like you."

Oboro blinked and suddenly, like a lamp being turned on in his brain, something clicked in his mind. Did Tetsuko just...

"Tetsuko... Are you... Are you..."

She finally looked up to his face. Her face was still red, but she was smiling sincerely. She knew he understood it now. "I always see you as a man, not just as a friend. A man that I would like to be with."

He was really stuck speechless now. There were so many things going on inside his head and there were many emotions he felt at the same time. Here, his best friend, whom he had known since they were small kids was confessing to him and sort of asked his permission for them to have more. He felt so many different emotions. Surprise, confusion, happiness, and also... fear?

"I'm sorry Tetsuko, but... Not now... I... I can't..."

Tetsuko widened her eyes as if realizing her mistake. "Oh no. I'm sorry Oboro. I didn't mean—"

"No, that's fine... It's just... I... We..." He shook his head and let out a breath through his mouth.

Tetsuko smiled in understanding and reached out to take his hand. "I know. Don't worry. You don't have to say it. I understand."

Tetsuko was one of the few people who knew what the Yoshida family actually was and for what purpose the Gintama Academy was made. In fact, most of the people they knew from the countryside knew about it. They all had a hand in hiding them back then after all. She was shocked after learning about the truth, but she quickly accepted them again. She had grown fond of them and she knew that it was all in the past. Now, they were all doing their best to make amend what they thought was their fault, but it never was like that to Tetsuko. In her opinion, Oboro and the others were the victims and not the perpetrators.

"I can't. With Dad dating Hinowa-san and even Gintoki dating Tsukuyo-san, it's already risky enough. But I accept that because they both really need it. Especially Gintoki, considering his position in this whole situation. But me... I just... I can't..."

"I know. I understand" she said, squeezing his hand.

Oboro looked at Tetsuko, with sad, guilty expression. "I'm sorry Tetsuko."

"It's alright." She smiled and now took both of his hands in hers. "Maybe someday?"

"Yes... When they were captured, and it's all over for us... And it will come sooner than I thought."

Nobume looked around the crowd in the amusement park and sighed. She lost them. She had been following Oboro and Tetsuko to know what's going on. But her brother was walking very fast and she couldn't catch up to them in this crowd while also trying to be unseen by them.

Nobume looked at her surrounding. While this amusement park was located near her familiy's academy and her family even sponsored the place, she never really came here. Well, she could come with her friends. Contrary to what was seen, Nobume did have some close female friends other than Sougo and Kamui. But most of them preferred to go to this park with their boyfriends. Well, Nobume didn't have a boyfriend. Some guys actually did find her attractive and she was asked out a lot. But she was never really interested in any of them, so she rejected them all. Those who were persistent, she got rid herself or let Sougo and Kamui do it. Well, she was close to her two guy friends, but their friendship were too strong that she couldn't see herself in a romantic relationship with either of them. Plus, she knew they had a thing for Kagura and Soyo, no matter how much the two denied it. She once had had a childish crush on her father's friend Isaburo, but it disappeared as she grew up. And it couldn't even be called love. She thought about dating and couldn't see herself doing it. She tried to picture it in her mind. She saw herself walking side-by-side with someone. They were holding hands. He had green eyes, dark purple hair...

"AKH! NO WAY!" she screamed out in shock, startling the people around her. She tugged on her hair, trying to banish that imagination out of her head, ignoring the strange looks she got from the crowd. No way! No way! It's forbidden! I can't see myself with Sougo and Kamui, but I can see myself with HIM?! Why does it keep happening?! She tried to calm her thumping heart.

Nobume saw many couples walked by, holding hands, eating ice cream together and— eeew, there was one smooching in the corner. She realized that the majority of people that came to this park were couples. Being alone in this crowd made her feel left out. She decided to go back to the studio. She turned around and started to walk back, but she stopped. Which way did she come from? She looked around and she realized she didn't know where to go.

Oh no. Now, I'm officially lost.

Where is that girl go? Shinsuke mused as he walked around the amusement park. But then he realized he couldn't search the whole park, looking for her; it'd take all day. He pulled out his phone and started dialing her number. But for some reason, it couldn't reach her. He tried to dial it seven times and even sent her text messages, but it still didn't reach and the messages were not sent.

"What the—what's wrong with that girl's phone?" he mumbled, irritation mixed with worry. He considered asking the park's attendant to call her with the public address system. But then Oboro and the others would know that they were following them.

When he was busy thinking about what to do, Shinsuke felt a tug on his hand. He looked at his phone and widened his eyes. The Mrs. Donut strap was hovering in the air and tugging his phone to the left. He took the strap in his hand and rolled it with his fingers. Was that just now a supernatural phenomenon or what? Suddenly, he felt a tug toward the left and frowned. He didn't know what's going on until he remembered that Nobume once said that the dolls had magnet in it. So it must be a magnetic pull. And it kept tugging him to a certain direction.

Shinsuke looked to his left, then back at his phone strap. Would this thing lead him to Nobume? Deciding to trust his instinct, he followed the direction where the doll was tugging him.

"Oh no, my battery runs out," Nobume mumbled while looking at her phone. She couldn't call anyone to ask their location with her phone dead. The crowd seemed to get bigger and she didn't even know where she was. She remembered that the studio was between a children roller coaster and a photobox, but she couldn't see anything like that around her. The only thing she could see was a merry-go-round and a tunnel of love. Just how far did she go?

Nobume decided to find a place where she could charge her phone, when she felt a tug on her hand. She looked down and saw Mr. Donut strap was tugging her in a certain direction. She grabbed it and inspected it in her hand. It was still pulling her forward. Could it be the magnet inside? Where did it lead to?

She started to think when she realized he was pointing toward his lover, Mrs. Donut... Which was owned by Shinsuke...

Does that mean he's near?

With her heart thumping inside her chest, Nobume decided to walk toward the direction Mr. Donut was pulling her to.

It's been thirty minutes and Shinsuke kept walking toward the direction Mrs. Donut was pulling him to. He didn't know why he even bothered to follow it. It's not certain whether his strap would lead to Nobume's strap. It could lead to any Mr. Donut strap, not just Nobume's. He looked back and saw that he was already quite far from the crafting studio. Oh great...

Shinsuke looked forward and saw a merry-go-round and a tunnel of love in his vision. The strap suddenly pulled him toward the tunnel of love.

Nobume looked around as she passed by beside the tunnel of love. It's been thirty minutes and she was worried she had gotten really lost. "I hope you really are leading me to the right way" she said to her strap.

She saw a glimpse of dark purple blur in the crowd and her heart lept to her throat. She stood in front of the tunnel of love, as the figure came fully into her vision.

"Nobume!" Shinsuke called out to her as he jogged toward her. His right hand was extended, which was holding his phone with Mrs. Donut strap attached to. She just stood there, with her left hand holding her own phone and strap. He walked to her until he stood right in front of her, their hands still extended, their phones straps now attached to each other.

"Where have you been?! Why did you go out?!"

"S-sorry. I saw Obo-nii and Tetsuko-san going out of the studio and I was kind of curious so I followed them. But I lost them and then got lost myself" she explained, rather sheepishly.

"You know I've been searching for you around here for almost an hour? Stop making people worried!" he said, sighing in exasperation.

"You're alone? Where's Gin-nii and Tsukuyo-san?"

"Yes, I'm alone. They're back in the studio."

"Oohh..." It dawned on her that it was the first time they were alone together after summer vacation. After coming back from that vacation, she made sure not to end up alone with him because it made her feel uncomfortable. She avoided him as often and as natural as she could. Didn't help that they were practically living together. Even in their house, she would only approach him when there was someone else there with them, be it Gintoki, Kotarou, Oboro, or their Dad. But this time, they were alone...

"What's wrong with your phone anyway? I kept calling you but it can't be reached."

"Uh, it's out of battery" she said, showing him her phone. They looked down and realized that their straps were now attached to each other. Mr. and Mrs. Donut were holding hands together and, it could be just their imagination, but the two looked happier than before.

"How did you find me, anyway?" she asked him.

"I followed her" he said, indicating to his strap. "It kept tugging me so I just followed my gut instinct and went to where she pulled me."

She smiled a little. "That's funny. Mr. Donut also kept tugging me toward you and I followed him. Guess their magnet is pretty strong huh?"

"Yeah it is. I mean I walked for thirty minutes from where I was before and the distance is like three kilometers or so. It's amazing they have magnetic pull from that far away."

Nobume blinked. That information was... amazing to say the least. But still, in all the times she and Shinsuke were near each other before, these dolls never reacted that way toward one another. They never did when Shinsuke and Nobume were home together, when in school, or when they were practically in each other's vicinity. Then why did they pull toward each other now? And they were attached to each other so tight as if not wanting to let go.

Shinsuke reveived a message and he pulled his phone closer to his face to read it, forcing Nobume's phone to go with him.

We'll handle things here. You just go have some alone time with Nobume. I know you miss her. Good luck J

From: Tsukuyo

Shinsuke flushed a little. He did tell Tsukuyo once that Nobume was avoiding him lately, but he didn't say that he missed her... Okay so he did, but he would never admit that. He didn't know why she was avoiding him and he felt a little lonely because of it. They didn't have time alone together anymore. Even in their house! But now, Shinsuke realized that they were alone for the first time ever since that vacation...

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Tsukuyo."

Nobume frowned. They had each other's numbers? Did they text each other regularly, or something?

"We... should go back" Nobume said rigidly, determined to get rid of the thought of Shinsuke and Tsukuyo texting each other every night. She took a step to walk away but felt a tug on her hand, still holding her phone. She realized that their straps, and to some extent their hands, were still connected to each other.

"We don't have to" he said

"Huh?"

"I mean..." Shinsuke looked away from her, hiding his flushing face. "We can just... look around or something."

"You don't want to go back to Tsukuyo-san?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" he said, eyebrows raising in confusion.

She sighed. "Never mind." She looked away from him, her expression was blank and unreadable. He didn't know what she meant by that and what she was thinking. "So... you want to look around?" she asked. Her voice was soft and sounded unsure.

"Well... yeah..." he said, speaking just as softly.

"With me?"

"Who else?" He frowned again from her question. Why did she ask that?

"What about Ikumatsu-san and Kota-nii?"

"Gintoki and Tsukuyo will take care of it."

"And Obo-nii and Tetsuko-san?"

"Well, you followed them and they went missing so there's nothing we can do."

"So you do want to look around here?"

"Well, I mean... we're in amusement park. It's such a shame to not look around."

"It's weird coming from you" she commented flatly.

"Oh shut up! You want to go or not?"

Nobume looked at Shinsuke and they stared at each other for a few seconds. She couldn't deny that she missed being alone with him like this. She looked down and saw their still attached straps. "Well, it's not like I have any choice since you know... we're attached together" she said, lifting their joined phones. She didn't know why but she felt her face warm at her own words.

Shinsuke also blushed a little. "Right. Then we can—"

"Hey, there! Young couple over there! Why don't you try to ride this romantic tunnel of love together?! It'll make you grow closer to your partner!" the attendant of the tunnel of love called out to them.

"We're not a couple! We're siblings!" they shouted in unison. Though their identical flushed face made their exclamation less convincing.

"Sure, then why are you standing in our line?" Nobume and Shinsuke had just realized that they were standing in front of the ride and it didn't help their situation at all as they flushed redder. "Anyway, you're standing in our line so you might as well get in" the attendant said as he pulled the two and pushed them into a boat.

"Wait what?!" they said in unison.

"Happy riding!" the attendant said cheerfully as the ride went on. Before they could go out, the boat moved and entered the tunnel. Nobume and Shinsuke cursed and cussed along the way, as they looked away from each other, faces still hot. Great... This just made things even more awkward for them than it already was.

Nobume glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Donut, sitting with their phones in between her and Shinsuke. The dolls were still holding hands with each other, and she remembered what Tsukuyo had said. Could it be these dolls knew that their owners missed each other and tried to help them find each other's heart?

It's cliche, cheesy and overly romantic. So unsuited for her and Shinsuke. But the dolls were looking at her, as if they were giving her encouragement. And Nobume smiled and found the courage to reach for Shinsuke's hand. He jumped a little at the touch but didn't pull away or made any comment about it, which encouraged her to keep her hand where it was. After a while, she felt him squeezed her hand back, and this time, it was her who jumped.

They stayed like that for a while until bright lights, the colors of red and pink, shone around them. Pink hearts were floating in the air and a slow music was playing inside the tunnel. It's only the start and their hands were already sweating.

This was going to be a long ride.