Here's chapter 12 guys! It ends again on a cliffhanger but we're slowly getting into the last few chapters of the story. I got about...maybe 3 or four more to go and this'll be wrapped up.
My panel on Saturday went well and the people I sat with, we applied for a second one at Emerald City Comic-con and I applied to do one at the same convention in regards to writing fanfictions! So hopefully that'll happen as I get a free pass for the entire con!
Also check out "Bittersweet Valentine's" it's a long story, but I enjoyed it even though it took like a month!
And so...after this...do you guys want one where Sadayo meets Akira's parents for the first time or Akira meets her parent's for the first time? Or more baby stories?! Preggo Sadayo and her and Akira getting ready for the baby...I can go either way but I'm thinking about doing one or the other.
Chapter 12
Fifteen minutes later, Akira and the others were standing in a heavily padded area surrounded by several people with a large pool in the center of it. Some were sitting lazily in the pool; others were swimming and splashing around in the water, the Phantoms, on the other hand, were taking care to not spray any bystanders while making sure to thoroughly drench one another with the water guns Akira, Futaba, and Yusuke had acquired. Although they were only water pistols, they had little difficulty in keeping them filled, so long as they avoided knocking anyone over or splashing anyone, the lifeguards didn't seem to mind too much.
They had split into two teams, Ryuji, Haru, Makoto, and Futaba one and all the others on another. Sadayo had tried to get on the opposite team, but the group seemed adamant that she be on the same side as Akira and when she saw how good of a shot most of them she understood why. Save for Futaba, she was the worst shot of the group and seemed to be used more as a distraction at times, hurling water balloons they'd filled upon arriving at the pool or providing distracting fire while Akira and Yusuke seemed more than capable at sniping the others.
"To the left!"
Sadayo looked too late and was rewarded with a water balloon in the face. She sputtered as the cold water dripped down her face and chest and growled at Makoto who was laughing victoriously. Grabbing her gun, Sadayo rushed forward and opened fire, spraying the girl in the face making her scream and swallow a bit of the water before returning fire.
"Die fools!" Futaba began chucking her water balloons at anyone in their group that passed by her.
"What the hell Futaba?!" Ryuji barely dodged one of the water balloons and started spraying her. "I'm on your side!"
"Fend for yourself, peon!" Futaba reared back and lobbed another balloon. It sailed through the air toward Ann and Makoto who were busy turning their water guns on Akira and Yusuke. None of them noticed it and when it landed on Makoto, showering Yusuke and Akira in the process.
"Oh, crap." Futaba looked for the nearest cover but was unable to reach it in time and was suddenly picked up by Makoto and Ann who proceeded to jump into the pool with the hacker flailing and while she shouted, "Let me go you bastards! Or else I'm gonna..." she was silenced by the splashing of water and when she popped up and began splashing water at Ann and Makoto who were both drenched and laughing.
Sadayo stopped shooting and started laughing at the scene in front of her along with Yusuke. Now that their war had slowly devolved into mayhem, none of them seemed too concerned with even focusing on the rules they'd set and began just shooting one another randomly. Sadayo and Yusuke focused on Ryuji while Haru and Akira seemed to be having their own private war with Haru pinning Akira down with a hail of gunfire and balloons. When Ryuji was finally able to tackle a soaked Yusuke into the pool, Sadayo tried to join Haru but was locked in place when she saw, with a sense of cat-like mobility, Akira duck out from behind his cover and began making strafing shots at Haru. Several of them hit her, but she was able to return fire soaking him with a water balloon just before he dived behind his next cover.
Both of them drenched, Akira the worse of the two thanks to Haru having decent aim with her water balloons. Deciding to give her boyfriend a bit of support. Sadayo ducked down behind the barrier he was using and whispered, "Having fun?"
"You know it." As the words left his mouth, Haru managed to lob yet another water bomb at him, and it showered both of them in chilly water. "Could have done without that."
"Want me to distract her?" Sadayo looked down at her gun and found she still had almost a full container of water.
"I'd appreciate it." Akira peeked over the barrier and saw that Haru was glaring out them, he guessed that she was running low on water and wanted to see if his theory was correct. "We both start shooting, and when she's focused on you, I'm gonna try and flank her, okay?"
"Okay," Sadayo peered over the barrier and targeted Haru's bushy hair, and opened fire immediately after she stuck her head out. Haru squeaked loudly as the water hit her straight in the face, causing her shots to go wide.
"Wish me luck," grunted Akira as he bolted from behind the barrier and began firing wildly.
The plan was working, Haru was having a difficult time between picking a target. She lobbed water balloons at Sadayo and tried to shoot at Akira, but her throws and shots went wide while her opponents hit their target. The other Phantoms were all cheering Haru on while jeering at Akira and Sadayo. Spurred on by their friends, the fight became more and more a battle of survival between Haru and Akira, with Sadayo providing valuable support against the heiress. As Sadayo and Akira fired at the girl, she was slowly getting more and more frustrated until she decided to on an all-out assault against Akira and began throwing everything she had at him.
This didn't go unnoticed by the former thief, and though he stumbled thanks to all the water on the ground, he was able to avoid her assault with relative ease. From the corner of his eye, Akira could see Sadayo cheering him on, having set aside her now empty pistol. Feeling emboldened, decided to try something he hadn't in a while and dove. He rolled along the ground and tried to push himself off the ground with his left, but his arm gave out just as he got some lift. He heard several people let out loud groans as his face hit the padding. Pain surged through his head, shoulders, and back as he rolled along the wet ground, nothing but a lanky mass of limbs, before falling into the pool with a loud splash.
He struggled for several seconds, his hand throbbing as he swam upward. Finally, he felt the warm summer air on his face, and he breathed gratefully as the lifeguard chastised him for being so stupid. He apologized and promised they'd stop their games which seemed to placate the woman.
"Seriously dude," laughed Ryuji as he swam up to Akira. "What the hell gave you the idea to pull some shit like that?"
Akira shrugged, but he couldn't help gaze at Sadayo who was walking over, a mix of anger and concern washing over her face.
"You gotta be kidding me." Ryuji splashed some water in his best friends face while dodging a slowed kick. "You're such a tool man."
"Shut up," snorted Akira as Sadayo walked up to them. Akira didn't want his girlfriend to hear that he'd been trying to impress her, but he knew that Ryuji wasn't about to let up.
"Whatever you say, man," Ryuji shouted as he began swimming away. "I ain't the one who ate dirt while trying to impress my girlfriend!"
Akira sank into the pool just as Sadayo arrived, hoping she'd ignore what Ryuji said, but he felt the water displace, and he felt her hand on his shoulder. He rose with her, and after wiping his eyes, he saw her treading water next to him. Knowing what she expected, Akira propped himself on the side of the pool and held his hand out for her to inspect it.
"Well you didn't do any more damage to it," she said with a slight hint of agitation in her voice. "But at least you're all right."
"Not completely," he chuckled he rubbed his slowly bruising neck.
"That's what you get for trying to impress me, my sweet Aki-kun." She drifted a bit closer and gave him a quick peck on the cheek which surprised him enough for her to lead him closer to their friends. Sadayo couldn't help but notice how he tried to avoid staring at her chest through her drenched tee-shirt and moved in, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Are you okay with this," he asked as his feet touched the bottom of the pool, grateful that he didn't have to try and swim with her added weight around his neck.
"I think the more appropriate question is, are you?" Sadayo moved a bit closer and felt his hands slip around her waist. She adjusted herself and smiled at the sound of everyone cheering and having fun while she rested against him, a warm feeling in her chest.
"I am," he said as they bobbed along carefully. Akira couldn't help but notice the gentle bounce of her breasts against his torso. "It's just, after everything that happened at the house," Akira shook his head and nuzzled her cheek, "and the movies I didn't think you'd want to do things like this so soon."
"We aren't doing anything wrong." Sadayo gave him a couple of soft kisses on his nose before tapping it. "We're just enjoying one another's company, and f..."
Just as she was about to finish, there was a scream, followed by a wave of water that nearly knocked them off their feet. They both sputtered in surprise and Sadayo wiped some water from her eyes while Akira shook his head free of water.
While the couple tried to get their bearings, Futaba and Makoto appeared from beneath the water with broad smiles on their faces.
"Sorry to interrupt," laughed Futaba at the look of annoyance on their faces.
"Seems to be a habit you've all become accustomed to," retorted Sadayo with a knowing smirk at Makoto. She'd hoped the girl would blush but was sorely disappointed.
"You'll get used to it," Akira grumbled as he pulled away from Sadayo and dove under the water. The water burned his eyes, but it was easy enough to tell which girl was which. Moving around her back, he tapped Sadayo's leg before placing his head between her knees and standing up. He heard he Sadayo scream before her hands wrapped around his chin.
"What are you doing?!" Sadayo shouted as she balanced herself.
"Haven't you ever played chicken?" Akira began dancing around carefully making her squeal while Makoto and Futaba laughed.
"Not in many...," Sadayo glared down at him when she noticed him and the girls were chuckling. Realizing what she almost said, Sadayo smacked him on the head before saying, "It's been a while."
"Sweet." Akira patted her thigh and looked at his friends before asking, "So, who's first on the list?"
"What do you mean?" Futaba asked, slowly drifting around behind Makoto.
"Since you guys can't seem to resist bugging us," Akira jumped up again making Sadayo cling tighter to him, "you guys can at least do something other than annoy us."
"I'm not that fond of...OW! Futaba!"
The former adviser was pushed down into the water as Futaba forced her way onto the older girls shoulders. Despite Makoto's protests, Futaba managed to anchor herself onto the older girl's shoulders, pop her knuckles and say with a fierce grin, "Bring it on, Joker."
Surprisingly enough, Futaba managed to hold her own against Sadayo for quite some time. Whether it was due to Makoto's strong sense of balance or the fact that Futaba was now getting regular physical activity, the once scrawny hacker was able to nearly knock Sadayo off Akira's shoulders a few times before being ultimately defeated.
Upon seeing the water combat, Ryuji, Yusuke, and Ann joined in, climbing on Makoto as Futaba had. Sadayo had decided she'd had enough and wished Akira luck before joining Haru and Futaba on the sidelines cheering them on as Ryuji climbed onto Akira's shoulders and faced off against Ann. One by one, the group cycled through to see who was the best, and thanks to their injuries, Akira and Ryuji were knocked out quickly and after a lengthy battle, Makoto came out the victor.
Their revelry was short lived however as the lifeguards had finally had enough of their antics. Even with Makoto and Akira trying to explain to them that they were being safe, the lifeguards began telling them why they had to stop and the two eventually surrendered.
When the others all saw what was about to happen, they all exited the pool and began gathering up their belongings before trudging toward the park's central hub.
For the next half-hour they wandered the park, all of them joking, and after having refilled their guns, taking shots at each other when they could, until finally, hunger took over. Finding a small food court where most of them figured out their lunches in a few moments, but the majority of them still needed some time to figure things out. After leaving their orders and some money with the girls and Akira, Sadayo, Ryuji, and Yusuke found a large table and drifted off into a conversation about various things while sipping at smoothies they'd purchased ten minutes prior.
"I never thought I'd add, 'getting kicked out of a pool' to my list of lifetime achievements," hummed Sadayo as she sipped at her smoothie.
"That's what happens when you hang out with a bunch of troublemakers like us," said Ryuji through a mouthful of fries he'd bought along with his smoothie. "Nothing fun ever sticks around long."
"I don't know about that," smirked Yusuke the lid of his dring. "We're still in the park, and there's plenty left for us to do."
"Dude," Ryuji flicked a fry at Yusuke who caught it mid-flight, "do you always have to be such an ass about things like this?"
"I'm just being honest." Yusuke tossed the fry back and smirked when it hit Ryuji between the eyes. "Besides didn't you have plans to find some company to bring back to the..."
"Seriously," Ryuji glared at Yusuke and blushed when he saw Sadayo's attention turn to him. "Will you shut up about that?! Besides after what happened before we left I changed my mind."
"What'd you change your mind about," asked Akira as he appeared with the girls and a large amount of food.
"Ryuji met a girl," answered Yusuke with a huge smile.
"What the shit, dude!" Ryuji got up and tried to smack Yusuke, but the fox dodged his blow. "Why did you have to say it like that? You make it sound like we're dating."
"Wait," Akira said after swallowing a mouthful of sub sandwich, a cold glare on his face. "You mean to tell me you punch me over not telling you about my dating her, but you get to keep the fact that you met a girl a secret from me?"
"First of all asshole," snapped Ryuji as he reached across Sadayo to try and hit his best friend, "you punched me first. And second," Ryuji took a huge bite of his burger and swallowed loudly, "I just met her like three days ago so you can shove that argument up your ass because I planned on telling you, not sneak around like a freaking rat."
"In all honesty, he's more like a cat," said Sadyo earning her several curious stares. "What? If you've ever watched how he moves, he's a bit more like a cat than a rat."
"Okay," Ryuji began with a mildly disturbed look on his face. "Thanks for creeping us the hell out with that comment."
"Do you have to swear so much," groaned Ann as she bit into her burger.
"I ain't at home with my mom or at school," snorted Ryuji before sipping his soda. "So what's the problem with me swearing more than usual?"
"True you aren't at home or school," said Sadayo as she took her half of the sub she was sharing with Akira, "but that's no excuse for using such poor grammar in front of me given all the tutoring you've received."
Everybody at the table, save for Ryuji chuckled at the joke, while the runner blushed again.
"You haven't even seen the homework you gave us yet," huffed the teen as he glowered at his friends. " And with how much my grades have improved I bet I do better than Ann during exams."
"Wanna put some money on that," scoffed Ann as she tossed a potato chip at Ryuji.
"What kind of money?" Ryuji popped the chip in his mouth and looked at the others. "You all are my witnesses so make sure we don't back out. Got it?"
"Of course," groaned Makoto. She had been privy to plenty of these interactions over the past several months, and they rarely ended well.
"Just as long as we can join in," giggled Haru over the parfait she was splitting with Futaba on top of the large order of takoyaki they'd purchased.
"I'll take that bet," said Futaba after a mouthful of strawberry.
"What about you two?" Inquired Yusuke as he took another large bite of his salad. "I'm sure you'll find it interesting, and Sadayo-san can be our confirmation as to who wins."
Sadayo looked at Akira and shrugged and after a moment he nodded and said, "Why not? Sadayo told me you've been doing better in school so what the hell?"
"What're you gonna wager," asked Ryuji after getting everybody's approval.
"How about," Ann played coy for a second and then said, "dinner at the Wilton?"
"Again?!" Asked all of the Phantoms in unison, surprising Sadayo.
"What do you mean, 'again'?" Sadayo looked at Akira, a covetous look on her face. "You've eaten at the Wilton?"
"A couple of times," replied her boyfriend with a nervous smile.
"How many is a couple?" Sadayo was looking disgruntled, and Akira knew he'd have to come up with some excuse or else he'd have to do something embarrassing to calm her down.
"Hey," Ryuji snapped his fingers at the two of them and pointed between him and Ann. "We're trying to figure out a bet here, if you're gonna fight can you do it somewhere else?" Ignoring the venomous looks Sadayo and Akira were giving him, Ryuji turned back to Ann and nodded. "Fine, dinner at the buffet, again! But for my prize," Ryuji paused and said, "day at the amusement park."
"Seriously?" Ann rolled her eyes and snorted, "That's way more expensive than what I'm asking for."
"How about the winner is the one who gets closest to the top thirty?"
Sadayo snorted into her sandwich and covered her mouth, earning her a stern glare from Ryuji and Ann.
"I am so sorry," she apologized after swallowing her food. "I was not trying to insult you in any way."
"Challenge accepted," huffed Ann despite Sadayo's apology. "If you rank in top thirty you get the amusement park. If I get top thirty, I get the buffet."
"Deal," Ryuji stuck his hand out, and Ann shook it. When they parted, Ryuji said, "All right guys go ahead and place your bets."
The four other Phantoms all began talking amongst themselves. Yusuke was betting against Makoto that Ann would win and asked for a set of high-end brushes, while Makoto opted for a couple of box sets of rare DVDs. Futaba decided to choose Ryuji as the victor and placed a wager for some new RAM for a computer she was building along with a solid state hard drive.
"Haru, what are you going to request as your prize?" Sadayo was getting a little annoyed at the hearing them throw around asking for such lavish things. Even though she knew they had fought through countless perils to earn enough money to buy risk making such wagers, she couldn't help but feel inferior at the knowledge of the small fortunes the group of teens had in their bank accounts.
"I'll take a pound of Kopi Luwak coffee beans if Ann wins," Haru said rather happily after finishing her latest bite of food.
"Coffee?" Sadayo looked at Haru in shock at this request. Sadayo knew she was taking business and cooking courses to open her own cafe, but even so, coffee beans were a rather unusual request.
"If Haru's asking for them, you know they're top quality," grunted Akira as he finished his half of the sandwich.
"You're never going to let that go, are you?" inquired Haru with a somewhat sadistic grin. "If you want to risk it again, I can serve you the coffee I asked Futaba to buy me?"
"Hell, no." Answered Akira adamantly. "I'm an adventurous person, but if that coffee is made the way I think it is, I'd rather die."
"What are talking about?" Makoto looked between the sadistic smile on Haru's face while Akira wore a scowl. "All she asked for was some coffee beans, Akira. It's not like she can do anything bad to you with some coffee beans."
"I don't know about that." Haru took a large bite of takoyaki before dipping into the parfait, the same mischievous smile on her face. "Do you want me to tell them?"
"No," Akira gave Sadayo a nervous peripheral glance before biting into his sandwich. "But if you want to use it at the restaurant make sure you confirm it with Boss first."
"Maybe I will and maybe I won't." Haru smiled and took a sip of her soda.
A sudden chill spread throughout the group, and slowly they dissolved into conversations of different subjects. As Akira chewed his sandwich, Akira could feel Sadayo's eyes on his and set it down he asked, "What is it?"
"We didn't make our bet," Sadayo answered after swallowing her bite.
"Are you sure you should be betting?" Akira looked at Ann and Ryuji who were both locked in conversation with Makoto about a study schedule that would work best for them. "You're their teacher so you could purposefully sabotage one of them to get what you want."
"Do you honestly think I'm that petty?" Sadayo scoffed as she finished her last bite of sandwich and sipped her smoothie. " I've never once played favor...well I've never altered a student's grades nor helped them cheat and I never will." Sadayo averted her gaze and chewed quietly on her sandwich for a few moments. "Besides I'm not that great with the math and the other subject so properly studying those is up to them."
"If you're so sure of who you want to win, I'll take your bet." Akira drank some of her smoothie and grimaced at the taste of lychee and gulped his smoothie down to wash the taste from his tongue.
"I'll take Ryuji," Sadayo said confidently, causing the runner to stop mid-bite and stare up at her.
"What'd you say?" Ryuji asked, mouth agape and small bits of his burger covering his mouth.
"I said, I'm going to bet on you," she said smiling and handing her student a napkin. "Although your lack of table manners is making me second-guess myself."
"Too late!" piped up with a grin toward Ann. "You already told him you were betting on him which means I get Ann."
"What am I a racehorse?" Ann shook her head as she finished the last bite of her lunch.
"In this instance you are," said Akira, his smile spreading. "So make sure you study or else you're going to have some disappointed people."
Yusuke and Haru both gave her encouraging smiles, but Ann seemed to shrink into her chair and said, "All right, I'll make sure you guys win. And since Ryuji is asking for a day at the amusement park I'm going to add in the stipulation that when we go to the buffet, we go on one of those specialty nights."
This requirement led to Ann and Ryuji getting into a small argument that drew the attention of a few people, resulting in Makoto and Yusuke having to intervene while Akira and Sadayo began cleaning up their mess.
"So what do you want if Ryuji wins," asked Akira as he dumped their garbage in the recycling.
"I don't know yet." Sadayo finished her drink as she mulled over the possibilities. "What about you?"
"I have some ideas," he chimed in after they finished up.
"Like what?" she asked they headed back to the table.
"Depends on if you want to do something in private or in public?"
"I'm going to need some more clarification before I agree to anything." Sadayo chuckled nervously as they took a small detour into a souvenir shop.
"Clarification? Why would you ne...oh!" Akira's face grew hot when he realized what he'd said. "I wasn't talking about anything like that." Akira picked up one of the souvenir pens the store sold and absentmindedly twirled it between his fingers. "I just meant it'd have to wait until I got back to Tokyo before the winner could collect and if you wanted to go to like the buffet or something that would count as public."
"I see," Sadayo snatched the pen away and set it back on its display. "Well, how about we come up with two bets? One for whatever we want the most at the time we decide to collect. How's that sound?"
"Sounds good to me." Akira smiled and gave mustered up the courage to give her a quick peck on the lips. "So now that we've got that figured out, is there anything you have in mind?"
"Well answer me this," she returned his kiss and took his hand before leading him back out into the thoroughfare. "How many times have you been to that buffet? Because it's expensive and I'm feeling a little put off that we've only had things like soba and katsudon when we've eaten out."
"About...four..I think. But I've only eaten there three out of the four. The fourth would be when Haru took me there for coffee, and she paid. Same as with Hifumi and Iwai, they paid for dinner that time."
"You're not helping your case," pouted Sadayo as they continued wandering around the food court. They could see the others were still at the table, now satiated from their lunch and said in a small voice, "And as such, I am choosing that and a show for my night out if Ryuji gets the high score."
"That's fair." Akira let go of her hand and wrapped it around her hip. "What about your night in."
"Butler," she said almost instantly.
"Butler?" repeated Akira, his eyebrow arching. "What do you mean 'butler'?"
"You're going to be my butler for a day." Sadayo rested her head on his shoulder and gave his butt a light slap. "Think of it as repayment for all those nights I spent taking care of you while you went out and did God knows what."
"I was out doing my Phantom stuff," protested Akira, trying to hide his smile from her.
"When you could have been spending time with me." Sadayo moved in front of him and pressed a finger on one of his scars. "I spent nights doing your laundry and chores so; you can at least spend a day here and there at my beck and call."
"Wait," Akira's eyebrow raised at her latest comment. "You said it was only supposed to be a night; then you said a day. Now it's an occasional day?"
"Well," Sadayo swore internally at how perceptive he was, "I didn't mean you had to do it more than the one night. I just meant that I'd appreciate it if you spent the occasional evening to take care of me like I took care of you."
Intrigued by his girlfriend's request, Akira leaned in and tapped her nose. "You've been thinking about me being your butler haven't you?"
"So what if I have?" Sadayo's voice dropped, and she gave a quick glance around and was glad to see their friends were still at the table. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave him a deep, hungry kiss and lustfully whispered, "You saw me bent over plenty of times in my maid outfit, why can't I admire you in a butler's uniform for a while? I promise to be gentle."
"I don't doubt that," Akira gave her another kiss, aware of some of the onlookers but not caring. "Then I'll say you have to do the same for me in your maid uniform and not just for a few hours but for a whole day when we have a day off together, that includes anything bedroom related."
"Umm...," Sadayo's face burned at this amendment. She'd only planned on giving him the occasional order and watching him in the uniform and planned on anything bedroom related to being done after he played his part, not during.
"Did I overstep?" There was a hint of regret in his voice, and she could see he was nervous. "If that's too much, we don't have to; I was just trying to play along."
"You're fine," she said after catching her breath. "How about we play that part by ear. I'm not against it, but given what my old job..."
"Completely reasonable," he said with a reassured smile. "I'm not going to lie, I have thought about doing that, after we started dating," he added after seeing her roll her eyes, "but I didn't want to come off as a pervert."
"It's okay being a bit perverted." She chuckled before kissing his blush. "I've got my own little secrets I've been keeping from you."
"You mean like almost calling me 'master' before we got interrupted?"
Sadayo's head hit his chest as she groaned, "You heard that?"
"It was difficult not to." Akira patted her head and chuckled.
"Jeez," Sadayo felt like the entire park was staring at her. "I feel like such an idiot."
"You aren't." Akira pushed her back and gave her a soft kiss, which made her blush even more. "I just said I've thought about doing it too, so don't feel stupid."
"Uh huh," Sadayo rubbed her neck and looked over at a small group of people who were running towards one of the rides.
"Sadayo," Akira turned her face back to him and gave her a reassuring smile. "We don't have to do those things, okay? If you'd rather it just be me doing some chores, I'm fine with that, or if you'd rather change it, later on, we can change it to something else. As long as you're happy with what we do, okay?'
"I guess," Sadayo still sounded unconvinced, but he saw the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. "We'll see when the results come in, is that fair?"
"That's fair." Akira pulled her close and squeezed her tight. "Besides it's not like you're the only one who kind of misses those nights, right Becky?"
"Becky? Your nickname is Becky?"
Both Akira and Sadayo's bodies tightened when they heard Futaba's voice behind them. The couple turned to find the hacker standing a few feet behind them, a freshly opened bottle of water in her hand with an amused smirk on her face.
"How long have you been standing there," asked Sadayo in an uncharacteristically timid voice.
"About ten seconds ago," hummed the hacker as she took a sip of water. "Though to be honest I've heard you two say weirder."
"Of course you have." Sadayo sighed and walked over to Futaba and asked, "How much do you know?"
"Enough," replied Futaba with a shrug. "But as I'm sure you're aware, I kept my mouth shut about everything, so you don't need to worry about me telling anyone."
"We appreciate that." Sadayo's heart was racing slightly, despite knowing Futaba was telling the truth. "But, do you think you could keep knowing my...nickname a secret?"
"Absolutely." Futaba shrugged without any hesitation. "Whatever kinks you two have is your own business, I don't care so long as you two are consenting to it and it's legal."
"Thanks, Futaba." Akira felt mildly disturbed at the girl's apathy.
"All I ask is one thing."
"Here we go," snorted Sadayo as she crossed her arms. "What is it that you want from us?"
"Nothing significant," Futaba shrugged as she capped her water. "The reason I left the table is that I tried to get the others to do something with me and all of them but Haru and Ryuji said no, but I wanted a backup plan just in case."
"What is it you want us to do, Futaba?" Sadayo asked praying to all that was holy that Futaba didn't ask her what she was fearing.
Turning around, Futaba pointed up at fifty-five-meter waterslide that towered over the rest of the park and asked, "If they back out, I want you guys to go on that with me."
