The Inconveniences of: Amusement Parks

Mai smiled like a little girl as she licked the melting ice cream from her cone. "It's been so long since I've been here! Thanks for taking me! Honestly, I thought you wouldn't want me to be tagging along on a da–"

Ayako blushed and sent the brunette a look that told her not to finish the statement. Bou-san, who had only paid attention to the beginning of her sentence, finished his ice cream and smiled at his 'younger sister' figure. "No problem! It was Ayako's idea anyway."

Mai raised an eyebrow at the red-head, who simply looked away. The miko avoided the subject by pointing out a picture booth. "Oh, look! We should go take some!"

Bou-San's face lit up and he seconded her notion.

"No, thanks," Mai opted with a smile, waving them on, "I'm having a bad hair day. Besides, I doubt all three of us would be able to fit."

"But–" Ayako protested, her face turning scarlet as she realized what the brunette had done.

"Come on, Ayako, you know Mai's right. There's only room for two!" Bou-san agreed with a wink, dragging the miko by the arm into the booth. Mai smiled, hearing their voices muffled by the thick curtain. "Now, how do we work it?" Bou-san was such an old man!

"Idiot! It says here, 'put 50 yen in the slot'. Can't you read?"

"What slot? If you're so smart, why don't you do it, huh?"

"You're the one who wanted to get our pictures taken!"

"Well, you're the one who pointed it out, A-ya-ko!"

Mai could only imagine the beet-red face the miko was probably sporting right now. "W-Whatever! Let's just get this over with."

"Well, you gotta smile, at least!" Bou-san said, slipping the coin in the slot.

"This is my smile, idiot!"

Flash

"Well, you've got an ugly smile, that's for sur–ah! Hey, that hurt!"

Flash

"That's what you get!"

Flash

"For what?!"

Flash

"For being an idiot! Look, the pictures are developing. It says to collect them outside."

"How can you act so normal after beating someone up in a picture booth?" Bou-san exclaimed as he exited the small space first, rubbing his head as he did so. "You're horrible!"

Ayako followed closely behind the monk, her arms crossed with a scowl on her face. "I did not beat you up! It was one hit. And you deserved it."

"Can't you two stop arguing for two seconds?" Mai inquired, rolling her eyes. "Ayako, come with me to the bathroom. Bou-san, you can stay here and wait for the picture to develop!"

She took the red-head by the arm, leading her to the girl's bathroom.

"What is wrong with you?" Mai inquired as soon as Bou-san was out of ear-shot.

"There's nothing wrong with me?" Ayako answered, unsure of what the brunette was saying.

Mai crossed her arms, a scowl on her face (much like Ayako when she had exited the photo booth). "Tell me the real reason you invited me to the amusement park with you guys."

The priestess blushed a shade dark enough to match her own hair. "I told you, we had an extra ticket–"

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Okay, fine. I…I don't want to be alone with Takigawa…"

"What?" Mai was taken aback. "But why? You like him! And it's so obvious he likes you back! But you keep inviting me on your dates: that time at the Aquarium, then at the zoo, and even when you went out to dinner at that fancy restaurant and dragged me along!"

"I'm just scared, okay! Maybe I'm not ready for a relationship?" Ayako covered her face, embarrassed by what she had just said. "Besides, those weren't dates."

"Believe me, they were," Mai deadpanned. This had been going on for quite a while, after all. "Of course you're ready for a relationship! I think you're just afraid you'll do something stupid and scare him off. Which, I'm sure isn't possible since both of you have seen each other at your worst."

Ayako sighed. "But what if you're wrong, Mai?"

"Look, I'm wrong about a lot of things, as proven multiple times by Naru, but this I am not wrong about. Trust me!" When Ayako's eyes became filled with doubt, Mai smiled, "Listen, I have a plan!"

"Mai," the red-head said, exhausted, "you know I hate your plans."

"This is going to work, I promise!" Mai winked, leaning in close and cupping her hand around her mouth. "Come on, this is what I want you to do…"

Ayako exited the bathroom without Mai, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Ayako? Are you okay? Where's Mai?" Bou-san inquired, becoming increasingly worried at Ayako's nervousness.

"Mai says she doesn't feel too good. She told us to go on without her," Ayako said, repeating perfectly the excuse Mai had given her. "She called Naru. He's coming to pick her up."

Finding the story a bit suspicious, Bou-san raised an eyebrow. He shrugged it off, however. "So you're sure we can leave her in there? She'll be okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Probably just a stomach ache is what she said."

"Okay, then," the monk trailed off awkwardly, looking down at his red-head crush who was avoiding his eyes at all cost. "Why don't we go on the Ferris wheel, then?"

"The Ferris wheel? A-Are you sure?" Ayako inquired, her heart beating faster at the mere suggestion. Wasn't that the ride you were supposed to go on with your boyfriend/girlfriend? Wasn't it the ride where lovers proposed? Her heart skipped a beat.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights, Ayako?" Bou-san teased, leaning down to get a better view of her flushed cheeks.

"O-Of course not! Who's afraid of heights? Don't be ridiculous!" she exclaimed, turning around and heading to the Ferris wheel to prove him wrong.

Bou-san laughed, following closely. "Plenty of people are afraid of heights. It's nothing to be ashamed of…"

Their voices finally trailed off enough for Mai to come out of hiding. About time there was some progress in their relationship!

"You sure you're not too scared?" the brunette monk inquired teasingly, looking up at the ridiculously tall ride.

"Of course I'm not." Ayako said confidently, despite having second thoughts (and not because of the height of the Ferris wheel)…What if Mai was wrong and Bou-san really just liked her as a friend. Then she'd be making a fool out of herself!

It was too much for the red-head, but Bou-san already had his arm around her waist, leading her into the small capsule. Her heart was beginning to do double-time.

"Wow, are you sure you want to do this? You're looking pretty pale," the monk informed, leaning close enough for her to feel his breath on her skin.

"I told you, I'm fine!" Ayako insisted, backing away as far as the enclosed space allowed. She looked out of the window as they began to move upwards.

The silence between them soon became irrefutably unbearable and it was not helping that Bou-san's eyes were beginning to burn a hole in her face. Ayako would've done anything at that moment to break the tension in the air, but she had no clue how. She was probably the one who was causing it anyhow.

If only he would just stop staring at her!

"Ayako."

Finally he said something! However, the tension increased tenfold after he did so. Ayako nodded hesitantly, still gazing out at the beautiful scenery.

"You realize that you haven't looked at me the whole day, right?" Bou-san noted pensively.

Well, that wasn't really what she had been expecting him to say.

"Oh," Ayako said simply, wanting to hit herself afterwards, "I guess I haven't been feeling well today, either. Maybe Mai and I have caught some sort of bug–"

"You know that's not why you haven't been able to meet my eyes," Bou-san challenged, his own chocolate eyes narrowing. "So tell me what the real reason is."

Ayako shook her head, closing her eyes. "I can't."

"Look at me," he demanded.

"No."

"Ayako, look at me."

"No!"

There was moment of electric silence. Just as they began to reach the top of the ride, Ayako thought he had given up. She sighed, almost as if she were disappointed he had not tried harder.

Suddenly the ride halted, their capsule swaying back and forth. Of course, this was normal. They had to stop to let passengers off and on of the ride, didn't they? Ayako was nervous, though. This felt different than her usual Ferris wheel experience. "Oh my god," she murmured, anxiously looking down at the ground which was so far away from her.

A crowd of men in yellow were gathered at the bottom of the ride, mechanics Ayako guessed, and she knew at that moment that there was something wrong with the ride. Now she was stuck at the top of a broken Ferris wheel, and to make matters worse, it was with Takigawa!

Bou-san followed her line of vision and cursed under his breath.

The miko's breathing became shallow and quick and she clutched onto the edge of her seat. Bou-san waited for her knuckles to turn white (which didn't take long) to say something. "Ayako, are you alright?"

The red-head leaned back, relaxing herself against the seat. "Calm down, calm down, calm down," Ayako chanted, unsure of why she was feeling so queasy. She didn't have a problem with heights, so that wasn't it. She'd never had any problems with being in small spaces, so it couldn't have been claustrophobia or anything.

Somehow Ayako had a feeling it was being with Takigawa that was making her so weird.

"Seriously, Ayako, you're scaring me," the monk said, leaning on the floor in front of her. She hadn't even noticed him getting closer until he had her hands in his. "If you were really this scared of heights, we never should have–"

Ayako shook her head, and the brunette stopped to listen. "It's not that. It really isn't."

"Then what is it? I need you to tell me, Ayako," Bou-san demanded, his expression serious. He must've been really worried.

Her heart doing double-time, Ayako looked away, now flushed instead of placid. "It's you."

Bou-san seemed taken aback. "What?"

"You make me feel weird and nervous and my legs get all weak. I don't like it," she said with a frown, her palms becoming sweaty in his much bigger ones, "but I like you. A lot."

She could see Bou-san's throat bob up and down as he swallowed. Was he disgusted by her? Did he hate her? It was too much for Ayako.

"Wow, I shouldn't have said that," she shook her head, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I take it back–"

Bou-san glared at her, standing up and causing their capsule to rock back and forth. "Don't you dare take that back. I won't let you."

"What?" Ayako inquired, looking into his eyes for the first time since they had gotten to the park, "What do you mean?"

He leaned down, sealing her lips with his own. "You can't confess to someone and take it back. That's against the rules."

Mai smiled, watching from afar as Ayako and Bou-san left the fixed Ferris Wheel hand in hand. "Success!"

Whoa! Its been so long, but guess what? I'm back, bitches! Anyway, I started writing this chapter when I realized I already had half of it done. Sorry for the late update. I'll be sure to get more up soon.

Also for many of those who were wondering whether or not the last chapter was based off of Say "I Love You" aka Suki-tte Ii na yo, it was. I was watching it around the time I was writing that chapter and fell in love. I couldn't resist! Hope you liked it.