Minoru and I stayed like that for a good while, just snuggled together and enjoying the quiet, slow morning. I was pretty sure both of us took turns falling back asleep for a short bit.

- Hey, Takuma..

Minoru suddenly said after a pretty lengthy silence. I was keeping my eyes closed, still feeling too tired to open them.

- Mm..

I mumbled, a sign that I was still listening even though my brains weren't exactly functioning yet. Minoru probably was at least a fair bit more awake than I was.

- There's still a couple days left before we have to go back to school.. Could I stay for another night?

he asked me. I tried to process the question.

- Doesn't your mom want you back home..?

I asked carefully, I didn't want it to sound like I wanted Minoru gone. No, quite the opposite.

- No.. she's always so busy, I bet she doesn't even realize that I'm not around,

he told me. I slowly opened my eyes. He almost sounded sad.

- Minoru.. I'm sure that's not true,

I just had to say. He said nothing in return, only put his head to rest against my chest. I was left to think about our little conversation. If Minoru really wanted to stay here, I wasn't going to stop him. I was certain my mom would have nothing against it, she was just happy that I had friends. Although Minoru and I were past the friend zone, which was something she didn't know. I wasn't even sure how I would be able to talk about it. I slowly shook my head a little, and then finally said:

- I would love to have you here for another night.. Mom won't mind.

I could hear a faint smile in Minoru's voice as he responded:

- Great. I'll just let my mom know later on.

After this we continued snuggling for a while longer. We weren't in any rush. We'd have the entire day to ourselves.

- Let's go back to the amusement park today..

Minoru suddenly said as we were finally getting up. I blinked, trying to catch up to his speed of thought.

- Wait.. what..?

I asked. I apparently still sounded quite sleepy, which made Minoru chuckle.

- When it's open, I mean. Just have fun like normal people do. Ride the rides, eat something.. You know the concept.

- Ah, yeah..

I then said, giving him the brightest response in the world. Cut me some slack, I was slow in the mornings.

- Yeah, that sounds great, we should do that,

I added, nodding. I saw Minoru's face lit up.

- Awesome! Imagine all the fun rides, and all the food we'll eat in between. Cotton candy, burgers and fries, ice cream of course.. And hey, they have those pretzels! We didn't get to have them last time. Corn dogs, too!

Minoru was already getting all fired up. I on the other hand wasn't quite there yet.

- I'll never understand how you can think about burgers and cotton candy before noon..

I groaned not so seriously. But still, that was too much food to think about before we'd even had breakfast. Minoru wasn't offended, though, he knew I wasn't dead serious.

- Speaking of breakfast, can we have some?

he asked me. I nodded.

- Sure, yeah. I think we still have those.. cinnamon churro cereal things..

I told him and yawned widely. My way of explaining made Minoru chuckle again.

- Cinnamon churro cereal things sound great,

he then said, flashing me one of his bright smiles. We then proceeded to get dressed, after which Minoru went to use the bathroom. I headed into the kitchen to grab two bowls for the cereal. I was reaching for the first bowl, which I accidentally dropped into the sink. I groaned as I went to pick up the pieces. I should have been more careful about the sharp edges, but I failed to do so, and got a cut. Minoru came back from the bathroom and walked down the hallway leading into the kitchen.

- Takuma..? Did something break?

I heard him ask. By the time he entered the room, he saw me with my back turned. I was still by the sink, currently rinsing the wound with water.

- I broke one of the bowls I was reaching for,

I told him. Minoru soon realized what had happened.

- Did you get a cut?

he asked.

- Yeah.. it's not too deep but.. man, it stings.. Hey, can you.. get some bandages from the bathroom? There should be some on the shelves.

- Sure thing, man.

Minoru wasted no time to fetch the bandages, and very soon ran back to me.

- Do you need help?

he then asked as he handed the bandages over to me.

- No.. I think I got it, it's not the first time I've had to patch myself up.. Thanks, though. But.. if you want to, you can get one more bowl from the cabinet over there.

I pointed at the cabinet in question. The door was still open.

- You got it.

As Minoru got the bowl and made our simple breakfast, I finished patching myself up.

- There, that should do it..

I talked mostly to myself as I was done.

- Jeez, Takuma.. Try to keep yourself together from now on, alright?

Minoru was very clearly joking like so often before, but I thought I could detect a mild, worried undertone. There was something about the way he was looking at me. I caught him eyeing my patched up hand as we sat down to eat our breakfast. Again I swore to him that everything was alright, it was just a small cut, nothing serious.

After breakfast we went back to my room to plan out our day a little better. It was still about an hour before the park would open, so we had plenty of time to talk. Soon enough we got lost in another conversation. Minoru was so easy to talk with.

- You ever think about the last time..?

I found myself asking. Minoru was looking right at me.

- You mean how you almost threw up all over yourself?

he asked, grinning a little.

- Thunderbird totally took you out!

I couldn't deny it. But, it wasn't what I had in mind.

- Well, I...

I hesitated with my next words a little, causing Minoru to give me a genuine smile. We were both probably thinking about the same thing. How we'd just been sitting on the walkway as I felt sick, fearing I would throw up, not only on myself, but all over Minoru, too. It would have been a disaster.

- Takuma, my man, I'm totally pulling your leg,

my partner then continued, easing my nerves a little bit. Minoru even seemed serious as he continued:

- The truth is.. I think about it a lot, as well. It was a total holy shit moment. I didn't think you'd do something like that. But..

he smiled at me.

- I really am glad that you did. I'm not sure if I could have found the courage to do something like that.

Minoru was belittling himself again.

- No.. You're braver than you think you are,

I told him with a genuine smile of my own.

We spent a good amount of the next hour just talking about this and that, until we agreed that we should start to get going to get the most out of our day. We finished getting ourselves ready and left the house. We kept talking as we walked, and soon enough we arrived at the park. Minoru was excited, of course. I was too, but my excitement had an added hint of nervousness mixed in. Last time I had gotten lucky, but what if I really would throw up this time around? I got motion sick so easily, like my mom always reminded me. She never missed a chance to talk about that one time when I'd been younger. We'd been on a road trip, and we'd had to pull over multiple times because I'd gotten car sick. I swear, every single one of our relatives had heard that story more than once.

- Hey, Takuma..?

Minoru's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

- You okay, man?

I had to breathe in and out before I could respond to him.

- Yeah, I.. well, I'm maybe a little shaky..

I admitted. It was better to be honest. Minoru smiled at me again.

- I'll take care of you, don't worry. I'm a roller coaster connoisseur. You'll be fine with me, okay?

His words seemed to calm me down, strangely enough. I did trust him, after all.

- Let's start with something more tame. How about.. that one? The Phoenix?

Minoru pointed at the wooden roller coaster. Compared to the crazy Thunderbird this one really didn't seem so bad, so I agreed to ride it. As we stood in line, Minoru gave me some tips.

- Let's sit somewhere in the middle. The ride is typically wilder and more nauseating in the front and back of the train.

He sounded like he knew what he was doing, so I felt a tiny bit calmer. Although apparently I still seemed worried because Minoru kept dishing out useful tips that would hopefully help me.

- Listen, Takuma,

he said as we got seated. I turned to look at him, trying to calm my nerves.

- If you think it can help, you can close one eye. I've heard some people say it helps them keep motion sickness at bay. Or, you can just close both eyes. When you can't see what's happening, you're less likely to start feeling sick.

I didn't exactly have a lot of time to wonder if these tips were legit or not, but I decided to trust Minoru, and closed both of my eyes. Maybe it would be for the best if I didn't see anything. The ride itself was pretty calm and even. The Phoenix didn't have any crazy loops unlike Thunderbird from hell. And as we exited the ride, I was still okay. Minoru seemed really happy about it, and started to think about which ride we should go for next. Then, he got it.

- Tilt-A-Whirl! Come on, man, let's do this!

I actually tolerated the ride in question pretty well, compared to some others. Sure, it would give us one hell of a spin, but, even with my motion sickness-filled history, I actually loved Tilt-A-Whirl. But despite this Minoru once again was a great moral support, instructing me to close my eyes to counter the possible sickness caused by the wild spinning.

We were BOTH wobbly as we left Tilt-A-Whirl. But still, no real signs of motion sickness.

- Should we go buy some snacks?

Minoru asked, once again showing just how considerate he really could be.

- Something simple like crackers and water to help keep your stomach at bay.

That sounded wise, although I had some concerns of my own.

- Minoru.. you sure you don't want to get something traditional, like burgers and fries? And soda?

I had to ask him.

- Seriously, don't let me keep you from eating something you want.

Minoru shrugged that thought off like it was nothing.

- As good as that sounds, you think I'd just make you watch? Hell no, man. We can get some junk food later if you feel good enough. Let's do it after we're done with the rides, how's that?

- Alright, that's a deal.

- Okay, let's head to Snalcon,

he said.

- Wait.. what now?

. Snack Falcon, if you want to be fancy,

he informed me, laughing a little.

We went to buy some safe snacks from a little shop which indeed was called Snack Falcon and then sought out a quiet little bench to sit and eat our snacks on. From the bench we had a great view of the Ferris Wheel. We were both looking at it, and then, as if planned, glanced at each other at the same time.

- Should we take it to the skies after our snack break?

Minoru suggested. And, how could I ever say no? So, off we went. This time around we kept to ourselves, despite still sitting real close to each other. At the very top Minoru put his arm around me. No kisses were involved that time, it was still light outside and the mood was very different from last time. But it was still clear that we were both thinking about the last time we'd been up here. We could see pretty much the entire park. The view was just as breathtaking as it had been last time. And Minoru kept his arm around me the entire time, only letting go as we were brought back down.

- Thank you, Takuma,

he said to my surprise as we were on solid ground again. I was a little confused.

- For what? I didn't really do anything..

- Yes you did. You gave me lasting memories.

Then he actually went and gave me a little kiss on the cheek, laughing at my expression.

We spent a good amount of hours going around the park and riding the rides. And thanks to Minoru's tips, I actually hadn't felt sick even once. But, of course, it was time to really put myself to the test. It was time for the dreaded Thunderbird.

- Let's just ride it once, alright?

Minoru hurried to calm me down.

- Last time we did it at least twice, which maybe wasn't the best of ideas. This time let's not go crazy. We'll sit somewhere in the middle again. You'll close your eyes and focus on breathing,

he reminded me of all the things which had gotten me safely through the day. And suddenly I felt brave, so I agreed to go with Minoru. He kept talking the entire time we spent waiting in line. It was his way to keep me from thinking about what was about to happen.

- Close your eyes,

he said once more as we sat down in the ride vehicle.

- Just hold on tight and don't even take one peek. I'm here with you, man.

I was filled with dread, but fought real hard to keep it from taking control. The ride itself was almost just as awful as I remembered. Minoru held my hand as we walked away from it, and suggested we take a little breather. So we made our way to a bench and sat down. Minoru never let go of my hand. I leaned back and sighed in relief. I was alive, and although I now felt lightheaded, there was no real threat of throwing up.

- You did it, Takuma,

I heard a familiar, happy voice from next to me.

- What..? What did I do?

I asked, closing my eyes for a bit.

- You showed the Bird who's boss!

He sounded so encouraging that it was hard not to smile.

- I really did, didn't I.. But I could never have done it without you.

- Of course you could have. I just gave you that first push forward.