Chapter Six: Come Out of Your Shell
Sango, Kagome, and Kikyou wanted to stick together, so, of course, their buddies had to tag along too. Kouga didn't mind, just as long as he got to be with Kagome. Miroku, however, had to be dragged along. But he didn't mind. At least Kouga was there with him, and he and Kouga talked a lot at school, so it was okay by him. He actually didn't know what or where he would have gone if Kouga wasn't there.
The six of them, Kagome, Sango, Kikyou, Kagura, Kouga, and Miroku, all walked along the pathway of the theme park. Kagome was in the lead, since she came most often, and it had been a while since any of the others had gone.
"So, where do you guys want to go first?" Kagome asked them when they had taken a short pause under the comfort of the shade of a tree.
Everyone shrugged and looked at one another, as if saying 'Wherever he/she wants'.
"Greeeat, we picked the most indecisive people out of everyone to be in one group," Kagome joked. But it was true. They were all indecisive people.
"Hey, I've never been here before, so don't look at me," Kouga defended himself. This was his first time being in the Disneyland theme parks.
"Fine, how about we go to Soarin' Over California?" Sango suggested, eager to just go somewhere instead of standing around and wasting time. "It's the closest one to the entrance anyway. And it's air-conditioned, so it'll be nice and cool. We can get out of the heat for a while."
"Okay!" Kagura said, happy and excited as always.
The group walked over to the ride and saw that it was over an hour's wait for the line. They suggested coming back later.
"Well, there's going to be lines everywhere," Kagome said.
"True… So we might as well just stay here. The next ride up there is a water one, and that sounds good right now, but believe me, it'll be at least a two hour wait in this weather," Sango said as she beckoned them towards the entrance of the line.
The six of them stood in line, dumbly staring at one another. Kikyou, Kagome, and Sango had their own little inside jokes that they would laugh at every now and then, but it wasn't fun when there were three, or rather two since Miroku actually didn't care, other people trying to figure out what you're talking about.
Miroku grew bored quickly. He noticed he held the park map in his hands. Thinking that the result would be interesting, he held it up to his forehead and stuck it there. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. Sure enough, the map stuck perfectly.
"Wow, the sweat must be really intense," Sango commented. She was amused by this. Miroku had never done anything like this before. Not even close.
"Wow, Miroku, have you gone insane? Have you lost your head?" Kouga eyed Miroku strangely.
"Yes, I have," Miroku smirked.
The innocent and playful Kagura decided to try it too, as did Kouga. Kagura failed, but Kouga's map had managed to stay on for a while, but not as long as Miroku's. Everyone was amused by this, and they had forgotten the fact that he was a quiet and isolated boy at school.
The map fell off eventually, and where it had stuck, now an ink blob replaced it. The ink from the map had transferred to Miroku's forehead, so that it now read 'ock' backwards from the 'Block Party' title on the cover. Sango, Kagome, and Kikyou giggled, while Kagura didn't notice and Kouga just smiled, trying to cover up his laugh.
"What? What happened?" Miroku asked as he pointed his eyes up, trying to see his own forehead. "What's so funny?"
Neither Kagome nor Kikyou spoke, but it was Sango who told Miroku what had happened. "Um," she suppressed a giggle. "You've got 'ock' written on your forehead from that." She pointed at the brochure he still held in his hand.
"Oh, is that all?" Miroku grinned playfully. "Oh, then, that's nothing. I thought it was something worse." He stuck the map to his forehead once again.
"What are you doing, Miroku?" Kouga questioned Miroku's sanity once again.
"What? It's fun," Miroku said. The map didn't last as long as it did the last time, but this time, it left an imprint of the dress of Minnie Mouse on his forehead.
Everyone laughed again, including Miroku once he learned what he had managed to transfer onto his forehead. Sango grabbed a tissue from her bag and offered it to Miroku. He smiled, took it, and wiped off the ink. His forehead was ink-free now.
After all this time, the line had moved about halfway. Kagome looked at her watch. "We've been here for about fifteen minutes."
"Only? Seems like longer," Kikyou remarked.
"Well, we're moving fast, so don't complain," Kouga said. He had stood next to Kagome this whole time.
After an awkward silence, Kagome decided to play a game, but only with the guys. "Hey, let's see which of you can go longer without talking!" She held up her watch to signal that there was a way she could tell time. "I've got a stopwatch on here too."
"Okay. Fine then!" Kouga was eager. Miroku just shrugged.
Kikyou, Kagome, Kagura, and Sango went on talking like the guys weren't there. After about five minutes, they decided that they should try to make the guys talk. Kagome poked Kouga in the side, and Sango poked Miroku. They were amused to find that both boys were actually ticklish. Kagome and Sango grinned evilly and poked them once again. Kouga squealed, but kept his mouth closed. Miroku tried to keep a straight face.
"Okay, okay, we should stop, Kagome," Sango said. "We can't torture them too much."
"Fine…" Kagome said in a disappointed tone.
Ten more minutes passed and they were inside the building with all of the historical aeronautical facts. Kouga pointed to a sign that said 'X' on it and tried to explain to Kagome something about it. Since he was determined not to talk, he could only use gestures to explain, which didn't go well at all. Sango tried guessing what it was that he was talking about, but could get only half of what he was saying. Kikyou and Kagura weren't interested at all in what they were doing. Miroku was reading the panels next to him.
"Okay, something, X, something, runway or whatever…" That was the only part that Sango could get out of Kouga's motions.
"Straight?" Kagome guessed. "Vertical? Vertical runway? What?"
Kouga pointed and Sango, then at Kagome, signaling that they were close to what he was trying to get at.
"I swear, you're horrible at charades, Kouga," Kagome commented.
Kouga glared at Kagome and continued with his clues.
"Okay, so we know that it's something about the X plane and a runway and vertical…" Sango repeated.
Kouga shook his head when Sango said 'runway'. "Wait, so it's NOT about a runway now? You said that it was!" Sango and Kagome were becoming a little irritated.
Kouga shook his head again. He made a hand motion going straight up and down.
"Vertical. We got that," Kagome reminded him. "Just tell us, please! You're driving us crazy!"
"The X plane has a vertical takeoff!" Kouga felt like he would burst. "That's where the runway came from! I said you were close. I never said that it had nothing to do with a runway."
"You never said anything!" Sango argued.
"Hey, you made it to ten minutes…" Kagome looked at her stopwatch.
"But he's still going," Kagura pointed at Miroku, who looked back at them and smiled innocently.
Fourteen more minutes passed. "Hey, Miroku, when are you going to stop…?" Kagome stared at her watch. Miroku waved his hand toward him, telling Kagome to come closer to him. She did so, and he looked at her watch. Then he put up one finger.
"You're going for one more hour?" Sango blurted.
He shook his head. "You're going for the whole day?" Kikyou asked.
Again, he shook his head. "Another minute?" Kagome asked, and she guessed correctly. Miroku nodded his head and watched Kagome's stopwatch. Right when it hit the twenty-five minute mark, he let it out.
"Ha! I beat you by fifteen minutes, Kouga!" Miroku gloated.
Everyone once again stared at Miroku. Most of them were looks of awe, but then again, he never did talk at all before, so this came as no shock to them.
They spent the rest of the time just joking around until it came to their turn. Kagome went in first, followed by Kouga, then Miroku, Sango, Kagura, and Kikyou. They strapped themselves in and the ride began. It was an overall pleasant ride, with the cool air blowing against them and the breath-taking sights that filled the screen in front of them. A golf course came up, and they started laughing, knowing that Miroku was on their school's golf team and has been for a while now. A naval base was shown, and Kagome, Kikyou, and Sango all laughed as they said, "You sunk my battleship!" referring to an old inside joke that used to bother Kagome.
The ride ended and they all exited after gathering their belongings. They debated about where they should go next. Kouga, Kikyou, and Kagura had never been to California Adventure before, only Disneyland, so Sango and Kagome had to point out what was good and what wasn't. Miroku had been there before, but he chose not to have an input.
"Oooh, hey, how about that one wicked roller coaster?" Kagome asked Sango excitedly.
"Yeeeah! California Screamin'!" Sango agreed. The two of them laughed evilly, knowing that there was a little surprise in the ride that their friends would find amusing.
They all proceeded to their next destination. Oddly enough, Kagome and Kouga were in the front, side by side, Kikyou and Kagura in the middle, and Sango and Miroku brought up the rear.