Monika laid spread across the side of her bed with a book in hand, yet her mind was on other things. For reasons she couldn't understand, she kept thinking about her previous study session with Shujinkou. Every moment that was shared in the household played out like a movie in her mind with one moment in particular bringing about an idea that brought a smile to her face.
"I wonder if I could make that happen…" she thought aloud.
Meanwhile, Yuki tightened her grip on her mother's hand as excited thoughts rushed through her head.
"Hey, Mom, do you think they'll let Grimm on the rides with me?" Yuki asked.
"We'll have to ask, but I don't think there will be any problem," Yumi answered with a gentle smile.
Behind the two, Shujinkou couldn't stop wondering when the first opportunity to grab some cotton candy would present itself.
"Ah…" Shujinkou turned to his left and looked into Yuri's worried eyes. "Sorry for interrupting your thought process, but I was wondering if I could ask you something."
"What is it?" Shujinkou queried.
"How come you agreed to this sudden change of plans?" Yuri asked. "It's not what you agreed to after all."
"Well, it's not like it's a bad change…" Shujinkou replied.
"Even so… I'm sorry for the change," Yuri apologized.
"No need to apologize," Shujinkou replied. "It's not like you could have predicted any of this and I'm starting to get used to handling unforeseen events."
"I don't think anyone can ever do that," Yuri slightly smiled.
"Maybe get used to it happening," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he pondered whether his own response made any sense. He quickly stopped after a couple of seconds and shrugged. "I don't know. Point is there is no need for you to worry."
"Worry about what?" the two felt a chill crawl down their spine as they looked into Yuki's curious eyes. She then raised her stuffed toy up to her ear and nodded her head in agreement. "Grimm also wants to know what there's to worry about."
"Eh, nothing," Shujinkou chuckled to hide his anxiety. "Right, Yuri?"
"Ah… Yeah," Yuri agreed. "Nothing at all…"
"That's good," Yumi interjected. "We wouldn't want anything to put a damper on such a nice day. Right, Shujinkou?"
"Uh, yeah," Shujinkou nodded his head.
Yumi smiled at the young man, easing any concern he had. At that point, all Shujinkou could think about was how he never met a woman that had an aura of "overwhelming calmness."
"That's good," she said. "Especially since we've finally arrived."
Shujinkou's eyes lit up as they stepped into the amusement park. Seeing the many games and attractions was enough to delight his inner child. But the moment did not last as he felt something tug on his left sleeve. Shujinkou looked down and met eyes with Yuki.
"What do you think we should do first?" she beamed.
"I don't think it's my place to choose," Shujinkou replied.
"But you're our guest. You should choose," Yuki reached out and grabbed her elder sister's arm. "Right, Yuri?"
"Well…" Yuri paused mid-sentence and closed her eyes. "Only if he wants to…"
Surprise rendered Yuki silent and the young girl glanced at the two arms she had in her grasp. In one quick movement, she moved their hands closer and tied them together.
"Oh my…" a curious expression formed on Yumi's face as she watched her daughter instinctively place her head in her remaining hand.
In response to such a surprise, Shujinkou silently raised their hands over Yuki's head and separated them.
"Sorry, Yuki, Yuri's still not used to that," Shujinkou chuckled as he scratched his right cheek.
Still afflicted with silence, Yuki raised Grimm up to her left ear.
"Grimm thinks that must be awkward on your part," she finally said.
"I guess so, but I wouldn't want to push her into doing something she was uncomfortable with," Shujinkou replied.
Yuki looked at her older sister then back to Shujinkou. She then squeezed his free hand and eagerly led him further into the amusement park.
"Yuki's seems to have taken to Shujinkou," Yumi noted.
"Yeah…" Yuri was very relieved by that fact as it makes things easier for the two of them. But despite the charade that was going on… "I'm really glad that they're getting along."
"Still, we can't let them have all the fun," Yumi gently placed her hand against her daughter's back. "We should get into it to."
"But what should we do first?" Yuri asked.
Moments later, the four were strapped into the seats of the local drop tower. A single drop of sweat crawled down Shujinkou's face as he stared at the ground.
"Now probably wouldn't be a good time to mention that I have an intense fear of heights, would it?" fretted Shujinkou, his hands magnetized to the handle bars.
"Really? Then why did you agree to this?" Yuki queried.
Shujinkou could ask himself the same thing, but he already knew the answer.
"Because I was suffering from one of the rare moments where I decided to try something new against my better judgment…" he whimpered.
"Ah, well…" Yuri stayed silent for a moment. "I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks."
"Plus, everyone is tightly secured so there's no reason to worry about anything bad happening," Yumi assured him with a gentle smile.
Shujinkou appreciated their attempts to alleviate his fears, but they were eventually rendered pointless the moment his feet were no longer connected to the ground. His already tight grip on the handle bars grew tighter and tighter as he was gradually forced upwards. Suddenly, the ride came to a stop, allowing Shujinkou to see the immediate area at an angle he never wanted to see it at.
"'The things I do for love…'" Shujinkou gulped; that one quote being the only thing he could think of that could describe whatever possessed him to get on the ride.
His heart dropped as the ride dropped and stopped when the ride stopped. The ride then jolted up then back down in a pattern that, at least for Shujinkou, went on for several agonizing minutes. Just as he thought he couldn't take anymore, the ride came to another stop before gentle lowering the passengers back to the ground.
Now free for the experience, Shujinkou eagerly stood up and stumbled over to a nearby bench.
"Oh my… Maybe we should have chosen another ride," fretted Yumi as she watched her daughter's guest tremble. "Are you okay, Shujinkou?"
He slowly stood on his feet and turned around chuckling.
"I won't lie; I was really scared. But at the same time I have to admit that it was kinda fun," he said, scratching his right cheek.
"So you want to ride it again?" Yuki's eyes lit up at the possibility of enjoying the ride again.
"I didn't have that much fun," Shujinkou quickly replied. "Maybe we should try something a bit… a lot closer to the ground…"
"I think I have a suggestion that fits those parameters," Yumi said.
Anxiety took hold of Shujinkou as he wondered what ride he would have to ride on next. That slight fear stayed with him until they arrived at the next ride, where it was immediately replaced by surprise.
"Spinning tea cups?" he thought aloud..
"It's a childhood favorite of mine," Yumi smiled to herself. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, I don't mind," Shujinkou replied. Looking back at the ride, he realized something he never even thought of. "Now that I think about it… I don't think I ever rode on this ride before."
"Never?" Yuki's eyes lit up with surprise.
"The closest I ever got was in a video game," Shujinkou answered as he scratched his right cheek.
"Oh my… Then I must insist that we ride this ride," Yumi insisted.
Answering with nothing but a simple nod of the head, Shujinkou followed the others onto the ride. Each teacup had a maximum capacity of two riders, forcing the group to split into two pairs.
Shujinkou and Yuri sat in one of the cups and waited for the ride to begin.
"Your mom must really like this ride for her to insist I try it," he said.
"Ah… She thinks everyone should ride this ride at least once in their life," Yuri replied with a solemn expression.
"What's wrong?" Shujinkou asked.
"Earlier when Yuki placed our hands together…" Yuri cheeks grew red as she glanced at her palms. "I got so nervous that I almost ruined everything."
"I don't think they took that too seriously," Shujinkou assured her. "In fact, I think it was actually in character."
"Ah… Well, I am pretty terrible with other people," she admitted, a sorrowful expression replacing her solemn on as she said that.
"I didn't mean it like that," he replied, scratching his right cheek. "I just mean that some people don't like showing any signs of affection in public."
"Something like that would seem troublesome, at least when today's concerned…" Yuri concluded.
Without saying another word, Yuri slowly inched her way towards Shujinkou until their shoulders touched. He felt his soul tense up as he once again felt her soft, subtle hand squeeze his and raised them up to their faces.
"Uh…" he glanced at their entwined hands and then at Yuri. The look on her face combined with her heavy breathing transformed a out of nowhere action into an intimate moment. "Y-"
The teacup started to spin; the sudden start was all it took to push Yuri into Shujinkou's arms. His entire face turned red as he felt her breasts press up against him and would remain that way until the ride stopped. No words were said as they reunited with the group.
But the silence did not last as they continued on through the day riding more, playing carnival games and enjoying the sweet taste of the park's cotton candy.
Later that evening, placed ordered food from one of the park's restaurants and found a table to sit at. Once they were all settled, Shujinkou stood up and came back with enough napkins for everyone.
"Oh my, what manners," Yumi complimented.
"Not really…" Shujinkou replied. "Just how I was raised."
"I see…" Yumi said.
"You two are in a literature club together, right?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah," Shujinkou nodded.
"You don't really look like the literature club type," Yuki said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You wouldn't be the first one to say that…" Shujinkou awkwardly chuckled. He honestly would have been surprised if that phrase hasn't been said. "But I like to think I'm slowly getting there."
"To be honest, your progress with literary concepts has been very impressive," Yuri complimented. "I was especially impressed during the discussion about antagonists."
"Really?" a surprised look appeared on Shujinkou's face. "I honestly think I blundered my way through it."
"Well… I don't think you blundered at all," Yuri insisted.
"Thanks. But still…" Shujinkou closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered that previous discussion. "Sometimes I can't remember that antagonist does not equal villain. There are times that when the protagonist of the story is morally a villain and the protagonist is the good guy. And then there are moments when you follow a protagonist that starts out as a hero but in the end becomes a villain in which you have to pay close attention from when he goes to hero protagonist to villain antagonist.
And to add on to my confusion of the topic, there was this one story I followed where the protagonists are pretty good people and are unaware that the organization they work for are actually bad people. Thing is one of the antagonist is a protagonist/former antagonist from one of the previous stories that needs them to help his friend. Around the end the main protagonist leaves the organization, his equally good friend antagonizes him and he has to fight the other morally good antagonist, causing me to lose sight of what the terms protagonist and antagonist means.
Overall, that's why I feel like I blundered through that discussion."
Shujinkou opened his eyes and was surprised by the stunned expressions on the others' faces.
"…Are you sure you blundered through that conversation?" You sounded like you knew what you were talking about," Yuki pointed out.
"I did?" Shujinkou scratched his right cheek, wondering if what he was just told was true.
"Despite the self-depreciation, it sounds like you understand the subject," Yumi said. "Of course, I can understand that there are situations that make a person drop the protagonist and antagonist titles when it comes to morally ambiguous stories."
"Huh…" Shujinkou took a sip from his drink as he thought about what he was just told. "She is definitely Yuri's mother."
Just then, Yuki let out a loud yawn.
"Seems like you had enough fun for today," Yumi said.
"Not yet. There's still something I want to do," the young girl turned her attention to Yuri. "Let's go checkout the new haunted house."
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Yuri queried.
"Yeah," she eagerly nodded her head.
Yuri turned to Shujinkou, now sporting a worried expression.
"Ah…"
"I'll be good," Shujinkou assured her.
With a simple nod of the head, Yuri stood up and led Yuki away from the table.
"Um…" Shujinkou anxiously scratched his right cheek as met eyes with Yumi. "I have no idea what to say."
"There's no need to be so nervous," Yumi assured him. "But now that we're alone, I can properly thank you for going along with Yuri's charade."
"Eh?" Shujinkou's anxiety shot up as those words registered in his brain. "I'm confused."
"To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect her to go so far as to actually bring a boy home to pretend to be her boyfriend," Yumi continued.
"…How long did you know?" Shujinkou asked.
"Pretty much from the start," she answered.
Regret was all that Shujinkou could feel at that moment.
"I'm sorry for lying to you and Yuki," he apologized.
"No need to apologize," Yumi gently smiled. "I'm actually quite glad that you did."
"You are?" Shujinkou was surprised to hear that. Just then, he remembered the conversation he had with his conscience yesterday and thought, "Am in a situation where the angel and devil were both right?!"
"You see, we've always concerned about Yuri and with what happened last year, it's nice to see that she has a friend that would put himself in an awkward position just so she wouldn't be called out for lying," Yumi said. "If she has as good of a relationship with the rest of the club that she has with you, then I don't think that we'll have much to worry about anymore."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he thought about what he was told. Despite having failing the task that was given to him, the end result was even better than what it would have been if he succeeded.
"Are you going to talk to Yuri about this?" he asked.
"Well, I would like everything to be out in the open. But if you're referring to her getting in trouble, then there is no need for you to worry," Yumi assured him.
"That's good," Shujinkou breathed a sigh of relief, which caused the woman next to him to giggle in response.
"You really are a considerate fellow," she said.
"I'm not that considerate," he replied.
Just then, Yuri approached the two, carrying a sleeping Yuki.
"She fell asleep while in line," Yuri said.
"I guess that means that it's time to head on home," Yumi said.
An unexpected yawn that slipped through her guest's lips was all she needed to see to know that he agreed.
"It was very nice meeting you, Shujinkou," Yumi gently smiled.
"Likewise," Shujinkou replied.
He then turned to Yuri.
"See you at school tomorrow," Shujinkou raised his hand and waved goodbye.
"Mm-hmm," Yuri nodded her head in response.
Shujinkou turned and left the amusement park. A sense of accomplishment and relief welled up inside him as he began his journey home.
"Well, this whole scenario turned out better than I thought," he couldn't help but grin over how the situation he was brought into ended.
Just then, a familiar entity appeared on his left shoulder.
"Looks like everything worked out," Devil Mickey said.
"Yep," Angel Mickey appeared on his right shoulder, playing a few angelic notes on his harp. "I think we all learned something important today."
"Yeah, lying solves all problems," Devil Mickey replied.
"No. What we learned is that good character will always lead to the best results," Angel Mickey said.
"And he was only able to show his good character by lying," Devil Mickey smirked.
"But he was helping, which shows good character," Angel Mickey argued.
"Help someone lie to their family," Devil Mickey sneered. "Face it, I won this round."
"What?! But you didn't corrupt his good character! Which I mean won!" Angel Mickey yelled.
"Can't we just call it a draw?" Shujinkou suggested.
"NO!" the two Mickeys screamed.