When Kyoya caught up to her, Nanako was standing next to a street vendor's cart, excitedly eyeing the spread of freshly grilled hot dogs that were up on display.
"Look, Kyoya, don't those look just scrumptious!" Nanako exclaimed as he came to stand next to her, practically bouncing on her heels.
Although Kyoya couldn't personally see the appeal in just another form of greasy sustenance, he had to admit that her excitement was contagious.
"Yes, we will take all of them," he agreed, turning to the surprised vendor and pulling out his wallet.
"Oh, Kyoya," Nanako's voice tinkled as she worked to hold back a laugh. "We couldn't possibly eat all of them on our own." She gestured to the entire rack of hot dogs on display, which didn't even begin to cover however many additional ones the vendor had stored in his cart as well.
Oh. Of course, she was right. Nonetheless, a small piece of Kyoya deflated at having been brought back to reality from the midst of his grand gesture.
"You know, I would still really, really like to have one, though," Nanako chimed, instantly reviving Kyoya's spirit.
Honestly, it was insane, Kyoya thought as he paid, how just the simplest of words could make him go so quickly from such a deep, sulking embarrassment to such a warm and joyful exuberance in just a matter of seconds. Although, of course, these weren't just the simplest of words. They were her words. Accompanied by her laughter and her spring in her step that so enticingly wafted the aroma of warm cinnamon towards his nose like the potion of enchantment that it was.
"I—" Kyoya stopped himself just in time to avoid crashing into Nanako, who had abruptly come to a stop right in front of him and now stood with her head craned upwards, staring into the sky. Following her gaze, Kyoya saw that they had arrived at the base of the Ferris wheel that they had seen earlier. Except now, when they were just mere yards away from it, he could see that it was much bigger than he had previously thought.
"Wow," he heard Nanako say from beside him, echoing his own thoughts. It wasn't very typical of the usually indifferent and logic-driven Shadow King to be stunned in any capacity, much less by a mere structure of human creation. In fact, if someone had told him just a week ago that he would be spending his weekend at a commoner's street fair full of wonder and anticipation, he would have sent them to oblivion with just a flash of his glasses-clad eyes.
Of course, a lot had changed since then. Mostly having to do with a very specific someone. Honestly, Kyoya wasn't sure what did qualify as typical of him, anymore.
"Well, what do you say, shall we go for ride?" Nanako suggested, shaking Kyoya out of his ponderings. Her eyes gleamed with the same sense of mischievousness that they had had when they had first met just days ago on the couches of music room 3.
"C'mon!" she cried, her voice tinkling with laughter.
Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his sleeve and bounded for the queue. Before he could even process what was happening, Kyoya was following her, his legs keeping him upright from muscle memory and his mind's attention very much diverted elsewhere.
…
By the time they reached the back of the line, Kyoya was still in shock. Not just by Nanako's sudden actions, although, those, of course, did contribute their fair share to his surprise. No, he was mostly surprised by the fact that she had reached out to grab him (albeit just his sleeve), in such a clear transgression of high society etiquette. Of course, he hadn't not enjoyed it…It was just that, Kyoya didn't know how and if he could explain what had just happened to his father and .
Instinctively, Kyoya looked around, his eyes scanning the crowds around him for signs of the Ootori police and the bodyguards that had no doubt been sent to tail Nanako on her excursion today.
Hmm, there's no one sight, Kyoya mused, although this did little to put him at ease. Especially seeing as his limited vision at the moment did little to aid his usual eagle-eyed observation skills. Besides, just because he couldn't see them did not mean they weren't there. This was a lesson he had learned long ago from the esteemed Haninozuka and Morinozuka clans. True masters of stealth would never let themselves be seen.
"Ooh! We're almost at the front!" Nanako exclaimed, bringing Kyoya back to the moment. This was unfortunately becoming a pattern lately, but Kyoya promised himself that he would try stay present from now on.
"Yes, it seems that we are," he replied simply, his usual wealth of host club charm failing him at this crucial moment.
Well, at least I didn't say something utterly idiotic, he thought to himself as the riders in front of them got into their Ferris wheel car.
"After you," he gestured to Nanako, at last regaining some semblance of gentlemanly chivalry.
"Why, thank you," Nanako replied, her smirk-smile tugging at her lips. "How gentlemanly."
With that, she hopped in, making room on the seat beside her so that Kyoya could do the same. Instinctively, he obliged, sliding onto the cool metallic seat just big enough for two and allowing the ride's operator to click the safety bar shut across their laps. Too late, Kyoya came to a sinking realization that dug a pit in his stomach. For the first time all day, it dawned on him that he was afraid of heights.