Chapter Sixty Five: Steep Drops With Maximum Acceleration

Disclaimer: I do not own Eyeshield 21.

Song Playing: Go Speed Racer Go

Theme 71: Fast

When Mamori had initially won the two free passes from a radio contest, she had been beyond ecstatic. Contrary to popular belief, she was aware of how much a stick in the mud she could be: what with being such a stickler for the rules and all. The brunette was not one who was unaware of her own shortcomings. But even the friends who had know her the longest might not have recognized her the moment she learned that she was getting not one but two free passes to one of her favorite amusement parks.

With all the jumping and happy screaming she did, she might as well have been a middle schooler who was asked out by her crush.

Though the high didn't last too long as she was left in the predicament of who could use her spare ticket.

With Suzuna out of town, her options in who she could invite narrowed down to almost nobody. Her closest friends could hardly stand the sight of a rollercoaster. Sena, bless his soul, had a scream so high in pitch that her eardrums would be bleeding before they finished the first loop. Sure she had a lot of male friends but she didn't think she could go with any of them without giving them the wrong impression. She really didn't want an awkward misunderstanding that would set the rumor mill on fire with this kind of gossip.

She supposed that she could go alone but there was something so very pathetic in going to an amusement park alone.

Especially an amusement park with rides as awesome as Fuji-Q Highland.

In the end she only had one real option left. It might have not been ideal but going on rides was always a lot more fun when done with another person. Even if that one person was Youichi Hiruma.

But if he kept staring at her like she grew an extra head she was going to toss that spare and fly solo.

"Look," Mamori gave one of her infamous long suffering sighs. "It's not that weird of a request. All I want to know is if you're free on Sunday and if you are if you would come with me to the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park. "

He managed to stop looking at her like she had two heads but it was replaced but his normal calculating smugness. Mamori felt her hackles rising before he even opened his mouth, "And what's in it for me?"

She had a snappy retort on the tip of her tongue. She really did. But then she thought about it and it just wasn't worth it. She would rather go alone than have to go knowing he had only gone to get something out of it. They may not have been joined at the hip best friends but she thought that they were at least passed this crap. "You know what? Forget I asked. It was stupid and I don't know what I was thinking."

Her storm away was ruined when Hiruma grabbed her arm and pulled her back so that she facing him. "Wait a second."

"What." She growled back.

To her surprise he seemed... uncomfortable. Nothing too noticeable but his ears were definitely heating up and she could see the tell tale twitch in his trigger finger. "What time were you thinking?"

She pinned him with her most scrutinizing look. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes."

He seemed honest enough but one couldn't be too careful around Hiruma. He was the master of subterfuge and crocodile tears. She wasn't going to be taken in so easily. "No tricks?"

"No tricks."

There was only one way to tell if he was really and truly being serious about this. She stuck her fist in his face, little finger out. "Pinky promise."

"Like fucking hell-" He seemed to have finally lost his patience.

He could curse all he wanted. She wasn't going to let up on this. It was his own fault for being so untrustworthy. He could either suck it up or leave her to her business. "Either you do it or I won't believe you."

That's how Mamori found herself standing in line for the first roller coaster she'd been on in years with a very amused Hiruma that Sunday afternoon. At least, she was pretty sure he was amused. At any rate his toothy grin was less menacing than normal. She wasn't paying too much attention as she willed the line to move faster. She was also becoming increasingly aware that she was babbling.

Still Hiruma wasn't trying to stop her, which was very accommodating of him. Her girlfriends had informed her multiple times that she got very animated and kind of intense when she was on a roll. Before long the two of them were climbing into the front car.

Then they were off.

It was exhilarating. She gave little side glances at her car partner. He wasn't nervous looking but he sure didn't look like as stoked as she did. Mamori didn't have time to ponder too heavily on that as they reached the peak. Her arms were raised in the air and she only just caught the widening of Hiruma's eyes as he realized what he got himself into before they were dropping.

As far as Mamori was concerned it was over all too soon. When she turned to face Hiruma he looked like it wasn't over quickly enough.

She was actually a little concerned about how pale he had gone. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." His voice came out thin and strained. Then he cleared his throat and this time he sounded much sturdier. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

If she didn't know any better she would have said that he'd never been on a roller coaster before. But that was just silly, right? Right. Still, just to be on the safe side they broke up the roller coasters with other rides. Go karts, the Shining Flower Ferris Wheel, and the like. As the day went on Mamori slowly increased the intensity of the roller coasters they went on until they had conquered them all: Fujiyama, Eejanaika, Panic Rock, you name it they did it.

Except for one.

By now Hiruma had lost the slightly green tinge he had gained every time they got in line for a roller coaster. In fact, he seemed to have finally accepted them and had even dared to take his hands off the safety bars on the last few. "What's this one called?"

"Dodonpa." This was said in a dreamy sort of breathless sigh that had the blond giving her a very strange look. But she didn't care. They were less than twenty feet away from what was rumored to be one of the most intense roller costars in function. The blood rushing to her ears in excitement were only rivaled by the heavy drum beat radiating from the overhead speakers. "I've been wanting to ride it for a long time but haven't been able to find anyone willing to go with me. Then Suzuna agreed but when we came it was closed down for repairs."

"Really?" He climbed into his seat. "Why? What makes this one any worse than Eejanaika?"

Eejanaika, she had quickly learned, had been his least favorite ride of all time. He disliked it even more than the hated teacups.

Her fingers drummed excitedly against the safety padding. "This one goes from zero to one oh six in less than two seconds."

"It goes what?"

But they were already in the countdown and Mamori didn't have time to answer before they were launched.

This time around Mamori had to help a park employee pry Hiruma's fingers from his safety bar. She thanked the young man as she helped the unsteady blond to his feet, making sure to give a happy wave goodbye as she led the two of them to a nearby bench. They had barely sat down before Hiruma launched himself on shaky legs to the trashcan and proceeded to make the most awful wrenching noises that Mamori had ever heard.

Since it looked like he was going to need a moment to recover, Mamori took it upon herself to visit the photo booth where she picked up a couple of copies of them at mid-ride. She hadn't known that the blonde could make that kind of face. Then she made a quick stop at one of the local vendors. When she returned to the bench with water for him, something called a corndog for her, and the pictures safely tucked away in her back pocket Hiruma was no longer losing his stomach contents into a trashcan.

Which was a sign of improvement, right?

"You-" He pointed with a shaky finger as he grabbed the offered water bottle. "-are fucking batshit."

She sat next to him and took a tentative bite out of her food on a stick. "I take it you wouldn't want to go on it again?"

His response was to spit into the trash reciprocal. "You want to be all suicidal then be my guest. I'll be waiting here, safe on the ground at the speeds that humans were meant to move at."

"Spoken like a true gentleman." She took a much larger bite of her corndog and studied the layout of the park on the little paper map they had received on entrance. "Well, we haven't gone of the Merry-Go-Round yet and that's not too far from here. Why don't we do that?"

Much to her surprise he didn't reject the idea as being wimpy. Instead he got up, on much sturdier legs than he had had before. "Whatever. Which way do we go?"

Less than ten minutes later found Hiruma and Mamori each sitting on a carousel horse making slow rotations. Hiruma had himself placed on the manliest horse he could find while Mamori grabbed the first one she saw that was close to the blond. Next to the Spinning Flower, it was the least intense ride they had been on all day. It was even playing the classic Calliope music as they bobbed up and down at a gentle pace.

This, is seemed, was much more Hiruma's speed.

And an hour later when Mamori went on the Dodonpa as her final ride Hiruma stayed true to his word, preferring to stay firmly on the ground and stalk the exit until she appeared. As they made the way to the train station Mamori came to a realization that both shocked and pleased her.

It was the best day that she'd had in a long time.