"Natsumi, don't go too far!"
"Then keep up Mr. Sloth!" Without even touching me with her powers, she was going to kill me. After that strange moment with the electricity, the amusement park was suddenly operational. As to why, I don't really know.
"Kioshi, let's go on the tea cups!" The tea cups? They actually have a ride that's called that? Because I didn't go to amusement parks, I wouldn't know that much about any of these rides. As Natsumi hopped on one of the tea cups, I went to the control panel for the tea cups, and started it up.
Getting on the tea cup, is going to be the worst possible decision in my life.
Well, second or third...
"So, what do we do now?" Natsumi's head tilted to the side as she looked at me oddly.
"You haven't been on this ride?"
"Well, I haven't been on a single amusement park ride."
"What! How haven't you gone on an amusement park ride?"
"I...don't really think it was necessary for me to visit one. Is that bad?" Natsumi's lips had now curved into a smile.
"Is it bad? Then how about... this!?" As she said that, she started turning the wheel that was in the middle of the tea cup.
"W-Wait! What's going on!?" The tea cup had started to spin uncontrollably. I had gripped the top of the tea cup in a fearful manner.
"Hahahahaha!" Natsumi was having too much fun to answer me. Why was the tea cup even spinning to begin with? Was it because she was turning the wheel?
"Come on Kioshi! Spin the wheel with me!" She wanted me to spin it too? Aren't we already going spinning too fast?
"O-Okay." I don't even know what came over me. If she wanted me to spin it along with her, then I guess I should help then. Letting go of the tea cup, I started to spin along with Natsumi.
"A-Aren't we going too fast!"
"Nonsense! There's nothing wrong with spinning fast, is there!?" Well, at least my stomach isn't acting up. Thank the heavens that I don't have motion sickness.
After a few minutes of spinning in a circle, the ride was slowly stopping. "Aw, is that it? I was kind of hoping for some more!" Natsumi started whining after the ride was over. Did she really that ride a lot?
"Anyway, did you have fun, Kioshi?"
"I... don't know. My head is spinning, does that help?"
"Hm, at least it's something then. To the next ride!" If there was another ride like the previous one, then I'm sure she's trying to kill me.
"How about that one!? It picks you up high, and then suddenly drops you!" What exactly did that mean? We only walked a few steps before finding a new ride. She must really like these rides.
"Um, sure, I guess." As Natsumi sat on one of the seats, I activated the ride, and quickly went to the seat that was next to Natsumi.
"Strap up Kioshi!" Bringing down some strange thing that was over Natsumi's head, she was already set.
"A-Alright." Doing the same, I was prepared for the worst. I can't help but feel nervous.
"So, what was this thing going to do again?" As we were going up, I asked this.
"It's going to suddenly drop us back onto the ground." Her bland explanation had only made me even more nervous.
"Suddenly drop us? You mean we don't know when it's happening?"
"Hey, knowing the unexpected ruins the fun,right?"
Yup... she's trying to kill me.
"The unexpec-ah!" As I tried to question her logic, we were suddenly being pushed down towards the ground.
"Hahahahah!" She was laughing while we were falling. How was any of this fun to her? It feels like I'm about to die!
"Feeling better yet?" After getting off of the ride, I had asked Natsumi if I could sit down for a few minutes.
"Y-Yeah. I think I'm done with rides for the time being."
"Aw, can't we just do one more? I promise this won't be crazy!" So the previous ones were crazy? It was confirmed: she was trying to kill me.
"Okay, one more. We don't want to be out for too long. We still got to eat Shido's dinner." Natsumi giggled at this.
"Alright,alright. I feel like you and Shido would be a perfect match together. If he was a girl, then he would be a perfect wife for you."
"Please don't play around like that. Shido is a good friend, that's all. He makes good food, and helps me out. And besides, there's no way you can turn a male into a female. It's impossible."
"Oh? And if I can do this..." Saying this, she turned into her adult form.
"Then nothing is impossible. I'll stay like this for a while. I can't stand that fact that you can tower over me whenever you want." I don't think it mattered to me to begin with.
"Do you not like your child form?" As she stopped walking, she clenched her hand.
"Don't worry about it. Lets just keep doing this alright? The sooner the better." And with that, she walked to the wherever she wanted to go.
"Natsumi..." Following her, I couldn't help but be worried about her. Was being lonely the only problem that she was facing? Or was there something else that I was missing?
I stood my distance away from her for now. I think I should give her the privacy for now. Well, until we reached the next ride that is.
"We're here." As she said that, I looked at the ride. It was more like a ride that was made for children. Do we really need to go on this ride?
"So, what's this ride?" I asked her.
"..." Strange. Why was she quiet?
"Natsumi?" Touching her shoulder, she flinched a bit.
"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I was... thinking to myself. Don't mind me."
"Are you sure? You want to talk about it?"
"We don't need to. Let's just get on the ride and go home." Natsumi wasn't in the mood anymore. But why? Was it because of me?
"Natsumi... let's talk about it. Remember, we're... friends. I'll lend the ear that you need right now. From now until the end of my life." To the end of my life, huh? I wouldn't imagine myself saying that.
"...Later. We'll talk about it later. After the ride." With that said, she hopped onto the ride. Was that a fake horse that she was sitting on? She still hasn't told me what the ride was, but I don't it matters right now. After activating it, I sat on a horse that was right behind her. Soon after, it began with a song.
"So, what does this ride do?"
"..." She was thinking to herself again. I wonder what she's thinking about. The horses that we were sitting on was going up and down with the rhythm of the song.
"..." I silently stared at Natsumi. Her hair was swaying with the wind, and she gently moved the strands of hair that was in her face. She had a genuine smile as the ride continued.
She looked... pretty like this. She should keep smiling like that.
Wait, what?
Did I really think that about Natsumi?
Natsumi's... making me feel strange. I don't know why, but I've been thinking about her multiple times now. She had always been on my mind ever since we settled our differences. But why though? We're just friends, aren't we?
"I'm... sorry." Her words had suddenly brought me out of my thoughts.
"What?"
"I'm sorry for all of the things I've done. I've... been such a nuisance haven't I? To you, and to Shido."
"No, you haven't. It was your idea to have some fun with me, and I went along with it. Nothing you've done so far has nothing to do with being a nuisance."
"That's not it!" As she said this, she turned herself towards my direction.
"I made you a criminal, and yet, you still treat me like this!? What have I done to deserve this kind of treatment!?"
"..." I promised to lend my ear, and I will. All I need to do is listen to her, and give her my mind.
"Tell me, Kioshi! Why do you still consider me as a friend! I want to hear it from you again! Please!" Natsumi had gotten off of the horse and walked up to mine.
"I decided to be your friend without no one else telling me to do so. I decided-no, I wanted to be your friend from the beginning." Natsumi's eyes widened in disbelief.
"From the... beginning?" Her eyes was starting to be filled with tears now. I might have a problem with making girls cry now.
"Yes, the beginning."
"But... why?"
"For all of my life, I had always wondered: why didn't no one pay attention to me? I had no friends, and I have no parents. I was... alone. But then, you suddenly appeared. A Spirit, who should have not cared for human life, had started talking to me. I was... confused. I was confused that someone wanted to actually wanted to talk to me. I... didn't even know how to start a conversation until you showed up." I shouldn' tell her about Mumei and that other woman. While they were strange, they did also cared about me. However...
Were they even real? They only appeared from my dreams, so are they actually just beings that I created in my mind?
"But even so, I ruined your life! Why didn't you choose to hate me!?" She had gotten closer to my face now. With the tears in her eyes, I wiped them off for her. She was suffering... wasn't she? Suffering with the guilt that appeared while she was ruining mine, and many other lives. She was beginning to lose hope that no one cared about her.
To her, that was the only option she had to finally have someone notice her.
"Because I didn't want to. I didn't think you were a bad person to begin with." Tears were pouring from her eyes now.
"Even if I did keep coming back to make fun of you?"
"It doesn't matter. I know that deep in your heart, you only wanted to keep coming back so you can check up on how I was doing." Regardless of the tears, she started to laugh a bit.
"Y-You idiot..." She wiped the tears away now.
"I might just have to agree with you there. Ever since we've met, I've been making stupid decisions. I guess I-" I couldn't make up another word. Natsumi had closed the space between us, and my lips had touched another surface that I haven't felt before.
It felt... soft.
But soon after, my mind had been clouded with multiple thoughts. Thoughts that weren't my own. Thoughts that were only centered about one thing:
Me...
Whose were these?
Were they... Natsumi's?
From the moment we met...
The conversations that we made...
From the beginning to now...
Something was inside my body. Something that wanted to be let out from it's dormant cage.
It was like a wave. A wave of unfamiliar energy had broken out of its cage, and it started to fill my body.
After a few minutes, Natsumi moved away from me with shocked eyes. I'm guessing she saw something that was similar to my own thoughts.
"W-What was that? And Kioshi! You glowing!" As she said this I looked at my hands and I noticed that I was, in fact, glowing. But why was I glowing? And what's more important...
It's green.
"Natsumi... you're glowing as well."
"Huh? I am?" She very much was. And what's amazing about it, is that the strange energy surrounding her is reaching all the way into the sky. But then, so was mine.
In a second, both of the green pillars had suddenly diminished into particles, and into our bodies. Why was there always something bad happening to me?
"Um, that was strange. I never seen that before."
"Kioshi, did you see anything strange when I... you know." I was right. She saw it as well.
"Your thoughts? I guess you can say that I did. You've seen mine didn't you?" To my response, she simply shook her head. So she didn't see anything like that?
"No, it was like... a dream. I... was someone else and you... were dying. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again-" I don't know what's happening to her, but I had quickly grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her.
"Natsumi, snap out of it!"
"H-Huh? I-I'm sorry, I must've dosed off. I-I think we should g-go home before somebody finds us." No, there was something she saw when she... um, kissed me. Wait, she kissed me? Why did I notice this until now?
"Okay, then. But before we go, are you feeling alright?" I'm really concerned now. She's really shaken because of what she saw.
"Um, I feel a bit lighter than normal. Does that help?"
"Well, at least that's something." I was trying to tease her from a previous moment of time we had, but I don't think she's playing around. She's back to thinking to herself now. Something wasn't right here.
"But another thing, Natsumi." Bringing her out of her thoughts, she looked back at me.
"Yes?"
"Why did you want to come to this place anyway?" Hearing my question, she took her time to answer back.
"Because... I feel like I've been here before. My memories are hazy, but I feel like someone took me here when I felt sad." Her memories are hazy? Does that mean that she doesn't remember anything?
"Here's a question, do you remember what your life was like before coming here?" She simply shook her head.
"I don't. All I remember, is that this was the first place that I landed at when I came to Earth. I feel... connected to it somehow." This place has to do something with Natsumi's memories then. Now that I think about, she said that every time she landed here, the AST was already waiting for. Then that means that the AST had already predicted where she would always be located at.
But then, why aren't they here?
"I think I had enough for the day now." She started to stretch her body now, showing nearly everything to me. Wait, why am I paying attention to Natsumi's body? I know she's in her adult form, but I never paid attention to that.
"Okay, then are you ready to-wait, are you blushing?" Blushing? There's no way I would be blushing right now. I never blush.
"B-Blushing!? I-I'm not blushing! I... I was taken off guard by that kiss that you did, that's all!" Bad choice of words Kioshi, bad choice of words.
"Oh? Blushing over a kiss now, are we? If you can become this red, then I wonder what'll happen if-"
"DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE! WE'RE GOING HOME!"
"Oh my, your whole personality changed real quick. Almost similar to a tsundere."
"What you call me!? I-I'm not a tsundere!" I'm not kidding. I don't even know what a tsundere even is. Has she called me that before a lot? Because I feel like she has.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Tsundere." I don't know why, but I'm really started to become a bit annoyed now. How many times do I have to tell her? I am not a tsundere. She's been calling me that ever since... ever since what exactly? Why do I feel aggravated when she calls me that word? I haven't heard that word before ever in my life.
But it feels nostalgic all of a sudden...
"C-Could you just bring us back home? It's getting late and-"
"Way ahead of you!" As she said this, she suddenly picked me up bridal style. Wait, bridal style!?
"W-What are you doing!?" I was actually scared as to why she was doing this. What came over her all of a sudden?
"I'm taking us back home."
"O-Okay, then why are you carrying me like this? Why can't we just ride on your broom?"
"Don't feel like it. I suddenly have the urge to run all of a sudden. I feel like I can run a marathon around the entire city!" She's talking crazy now. She's actually becoming crazy!
"Wait, let's just calm down for now!" She was already beginning to run. Green electricity had surrounded her feet as the ground beneath her was suddenly about to break.
"And... liftoff!" As soon as she said this, she began to run at a unrecognizable speed. I haven't seen her run before, but this was too fast!
"I didn't think I could run like this! This is way too fun!" As she continued to run, she started to laugh. Well, it's confirmed:
She's going to kill me...