Clear to cloudy
Target 47: An amusing time
In the end the group of nine decided to go to an amusement park which was quite a ways away from the mall. In his own opinion Kotsu always hated amusement parks, since wild rides were never really his thing, but he guesses he'll be allowed a bit of relaxation on the side. They arrive and everyone looks around for who's going to pay all ending with their eyes on the eldest person present.
"What? You want ME to pay?" Geraldino asks and everyone slowly nods and the young man just shrugs shaking his head. "Why'd you even DECIDE on the amusement park if you don't have anyone to pay?"
Ren gives a little chuckle. "Because it's supposed to be fun! And the weather's GREAT!"
"Yeah! But what about payment!?" Geraldino says and Reishiro points to him.
"Don't worry… that guy will pay…" he says seemingly not realizing that Geraldino himself asked the question.
"I will NOT!"
Rinoka, who's currently holding Cotton look up at him both with puppy-dog-eyes. "Pretty pleeeeeease Geraldino… I-I've never been to an amusement park before… m-my dad always said it's a waste of money…" She pleads and Geraldino still doesn't want to budge and Fumie finally jumps forward pointing to him dramatically.
"You coward! Not wanting to spend money even when a pair of pretty girls look at you like that! What kind of a man are you!?" She yells before Geraldino suddenly's had enough and glares at them all silencing every one of them, only silencing Fumie's voice as she still looks angrily at him.
"Call me a coward ONE more time… and we'll change plans and go to the hospital instead… fine… I'll pay for your… stupid amusement park rides…" he says gritting his teeth and going up front not liking it one bit. He points to the group for the lady who seems pretty scared of him. "I'm with um… let's see… we got the kid… she's five… the blonde and his weirdo friend are 16… the hotheaded girl, the idiot, and his girlfriend and the butler are all like… 13 or something… and I'm an adult…" he says to her and she puts in the tickets.
"W-will that be admission only or also for the rides…?" She says and suddenly someone pokes her head up front.
"Rides too! Cotton-heika will go on ALL the rides!" She declares and Tsugemora comes up pulling her away.
"S-so… rides too… sir?"
"Yeah… what'll it be?" He asks pulling out his wallet fishing out some money.
"T-that'll be… 41000 yen… sir…" She says and Geraldino grits his teeth.
"That's outrageous…" he says before realizing he's paying for literally nine people for an entire day. "Nevermind… who cares! This is already taking a while! Here!" He says slamming a fresh bundle of yen on the counter. "Keep the change…" He says as she prints out their tickets. He comes back with them as the woman realizes he's given her WAY above what she needed.
He tosses the tickets in Kotsu's face. "There! Happy?"
Kotsu gives him a happy smile. "Yes. Thanks a ton…"
"you owe me one," he simply says as they head inside.
"Sure… I'll think of how to repay you…" Kotsu says truly grateful for him paying. Knowing the brutish young gangster Kotsu expected him to ditch and go somewhere else, but he went inside with them.
Instantly when they get in Cotton jumps out of Rinoka's arms and starts running into the park all alone. "Tiahahahaaaa! Later Mortals! Cotton-heika's going to conquer the whole park!" She yells before feeling her feet leave the ground.
"Now now my lady… it is improper to just run away from your friends," Marco says getting her firmly in his hands with Fumie close behind. Usually it was her job to catch her after all. Everyone comes up and they begin their romp through the park, Kotsu dreading the moment where he'll likely be asked to go on one of the big rides.
"So um… Marco… we've… never really gotten to talk a lot have we?" Kotsu asks causing Marco to chuckle lightly.
"I believe this is the first time we've spoken formally yes," He says and Kotsu's a little surprised by how formal his Japanese is given that he's from the Rosa Rossa. Kotsu's about to talk when Marco holds up his hand to stop him. "Before you speak I would like to make it crystal clear that, while I did not originally plan for this, it is an honor to be part of your little group. Especially seeing how much my lady likes you," He says sending Kotsu a kind smile.
"Uh… thanks… but… Cotton doesn't really like me… does she?" Cotton pouts jumping out of Marco's hands and onto his head pointing dramatically to Kotsu.
"Cotton-heika does NOT like you Mortal-kun!" She says and suddenly jumps off running to a ride for kids. "I wanna go on that one!" She yells and Marco heads after her. Kotsu looks around seeing Tsugemora yelling angrily at Ren while the latter just tries calming him down with Reishiro mimicking Ren's movements and Rinoka hanging back behind Geraldino who's just annoyed.
"I TOLD you idiot! We're heading STRAIGHT for the big rides! Nii-san isn't afraid of something like a roller-coaster!" Tsugemora assures and Ren chuckles nervously.
"L-Listen… he's my little brother… I know him… last time he went on one of the big rides we had to go home early…" he says and Kotsu gets slightly annoyed that he's such a lightweight when it comes to roller-coaster.
"that's a lie and you know it!" Tsugemora yells when suddenly Geraldino snaps at them.
"Alright you two SHUT UP!" he says grinding his teeth. "Master…" He looks back at the frail little girl. "What ride do you wanna try first?" he simply asks and Rinoka looks around a little. She sees Marco and Cotton standing in line for a very small and harmless ride.
"M-M-Maybe that one…" She tries and Geraldino heads over with her, Ren and Tsugemora following. In the cue Kotsu stands right next to her with Geraldino towering over most people in line, behind them. The two look a little uncomfortable which has nothing to do with the gangster among them.
"So um… y-you've never been on a roller-coaster before…?" Kotsu asks and Rinoka looks at the ground almost in shame.
"N-no… i-is it any fun…?"
"W-well I… yes… it can be fun…" He says as they get in a cart together and people look quite stricken as Geraldino enters the ride for little kids getting in a cart all by himself looking annoyed at all the people avoiding him. Kotsu and Rinoka sit together, Rinoka really nervous for her first ride. Up in front is Marco and Cotton while Reishiro, Ren, Fumie and Tsugemora stay behind to watch over their things. As it starts Rinoka instinctively grabs onto Kotsu's arm for comfort as it starts moving. It's very slow given that it's for children but she soon starts looking around and giggling having a sparkle in her eyes Kotsu's never really seen before. She looks happy and excited… after the little speedy merry-go-round comes to an end Rinoka happily skips out, completely forgetting that she just held onto Kotsu as if her life depended on it before, something that'd definitely make her blush furiously under normal circumstances. However this time it's Kotsu who's looking really flustered as she was hugging him REALLY close.
"T-t-that was really fun! I-I wanna go on another one!" Rinoka declares as Geraldino and Kotsu head out after her.
Marco and Cotton come out as well with Cotton looking mildly sick leading the young butler to chuckle. "It seems my lady did not take well to something that spins rapidly," He says and the crew start walking to the next ride with Rinoka in the lead as she's looking profoundly at all the rides, wanting to try them all.
Kotsu can't help but let on a small smile, being happy for her coming out of her bubble a little bit. "The hell're you smirking at Second?" Geraldino asks looking suspiciously at him.
"I… wasn't smirking at all… I was just… happy for Rinoka… I've never seen her so happy before…" He says and Geraldino scratches his cheek a little sheepishly.
"Yeah… guess that's true… though you've never seen her draw…" He just adds before speeding up to catch up with his 'master'.
-NII-
A little later the group make it through a few more small rides with Kotsu starting to feel the effects of them stockpiling inside him. Tsugemora dramatically supports him by pulling his arm over his shoulder. "Nii-san! I will get you through this! It's my duty!" He yells making all the bystanders think there's some sort of emergency.
"Tsugemora… it's not THAT bad…" He says chuckling getting himself free from the bodyguard's grasp. "By the way… I haven't seen you much lately…" He says and Tsugemora stops walking a bit before banging his head into a nearby wall.
"Dammit! How could I be so ignorant!? I've been so focused on my upcoming trial I completely forgot to protect Nii-san!" He says and Kotsu pulls him away from the wall.
"Enough! Enough! It's fine… nothing really happened anyway… besides I was more referring to how you've been holding up…"
Tsugemora salutes Kotsu happily. "I've been doing good Nii-san! I have become stronger and I will definitely win my upcoming battle! I swear it!" He says pumping his fist.
"Y-yeah… so long as you don't get hurt too much I guess…" He says suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm happy to hear that you care more about his health than his victory Lil' bro…" Ren says smiling.
"Well of course! He's my friend!" Kotsu says back with a smile.
-NII-
The gang is standing in front of a haunted house within the park. "Are we really going in there…?" Kotsu asks and Tsugemora jumps up in the air along with Cotton on his head.
"YEAH! It'll be fun! I'll protect you if you get scared Nii-san!" Tsugemora declares and Cotton grins devilishly.
"Cotton-heika will not be defeated by stupid tricks!"
"I suppose if my lady says so, then it is so…" Marco adds and Rinoka gulps a little before looking to Kotsu.
She blinks a little before scooting up next to him. "I-I-I… um… I'll go too… i-i-i-if K-Kotsu-san is there… t-then it's safe…" She says remembering the time at the station where he protected her from NM-5.
Everyone looks to Geraldino. "Are you coming too Geraldino?" Ren asks and Geraldino looks to the side with a bit of sweat on his forehead.
He tsks trying to sound annoyed. "As if I'll waste my time with that…" He says gulping and Fumie laughs loudly.
"You're scared of ghosts aren't you Geraldino!?" Geraldino glares back to the girl hoping to make her freeze from his gaze, but she doesn't as she's still mad at him about the whole being kidnapped thing.
"I. am. NOT!" He yells angrily, but from the way he's standing a little closed off trying to avoid eye-contact it's pretty sure to say he is. Kotsu is honestly stunned at this guy sometimes… he was such an imposing figure when they first met… what Kotsu considered the most evil person he'd ever met… but now he's becoming oddly… human… he has hobbies, like drawing… and fears too… Ghosts…
"Come on Geraldino…" Kotsu says gulping a bit. "Y-you're part of the group too you know…?" He says and everyone nods.
Geraldino grits his teeth scratching the back of his head before finally letting in. "Fine! But I'm NOT going to walk in the lead!" He yells and they all venture into the haunted house.
After walking a few steps inside the first scare pops out making a loud booming sound and Rinoka hugs close to Kotsu again as the latter freezes up completely, however Cotton just laughs as Tsugemora stands ready. "TIAHAHAAA! Foolish puppet! You cannot scare the great Cotton-heika!" She yells running further into the house.
Kotsu chuckles a little bit as they all walk further into the house of spook and scares. "I… I guess she's not easily spooked…" He says before remembering how terrified she was of Jute at first and how scared she was of Barley. Even more so in fact… though that guy WAS really creepy…
-NII-
The moving through the haunted house goes on with lots of screaming from Kotsu and Geraldino surprisingly, while Rinoka cowers, Ren jumps and laughs at the silliness with Fumie using the opportunity to get close to him, Tsugemora is about to shoot everything with his new wire gun, Cotton mocks the uncreativeness of the scares, Marco trying to calm her down and Reishiro not understanding a single thing of what's happening.
After exiting and thankfully not having broken anything from Tsugemora's attempts, they all decide to get an ice-cream and go to a picnic area. "I still don't get why 'I' have to pay for you… I didn't even wanna freaking go…" Geraldino says licking his strawberry flavored ice-cream. Rinoka had the same.
"B-because you're the oldest I guess…" Kotsu says laughing sheepishly. Marco and Cotton both got a liquesce flavor, while Ren and Reishiro got vanilla and Kotsu got chocolate. Rinoka, Marco and Fumie are currently playing with Cotton a bit away, Marco staying in the background a little away from them for some reason.
"Well thank you for paying Geraldino… that was very kind of you," He says smiling.
"Oi… shut it goodie-two-shoes," He just answers with Ren taking a defensive step back.
"Hey now I was just thanking you…" He says and Geraldino is about to get more angry moving towards Ren when suddenly Reishiro pokes Geraldino's nose with his ice cream.
"Isn't this supposed to be fun sir? Getting angry won't make anything more fun…" He simply says and Geraldino is a bit annoyed about that ability he apparently has to just disappear…
"G-guys… Let's just enjoy ourselves… please…" Kotsu pleads and Tsugemora points his wire gun at Geraldino.
"You heard Nii-san! Even if it's you I won't let you go against him Geraldino!" He yells and Geraldino smirks.
"Sure… let's do that…" he says almost deviously.
-NII-
The group enter the section of the park with some of the bigger rides, Rinoka looking a bit afraid yet excited to try them with how much fun she thought they were before. However Kotsu can almost already feel his ice-cream coming back up again just looking at the drop on the very first one. The girl looks almost determined at him. "K-K-Kotsu-san! I-I-I w-w-w…" She starts pointing a bit and Kotsu sweats a little, but the way she's looking at him like that, having trouble with her words in a mix of her usual shy stutter and excitement really makes her much cuter than usual.
"S-sure…" Kotsu says gathering the courage to go on them again and Ren comes up behind them.
"Let's all go together then!" He says pushing them ahead. It seems Cotton and Tsugemora are both too short, much to Tsugemora's dismay as he's 'leaving Nii-san unprotected'. Kotsu and Rinoka sit in the ride and lock themselves in Kotsu immediately regretting the decision. However Ren and Fumie get in behind them and Ren chuckles a little.
"It's good to see you retrying something like this Kotsu! After seeing you flying around with that fork I don't think this is so bad,"
Fumie smiles happily. "Yeah! You were totally awesome when you beat up Geraldino!"
Kotsu gives a nervous chuckle. "Y-yeah… but it's still a little different… I'm in hyper dying will mode when I use my fork… like Fumie said… I'm a lot more awesome, cool and more resistant to such things in that form…" He says as they start going up. Kotsu glances to Rinoka who's looking around a little. "A-are you okay Rinoka?"
Rinoka blushes a bit before starting to speak blushing more and more as the words come out. "I-I think you're cool n-no m-m-matter-" She starts but is cut off when suddenly they reached the top and start flying down at massive speed, Kotsu almost passing out from the sudden shift. Luckily for him there's no loop on this ride or he'd really lose it. However it seems Rinoka is loving it laughing the whole time, Ren and Fumie taking the time on the pass-by to wave at the rest of the group standing and waiting for them.
Kotsu gets off legs wobbling quickly being greeted by Tsugemora who gives him a hand. "T-that was… fun…" He says shaking his sickness off. Ren has fallen into conversation with Fumie at this point and they go to check out their picture on the ride. Kotsu's cartoonishly crying and screaming in terror while Rinoka is laughing. Ren is giving the camera a peacesign and Fumie is looking happy to be on the ride.
"Oh… damn… I guess I should've made a face at the camera along with you Ren-senpai," Fumie says snapping her fingers. Rinoka blushes seeing it, not used to seeing pictures of her smile so genuinely.
Kotsu looks almost annoyed that he's such a wimp. They all leave and rejoin the rest of the group. "T-that was… v-v-very fun Kotsu-san…" Rinoka says a little embarrassed. "C-can we go on another!?" she says pointing to some of the others.
"I-I might die if I do that…" Kotsu says but just sighs looking at her. "But sure! I… wanna give you a good day!" He says and Rinoka is almost blown back by his kindness.
Geraldino crosses his arms looking at the two of them as they start the walk to the next cue both looking away. "Those two… is it just me or…?" He starts with Ren just laughing.
"Well let's leave them to figure THAT out. It's complicated after all!" He says, Geraldino noting Fumie look at him so lovingly.
"Yeah yeah mister lover boy," The gangster just replies.
-NII-
In the end they went on every single ride, Kotsu getting progressively more sick with each one, but enduring it even forcing smiles on all the photos and in the end everyone's had a grand time. They all end getting Geraldino to pay for a picture of them all. They all stand at the ready for the photo, but as he counts down Cotton jumps out of Marco's arms, leading the older boy to reach for her, Fumie holding back Tsugemora who's pointing to Cotton with his wiregun, Kotsu getting startled and Rinoka moving slightly away from the commotion. Reishiro just looking at the camera like nothing's happening, Ren laughing and Geraldino just looking annoyed, ending up with a very hectic photo.
"A-are you sure you want this…?" The photographer asks and Geraldino just grabs the photo.
"I paid for it so yeah…" He says and Rinoka gently takes it from him seeing the pretty frame. She starts crying slightly holding it close to her. Tsugemora and Marco who's trying to catch Cotton, all stop to look at her.
"H-hey…" Kotsu starts, Ren seconding the question. "Are you okay…?"
"I'm just… I'm so happy…" She says hugging the picture close to her, as her eyes swell up with tears. "I-I-I've never…" She tries before sniffing heavily. "I-I-I-I've… I've never… h-had any friends… t-to make memories like this with and… and I'm just so happy!" She says as Ren gestures everyone in for a group hug.
"Come on guys… it's been a fun day… and we loved having you with us Rinoka… you're more than welcome in our little group," He says and everyone seconds except Geraldino.
"O-Oi… I'm not part of your little posse," He tries but Ren just pulls him in anyway.
"Oh shush you. You had a good day too. Admit it,"
"Never…"
Kotsu just happily smiles hugging his little group of friends. Happy to have them all… no matter how overprotective… happy-go-lucky… shy… crazy… odd… no matter what they're like. He's happy to have them…
Just outside the park on top of the entrance sign someone's sitting very casually, looking down at them. It's Zaccaria. He smirks slightly to himself. "It's good to see how much you care Kotsukiba… the world needs more people like you in that aspect…"