'How did I end up being the one sitting alone?' Zanya thought to himself. 'Mr. Pouty Cyan hair clearly lost Rock Paper Scissors. Damn.'
They were seated in the ride with Gao and Tetsuya in front, Baku and Kiri second, Zanya sitting right behind in the next adjoining car. At least he was behind the others. The seat belts were secured and the flexible handrail pressed down.
The starting bell sounded, letting them know that the ride would start moving any second.
"Can I, by any chance, get off now?" Kiri asked Baku shakily.
"Dude, you already lost Rock Paper Scissors. You're lucky enough Zanya was willing to change places with you. Now you want to get off?!" Baku exclaimed. "You—"
The ride took off without giving Baku the chance to finish his sentence. The boy clamped his mouth to prevent from letting any more sound out of his mouth. Kiri shut his eyes forcefully and gripped the handrail as if his life depended on him not letting go.
Gao let his hollers fly straight out, but he wasn't screaming in the least. He was having fun! The ride made a sharp drop all of a sudden, and one of Tetsuya's bananas was jerked off, smacking Baku in the face.
"Ah! Hey!" Baku yelled.
He took the banana from his face and held onto it, a smile forming on his face.
"I'll just keep this for later when we get off…" he said. Too bad the banana slipped from his grip and fell off from the ride.
'Whoever ends up with it, you'd better be happy!' Baku thought as the precious fruit landed into the hands of a kid.
A few more turns later, Kiri finally had enough of bottling up his screams and he let it go. He didn't care that he'd have to pay for dessert, his mental health was way more important right now.
"Finally!" Tetsuya exclaimed. He started to let his shouts into the air as well.
But Kiri was too terrified to care that he could have beaten Tetsuya. He was glad to let it out when he did.
The ride jerked to a stop back at the station and the flexible handrail was pushed up, releasing the 'passengers'. They walked out the exit and saw Kuguru looking at them.
"How was the ride, Kiri?" she asked with a playful grin on her face.
"I know I have to pay alright? There's no need to rub it in," he replied.
"Hey Gao?" Baku asked.
"Yeah, what is it, man?"
"Tonight we should load up on sugar, you know what I'm saying?" Baku asked, nudging Gao in the waist.
"Totally agree with you there. Thanks Kiri!" Gao said, waving to Kiri who was busy trying to ignore his friends' comments on how they were going to load up on him.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Kiri, you don't really like fast rides, do you?" Kuguru asked.
"You don't say. I only joined cause Baku said that it was for guys. I didn't want to chicken out of it," he replied. Zanya patted him in the back.
"You didn't even let out a sound during the entire thing!" Kiri said, turning to face Zanya.
"Yeah, dude! How did you manage it?" Tetsuya asked.
"It's psychological. I know that there will be no harm done to us so what's the point in getting scared?" he replied.
"Good point," Baku said.
"But that ruins the fun," Gao stated.
"Dessert was on the line. How could I risk it if you guys are around?" Zanya replied, shrugging.
Everyone looked at the boy in surprise, wondering how calculative his true nature really is.
"So if we didn't have a bet from the start, you would've forgotten the 'no harm done' fact and enjoyed the ride?" Gao asked.
"Pretty much."
"Wow. We need to be careful," Baku stated.
"Hey, it's not like I'm dangerous or anything!" he retorted.
The gang was in the food court, munching away. It was around half past seven when they finished their food.
"Guys, on my left," Baku said, a smirk clearly visible on his face.
'Oh no…' Kiri thought, not even wanting to turn in that direction. He knew what Baku was talking about and he didn't want to see it.
"Kiri, my man! A man doesn't go back on his word, you know what I'm saying?" Tetsuya said playfully.
"Just… do what you want. It's not like I can control you guys or anything," Kiri sighed. Kuguru showed sympathy for the boy and patted his back.
"Zanya, mind getting us a bubble milk tea?" Kuguru asked, hinting to the boy that they would share the drink.
"Can we make it less sugar? I'm not fond of it."
"Whatever you like," she said with a smile on her face. He nodded and walked over to Gao, Baku and Tetsuya. The three were busy chatting away in front of the dessert stall. After placing their orders, Gao signaled Kuguru to bring Kiri over.
"You sure you don't want anything, man?" he asked the sulking cyan haired one.
"Does it look like I'm in the mood?" Kiri asked, controlling himself from glaring at Gao.
"Okay… I'll take that as a no."
"So what now? We have like a half hour left," Kuguru asked, tugging Zanya's sleeve to let him wants she wants a sip. He handed the cup to Kuguru, even though he didn't get a taste.
"I don't know. Do you guys want to go again or should we just head back?" Gao asked, looking back at his friends.
"Maybe it's better to head back. We've ridden on every single ride anyways," Baku said, giving his opinion. Kuguru chucked the empty cup into a trash can.
"I'm down for a race back to the hotel!" Tetsuya exclaimed, bouncing up a little.
"And maybe we can play a game while eating chips or something tonight?" Gao suggested.
"Either way, we need to remember that we need to be back, latest 8.30," Kiri mentioned uninterestedly.
"So back to the hotel it is?" Gao asked.
"One more thing, Gao," Baku said.
"What is it?"
"Last one back pays for the chips!" he declared and took off.
"You should've waited for us to start together!" Gao shouted, taking off after Baku with the others right behind him.
Phoenix: I really am getting lazier and lazier nowadays…
Kiri: They really spend too much…
Baku: Sorry bro! It's force of habit!
Gao: We naturally eat a lot.
Kiri: Well, you should learn to have a little self-control over your mouths and stomachs!
Phoenix: He's right, you know.
Gao: You're siding with him now?!
Phoenix: No. I'm just saying that you guys need to control the amount of food that goes into your mouth.
Baku: Basically you are siding with him.
Phoenix: Believe what you want. It's not like I can change your numbskull minds anyway.
Baku and Gao: Hey!
Phoenix: So… enjoy reading, leave a review if possible and bye!