Zanya's eyelids fluttered open. He caught sight of the clock. Seven.
He was surprised that he'd actually get up on his own at that time. Usually when he did was pretty much because it was absolutely necessary like going to school. Or when the outside world disturbed his sleep as in Akatsuki shouting his ear off about something totally irrelevant. So then why…
Then he felt it. Something or someone had wrapped around his legs, and he felt a presence behind him. He turned and came face to face with a fast asleep Kuguru. He blushed at the fact that she was under his covers. Who knows how long she'd been there.
"Kuguru, what are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
"Huh? Doing what?" she answered sleepily.
"Look at yourself! You're sleeping under my covers in my bed!" He absolutely disliked the idea of sharing beds with someone other than family, and more often than not he'd even reject Akatsuki when the poor kid wanted to share beds with his idolized big brother for the night.
"I'm sorry about that Zanya! It's just that last night the weather turned really cold and I wanted to look for warmth. I clambered under your covers a little and I must have fallen asleep, I'm sorry," she apologized.
"Then why don't you turn up the heater?!" he asked, accidentally raising his voice a little, making Kuguru flinch slightly.
"I did, but it was still too cold for me to sleep, sorry Zanya…" she said. Zanya huffed a little before rising off the bed and rashly grabbing his towel from the closet.
"Zanya, are you mad?" she asked nervously, afraid of upsetting the boy.
"Not really. I'm just naturally moody when I get out of bed. It'll change after I clean up," he answered before shutting the door behind him without slamming it.
"Looks like Akatsuki was right all along…" she muttered and cuddled under Zanya's blanket again.
"Kuguru, it's your turn," Zanya said as he tied his hair while walking out of the bathroom.
"Zanya, can I ask you something?" she asked as she sat upright. In his bed, mind you.
"Sure, what's up?"
"About that thing…"
"What do you mean?" he asked, showing her a faked confused face. He knew she was talking about the confession.
"The… confession."
'She's persistent today. Usually when I did that she'd let the subject drop but today she's not letting me go.'
"I've thought over it," he answered, turning to look at her.
"Do you have… an answer?"
"Give me until the end of this week and I'll give you the answer."
"Okay, Zanya, I'll wait," she said, her mood dropping a little.
"Anyways, I have a question for you too."
"What is it?" she asked.
"Why'd you leave your lingerie and your clothes in the bath last night? You know you're sharing a room with a guy." She blushed at the mention of her undergarments.
"N-no reason!" she exclaimed before rushing in and slamming the door because of her thorough embarrassment. Zanya snickered a little.
"How did you guys sleep?" Kiri asked as they munched down on their breakfast.
"Not so good. Last night was really cold," Gao said, yawning right after.
"Me too. I barely slept a wink," Tetsuya said with his eyelids half closed.
"Zanya?" Kiri asked.
"Last night was alright, I guess," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck. Kuguru blushed at the mention of 'last night'.
"Kuguru? Your cheeks are pink," Baku pointed out while stuffing his mouth with sausages.
"Y-you must be seeing things! I-I'm not blushing! And don't talk with your mouth full!" she said, trying to pry off the attention given to her.
"Whatever you say." She heaved a sigh of relief, and to her right, Zanya did too. If they continued to ask about 'last night', the two of them would've surely been found out. Sleeping on the same bed was the last thing they had wanted to let the others know.
So the morning was spent going around the indoor and outdoor theme parks. Actually, the gang spent more time waiting in line rather than actually riding on the rides. Suddenly, a single ride caught Baku's attention and he had an idea.
"Hey, Zanya, Gao. I challenge you guys to the SpaceShot thing!"
Zanya and Gao looked over at what Baku was talking about, and saw the ride suddenly drop and all the people on it screamed. They paled a little just looking at the speed it was dropping at.
"SpaceShot? I think you mean SpaceShit. I'm not going on that thing," Zanya declared.
"I'm also gonna back out of this one if you don't mind. Sure I like fast rides but this is just ridiculous. Beisdes, what are we going at?" Gao said.
"To see who doesn't scream or screams the least. You also can't close your eyes."
"Is there a prize for the winner?" Zanya asked.
"Are you actually serious?!" Tetsuya asked out of bewilderment.
"I guess there will have to be. The one who screams the most will be the one who screams the least or doesn't scream at all's servant," Baku decided.
"A servant is a little too much. How about the loser buys the winner whatever he wants?" Zanya suggested.
"Guys, are you seriously going at this crazy ride?" Gao asked.
"We are, unless Baku is planning up an excuse to get out of buying me a gift when I win," Zanya said, somewhat declaring that he is the sure winner.
"'When I win'? You sound pretty sure of yourself," Baku said, looking at Zanya slyly.
"What if both you guys don't scream, yo?" Tetsuya asked.
"We'll deal with it when it happens, won't we?" Zanya and Baku said in unison, decided on battling it down to the last nerve.
"Guys, when you have to, you must let it go, okay?" Kuguru said worriedly.
"Hey guys! I found out the real reason why Gao backed out in the first place!" Tetsuya exclaimed, pointing at a board with height markings. "They say you have to be 160 to get on!" He trotted over to Gao and wrung his arm over Gao's shoulders.
"We didn't know that before! Besides, I'm not going on that crazy ride even if the height requirement was only 50!" Gao retorted, blushing a little due to embarrassment.
"So just by coincidence, both of our sacrificial victims are pretty tall," Kiri pointed out.
"We're not sacrificial victims! We're men who decided to take on the challenge," Baku exclaimed.
"So you guys will be the judges?" Zanya asked, looking over his shoulder to face the squabbles. Gao, Kiri, Tetsuya and Kuguru nodded at the boy.
"Two more, I need two more. Anyone in pairs?" the operator asked, waving her hand at the line. Zanya and Baku raised their hands and the few people in front let them through. They were strapped in their seats and the starting bell sounded. Baku took a deep breath, he was determined to make Zanya buy him a huge, expensive lunch. The other just crossed his fingers and kept his cool. The ride started.
"We can blink right?" Baku asked.
"Of course, genius!" Zanya replied.
The ride was at its highest, and they knew that it would drop anytime. Still it was terrifying, even though you know that it's going to happen anyway.
"Ahh!" The other people on the ride screamed, but Zanya and Baku kept silent.
'Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream…' Baku told himself repeatedly in his head. Zanya on the other hand, kept a straight face while biting his tongue to prevent from screaming. Even psychology didn't work as well as he hoped. The ride jerked to a stop halfway and then shot itself back up again. It's routine went again and again, each time dropping at a faster speed and it would stop closer and closer to the ground. Fear was piling up.
'Okay, whatever Zanya has in mind, it can't be that bad right? I'll take my chances because…' he looked at the indigo haired boy beside him, still keeping a rather straight face, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" he screamed. Zanya's eyes widened when he heard Baku's words, knowing that the competition had finally ended.
"Hey guys, Baku's mouth is open!" Kiri said as he pointed at Baku. The others traced the boy's finger and clapped. Baku, the person who suggested the challenge, lost.
The two of them got out of the ride a little shaky. Both were scared almost to their limits, but Baku cracked first.
"I-I-I told you I'd w-win," Zanya stuttered.
"So what do you want?" Baku asked, taking a deep breath and calming down from the scare.
"Not me, Kuguru will choose what she wants," Zanya said, passing on the winner's privileges to Kuguru. She gave a broad smile to Baku, and whispered a soft "thank you" into Zanya's right ear.
Phoenix: Wow, just wow. Is it just me or are my chapters a little longer?
Kuguru: Slightly longer. That's a good thing since the ones in front were a little too short.
Phoenix: Yeah, I think I caught on. Thanks for the reminders.
Kuguru: You're welcome.
Kiri: When are you going to wrap up the story?
Phoenix: Next chapter, Kiri. Next chapter. Afterwards I'll most probably stick to reading Stormy003's stories. They're wonderful.
Kiri: Okay then. So check out Stormy's stories if you guys can! Oh and please be aware of the fact that her requests are closed.
Baku: Did something happen with Zanya last night, Kuguru? You blushed when we brought it up.
Kuguru: No! Everything was fine, ha ha…
Baku: You're a terrible liar, you know that?
Kuguru: What are you talking about? I'm not lying~
Baku: Never mind…
Phoenix: So guys, read, enjoy, please review and bye~