BP: Recently, I had this app in my IPad called Episodes, an interactive story. I got some of my inspiration back from there so you can expect a more steady flow of updates, though not as often as my high school years, where I have so much inspiration.
P.S: Most of the prizes stated in this story are made up.
When they reached the amusement park, it was busy with activity. There were various rides, and game stalls, and strange sounds were everywhere- squeaks and sizzles and pops- and all sorts of enticing aromas from the food sold. In one stall, there were toy pipes, which can be "smoked" by inhaling peppermint. They were decorated with pictures of cats and dogs and Betty Boop. There were lollipops and cotton candy. There were bamboo guns- tubes through which you pushed pieces of a certain kind of plant stem to make a loud pop.
A man was swallowing swords and eating glass; and there was a man selling a sort of powder you rubbed on the rim of a bowl to make it resound. There were magic golden rings that made money disappear, and pictures that developed when exposed to sunlight, and paper flowers that blossomed when dropped in a glass of water. Above them, there were screaming as the roller coaster zoomed over their heads.
"Which ride do you want to try first, Ryoma?" Fuji asked.
He frowned at Fuji. Why is he calling him by his first name? Fuji merely smiled back at him.
He looked around, his eyes finally landing at the Drop Tower. "I want to try that one."
"Alright, sure." They bought tickets, and headed over to the ride.
When it's their turn, the person in charge of the ride secured their safety belts, and placed the bar down. The ride started, and Ryoma found himself ascending slowly to the top of the tower. He watched the people shrink to ants as the gondola got closer to the top.
When he got to the top, he noted briefly that the view is pretty nice from high up, before he experienced a sudden free-fall, which induced some screams from his fellow riders.
"All right there, Ryoma?" Fuji shouted above the screams.
"I'm fine!" Ryoma shouted back. "Woohoo! This is fun!"
Due to the speed of the gondola's free fall increasing with gravity, the ride was over all too soon, although as they neared the bottom, there was a rapid heavy deceleration due to the brakes activating to slow down the gondola. When they reached the bottom, the person lifted the bar up, and helped them unbuckle their safety belts.
The next ride they went to was the Bumper Cars. Both of them shared one car and Fuji was the driver. Let's just say Fuji is a monster when it comes to driving, mowing everyone down with full speed. Ryoma had to cling to something to prevent him from flying out of the car.
"Slow down, Fuji-senpai!" Ryoma cried out.
"No can do, Ryoma. It's either bump or be bumped. And you know how much I like to see people suffer." Fuji replied, as he bumped into yet another car really hard, causing the person to literally jump out of his seat.
"That was exhilarating, wasn't it, Ryoma?" Fuji asked Ryoma, when the time is finally up.
"Yeah…it was…" Ryoma agreed. 'No it wasn't! I felt like my life was on the line, the way you steered the car!' he thought.
The next ride they went was the roller coaster. It was dangerously thrilling, especially the 360 degree loop they went through at high speed. The slow ascending and fast descending was also exciting.
Next they went in the Ferris wheel. During the ride, they talked about various things, from family, to tennis, and they even talked about themselves. Ryoma learned that Fuji has a younger brother called Yuuta who is studying in St. Rudolph's, and an older sister called Yumiko, his favourite colour is beige, he likes to eat apples, Cajun Cuisine and spicy ramen noodles, and he doesn't like sour things or things that taste like vinegar. (A/N: I guess that explains why he fainted when he drank the Inui Juice at episode 87)
"I think we should take a break from all those rides. The rest of them doesn't look that exciting." Ryoma said, looking at the train that goes a few rounds before ending at an average speed. Probably for kids or for those who are scared of extreme rides such as the roller coaster.
"Yeah, why don't we go for the game stalls? See any game stall you like?" Fuji replied.
A pink stuffed rabbit displayed as a prize in one of the game stalls caught his eye. Perhaps he could win that for his sister. He tapped Fuji's shoulder, and pointed to that rabbit. "I want to win that for Al-chan."
Fuji nodded. "It's a hoop throwing stall, if you throw it to the wooden block furthest from you, you'll get the rabbit."
"I'm going to try it." Ryoma said, going up to pay for five rings. He studied the diameter of the ring and the length of the square wooden block critically. The diameter was just a few centimetres longer than the block. Which means getting the ring around the block via throwing would be difficult.
He threw the first ring, and it bounced off the wooden block he was aiming for. He tried again, and it hit the edge of the wooden block. The third time, he nearly did it, but due to the size of the ring, it merely slipped down the side of the block. Same thing for the fourth try.
Fuji, who had been watching him, said, "Here, let me try." Ryoma gave him his last ring, and Fuji aimed, and threw it to the wooden block. The ring fell through the wooden block, thus the stall owner gave him the pink rabbit. Fuji handed the rabbit to Ryoma.
"Wow, thanks, Fuji-senpai." Ryoma cried.
"You're welcome. I know how much you care for Alluka, and how much you want to make her happy."
Ryoma gave Fuji a small smile and nodded.
"I'm going to try that Hit-The-Bell. Come with me?" Fuji asked.
Ryoma shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
Ryoma watched as Fuji took the hammer with one hand, and hit one end of the lever. The puck reached high enough to hit the bell. Well, Fuji wasn't a Seigaku tennis regular for nothing. If he can return strong shots from the other regulars, then hitting the bell should be a piece of cake. Fuji won a teddy bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck, which he gave to Ryoma. "You can give it to your sister." He stated.
Next they tried the ball in the basket stall. Ryoma managed to win a stuffed Himalayan cat that looked a lot like his cat Karupin, and Fuji managed to win a real cactus (which Ryoma shuddered, because which crazy stall would offer cactus as prizes?). Fuji carefully placed it in a box the stall owner helpfully provided, and into a plastic bag.
They then tried the archery stall, where they hit every single target, and won a doll set that came with various clothing and accessories for the doll. Ryoma knew Alluka would love this.
Ryoma managed to hit all the cans stacked with just one ball at another game stall, winning him a music box, where when you open it, music would play and a ballerina would dance.
They tried the Ball Bingo, where players throw 10 balls into a bingo board in an attempt to line up 5 balls to win. Both won prizes in this one, Ryoma a black and blue cap, Fuji some tennis wristband.
"You look great in the cap." Fuji complimented, when Ryoma wore the said cap.
"Thanks." Ryoma replied.
Later, they went into the Haunted House, where every time, bloody zombies, monsters, ghosts, ugly witches would pop out once in a while in the very dark place, screeching in this high pitch voice which would normally be scary. For Fuji and Ryoma, however, it seemed interesting.
This did not last long as they passed one of the corpses (female, by the looks of it) with an axe in her head and looked like she was bleeding. That wasn't the scary part. The scary part was it resembled Alluka. That freaked Ryoma out and Fuji hugged him to reassure him that it isn't real, and that she is with Tezuka back home. Ryoma dimly noted that Fuji felt comfortable, before the image of the corpse came up again. It took a good half an hour for him to calm down after they got out of the Haunted House, Fuji trying every means to calm him down.
"You want to have some tea" Fuji offered, pointing at a small café near the fair. He knew Ryoma probably couldn't eat too much, due to what he saw in the Haunted House, but he still needed to have something in his stomach, since it's 2 hours past lunchtime.
Ryoma shrugged. "Sure, I could use a little break." He replied, though he sounded slightly shaky.
In the café they snagged a table near the window, and Ryoma read the menu from the counter to see what they have available.
"I recommend the apple pie with vanilla ice cream. It's really nice." Fuji said. "Although, the strawberry shortcake was nice too."
"Hmm….I'll get the strawberry shortcake. You?"
"I'll have the apple pie. That way, we can taste both at the same time, since we're sharing."
That statement made Ryoma blush a little, but nevertheless got up to go to the counter to place their orders. However, Fuji stopped him.
"No, I'll go order. My treat."
"But…"
"No buts. I know you're going to order some cakes to bring home for Alluka to sample. Is that right?"
Ryoma gaped at Fuji. He practically read his mind.
Interpreting Ryoma's silence as him being right, Fuji went off to order. Later, he came back carrying the apple pie and the strawberry shortcake, as well as a box that contained one of every type of cake sold in the café.
"For Alluka." Fuji smiled. "You sure spoil her, Ryoma." He said, as he sat down, cut his pie in half, and offered one half to Ryoma.
Ryoma, in return, gave him half his cake.
"Yeah." He said, drinking his hot chocolate, and taking a bite from the apple pie with vanilla ice cream. "Hey! This is delicious!" Ryoma complimented.
"I told you." Fuji smiled.
He looked at the box of cakes Fuji bought. "Should I?" He took out his wallet, but is stopped by Fuji.
"It's my treat, like I said." Fuji replied. "I know I only met her for less than a week, but I care about her too."
Ryoma contemplated it for a moment, before nodding. "Alright."
After tea, they wandered around the stalls, and Ryoma bought a few things for himself and Alluka. He bought quite an amount of cotton candy, knowing Alluka likes them.
"Shall we watch a play now?" Fuji suggested.
"Sure. What plays do they have showing now?"
"Let's see. There's The Captain's Daughter, In a Perfect World, Secret Diamond Club, and Sister Swap." Fuji listed for him the options. (These are the titles of Episodes stories)
"As much as I would like to watch all of them, since they seem interesting based on the title, I'll go with the Captain's Daughter." Ryoma replied.
They lined up, and bought tickets to watch the play. Ryoma was fascinated at the mystery the play posed, and the plot twists and events the story provided. He nearly let out a gasp of shock when he realized the blonde woman Bernadette, whom he thought was a good person, is actually in league with the Shamrock Club, the criminal organization!
"Now that is unexpected." Fuji whispered. Ryoma nodded.
The play ended when the criminals were arrested, Bernadette gave the male protagonist a plea to tell them she was innocent and she was kidnapped. He told her, "Sorry, no can do." and gave the female protagonist a kiss, and now they were an item. The play ended in a suspense when a client came to call, and the male protagonist told his girlfriend to let her in.
"Wow. That was an interesting play." Ryoma said, as he and Fuji walked back to the Echizen house.
"Indeed." Fuji smiled, as they reached Ryoma's house. Ryoma opened the door and went in, Fuji following him.
"Al-chan, I'm home!" Ryoma called out.
Footsteps were heard, and Alluka appeared. She looked fine, but tired. She engulfed him in a hug. Her eyes were shining, as if asking him to tell him all about the date.
"Later." Ryoma laughed. "Where's captain?"
Alluka pointed to the living room. Ryoma approached it, and saw the captain looking at a few pieces of paper scribbled with complex equations disbelievingly.
"No way…how did she solve this problem in mere minutes?" he muttered to himself. "Even I needed at least ten minutes to solve this!"
"So, for the whole day, you guys just solved problems?" Ryoma asked incredulously.
Alluka simply shrugged, while Fuji laughed. "Well, you didn't expect him to play with Alluka, now, do you?"
Ryoma sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't expect the esteemed and serious captain to be an entertaining company. Though I suppose he might make a great tutor." He glared at Tezuka. Just because he said to take care of her while he was gone doesn't mean he can bore her for the whole day with difficult problems to solve.
Tezuka gave Ryoma an apologetic look, but did not say anything, since Ryoma is actually right.
"Anyway, Al-chan, I brought a few stuff for you." He handed almost everything he got from the amusement park to her. Alluka's eyes lit up. She looked through the stuff, her eyes sparkling at the new toys and cakes he brought. She hugged the new stuffed toys in delight.
"I'll place these cakes in the fridge." Ryoma said. Alluka nodded, and went upstairs to place her new toys.
When the twins were temporarily gone, Fuji asked, "So, Tezuka, what do you think of Alluka?"
Tezuka contemplated for a moment, before saying, "She's an intelligent girl, and also has a playful, child-like air around her. When I spent time with her today, I could tell she spent a lot of time on books just to hide the pain of not being able to play tennis due to her condition."
"So would you like to take care of her again while Ryoma and I go out on dates in the future?" Fuji asked teasingly.
He expected Tezuka to frown at him and tell him not to be ridiculous. What he did not expect is Tezuka nodding and saying, "Yeah."
Just then, Ryoma came out of the kitchen. "I guess you guys have to go now. I'll see you guys out?"
They nodded, and when they reached the door, Fuji gave Tezuka a look that said turn around, and when he did, he brushed Ryoma's lips with his own. Ryoma's eyes widened in shock.
"Let's go out again sometime." He said, and with that, they left.
Ryoma snapped out of his daze when the door closed. He smiled, as he brushed his fingers against his lips.
'I can't wait for the next time we go out.' He thought, as he went upstairs to see how Alluka is doing with her new toys.
BP: Well, that went longer than expected. It's bad, since I only had 15 minutes before my sister wants to use my laptop, but do review though!