Chapter 39: "The More Things Change..."
"Wow, there's lots of people here, Akiha-chan!" Hanei shouts.
"Tons of them!" Seo Akira chimes in.
Indeed, the place is absolutely packed. Well, it's stupidly obvious... with such a line outside, it'd be silly to think that the inside wouldn't be just as packed.
Together, we all are taking in the sights. The closest section of it to us is the "American Side." Designed to look like an American city, I guess. I've never been to America, though I know a few people who have.
English, along with Japanese in smaller script to help translate and guide phonetically where appropriate, is everywhere. I have no problem reading it, but Seo furrows her brows a bit, and Hanei looks fairly confused.
"...Gif...to shoopu?" Seo is doing her very best to pronounce "Gift Shop" as an English speaker would. I should probably note that while Seo is passable at WRITTEN English, her PRONOUNCIATION isn't quite up to snuff.
"Gift shop," I say in English with as minimal an accent as possible, before continuing on in Japanese. "Compared to Japanese, English often drops that last vowel sound. Their words can end in a pure consonant, while Japanese usually cannot unless the word ends with an 'n.'"
"Oh! Right! Uhh... Gift shop!" she offers, albeit in a heavily flavored Japanese accent. It's not perfect, but under the circumstances, it's about the best I could expect from her. I nod in approval, making her smile a bit.
"That's better," I tell her. "Just keep practicing. If you don't practice, you won't learn it... but we're not here to dwell on lessons, we're here to have fun. So don't dwell on it too much right now." I laugh.
So does Seo. "You're right, Tohno-senpai. Come on! I'll race you to the roller coaster!"
"Heh, you're on!" I brace myself and begin running. Seo takes off like a rocket, but I'm able to keep pace due to having slightly longer strides.
"…...Hey, wait up!" The voice of Misawa Hanei yells out behind us. She begins running after us as well, as best as she can.
By the time the sun is going down, I am pretty thoroughly exhausted. As we all are, really. But we're all laughing happily even through our exhaustion. I have no doubt all three of us will sleep very deeply and soundly tonight, after having such a fun-filled day.
We all have lined up at the Ferris Wheel. The lighting on it glows in a multitude of different colors and patterns. And at 115 meters tall, it's nice and big. It was the world's biggest one until just a few years ago.
Soon enough, we are all in our little car, and we begin going skyward. Hanei looks out the window a little nervously, her hands clenching the metal bar inside the car pretty hard.
"Don't worry, Hanei." I laugh. "This thing is very safe. Cars do not just snap off of a Ferris Wheel, you know... usually, anyway."
"Yeah, and if we all do go smashing into the ground, at least we'll all die together!" Seo Akira offers in her thoughts, before laughing her head off.
"...Wahhhh..." This just makes Hanei grow even more pale, and begin to shake.
"...Seo, if you'd like to test that theory, I can have it arranged, you know..." I lean in closer to her as I speak.
"...Ah... ahahaha. N, No, Tohno-senpai, that won't be necessary..." She shrinks back a little into her seat, and swallows nervously.
"Good," I say with a smile that's not completely non-malicious. "Hanei, ignore what Seo said. She is just trying to scare you. Ferris Wheels are probably amongst the most checked amusement park rides, so there is very little to worry about."
"Y-Yeah... but... I've never been in one..." She sounds a bit scared.
"Oh? So you are probably scared of heights then, huh?" I ask her.
Hanei simply nods slightly, staring at the floor in between my sneakers.
"Well, there's no need to be scared of heights here. You're in a car, after all. A very sturdy, secure car, held up by two rings," I say with a smile. "The whole Ferris Wheel would have to catastrophically fail... and the chances of that are very, very slim, Hanei."
Misawa Hanei loudly swallows, and shakes in her seat.
"...Jeez, all of these precautions these people take in order to make this ride perfectly safe, and you're still that afraid we're going to fall and die?" I laugh slightly.
Hanei nods nervously.
"Well then... hold onto me if you'd like to. Perhaps it will make you feel better." I extend my arms for her to hug me close to her, if she desires.
She looks at me, blinking for a moment, as if it was unusual to hug me. Before long, she scrambles over towards my seat and clings to me rather hard. I can feel her shaking slightly...
...And a little bit of her breasts since she is pushing into me. But I pretend not to notice this, just patting her back and rubbing it.
"Don't worry. I got you," I tell her. "Everything is going to be just fi–"
A loud POP interferes with both of our thoughts.
"KYAAA!" Hanei cries out and clutches me firmly, wrapping her arms around me in a bearhug. "I-I don't want to die!" My head is shoved very firmly into her chest, stifling my breathing against her large bust, the faint smell of cherry blossom-scented perfume flowing into my nostrils with what little room to breathe that I have.
"Hanei... settle... down!" I manage to pull myself away from her chest, with some force. "We're not falling, so we're not going to die!"
"...Huh? Then what was–"
"Whoa, they're starting the fireworks, Tohno-senpai!" The voice of Seo Akira gets both of our attention, and as we look at her she scrambles to turn around in her seat, in the direction of the pop.
Another one bursts, this one within my vision. A very golden yellowish-orange that fades down to deep amber before disappearing into black.
I feel Hanei's grip loosen on me, and she slowly looks out the car... and within moments, moves to get a better look. Her fear, all but forgotten, in the magic of a technicolor explosion.
Hanei has always been fascinated by fireworks. The way she looks up at them, mouth slightly opened and eyes watering slightly, watching silently and attentively... it almost feels like she wants to fly with them. To be with them.
Thanks to luck and fate, today, she is.
I dare not disturb this moment, this memory we will all share for some time, as they explode, one by one.
POP. A brilliant emerald green star that becomes darker as it falls, before fading out as all light is destined to do in some way.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE... a shell makes a screeching noise and seems to shoot up from the ground. From our position, it seems like we can reach out and touch it as it explodes with a BANG and creates a circular burst, of blue and amber. If you squint carefully, it almost looks like the Earth, as seen from space.
PTHUNK. It sounds like a mortar being lobbed into the air, almost, as the next shell launches... which is VERY interesting to me as it looks rather like a Japanese flag as it bursts.
I hug both of my friends around their shoulders, and together we watch as, for our whole trip, seemingly as if it was a private show for us and only us, the shells burst by the dozens, if not the hundreds, during our sixteen minute trip on the wheel.
Needless to say, Hanei is all smiles as she steps off. It is as if she never was scared at all.
"You seem to have lost your fear of it once the show started, Hanepin," I comment with a slight smile.
"It was amazing, Akiha-chan!" The happy expression on Hanei's face clearly shows her approval. "We should do it again sometime!"
"We will, we will. Next year, probably. For now, though... I'm pretty hungry. How about you two?"
"Uhh, sure!" says Hanei. "But... where's Akira-chan?"
"...What do you mean, 'where's Akira-chan?'" I ask, as I look to Hanei. There's one. "Seo's probably right behin–"
I turn around. Distantly, in the crowd, is "two." And she's already running towards the food vendors.
I sigh. She probably would have stuck around if she knew I were buying food, too.
"Hey... Tohno-senpai." Seo looks up from her slice of pizza as she bites it. She claims it was in the interest of "Italian culture," but I think Seo just saw me eating that hot dog earlier and decided having something unhealthy but tasty would be only fair, so I don't really argue with it, especially since she's the one who bought it.
I swallow the bite of my own slice that I've chewed in my mouth. "Hm? What is it Seo?"
She motions her head over a little in the direction of where Hanei walked off a minute ago. When I turn to look, I see that a boy is talking to her, and she's laughing happily with him.
"…...Hmm." I look him over. He's fairly decent looking. Certainly engaging her in conversation...
...and also continually glancing down at Hanei's breasts.
I sigh. Another one of those types... the type Hanei is too naive to know when they're trying to take advantage of her. It's a good thing we're nearby...
"...Seo, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask her without looking in her direction.
"...That he's not a good fit for her and that you're gonna step in?" Seo asks, clearly in agreement of disapproving of Hanei's potential new suitor.
"Bingo. Watch my stuff, will you?" I set my slice down, and begin to crack my knuckles as I get up from the table.
"Gotcha!" She turns a bit so she can see in that direction a little better, as I begin to walk towards the pair. I think Seo's beginning to get a little bit of sick amusement out of me sticking up for Hanei when she's around... but this new person currently inhabiting Tohno Akiha's body doesn't mind sticking up for her friends either.
I hear their conversation as I begin to get closer.
"...Just here with some friends," Hanei says.
"Friends? I hope they're as cute as you are, because I don't see you having anything but the prettiest friends." He smiles, making Hanei blush deeply in embarrassment. I decide to make my presence known.
"Then you tell me," I say loudly. Both Hanei and the boy turn to me.
Hanei smiles. "Oh, hi Akiha-chan!" The boy looks me down quickly. His disinterest, while subtle, is there. Clearly one of those sorts who are going after Hanei because of her body... and one of the few times where Tohno Akiha's nearly flat chest is actually an advantage.
"Who's this, Hanei?" I smile politely, while looking him down. I think he's getting the message subconsciously, and he seems slightly intimidated.
"Oh, uh... this is... uhhhhhh... Keisuke-kun. He thinks I'm pretty, Akiha-chan!" Hanei announces as she beams, innocently and naively.
"Really? What else does he think about you, Hanei?" I ask as I shift my gaze temporarily towards her, allowing the weasel his chance to back out of this before the scene becomes ugly.
"Heh... ah, I'd love to stay, but I've got things to do, sorry..." he quickly manages to spit out.
"Like what, Keisuke-kun? It's a shame that you can't stay with us, we'd love for you to," I offer a boldfaced lie, but in a way that he gets the message loud and clear that he will not actually be joining us.
"Well, uh, to be honest, I was searching for my sister..." He laughs and scratches his head nervously.
...Right, and I'm sure Hanei looked the spitting image of her... and if by some miracle of god she does, you're probably mentally ill in addition to being sleaze. What sort of pervert would sleep with his sister?
"I see. How unfortunate that you must leave, Keisuke-kun, but I wish you the best of luck in finding your sister. Well then, come on Hanei. We don't want to keep Keisuke-kun from his sister, do we?" I lightly take Hanei's hand.
"Ah... no, I guess not." She turns and waves to him with her other hand. "Bye, Keisuke-kun! Good luck on finding her, okay?"
I can hear the faint mutter of disappointment from the boy. Something along the lines of "cockblocker." Well, yes, I suppose I'm quite good at that. His will not be going anywhere near Hanei anytime soon, I'll make sure of that.
Hanei walks with me back towards our table. "Hanei, did he give you a slip of paper or anything?" I ask her as we walk back.
"Uhhh, yeah! One sec, Akiha-chan." She fishes in her purse for it. I already know what it will be, but I just want to make sure. "...Here you go, Akiha-chan!" she hands the paper over to me – as expected, without even looking at what it contains. Such is the naivete of Misawa Hanei.
"Thanks, Hanei," I tell her as I open it up and look inside. Sure enough. "076-297-2612. Call me - Keisuke." I sigh as I crumple it up in my hand.
"...What's the matter, Akiha-chan?" Hanei blinks. "What did Keisuke-kun write in that?"
"He was asking you for help with his homework, Hanei... but as he does not go to our school, he must learn to do his homework on his own. Come on, let's go back to the table." I mime putting in my pocket. In reality, I have my origami instantly vaporize the paper.
Nice try, Keisuke-kun, I think to myself as I feel the paper vaporize in my hand and the ash begin flow through my fingers.
Seo's smirking almost catlike at both myself and Hanei when we get back. "Well, how'd it go, Hanei-san?"
"Good, Akira-chan!" Hanei smiles and bites down into her surely slightly cold slice of pizza, giving a slight "Mm-hmm!" and smile of approval. As she's not looking, I mime grabbing my breasts and roll my eyes.
So does Seo. Well, the eye rolling anyway. At least she's smart enough to recognize sleaze when she sees it. Girl's smarter than a lot of people give her credit for.
"Hey, Tohno-senpai," Seo says after we both recover and manage to resume straight faces.
"Hm?" I ask as I watch Hanei eat her food, picking up my own and biting into it once more.
"I was thinking... want to go to the haunted house before we leave?" She asks. "Besides, it's pretty rare that we get Hanei-san to go with us..." Seo Akira's smirk is... a little impish.
...I like that in a woman.
"...If you want to, sure." I say with an equally mischievous smile. "It'd be fun to go through one, right Hanei?"
"Uhhhhh... yeah..." Hanei is a bit easily spooked, and not too fond of these sorts of things.
"Don't worry, Hanei. Nothing bad will really happen," I tell her. "It's just something for fun. If you're scared, you can just hang on to me."
"…...Okay." She's still a little nervous, but Hanei is playing along, at least. Or perhaps her experience on the Ferris Wheel has toughened her resolve some.
"Well, finish up, and then we'll go see it, hit the gift shop, and then I guess we'll go our separate ways for today." I announce. "It was fun company with the two of you. Let's do it more often in the future, okay?"
"Okay, Tohno-senpai!" Seo smiles happily and begins to wolf down her food. For such a small, skinny girl, she could probably out-eat a man twice her size. For her part, Hanei nods, and finishes up her food. I collect all of the garbage, and throw it out into the nearest can, and together we walk over to the attraction.
"Heh... 'Be warned, you may not come out alive!'" I say as I read the sign. "Of course we won't, we're walking to our deaths. Three dead girls, ticking down the final moments. On the bright side, no need to worry about midterms, right Hanei?" I ask the girl who is already clutching onto my arm.
She gulps sharply, her skin a bit pale. Seo giggles a little upon seeing this. Teasing Hanei is fun from time to time. I don't see why nobody else seems to want to do it. Although at the same time, how much one can tease Hanei has a limit, so it's best to be careful not to overdo it.
We walk inside after showing our armbands to the attendant, who simply waves us through. Nobody else is in here right now. This results in the place feeling perhaps a little more abandoned and spooky than it normally would otherwise.
"...Well, I guess we walk through, huh?" I shrug. All the other doors aside from the "main path" are shut, sealed off, or otherwise made inaccessible in some way. "Come on. This way." I take Hanei's hand, and she nervously walks with me, with Seo on my other side.
A skeleton bursts through the door as we walk past presumably a motion sensor of some kind. Hanei shrieks and clings to me for dear life, pulling me into her body once more. Seo is startled, too, and jumps, but doesn't clutch to me, unlike Hanei.
Me... meh. I've seen worse.
"Jeez, settle down, you two. It's just a puppet, you know. See?" I laugh, as I flick the skeleton's head. It seems to be made of very cleverly painted paper-mâché.
"...Jeez. You're completely unshakable, Tohno-senpai," Seo says.
"I... It still scared me, Akiha-chan..." I feel Hanei squeeze my hand slightly as she pulls herself away from me. Well, I'd admittedly feel bad if I got her TOO worked up... so I squeeze back so she isn't as scared.
We keep on walking. I'll admit, the haunted house is actually pretty good. It'd scare quite a lot of people. Hanei has been clinging to me for the last several minutes. Seo looks a little bit afraid, and her eyes are darting all around. She does jump a bit in my direction every time something pops out, or some evil, ominous laugh is played over a hidden speaker.
I'm a little wide-eyed too, but I'm pretty much just playing along. After all... compared to the sorts of things Tohno Akiha has seen, a haunted house is child's play.
All of us hear a loud BANG and an animatronic of a creature with a bag over its misshapen head appears in a doorway, the chainsaws on its arms swinging a bit. It lets out a very dull, throaty roar, before its path to us is "sealed off" by a door between it and us slamming shut.
"EEEEK!" Hanei practically jumps out of her skin, compared to Seo and – admittedly – my jump. She stumbles and falls backward into a pillar. "Owwwww..." She rubs her butt a little on the ground.
I sigh. Maybe bringing Hanei along to an attraction she doesn't like isn't a good idea after all. It's fun to be scared, but not so fun when you're so scared that you're actually beginning to hurt yourself on accident.
I walk over and offer my hand to help her up, which she takes very slowly and carefully, still rubbing her butt with her other hand, and I hug her. "You okay, Hanei?"
"Yeah... fine..." She sniffles slightly. She looks like she's just about had enough of this, which makes me feel even worse. Perhaps she's at her breaking point, so it would be wise for us to finish our tour of this house and leave, so that Hanei remembers a day filled with fun, as opposed to a day that she was completely scared out of her wits.
"...Come on, Hanei," I say gently. "We'll be out of here very soon, and when we are, I'll buy you a nice, big bag of cotton candy. Alright?"
"...'kay, Akiha-chan," she says, clearly still shaken.
"Okay," I tell her, and I squeeze her hand. Together we begin walking back towards Seo.
A loud creaking noise from above interrupts our movement.
I look up... and I see a big part of the pillar is coming down... straight for us.
My eyes widen in surprise. "Seo, move! Now!" I immediately grab Hanei, throw her down to the ground, and cover her body with mine. I can take a blow like this, Hanei can't...
"WAHH! A-Akiha-chan?ǃ" Hanei cries out, before she looks up past me, and notices what is falling, her eyes widening.
Unfortunately, Seo does not heed my warning. She turns to me instead. "...Huh? Why, Tohno-senp–"
It is at this point that she looks up.
WHAM.
A gasp of horror from Hanei Misawa.
"SEO!" I scramble off of Hanei and run over towards her, and quickly look her over. Fortunately, she tried to dive out of the way... unfortunately, she failed to completely do so. The way the pillar has fallen, it has pinned her legs firmly to the ground.
I race over to the front of her. Her eyes are welling up in tears from pain, and her pupils are dilated a bit from the mental, if not physical, shock of what's happened. "Seo, are you okay?ǃ" I call to her.
"...I... I can't move my legs, Tohno-senpai!" She's trying her best to get away. She struggles a bit, but her body definitely isn't budging.
I look over the pillar that has pinned her. Feeling it, it's definitely not made of paper-mâché, but something much, much firmer. I try to push it off of her, but it's definitely made of something durable, thick, and heavy... at least twice my weight... maybe more.
...There is no way I can easily get this off of her.
"...Shit!" I turn to Hanei, who's very pale and nervous-looking. "Hanei! Go get help! Now!"
"Wh... What...?" Her whole body's shaking, in shock. A very faint, lingering odor of urine permeates the air.
"HELP! GO GET IT!" I shout at her.
Hanei nervously nods, and scrambles to her feet, then runs off. I hear her yelling echo throughout the attraction. "Help! Help! Somebody, help!" Eventually, they fade to silence.
I turn back to Seo, who is still struggling to get out. Her legs are pinned, and the way she fell, her foot and ankle are a bit awkwardly placed. There is a chance it is sprained, dislocated... or worse, broken entirely.
"Seo, can you still feel this?" I feel her legs carefully, checking for muscle tone, temperature, and solidity. Hopefully it hasn't crushed them...
"Y-Yeah, Tohno-senpai..." she manages to tell me.
…...Phew. She still has sensation. That's good. Muscle tone is firm, so nothing broken... so far... but who knows once she stands...
...I sigh. I'm going to have to become myself again, aren't I... and not just myself... but that part of myself. The longer this thing is on her legs, the greater the chance for irreparable harm to her.
...I have no choice. I was hoping it didn't come down to this, but between my secrets, and the safety of my friends...
...My friends win every time.
"...Seo, look away. This is going to hurt." I say sternly, as if it were an order.
She blinks... but thankfully complies.
And with that... I unleash myself fully.
Dammit... of all the times I've never wanted to reveal my true self...
...But I'm not going to let Seo be harmed forever by this!
Even if... even if that means she'll learn my secret...
Next Week (3/6/11) – Chapter 40: "I Won't Become The Thing I Hate!"