08.02.11
THE CARNIVAL
Every year during the summer, my town plays host to a traveling carnival for a week. They usually come in July, but they've been late/early in the past too. I went to my first when I was five, the year before my mother died. I don't remember much besides riding the merry-go-round and my dad getting sick from eating too much bento.
We didn't go the next year, or the year after that. In fact, I didn't start going again until two years ago when my dad's friend Mizuzu came to visit and brought with him his rather upbeat and bubbly daughter, Mei. Yes, this is the same Mei I mentioned in a previous post. This was how we first met, and we became good friends after spending time together at the carnival which Mei insisted we go to. I had been reluctant, but somehow she talked me into it, and I was surprised at how much fun I had. I even rode the merry-go-round.
Anyway, I'm sure from this little intro of mine, you have a pretty good idea of where the next part of my story took place. Last year, I didn't have a Mei around to beg and plead until I was convinced to go.
Nope, instead I had six (okay, four) androids who decided a visit to the carnival was a wonderful idea. Granted, I already kind of wanted to go, that's why I didn't just order them to stop asking. My only condition was that we would not go on the Ferris Wheel or anything like that. I was still anxious about heights after the fiasco from that whole stuntwoman mix up.
We arrived early on either the fourth or fifth day of the event (I can't really remember). I could sense that everyone wanted to run in different directions, so I quickly ordered the androids to stay in a group unless I stated otherwise. There was pouting, but nobody disobeyed, not like they could anyway (I was still refusing to think too hard on Tamaki).
We went on a few of the less extreme rides, I go some ramen noodles, which Tamaki for some reason found fascinating, and in general, things ran pretty smoothly.
"Hey, Tamaki, wanna try some of this slurpee stuff, I bet it's tasty?"
"GAH! How dare you pour that on me! You fools know we don't drink anything!"
…pretty smoothly.
Granted, this was an isolated incident, so I wasn't about to blow up at Hikaru and Kaoru over it. I calmly walked to them and snatched the empty cup that once contained a barely touched slurpee drink I bought but hadn't liked and tossed it into a nearby garbage can. I then grabbed a wad of napkins when the guy behind the refreshments counter wasn't looking and gave them to Tamaki. All that completed, I was now faced with the task of dealing with those bothersome twins we've all come to know and love. They were wearing cheeky grins, which I'd come to find was their default expression, as I focused on them.
"Hikaru," I addressed the twin who'd done the pouring. "That was incredibly rude and you know it. I want you to apologize to Tamaki right now and never do something like that again."
I paused, then eyeballed the other twin and made a last second addition to my speech.
"You too, Kaoru, apologize."
They didn't answer right away. Actually, they didn't answer at all. They did however stare into my so hard I think I could feel some pressure in my head like it was about to explode. And I had absolutely no idea what had caused this. Even when I had my big rant session on the Extreme! set, they hadn't looked as… I can't even describe it, it was like I'd grown three heads or something.
This lasted a much shorter amount of time than it felt, I just couldn't stop from shrinking away from their gazes. Then it all stopped, they blinked and smiled as one, but there was no mirth behind it. Hard as it was for me to believe at the time (and still a little bit now) they looked pretty shaken.
"Okay, Haruhi," they answered me, and Hikaru accompanied his with a nod before they turned abruptly and stepped towards Tamaki, who was still drying himself off.
I stared after them, not really sure how to feel about what had just happened. It occurred to me that this was the first time I'd ever seen either of them do something independent of the other. Had I done something to cause it? All I did was ask them to apologize, did something in my words trigger this?
All these questions and many more would have to wait, for at that moment, I was jarred from my quest for understanding by the very subject of mine and the twin's conversation.
"Haruhi! There's a man over there who says he'll give me a toy if I just knock over some glass bottles! You should let me play for you, please please PLEASE?"
Tamaki's eyes were sparkling through his entire fast paced and breathless speech. Consciously or not, he was also leaning uncomfortably close, requiring me to lean back away from him. We stared at each other, then I backed up for real and coughed.
"I don't know, Tamaki. I don't really li-"
"But you MUST, Haruhi," he begged me. "Those toys all have such sweet, smiling faces. I'd like to see you smile as well, my beloved."
My eye twitched at the name. Hadn't I asked him over and over again not to call me that? He was still giving me that look, and I realized that he wasn't going to give up on this. Sighing, I reached into my purse and handed him 200 yen, enough for two games. It wouldn't hurt I supposed, as long as he didn't do something crazy like-
"Hang on," I pulled him back upon suddenly remembering that this was a man made of metal parts that I was dealing with. That combined with his unbelievable naivety was a recipe for disaster as far as I was concerned.
"Please remember that most humans aren't as strong as you guys. Go extremely easy on this, okay?"
Tamaki gave me a charming smile and kissed me on the forehead before I could stop him. For some reason though, I only found this slightly annoying rather than intensely annoying like I used to.
"Anything for you, my love."
That however was as irritating as ever. Especially considering I wasn't the only one who'd heard it.
"Okay, young man, step right up," the carnival worker said to Tamaki as he handed over the money I gave him. "Win a lovely prize for your girlfriend."
At this, Tamaki gave a chuckle.
"Oh, Haruhi is not my girlfriend, she's my cousin."
The man, whom I should probably mention was clearly a foreigner, froze, money in one hand and basket of ball in the other. I, meanwhile, suddenly had this great urge to simultaneously slam my head against a hard surface and slam Tamaki's head against a hard surface. Clearly, we still had some things to work out, including where and when the cover story was needed.
"Riiiight," the man finally said, eyeballing us oddly. He dropped the basket, which contained three tennis balls and pointed at the pyramid stacked trio of milk bottles. "Just knock over all three bottles, and you can have whatever prize you like."
Tamaki nodded, picking up the first ball and throwing it without aiming or even looking at the target. If you're thinking he has some kind of robotic targeting system that would enable him to get a hit without looking, you'd be wrong. The bad smacked against the wall several feet to the left of the bottles. The worker clicked his tongue.
"Well, you got two more," he reassured Tamaki. "Try to aim it this time."
The android glanced at me, as if needing my permission to pick up the second ball and try again. I gave him a small smile, which did the trick as he grabbed the next ball, held it in mid throw while narrowing his eyes at the center space between the bottles, and threw. The ball sailed through the air, and I'm no sports enthusiast or anything, but even I could tell it was a good throw. The ball closed in on the bottles, hitting them square in the center.
And bounced right off.
I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. Lo and behold, the tower was standing as perfectly as if he'd made another bad throw. I heard the worker chuckle and saw him shaking his head.
"Oooh, so close. Well, you still have one more."
The smile he wore was not even close to the friendly one he'd been wearing up until now. All of a sudden, he looked so smug and sleazy it make me scowl and wish I hadn't let Tamaki waste my money on this. It was clear to me now that this game was rigged, those bottles were probably glued down or something. I can't imagine anyone had ever won before. Glancing at Tamaki, I could see that he wasn't ready to give up, and I probably should have listened to the growing feeling inside me that said he was about to do something he didn't. I ignored that feeling, and could only watch the blonde headed android pick up the final ball and lob it at the target, much harder than he had the last few times.
I opened my mouth to say something, but it was far too late. I can't even begin to explain what happened next.
Because the thing is, he didn't knock over the bottles. Not even one. No, what he did was way worse. I don't even know how this was possible, it shouldn't be possible. But, I saw it with my own two eyes and I have that carnival worker as an eyewitness.
The ball went through the glass right in the center. And left a hole.
A hole.
Nothing shattered, there were no cracks in the glass, it looked perfect as ever.
Except for that ball sized hole in the middle.
The carnival worker was somehow more amazed than I was. His jaw went all the way down and his eyes bugged out. He pointed a shaky finger and the bottles and the clearly very proud of himself Tamaki, who grinned happily at the man.
"So, do I win?" He asked. "I'm not sure if that counts, but if not, I could try again, right?"
"No!" The man shouted, waving his hand in fear. "No, no, you won. Take whatever you like and go!"
As per usual, Tamaki completely missed the tone of the man's voice, focusing only on his words and he let out a cheer and grabbed the first stuffed toy he could find on display. Jumping with joy, he held the animal, a bear specifically, in my face.
"Look Haruhi, I won this for you," he squealed. "Isn't he just the cutest?"
It should probably be mentioned that the bear had an obvious frown, and the way it's eyes had been stitched gave the appearance of a scowl.
"Uh… he's nice. I don't really like stuffed animals though."
Tamaki visibly deflated. His shoulders sagged and he stopped jumping, his smile melting away. I flinched slightly, not liking the face he was making and wondering when I started caring about him being sad.
"Well, if you want, you could hold him for a while," I amended, hoping this would make him at least a little happier.
To my surprise, he seemed pretty satisfied with this. He brightened right back up, though thankfully he didn't start jumping again. People were beginning to stare.
"Okay, I'll hold him for you, Haruhi. I promise to protect him with my life!" He declared, and I'd grown far too used to this sort of melodrama to try and bring him back down to earth. "But what should we name him?"
I tilted my head to one side. "Name him?"
"Of course!" Tamaki cried, looking slightly offended. "Everyone and everything should have a name. So why don't we call him…"
He paused, furrowing his brow as he tackled the difficult and life changing task of naming a stuffed toy. Tamaki gasped, a light bulb going off in his head.
"I know, his name is Kuma-chan!" Tamaki raised the bear into the sky, as if announcing this to the world.
"Kuma-chan?"
"Yes, I'd been thinking Antoinette, but then I decided that name was more suitable for a dog."
And to that, I had no response.
I swear, Tamaki said the strangest things.
Several hours went by. I and the group continued to try various rides and a few more games, though none of them won anything and I was incredibly grateful for that. The sun was beginning to set and the sky darkened accordingly. Around six thirty, I decided it was time to head home, but apparently today was 'Drag Haruhi Around The Carnival Day' since I found myself being pulled again, only this time by a much different robot.
"Come on, Haru-chan," Hunny exclaimed. "I want to go on that ride!"
I wondered what this scene would look like to an outsider. Probably like a boy dragging his big sister to a ride while laughing happily. A perfectly normal, every day, heartwarming scene. As long as Hunny didn't try any of that 'Beloved' stuff, I was just fine with this.
"This is gonna be so much fun!" The small android cried.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he pulled me past a couple of kiddy rides.
"Over there," Hunny pointed with his free hand. I followed it, my eyes finding a very familiar and very nostalgic sight.
The merry go around.
It hit me right then that this was the only ride I hadn't gone on today. I couldn't believe I'd missed it. It looked just as I remembered it too, the colorfully painted horses and ponies turning slowly on it's axis and accompanied by tinkling music box tune. Hunny stopped on the rather short line, showing his and my bracelets to the ride operator. He lead me to a pair of free pony seats. I took the farthest one, a purple painted pony with purple and pink hair and a unicorn horn. Hunny's had no horn and was completely pink. It looked rather bubbly, sort of like Hunny himself. I grasped the handle bar firmly as the ride started.
It moved slowly at first, picking up speed as the my seat moved up and down. I watched the world spun around, catching sight of Kyoya standing with Tamaki by a face painter, the twins getting on a roller coaster for the sixth time, and Mori in the crowd of parents, watching Hunny like a hawk.
I set my own gaze on the small android. He was kicking his legs this way and that, humming along with the music. I found myself smiling, he really was like a child. I couldn't believe he was really the strongest of the androids and an expect martial artist. That bunny of his was crushed under his arm, I don't think I've ever seen him without it. His innocent disposition had some negative effects as well. I felt a twinge of jealousy, I hadn't been like that since I was three and witnessed a screaming fit between my parents and my mother's parents, which I later found out was over my father's cross dressing. I knew then how cruel and uncaring some people could be, even to their own families. My grandparents never came back to visit again.
And here was Hunny, a robot with a ten year old body and a who knows how old level of intelligence. He was a pure person, even with his lethality. He was happy found everything enjoyable, traits he shared with Tamaki, I realized. My jealously faded away, making room for admiration. I don't think I ever admired anyone as much as Hunny in that moment.
When the ride came to a stop, he was the first one off his horse. Hunny held out a hand for me, and I took it with a smile, allowing him to help me off. We met up with Mori in the group, who silently listened to Hunny excitedly tell him every single detail of the ride that he could think of. I was too busy staring at the sky, which was now a dark purple that was a hair's breath away from black.
"How did it get so late," I wondered aloud, glancing at my wristwatch. "We'd better get home soon."
"Home already?" Kyoya asked, appearing out of nowhere right behind me. "That's quite a shame, Tamaki was telling me how much he wanted to see the firework display."
I blinked. "Fireworks?"
"Yeah," the twins answered, coming up from the other direction and wrapping their arms around me. "They said there's going to be a big show tonight, don't you want to see it?"
"Fireworks sound like fun, Haru-chan," Hunny jumped in.
"Yeah," Mori agreed.
I couldn't see Tamaki yet, odds were he'd gone off on his own to the fireworks display. I knew where they set them off every year, a hill just at the edge of the carnival that had an amazing view of the sky, especially on clear nights like this one. My eyes went in the hill's direction, and as I suspected, I could clearly see Tamaki's blonde head just over the colorful tents and waving flags.
With a sigh, I wiggled out of Hikaru and Kaoru's grasp, gestured them and the others to follow me as I headed to the hill.
I mean, why not? It was a nice night, and the fireworks were always beautiful, everyone had behaved today, and I was really just in a very good mood. I found I was really enjoying myself for the first time in weeks. The androids were all smiling and happy, and it was contagious, I grinned along with them. We caught up with Tamaki, who was clutching Kuma-chan to him and eagerly showing us the spot he'd picked for us to watch the show. I sat in the cool grass, feeling the summer air on my face. It was a cool night for July, just the right kind of weather for the right kind of day. I didn't think anything could happen that would make things turn sour.
And in some ways, I was right. It was getting easier, I was coming to like the androids, they were toning down their wild behavior. It was a slow process, but it was getting somewhere.
I can't say the same for this night.
This would become very apparent to me when I got home later on.
You read that sentence correctly, by the way. When I say 'I got home,' I mean, 'I got home.'
Not 'we,' I.
Just you wait and see.
Posted by Haruhi at 10:05 pm 0 comments