I wondered what will happen if I never came here, waking up in the next morning, with the truth I refused to accept. It has already been two days since Yuuma asked my out for a date. A date with Yuuma is sure dreamy, however, what if the world suddenly changes that causes him to disappear again?
I couldn't help but overthinking it, eventually, my eyelids became heavy, slowly, I fell asleep. I opened my eyes, it's the theme park as I saw online. A roller-coaster that looks like a dragon, a pirate's ship on the left, a ferris-wheel at the back... It's just like the place I'm going tomorrow. But Yuuma is not here, why am I here?
The crowd are so blurry, I couldn't hear any words they said even they were loud. Faces looked unrecognisable, perhaps I'm not in the actual world? I hear footsteps. Despite many people walking, their footsteps are less audible compared to the one I heard, it's kind of vivid... I turned to the source of the tapping sounds, it's a familiar figure. Is it...? Yuuma?
I ran towards him, and grabbed his hand. He turned around, seeing his face astonishes me. It's not Yuuma, it's Ryutenji.
"Hello, Rika. What can I do to help you this time." Ryutenji said calmly.
"No, why are you here?!" I asked, unable to contain my anger. Why is he always around? Is he really observing me? I can always feel his presence, yet sometimes I couldn't see him.
"I'm your answer to your trial." Ryutenji said, which ends with a light chuckle.
"Then what is my trial?!" I asked impatiently.
"Well, if I tell you, your trial will be too easy to be considered done. Ame might change her mind if I do so." Ryutenji said, with a stern look on his face.
I forced myself to calm down, trying to not make the situation worse. I really do not know what am I supposed to do to pass the trial. He mentioned "answer", is it supposed to be a question? Or is it a decision? I can't figure it out at all...
"I'll see you again tomorrow, sweet dreams." Ryutenji said, while walking away, his footsteps emitted the tapping noises, slowly I blacked out into deep sleep...
I woke up to an alarm ringtone I set on my phone. It's early in the morning. I scratched my head, my messy hair, which had grown quite a bit reaches the back of my shoulders, it's such a long time I had such a long hair. It brings me back. I used to have a long hair, Yuuma often tells me that I'm cute with that hair. It's still early in the morning, where my eyes aren't wide open, yet I can feel a broad smile appeared on my face.
I spent half an hour after taking a simple breakfast, trying on outfits I wanted to wear for the date. I regretted to not shop for a outfit for the date. When I tried on the clothes I had in my wardrobe, they looked plain and tomboyish. I almost gave up, when I saw a small bag hidden in a corner of my wardrobe, I pulled it out - it was... A beautiful dress! A card on top of the bag says "Good luck on your date!". Who could this be...?
I tried it on and I looked cute! I had given up at being cute due to being bullied for it. Looking at the mirror longer slowly invokes those memories. My heart races, I felt uneasy, my head is dizzy. I-I-I'm... I'm scared! The reason I made myself to look plainly is because Yuuma was very close to me that time. It was also due to the fact Yuuma became popular, that caused one of the delinquents targeted me so that I stay away from Yuuma. The experience traumatised me, I still remember the filthy look when I was soaked by dirty water, my hair that is cut into mess, and my helpless face being pressed to the mirror. That very image of myself caused me to curse myself to become too close with Yuuma. I'm disgusted by myself.
I curled up in my room, shuddering. I heard my phone rang, but I didn't answered it. Until I heard footsteps running upwards from downstairs. Is it Yuuma? Someone opened my room's door. Is it Yuuma?
"Rinka-chan, are you okay?!" It's Yuuma's voice, cried out of worry. He held me with his warm arms, I cried for a while, it feels so good to embrace someone you didn't dared yourself to love for the longest period of time.
I pushed him lightly, signalling that I'm fine. He seems like blushing after going for a bold move like this. I smirked.
"Hey... Yuuma. How do I look today?" I asked.
"You... Looked cute." He replied.
"Liar." I said.
"Anything looks cute if it's... You..." He said, with his blushing face. I took the plain clothes near me and showed it to Yuuma.
"The dress in wearing or this outfit... Which one did you prefer...?" I asked, with my face bright red.
"You can wear whatever you want. As long as you are fine with it... You seemed troubled with your current outfit, I guess." Yuuma said, it's accurate, he figured out the reason I'm in this state...
I pushed him out of my room to wait for me to prepare myself. I locked the door, and put on my makeup. I opened my door. I saw Yuuma, with a surprised look, slowly turns into fascination. Am... Am I really that cute...? I told my parents that I'll have a date with Yuuma, so I'll be fine. I went downstairs to inform them that we are leaving, they smirked and whispers to Yuuma, the whispers are not soft, I could literally hear them.
"If you want, you may take her home tonight. Hehehe..." My mother said.
"Mom!" I shouted.
Regardless of that scene we stirred up, Yuuma and me are heading towards the station. We are going to the Central city. Thinking back, I've never been to Central city much back then, I only get to visit there quite a few times because of Yuuma being hospitalised. How is Dr. Hiro doing now? Did his cure worked on his patients? I should have watch some news to catch that... He is going to get a "Savior Prize" for that achievement I guess.
We took a train, it's less crowded than usual days, since it's summer break. Everyone here looks like they have plans with their friends. Some are a group of friends, some are alone, and some are couples who held hands and telling each other things that made them laugh. I hope I have something like that to talk with Yuuma. Something tapped on my shoulder, I instinctly turn around and Yuuma's finger poked my face. I got a bit angry and hitted him lightly. He laughed, and so did I. I never thought he would make me laugh this way. Yuuma is sure... Dreamy to be with...
The first date spot is an astrological exhibition where Yuuma was very interested to visit. It seems boring, but there is a chance of it mentioning the star that I wished upon, I focused on every parts of the exhibits, in the end, I learned a lot of things unrelated to what I wanted. At least I have a good conversation with Yuuma after walking out from there.
The next spot is a cafe, where we had coffee and some tasty crepes, I haven't had one before, it feels awkward to eat my first crepe in front of Yuuma. It's him who ordered it for me by the way... We had fun eating and talking, it seems like all my worries has been washed away after having a good time with Yuuma. I wore a dress I never dated myself I wear, and I had an amazing day with Yuuma. This is more than a jackpot, really.
At last, the theme park I have been eager to visit, is now in front of me. We queued up for a while to get in, it is sure crowded. We tried different rides, the roller-coaster, the pirate's ship and some random games in the theme park. We won some prizes from some of them, among all the prizes we've got, I like the sea lion plush! It's the one Yuuma tried his hardest to get it for me. I love it, I love Yuuma too! We had an ice cream, walked around the theme park, and even entered the ghost house attraction despite I'm really bad with scarry stuff.
Being together with Yuuma is just like in a sweet dream, Yuuma leaned towards me and held my hands.
"Rinka-chan, I don't know why I felt this way, but I'm really happy meeting you." Yuuma said, with his face blushing but serious. Is this about to be a confession? With him looking at me with his bright red cheeks, I started to feel embarrassed as well.
Actually... Everything that happened today, including your thoughts were all my thoughts. I simply wished it to become this way. Perhaps you will feel dumbfounded after knowing this, but this is something I am capable of doing in this world. I had no choice but to abuse it. I wanted to change so badly. No more hiding my true abilities, no more having to read the atmosphere to act pathetic, also... To not resist Yuuma's feelings towards me... I just wanted to live my life in my own way...
The sun sank into the horizon, slowly. However, we only see each other now. We didn't notice that time is passing. Slowly, the sky darkens, signalling the closing hours of the theme park. Times as happy as such tends to end before we noticed. But we left this place filled with happy memories of ours with a smile.
Just as we left the theme park, preparing to head to the station, my phone rings. I picked up the call, it's Haruko.
"Rika-san, the people around my neighbourhood are acting weird, could you help me?" Haruko said.
People acting weird? What happened?!