I squinted my eyes and peered around, searching for a certain person. Not long ago Eimi was walking right by my side but at some point, I noticed even her shadow couldn't be seen.
I tried to remember when and where did I'd lost her but failed. Guess, trying to think about something with large crowds along their noises made me feel dizzy.
Searching for her, I walked around aimlessly. The sky glowed in sharp yellow-orange color and the clouds around it reflected its light, which meant the sun was about to hide and not long enough before the moon roused. Knowing this, I knew I had to hurry to find Eimi before our teacher called us for the roll call.
I sped up my pace, darting my gaze around quite anxiously. I felt guilty since I was the last person with her before she had gone, but I knew I would find her eventually. *I'm a grown-up after all.*
With my eyes looking around, I'd bumped into someone and nearly stumbled backward. Fortunately, I reflexively repositioned my feet and avoided that incident. And I was surprised by the way I did it.
"Ummm, sorr…"
I was about to apologize but I halted as I saw who was I'd bumped into. It was the spiky boy. There were drops of sweat on his forehead and he was breathing heavily. I contemplated for a second about what happened to him and came up with the solution: he surely having fun.
"Sa…sakura!" he blurted, eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost (as usual).
"…What?"
"I found…you," mumbling, he paused between his words. Confused, my brows curved, and stepped back. "No, it's oum… Hello?"
*That just made me a lot more confused**,* I thought, and tend to leave.
"Oum anyway I—"
Paying him no mind, I passed him by. Since Eimi was appeared to be lost, I had no time to deal with the spiky boy's bizarre behavior. If ever something happened to her I was certain that I would feel a little bit restless. Not that it was my obligation to look after her, but still…
But then, I felt a hand on my wrist. It was so cold that made me worried if it was because of the temperature or just because of his sweat.
I looked at him over my shoulder, baffled.
"You're not with that sharp-tongued girl?" he asked, looking around me.
*…sharp-tongued girl?* I nearly asked, but then I remembered how Eimi talked to him.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who gave nicknames to the other kids. It wasn't necessary but still, it was easy to remember them that way.
I didn't answer instead I waited for him to free my hand. As though reading my thoughts, he released his grasp, and a red shade crept over his face as if embarrassed.
With his face downcast, he said, "Sorry."
And I just replied with, "Don't mind it."
Unexpectedly, he wasn't quite the insensitive as I thought, he was just…*weird.*
Then, I turned around only to get halted by him for the second time. "I knew it! She's still a kid and irresponsible!" he huffed, crossing his arms and sticking out his chest, for some reason. "And here I thought she will take good care of you."
Disappointed, he sighed.
Though I didn't understand why he'd stated those words, I was more confused why someone need to take care of me. Certainly, my mind wandered when something caught my curiosity but…*if it wouldn't merit me anything, I would never pay attention to it.*
"And, then…" His tone suddenly changed.
"Then?" His haughty expression started to crumble.
"I…will help you looking for her. You know they say… Two is better than one and if we look for her together, maybe we found her… in no time," he suggested, his voice getting low and low in each word.
Granted, what he'd said had a sense. If I searched around aimlessly, I might get myself driven by the large crowds and lost. This time, I wasn't confident to say that I wouldn't be lost when this situation occurred since I was dealing with large crowds. What could a child do against a rally of adults, right?
"Then…"
I flinched as I felt the familiar sensation on my hand, but this time he wasn't fully taken over it but he only held the part of my hand with his thumb and index finger. I glance at his fully red face, he was looking down but still, a part of me that knew that his face was covered in flushed.
"It…it was better this way, we can search for her without getting separated from each other…and you know, your mind keeps wandering around so you could bump into someone again!" Nervously, he started to give me a dismissive hand, while I watched my left hand sway to and fro along with his. "In other words, I… I will search for her while protecting you," he added, bringing our hands back down.
For a second, I felt a slight thump in my chest. I have no idea what it was or what causes it to happen but…it certainly made me hard to breathe. I felt an ember slowly lighting its fire inside, gradually making its way around my heart, and nuzzling it.
I pondered if this blaze would burn me one day, but I discarded this thought and just gave it a shrug.
"O-okay, thank you," I said, though part of me felt resistant to the idea; him holding my hand.
His face lightened and I thought for a second I saw someone glittered in his eyes. But I knew such things as that never happened in real life. *Perhaps, it's just my imagination.*
*"Yeah, I'm sure it is."*
"Did you say anything, Sakura?" he asked, peering at my face.
"Nope."
He surely seemed in a good mood since his grin was showing on his face. Should I remind him to try to act normal? Though, I was sure this was 'normal' for him. Not that I hate it, but I couldn't bring myself to say I like it. *Guess, I just don't mind.*
"Oh right, Sakura, I forgot to ask but have you decided where would you attend in junior high?" he asked, as we went our way through the crowds.
Now that was an out-of-the-blue question that came from a boy like him. We were only in fifth grade, which means we still had a year or so to think about junior high school. That reminded me, I still hadn't decided where I'd attend in junior high. That wasn't the adult-ish thing to do. Should I attend the school same as my sister? Or should I choose the school that focused more on academics?
Well, it wasn't right to leave him hanging so I answered, "Dunno, there's a lot of good schools so I can't decide yet."
"I see… So you haven't picked one, huh…" he muttered, he also said something but it was barely hearable.
"Why did you ask?"
"Huh?" At this, he sounded like he didn't know what to answer. "No, you know…I…" he started stuttering again, as usual.
I always wanted to ask him this but, was he sick or something?
His face was sweating a lot so I promptly brought my face close to his. He recoiled, as though something pushing his face away from me but I still looked at him closer. As I do so, the weird red color showed up again. I raised my hand and checked his temperature. I wouldn't do what my sister always did to me where she brought our foreheads together since we were in public, I have no idea if that would allow me to feel his temperature well but my palm should be enough.
*It's weird… * As I was checking his temperature, I felt the heat suddenly roused up. My eyes fell from his forehead to his face. Our eyes met and I felt by how a small gap between my hand and his forehead formed that he was taken aback. He seemed to be flustered because I suddenly touched him, his eyes widened and his mouth wouldn't stop trembling.
"What's the matter?" I asked, this time though, I really felt worried for him.
"You…"
"…what?"
"You should be more careful, Sakura…"
As he said these words, slowly he retracted his face from me and walked ahead. I followed him. I felt like I did something wrong but I couldn't guess what was it.
Looking at him, it seemed he was still a bit restless because I touched his forehead. *Oh, I get it.*
"So—sorry," I apologized. It seemed like I invaded his private space. Thinking about it, if someone would abruptly touch my head, I'd also get mad. Of course, except if it was my big sister.
"Mhm…" He shook his head and looked at me. "It seemed that brat didn't tell you anything."
"Brat?"
"I…I mean sharp-tongued girl." He seemed to have a lot of nicknames for Eimi. Not that I mind, though. I supposed he probably couldn't stick to anything and constantly change his mind.
"Tell me what?" It seemed Eimi had something to tell me and the spiky boy knew it too. But then, Eimi didn't tell me anything when we were wandering earlier, or did she just forget it.
"Oh, do you want some?" He pointed to the vending machine near the fishing game.
I was about to refuse but he suddenly rushed to it. I hastily followed him and realized we didn't do any searching at all.
He pushed the buttons and it emitted a weird sound. I never used a vending machine before so I felt surprised that he knew how to use one. Of course, I also knew how to use it but I felt pressure every time I tried to buy a drink from it— Especially, when someone was waiting for their turn at my back— so I always ended up turning my heel and left without buying one.
"Here…"
He handed me a carton of mango juice. I refused it by shaking my hands but he forcefully placed it in my hand. *He's really weird,* I thought as I reminisced his every action.
For some reason, he was very considerate when it comes to me, even I noticed that. I had no idea if it was just his way of interacting with me but I knew he approached me differently than the other kids, as though he was treating me like his favorite pet. Though I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not, I shouldn't let myself become too dependent on him. *I didn't know why but that's what my adult instinct said.*
Having that said, I hadn't thought to avoid him or anything.
As we continued searching for the pigtailed girl—Eimi, the spiky boy hadn't stopped pointing in each stall that seemed to take his interest and gradually rushing towards them. In my part, I had no choice but to heave a sigh and followed him. I couldn't afford to lose two kids in a day.
"Ah, shooting game!" The spiky boy announced with a glitter in his eyes. "Look Sakura, don't you know that I'm the best shooter in our school."
He took the toy gun and fired it at one of the targets, he missed, though. Still, he kept firing with his chest sticking out. After a few attempts, he didn't get any prizes. At least, he tried his best and it seemed the owner of the stall acknowledged him and gave him a consolation prize. I supposed the owner just took pity on him.
"Can you take it seriously?" I complained as he was about to rush to another stall again.
The wind felt chilly as it grazed my skin, hence I decided to use the jacket from my backpack. There was no trace of the sun in the sky and the amusement park was left gleamed by different colors. As if we were transmitted to a different world.
"…What?" He looked at me with his head slightly tilted.
I clenched my fist as I shifted my gaze away from him. I supposed I had made a wrong choice to let him help me, he wasn't helping me, though.
"Oh…right, we're looking for that girl," he exclaimed as though he forgot the reason why we were together. "So-sorry. I got carried away." His voice had stammered again. *Now that's the spiky boy I knew.*
It was a relief that still had much time before the roll call, but still…I wondered where in the world Eimi wandered.
"Do you think she's already on the bus?" I asked.
"Du-dunno…" *What's his reason for stuttering again?*
"Should we check if she's there?"
"I-I…dunno."
I sighed and continued our searching.
A moment after, silence fell upon us. I kept my feet busy as well as my eyes, gazing in each direction. Fortunately, the spiky boy stopped acting like a child, and this time, seemed to get serious.
But then, as I shifted my gaze to him, he wasn't walking nor looking around. His gaze was fixed upwards. I followed his eyes and realized we were nearby the Ferris wheel.
That reminded me of what Eimi said earlier. Apparently for her—or not only her— the Ferris wheel was the ride supposedly to visit in the last hour of the amusement park. I didn't particularly care, though. But it was still a shame that we couldn't ride it together since she made a face like *that* when I mentioned the Ferris wheel to her.
"Sakura." I gazed at the spiky boy as he called me. "Sh-should we look up there to-together?" his face flustered as he pointed up on the Ferris wheel.
"...Why?" I tilted my head. I had no idea why would we go up there.
"You know...it would be easy to spot her if we go there together...and since we're already here and...the park will be close soon and we go head home and..." he kept mumbling as he twiddled his fingers together, looking downwards.
Once again, I glanced upon the Ferris wheel. I felt something warm wrapped inside my chest. I wondered what was it but eventually shrugged it off. I glanced back at the boy who was now anxiously looking around for some reason.
*It seems he wanted to ride the Ferris wheel,* I thought.
I opened my mouth and attempted to gave my answer but the warmth inside my chest prevented me to let out any words, hence I—
"Hum," I nodded.
—would try to find out what this warm inside me was.