It was the tail end of summer break, and I was heading out on a date with Ichika to Ueno Amusement Park.
“Wow…! Amazing… it’s so nostalgic…”
Upon arriving at the amusement park, Ichika let out a cheerful cry.
“Nostalgic? You’ve been here before, Ichika?”
“Yes. When I was a child. All seven of us in my family were together.” A party of seven is quite a big group, huh.
So including her mother and father, that means Ichika has five siblings.
“I never imagined I’d come here on a date with a boyfriend… It feels like a dream.”
Softening her eyes, Ichika gazed across the amusement park grounds.
Perhaps she was reminiscing about her childhood days.
“Well then, please show me around. Tell me your recommendations and stuff.” “Understood.”
Ichika spread out a map and began telling me all sorts of things. This is an amusement park located within Tokyo city.
It features a circular structure with walls forming a complete ring.
Among the attractions are a roller coaster, a Ferris wheel, and a haunted house.
If I had to describe it, it feels more vertically long than horizontally wide.
“I see. So where should we start?” Ichika looks at me and smiles.
“Let’s talk it over between us and decide.”
When it comes to making decisions, Akari usually takes the lead, eager to be the one doing something.
Ichika seems to like figuring things out together with me.
After deliberation, we decided to start with the roller coaster, the ride I have the most fond memories of. The entrance is on the third floor, apparently.
“It’s unusual for an amusement park to be so long vertically.”
“Well, since it’s in the city, space is tight.”
We climbed the stairs inside the circular wall and arrived at the roller coaster boarding area.
“Oh, wait a moment. I’m going to drop off our bags.”
Ichika heads toward a nearby coin locker.
She packed the luggage inside, then came back. “You must have been waiting!” “What were you doing?”
“Hehe…♡ Consider it a little surprise for later.”
I wonder what it is. It’s making me really excited.
…Well, judging by the shape of it, I figured it was probably a bento box.
Pointing that out would ruin the surprise Ichika was so kindly trying to stage for me. Better to just let it slide.
“Right then, shall we ride the roller coaster?” “Yes, indeed♡” We joined the line.
Even though it’s summer vacation, since it’s a weekday, there wasn’t a huge wait.
But it certainly wasn’t completely deserted either.
“On holidays, this roller coaster is packed,” Ichika said.
“So that means it’s popular?”
“Yes. It’s thrilling and fun♡”
While we were waiting in line, Ichika and I chatted about all sorts of trivial things.
“You’ve got it rough too, huh? Being a bodyguard. Weekends are basically work days for you.”
“Yeah. But we split the shifts among several of us, and they’re pretty flexible with scheduling. It’s a white-collar workplace, you could say.”
“Is your younger brother… Saburo-kun in the same boat as Ichi?”
“Yes. Our family has served the Arita clan for generations. Jirotae is an exception though; he guards the daughter of a collateral branch… less a bodyguard, more like a maid.” “A collateral branch, huh?”
It hit me again: the Arita family were something else entirely.
“If you’re a family of seven, does that mean there are five siblings?”
“That’s right. I’m the eldest, followed by Jirotae and Saburo. Then there are two younger sisters with a bit of a gap in age. Tsubaha and Gowa. My older sister… Tsubaha goes to the same school as Midoriko.” “What, Alpico?” “Yep. And she’s on the basketball team too.”
Alpico was a prestigious basketball school located in the capital district.
My sister is a starter there.
“My younger sister… Gowa is scheduled to attend Alpico next year. We’re all athletic, you know.” “The world is… small.”
We were just having that kind of idle chat when our turn came around.
The coaster made a full loop and returned to us.
After the previous group of riders disembarked, we were escorted to our seats and took a spot in the very front row.
“LUCKY us! Getting to sit right up front!”
With nothing in front of us for cover, it had to be the scariest spot in the car, yet Ichika was buzzing with excitement.
“Oh, sorry. I got a bit carried away. Maybe you’re… afraid of roller coasters?”
“Mm. Well, that’s fair enough. No need to put on an act for me.” “Phew♡ Good thing.”
After a short wait, the safety bars dropped down over our laps.
Click-clack… click-clack… The coaster began its ascent.
Soon after leaving the station, we hit a fairly steep incline.
The track turned nearly vertical as we climbed higher. “Wh-whoa, this is going pretty high…”
“Whoopsie! That’s right. We drop from almost the same height as the Ferris wheel. You get a bird’s-eye view of Tokyo Dome!” Ichika chirped.
Her cheeks were flushed red. She was probably thrilled out of her mind.
Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack… The coaster continued its climb.
W, w-wait… seriously? Are we actually dropping from this height?
Looking down on the skyscrapers of Tokyo like they’re just… small.
Is this… isn’t this insane? And on top of that… the track drops almost straight down from here…
Ichika gently envelopes my hand in hers, squeezing lightly.
“It’s okay, Kouhei. No matter what happens, I’ve got your back,” Ichika says firmly. Her hands are small and soft.
But… holding hands like this, I can feel a sense of peace radiating through her grip.
Maybe it’s because protecting people is part of her job. “Thanks.” I squeeze back on Ichika’s hand.
She smiles happily and intertwines her fingers with mine, squeezing tight. And then…
The coaster plummets, nearly vertical.
Whooooooaaaaaaahhhhhh!
“Yaaaaaayyyoooooooohhhhhh!”
Ichika’s long ponytail flutters wildly in the wind.
「What the—!? This isn’t fast, is it!」
While plummeting vertically, there was a sense of weightlessness. Her ass floated up. And she was incredibly fast. Just having her eyes open hurt.
If she were wearing glasses, they’d blow right off!
“Eeeeh!? Isn’t it fun!? I want to join too—!”
The wind’s howl drowned out Ichika’s voice.
She seemed to be having a blast… but there’s no leisure for me to just watch!
The coaster looped around the amusement park at a blistering speed, with vertical drops and twists. During that time, Ichika was constantly…
“S-s-fast-fast-fast-fast-fast-fu—!”
“Wh-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!”
“Eeeeee-eeee-ee-e-eee-e-e-e!”
With every drop, she laughed joyfully.
Even though she’s usually calm, apparently scenes like this get her to get all excited.
Before long… the coaster returned to its starting point.
“Aaah! Wow, that was absolutely amazing!” “R-right… it really was…”
Ichika hopped off the coaster. She reached her hand out to me. “Here you go, Mitsuhiko-kun.” “Ah, yeah… thanks.”
I took her hand and climbed down from the ride. My legs were feeling a bit wobbly.
Ichika stood by my side and helped me keep my balance. “Let’s take it slow going down the stairs.” “Thanks for that.”
Taking our time, we gradually walked away from the coaster platform. “Oh, look, Mitsuhiko-kun! Over there!” “Photos…?”
There was a monitor near the entrance area.
Several photos of the coaster were displayed on it.
“Remember those cameras along the track? We got captured.” “I didn’t even notice…”
Our photo, the most recent one taken, was being displayed on the monitor.
Ichika was looking at the camera and flashing a peace sign.
I had been facing forward so I wasn’t exactly in a state to be posing. “Want to buy one as a souvenir?” “Yeah let’s do it!” I bought two copies of our photo.
Ikka accepted the gift, broke into a delighted smile, and cradled it against her chest.
“Thank you. I’ll cherish it very much!”