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“Was there really a need for us to split up into two groups?” Asahi wondered out loud.
“They must want to spend some private time together—being a couple and everything,” Fuyuka replied.
“What kind of flirting would they be doing that they don’t already do in front of us?”
Asahi felt—although it was by no means a complaint—like he had spent a significant amount of time alone with Fuyuka today. He guessed the motive behind being divided into pairs might’ve also been due to the limited space of the ferris wheel passenger cars. Whatever the case, the two pairs had mounted the ride separately.
“But man, that haunted house lived up to its name, huh?”
“I’d rather not think about it, if that’s all right.”
“Never knew you had screams like that in you.”
“I told you to forget about that!” she protested loudly, blushing in embarrassment.
Sorry to break it to you, Fuyuka, but you can’t just press a button and forget things like that.
His chest was tormented by an array of turbulent sensations when he looked across the car at Fuyuka. It irked him that he still couldn’t place a finger on quite what the feeling that constantly assailed him was, but that was an issue for another time. He wanted to focus on engraving the scenic townscape stained in sunset into his memory.
“Did you have fun today?” he asked.
“Of course. I have fun every day I’m with you.”
“I appreciate it, but I didn’t do much. Hell, it was Hinami who invited you to the amusement park, not me.”
“That’s true, but you were the one who introduced us to begin with.”
“I guess you’re not wrong.”
Man, I still don’t get why Fuyuka feels so indebted to me.
Asahi put his musings aside for the time being and concluded that it would be a good time to ask her for clarification. He readjusted himself in his seat and saw Fuyuka smile softly. Although she’d come to smile often in the short time they’d known each other, he still couldn’t help but to be captivated by it.
Silence filled the passenger car as it neared the zenith of its trip around the wheel.
Suddenly, the stillness was interrupted by a whisper.
“I’m so happy that I met you, Asahi.” Fuyuka, painted orange by the rays of evening sunset, chuckled happily to herself.
Everything threatened to reduce Asahi’s brain to mush. “I’m glad we got to know each other, too,” he replied.
As he confessed his sincere emotions, Asahi came to a staggering realization—he was equally grateful to her. And although he had no gripes with his previous day-to-day lifestyle, they had felt somewhat empty before he’d met her.
I’ve never really spent as much time with anyone else. All these activities—preparing meals together, sitting around the same table, studying, chatting about whatever, watching TV and laughing, and sometimes even playing games together—have become part of my daily life before I even realized it.
“Not long until we’re at the top,” Fuyuka said.
The earrings she wore glittered wonderfully in the evening sun.
“Yeah.”
Another brief period of silence ensued before Fuyuka bashfully strung some words together. “I’m actually going to see my mother next week, and I was wondering if it would be okay if I talked to her about you.”
“Fine by me, but... There wouldn’t be much to tell, would there?”
“I disagree—all the days I’ve spent with you have been so fun, and I’ve been really happy. I have lots of stories I’d like to tell my mother.”
Asahi stared wordlessly at Fuyuka as she talked. As he did, it finally occurred to him what the name of the emotion he felt toward her might be. It was a simple word; an emotion that everyone felt toward someone else at least once in their life.
The car reached the apex of its journey into the crimson sky and hung there for a moment before it leisurely began to descend back down again.