After thinking about it for a while, Kokoro decided that we’d go to an amusement park. She probably thought it was a reasonable choice for a date.
We all got ready, left the house, and rode on the train to Fantastia Land, which was the closest amusement park—it was only twenty or so minutes away.
On our way there, Kokoro’s allegedly grumpy mother sounded excited.
“An amusement park!” she chirped. “That’s just what I think of when I think of high schoolers going on a date! And Fantastia Land in particular is such a nostalgic place! We went there a few times, you, Dad, and I, but you were probably too young to remember. You said this is one of your usual date spots—how many times have you been there?”
“Er, I think... at least three times!” Kokoro said with a certain degree of confidence. Of course, this was a lie. We’d never been there together. Not once.
As for me, I’d visited the place with my family back when I was a little kid too, but that was it.
“That many times? To such a small park?” her mother asked, surprised.
“W-Well, you know how it is; there aren’t, like, that many other date spots around these parts...” Kokoro promptly replied. Of course, this was also a lie.
Once we reached the park, Kokoro’s mother bought our tickets, and we went in through the turnstiles.
“Wow, this is nostalgic!” she commented.
“It really is!” Kokoro replied, raising her mother’s eyebrows as well as mine.
What are you saying?!
“O-Oh, I mean, it’s nostalgic because we haven’t been here since last month! It kind of feels like a long time! R-Right, Ichigaya?!”
“Y-Yeah...” Try to keep it together, please.
“Hmm?”
Hearing her mother’s suspicious reaction, Kokoro tried to distract her by changing the topic.
“D-Did you use to come here with Dad a lot?”
“Oh, yes. We did come here together, back when we were in school.”
“Really? That’s so nice!”
“Yes, he used to be so kind and loving back then, unlike now...”
“L-Let’s just forget about Dad for today! Come on, let’s choose something to ride, ’kay?”
We all sat down together on a bench and, map in hand, started thinking about which of the park attractions to go to.
“Most of these attractions look like they’re made for children... Oh, what about the haunted house?” I suggested.
Among all the tiny roller-coasters and rides themed after kiddie anime characters, the haunted house seemed like the only entertaining option for high schoolers such as Kokoro and myself.
“That sounds wonderful!” Kokoro’s mother exclaimed. “That’s what amusement parks are for! And I bet you want to see your boyfriend being all brave in the face of the spooks, right, Kokoro?”
“H-Haunted house?! Th-That’s probably super lame! Let’s choose something else.”
“Nishina, don’t tell me that you’re genuinely scared of haunted houses.”
“N-No way! I’m totally fine with them!”
Your voice is shaking! If you’re scared, just say so...
“You know, when she was just a little tyke, she would bawl her eyes out at haunted houses! Do they still terrify you that much?”
“I-I said I’m fine!”
“I mean, it’s still probably made for kids,” I said. “But if you’re that scared, we can just go someplace else.”
“Argh! I-I’m not scared or anything! Fine! Let’s go to the haunted house!”
I hadn’t been trying to make fun of her, but Kokoro saw it that way and seemed to feel as if she had to prove something.
Are you really going to be fine?
“What? You’re not coming in with us, Mom?!”
“Of course not. I want the two of you to enjoy yourselves, after all! And oh, Ichigaya... don’t you take advantage of the dark to do anything weird to my Kokoro, all right? Hehe...”
“I-I would never!”
While Mrs. Nishina grinned after us, we gave our tickets to the attendant standing in front of the attraction.
“Okay, if you could please stand side by side,” he instructed. “Now, miss, please raise your left arm. And you, sir, raise your right arm.”
I had no idea why the guy was asking us to pose so strangely, but I dutifully raised my arm.
Click!
“Huh?”
“Wh-What?!”
The man had fastened a pair of handcuffs around our wrists, literally chaining the pair of us to one other.
“You’ll have to hold hands to reach the exit. Have fun!”
“For real now?!”
Kokoro’s mother, who we could hear giggling behind us, seemed just as amused by the turn of events as we were confused by it.
Did this staff guy just go and assume we were a couple?! Do you know how awkward it is to be literally chained to a girl who isn’t even your girlfriend?! Do you?! Don’t tell me you do this to everyone who enters the haunted house in pairs! I mean, we’re supposed to act like a couple today, but... hold hands?!
I glanced at Kokoro, expecting her to be absolutely furious at the situation, or at the very least incredibly frustrated. After all, she was being forced to do this whole thing with me while she was in love with someone else.
However... she was silently staring a hole in the ground, blushing. Maybe she was restraining herself because her mother was watching.
Mrs. Nishina, however, was already wondering why we were taking so long.
“You have to hold hands if you want to enter, right?” she pressed.
Indeed, the man in front of us seemed to be waiting for exactly that before letting us in. He wasn’t saying anything, but I could feel him silently pressuring us into hurrying up.
If we don’t do it, we can’t get in! And more importantly, we’ll make Mrs. Nishina suspicious! I know Nishina’s going to hate it, but we have no choice... I thought, and I took Kokoro’s hand in my own. I felt a bit guilty when I thought of Elena, since I was now holding hands with another girl before ever having done it with her, but that wasn’t important now.
“...Huh?” Kokoro jolted in surprise and began staring a hole through me instead.
I’m sorry, but we have to do this if we want to fool your mother. It’s just until we get in, so grin and bear it.
Despite being the one who’d gone ahead with it, I could feel my face getting hotter and my heartbeat getting faster. I mean, it’s my first time holding hands with a girl, so I guess that’s to be expected. I hope Nishina won’t notice...
“Very well! You can go in now!”
“See you later, you two!”
Hand in hand, we walked inside, seen off by Mrs. Nishina and the haunted house attendant.
As soon as we were in, I was about to let go of Kokoro’s hand and apologize to her, but...
Huh? What? She’s... gripping my hand back? I hadn’t even noticed.
I wasn’t sure why she would go that far just because her mother was watching, but now I couldn’t let go of her hand even if I wanted to.
My heart was beating even faster than before.
“I-I’m sorry I took your hand without asking. I thought we had to, you know?” I said.
“Huh? O-Oh, it’s okay...”
“Well... Let’s go then.”
This was all so awkward that I wanted to reach the exit as soon as humanly possible. However, the instant we took our first step, a red light flickered on in front of us, illuminating a creepy doll with hair so long it reached its feet. But that wasn’t the scariest part.
“AAAAHHH!” Kokoro, scared witless, screeched so hard that she almost burst my eardrums.
But that wasn’t the scariest part either.
Out of fear, she had gripped my hand even harder and was now clutching my arm to her chest, essentially hugging it. I could feel the warmth of her body enveloping it. Now that was what sent my heart racing.