CH 106

Chapter 106: Boys Who Do Anything But Peace When Having Their Picture Taken While The Coaster Is Falling Are Not Cute

TL: Akabane

***

The inside of Fujiko Ultra Land was crowded with young people like us. I heard there is a shuttle bus service from Tokyo as well.

"Huh? It's a bit more naughty than I imagined. Are there more groups of friends there than couples?"

Igarashi wondered as she looked at the other guests in the park. I would expect an amusement park to have more couples, but not here.

"Looks like it. Well, isn't that it? Maybe it's because the rides are the stiff kind."

"Oh, I see, I see. Ah! Look at that, Tokiwa! Isn't that thing bad! The rails are curving inward at the top of that coaster!"

She happily pointed and laughed at the roller coaster as it made an exhilarating curve.

"Let's save that one for later. Let's start with the slower ones. Yeah."

"Huh? Are you scared, Tokiwa?"

"I'm not scared. I'm just trying to get used to it because my body gets scared. I'm not scared."

"Really? I'm not scared. It's okay if you're scared. I'll hold your hands while you go up."

Saying that, Igarashi hugged my left hand and leaned her weight on it. I felt a comfortable sense of security from her soft touch. But it's unforgivable that she casually leans her body against the coaster so that my legs are facing the coaster. Like a man, I yielded to Igarashi's pressure and moved my feet toward the coaster, which was rather normal.

"Hey, by the way. I feel like someone have been staring at me since a while ago, is it just my imagination?"

Igarashi is looking around smolderingly.

"It's because your skirt is short, isn't it? Can I pinch it and flip it up? It's so flirty."

I wagged my right hand. Igarashi flicked her tongue out and mouthed it.

"Bee! Bee! You can't be such a sex man!"

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, you must be imagining that someone is watching you."

"Hmm? Well, I guess you're right."

Igarashi agreed with that. She was too beautiful to begin with and tends to attract the eye. It's just my imagination. Probably. I also felt something like a gaze or a hint of a presence, so although I was a little concerned about what Igarashi was saying, I decided to switch my attention and concentrate on my play.

[Hagiri's POV]

Tomoe's laboratory on the Hongo campus. On the PC monitor in front of me, I see Riri and Kanahisa Tokiwa looking around. Tomoe can't seem to hide her surprise when she sees the image.

"No kidding, right? You mean Riri is aware of the surveillance?"

What he sees on the monitor is real-time footage taken by the latest military drone deployed over Fujiko Ultraland.

"It's no wonder. That amusement park is now Mio's hunting ground. It's impossible not to notice it's strangeness filled with a deadly atmosphere. Especially Fuji, which is also famous as a sacred mountain. Riri is unconsciously catching "the fluctuation on the occasion"."

"A place where the people gather with a common purpose can become a temporary place of prayer. Hey, Hagiri. Why don't we stop now?"

Tomoe said with an awkward look on her face. She took her eyes off the monitor and restlessly played with her fingers.

"I won't stop. This is a cool opportunity. If I set him up, the fluctuation will be too big. However, if Mio initiates it, it is not limited to that. I will not have the opportunity to observe in real time how the struggle will affect the field of prayer for a while."

Tomoe was very tight-lipped, but only recently did she finally tell me that Riri was attacked by GW and that Kanahisa Tokiwa saved her. The fact that my childhood friend was in danger renewed my feeling that I shouldn't leave her alone in the world after all, and at the same time, I had a heavy feeling in my head that this could be the way to proceed with the plan. There will be a struggle beside Riri. Until now, I had dealt with them, but I was convinced that monitoring them would accelerate the research.

"I think we can form other experimental systems without using Riri as a decoy. Let's leave those two alone. Hagiri is in the lead anyway. I don't think we need to be in a hurry."

"Huh? Yeah, you could be right. But I've decided to be a martyr to my dream. I've already made up my mind to face the end of it. I'm not going to stop now."

I can't stop anymore. I have forgotten how to stop. So I keep running. Just to make my dream come true.

"Tomoe. Keep observing."

"...Okay."

Tomoe replied while looking down sadly. She then began to monitor the information from the sensors and cameras she had set up around the amusement park. Satisfied with her appearance, I took out my phone and made a call.

||  "Yes! I've been waiting for you, Hagiri! My observations at Tsukuba are going well! I was able to confirm the observation of "fluctuation on the occasion" from the satellite, though it's only a small amount! Not only in Fuji and Izumo, but all over the world! It seems that Uncle Baldy's theatrical consulting was indeed correct!!!"

"I see. Thank you. Then I'd like you to continue your observations."

||  "Okay! But it's so funny! Mio is really an idiot! Gyahaha! Why is it that people in the humanities are so quick to rush into things like this? I'm sure it'll helping Hagiri, but only as experimental material! It's so stupid! Gehaha!"

The observation at Tsukuba seems to be going well. Hangs up with Tsukuba and calls Izumo this time.

||  "Hagiri. Myself. I've been waiting. Experimental results. Networking of objects by "fluctuation on occasion". Steady."

"Yes. Thank you. Then please continue the experiment."

||  "Mio. Thank you. Foolishly grateful. Laughter. Laughter. Straw, straw, straw!!!"

Things seem to be going well for Izumo. I can't help but smile. It's going too well for me to enjoy it. Kanahisa Tokiwa is a depressing guy, but I'm glad I lent him Riri. I was able to pull him away from me with this. It would be perfect if he died by Mio's hand, but I don't need to ask for that much. I got up from the sofa.

"Aren't you going to see those two dating to the end?"

Tomoe keeps looking at the monitor with a serious face.

"The success of this observation experiment is already confirmed. There's no need for me to watch Riri and the others any longer."

"...I see. Well, that's good."

I walked out of the lab. I was relieved at the success of the experiment and exhausted. I thought I would get a woman or something and relieve my sorrow. I left the lab as quickly as I could.

"Bullsh*t. You just have a hard time seeing that guy making Riri laugh..."

First came the roller coaster, a warmer roller coaster at this Fujiko. We got in line and enjoyed some random chitchat.

"By the way, the fish in the river the other day was delicious, wasn't it? Did you catch that one, Tokiwa?"

"No, no. Mashiba caught it. She gave it to me."

"Eh? Tomoe gave it to you? Speaking of that, she disappeared from my side right away that day, but she was fishing, wasn't she? But I miss her. When Tomoe is fishing, it's when she's troubled. Do you know what's bothering her, Tokiwa?"

"I don't know. I have no idea."

Maybe what she is worried about is Igarashi. It seemed to me that she was worried about Igarashi, and that's what was bothering her. That's why I was afraid to tell Igarashi about it.

"Maybe it's been a while since Tomoe has been troubled. Most of the time she solves her problems by talking to Chusho, but from the sound of it, it seems like she hasn't talked to him about it. I'm worried."

"You're right about worrying. But. Today. Just today."

I take Igarashi's hands in mine and bring our faces so close that our lips almost touch.

"Hey. Not here..."

Igarashi is unusually upset, as if she thought I was going to kiss her. But I don't do that now. I bring my lips close enough to touch Igarashi's ear and whisper.

"It's forbidden to mention his name today."

"Ah...um, yeah. I see. Yeah...I see...I see. That's right. Ehehe."

Igarashi shakes my hand back, her cheeks flushed red. She's shy, but she's smiling.

"You feel jealous even though you're shy? Ufufu. You're kind of cute, Tokiwa."

Igarashi rests her head on my chest. The air is sweet between us. I was just about to relax until it was my turn, when I heard a click of tongue from behind me. I turned my head and saw a pair of strong, rough-looking men behind us. They didn't quite fit in with the amusement park atmosphere. They were staring at me with a nasty look in their eyes, as if they were envious of me. I quickly averted my gaze and put my hand on Igarashi's back. I have a bad feeling about this. Soon after that, it was our turn to ride the coaster. We sat side by side in the second seat from the back of the coaster. The guys sat behind me. Then the belt closed and the coaster started. The coaster slowly accelerated, going up and up and up on the rails.

"I like this ascending part. And then the moment when it goes up and the gears go out of gear. It's really great."

Igarashi was cute as she said this with an excited smile, but I wasn't worried. I felt a chill on my back from a bad feeling behind me.

"Tokiwa! I'm about to fall down! You're going to get your picture taken, so make sure you peace up! If you don't, I'll nickname you Chicken Tokiwa!"

"Right. I don't like that. But I'm getting nervous. I'm so excited. Hahaha."

And then the coaster reached the top and began to fall all the way down. Igarashi was happily raising her hands in a peace gesture. I don't do peace. I don't pose with my hands in the air, because that's something you do after you win. But I wanted to pose in some way because I was going to have my picture taken. As I was falling, I had a flash of inspiration. Mashiba called Igarashi a goddess. So I decided to make a wish to the goddess. Because what is about to begin here is....

"Igarashi. I don't do peace, but I'm not a chicken."

"Eh? Huh?!"

I kissed Igarashi on the cheek amidst the flashes of the camera. Igarashi was taken aback. The coaster then took a sharp turn. Igarashi, realizing what had been done to her, turned her face bright red, turned her eyes away from me, and turned her attention to the front. She was embarrassed, she cute little thing. Now the wishing was over. The coaster approached the tunnel. At the same time, the killing intent I could feel from behind me swelled up significantly. I fiddle with the device on my belt with the tool I have hidden in my pocket. And then...

""Hmph!""

"Hmph!!!!"

I and the two men behind me simultaneously unbuckled our belts and stood up. To be honest, it's a little tough to keep my balance on the violently swinging coaster. In the middle of it all, one of the rough guys came at me with a folding knife aimed at my throat. I ducked, grabbed the hand holding the knife, twisted it up, and pointed it straight at the guy next to me, stabbing him in the shoulder.

"Aaaaah!!!!"

The man's anguished voice echoed, but neither Igarashi nor the other passengers sitting next to him noticed anything unusual. I grabbed the man holding the knife by the hair and smashed it into the head of the man next to him.

"Gugya!" / "Buero!"

I slapped the men's ears as hard as I could with my sticking hand. They didn't scream anymore. The two men had their eardrums ripped out by me, and they passed out. I pulled out the knife in my shoulder, folded it up and put it in the man's pocket, then quickly buckled them both into the coaster and buckled myself into my seat. Soon the coaster went through the tunnel and the rails approached a large loop. I turned around and saw the unconscious men with their hands dangling helplessly toward the ground. I checked their goofy faces and chuckled. Then, after a few more twists and turns, the coaster reached the finish line.

"What's that? Sir? Wow, these people are passed out...they look so scary, and they're chicken..."

Me and Igarashi get off the platform and head for the photo booth. The fainted men behind us were carried to the infirmary by the attendants.

"...Tokiwa is sneaky..."

"Huh? What?"

"Because if they do that to me, no matter how intense the roller coaster is, I can't be more thrilled than that...already..."

In the photo booth, a picture of the coaster drop scene from earlier is displayed on the monitor. There is a close-up photo of me kissing Igarashi's cheek. Igarashi was staring at it, holding her face with both hands. I bought the picture anyway.

"Mmm. Tokiwa. Don't show that picture to anyone else!"

"Hmm? Is that so?"

"No, no, no. Absolutely not. Because this is....."

Igarashi smiled as she looked at the photo.

".....This is our first time together."

I had made a precious memory with Igarashi. I'm really glad I came here today. Well, I really smell a conspiracy here! I will eliminate the enemy in secret while making Igarashi happy. I'll make sure I'll do it. I vowed to do so.