We finally arrived at the theme park.
Finding Niina among the crowd turned out to be ridiculously easy. I spotted that bright pink hair before I even properly saw her face. Seriously, her hair had its own presence. If we ever got separated, we wouldn't need to call her. We'd just look for the pink beacon floating above everyone else's heads.
Today, she wore a long pink dress with a light baby-blue cardigan. Combined with her pink hair and cheerful expression, she looked so overwhelmingly feminine that I suddenly became conscious of my own outfit.
So this is what an actual girly girl looks like.
"Hey! Kaoruuuu! Josh!" Niina waved both hands the moment she spotted us.
Joseph immediately transformed. "Niina!"
This idiot actually waved both arms above his head and practically ran toward her with the biggest smile I'd seen all week.
I followed at a normal human speed, waving with one hand, while Kazuha calmly walked beside me.
"Sorry we made you wait," Joseph apologized as soon as we reached her.
"Not at all. I just arrived too." Niina smiled brightly before her attention shifted toward Kazuha. For a moment, she simply stared at her.
"Oh! Are you Kazuha?"
Kazuha seemed slightly surprised at suddenly becoming the center of attention. "Yes."
"Nice to meet you! I'm Niina." Niina extended her hand with a pretty smile.
Kazuha hesitated briefly before accepting it. "I'm Kazuha. Nice to meet you too, Niina."
I narrowed my eyes. Why did they suddenly look so cute together? One had long black hair and a calm, elegant appearance. The other had bright pink hair and practically radiated sunshine. Put them beside each other and they looked like the two heroines on the cover of a romance manga.
Then Kazuha casually dropped a bomb. "You're really pretty."
My eyes widened. What?! How could you say that so easily?! I've been trying to get a compliment out of you for weeks!
Niina's smile grew brighter. "Thank you! You're really pretty too."
"Thanks."
WHAT?! They'd known each other for approximately thirty seconds and were already exchanging compliments?! Meanwhile, I'd transformed my entire body, survived rejection, rain, a cold, my first period, and several public humiliations, and I still hadn't received one!
Life wasn't fair.
"Let's go inside before it gets too crowded," Kazuha suggested.
"Okay!" Niina casually wrapped both hands around Kazuha's arm.
Kazuha stiffened slightly, clearly not expecting the sudden physical contact, but Niina happily started walking with her anyway.
Joseph and I remained behind. Silently watching them. They were already walking arm in arm.
Joseph slowly leaned toward me. "Kaoru."
"What?"
"We need to move."
I glanced at him.
His expression became deadly serious. "I made a terrible mistake."
"What mistake?"
"I invited a rival."
I frowned. "What? You think Kazuha is your rival?"
Joseph stared at me like I was stupid. "You're slow."
"Huh?" Then it clicked. Oh! Right. Kazuha liked girls.
I looked back at the two beautiful girls walking arm in arm ahead of us. "Oh..."
Joseph clenched his fist. "I can't lose."
"Hey, don't do anything weird to Kazuha."
"No promises. If she steals Princess Niina from me, I'll have to respond."
I immediately grabbed his shoulder. "Don't you dare! If you make Kazuha your rival, I'll make Niina mine!"
Joseph turned toward me.
Our eyes met.
For several seconds, the friendship between two men hung by a thread.
"HEY!" Niina's voice broke our ridiculous standoff.
She and Kazuha were already standing near the entrance with our tickets. "What are you two doing?! Hurry up!"
I sighed. "Temporary ceasefire."
"Agreed."
We hurried after them.
"The most famous ride is this one! Let's try it!"
Niina excitedly pointed ahead like a professional tour guide.
I followed her finger, then froze.
A gigantic roller coaster towered above us. Metal tracks twisted through the sky like someone had given a drunk engineer unlimited funding. A train suddenly plunged down the highest slope.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The screams echoed across the park.
My face went pale.
Absolutely not. I'd ridden one as a kid and I wasn't discussing what happened. That memory was buried somewhere deep inside my brain where it belonged.
"That looks interesting," Kazuha said.
I glanced desperately toward Joseph and he looked almost as pale as me. Brother? Was he suffering too?
"I'm sorry," I finally admitted, raising one hand weakly. "I can't ride roller coasters." There, I said it. In front of Kazuha. My masculine dignity quietly packed its belongings and left.
"Too bad." Niina turned toward Joseph. "What about you, Josh?"
Joseph swallowed. "Uh... Sorry, I'm not good with roller coasters either." Our eyes met. My brother. I'd never felt closer to him.
"No worries!" Niina said cheerfully. "You don't mind waiting for us, right?"
"Of course not." I smiled like a brave man willingly sending his comrades into battle rather than a coward terrified of a machine designed for twelve year olds.
"We'll wait here." Joseph added.
"Let's go, Kazuha!" Niina asked.
"Sure." Kazuha nodded.
They disappeared into the queue together.
Joseph and I watched them leave. Neither of us spoke.
Twenty minutes later, they returned.
"That was amazing!" Niina exclaimed.
"It was fun," Kazuha agreed.
Good.
Great.
Wonderful.
Now we could finally do something civilized.
"Oh!" Niina suddenly pointed across the park. "I want to try that one too!"
I followed her finger. Another roller coaster. And they rode it.
Afterward, we walked about five hundred meters. Kazuha suddenly pointed toward another attraction. "They said this one is new."
I looked up. Roller coaster again. They rode that too.
By the fourth one, Joseph and I were sitting together on a bench holding drinks while Niina and Kazuha disappeared into yet another queue.
I stared into the distance. "Josh."
"Yeah?"
"Doesn't this feel wrong?"
"Extremely."
I slowly turned toward him. "It feels like they're the ones on a date."
Joseph nodded gravely. "We've become the third wheels."
"There are two of us."
"We've become two third wheels."
"That's mathematically impossible."
"Look at them."
I looked.
Niina was laughing while holding Kazuha's arm. This was unacceptable.
"What do we do?"
Joseph leaned closer. "First, we separate them."
I nodded seriously.
"You take Kazuha. I'll take Niina."
"I like this plan."
"You should bring Kazuha to that bear pop up store. I'll distract Niina with something else."
I grinned. "Josh. You're a genius."
"I know."
For once, I meant it.
When the girls finally returned, Niina looked happier than ever. "Wah! That was definitely the best one!"
Kazuha nodded. "Yeah. That one was really fun."
"Sorry for making you two wait." Niina turned toward us. "Is there anything you want to ride?"
Joseph immediately stepped forward. "Actually, yes."
Operation Separation Mission had begun.
He smiled at Niina. "There's something I'd like to try. Shall we go?"
"Sure!" Niina followed him.
Yes! He did it!
Kazuha naturally started following them too.
No! "K-Kazuha!"
She stopped and glanced back. "What is it, Kaoru?"
My heart started pounding. This was easy.
Just ask her. Would you like to visit the bear shop with me? Simple.
"Do you want to go to the bear pop up store?" There! Perfect delivery!
"Sure," Kazuha replied immediately.
My heart soared.
"But we can all go together after this." She turned and continued walking after Joseph and Niina.
Right. Of course.
That also made perfect sense. What was I thinking?
I groaned before running after them. "Wait for me!"
Our brilliant separation strategy lasted approximately twelve seconds.