After the roller coaster, the boat ride, and a string of other extreme, adrenaline-pumping attractions,
Mai Sakurajima was not doing well at all.
Rides that involved extreme weightlessness were, it turned out, a real challenge for both her body and her nerves.
She'd wanted to try them, just to see what it felt like — but now that she actually had, she felt thoroughly wrecked.
It had been way too intense.
Even now, her body still carried the lingering sensation of weightlessness.
Mai Sakurajima leaned heavily on Lin Ye as they walked, swaying so badly it looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Lin Ye supported her over to a nearby bench.
Every so often, screams echoed from somewhere overhead — the sounds of riders on the roller coaster.
Mai Sakurajima had been up there herself just minutes ago.
Barely ten minutes had passed since she'd been shrieking along with everyone else, and now the residual sensation kept jolting through her body, refusing to let her go.
"I'm never doing that again."
Yes —
Mai Sakurajima had made up her mind: she was never riding a roller coaster again.
That ride had been too intense, far more than she could handle.
From now on, whenever she came to an amusement park, she'd stick to the normal, ordinary attractions.
She'd developed a serious aversion to anything extreme.
"Can't handle it, Mai?"
Lin Ye said with a grin. "Shouldn't you want to ride it a few more times instead? The more you do it, the more you'll get used to it. Have a little faith in the human body's power to adapt."
"The more you go through something, the easier it becomes to get used to it, no matter how scary it seemed at first."
Lin Ye genuinely believed Mai Sakurajima could adjust to it.
But the girl just shook her head furiously in response.
There was no way Mai Sakurajima wanted to experience that again.
Some things, she decided, really were better left untried.
That was what she was thinking.
"No thanks, it's not fun," she said.
"Scared, are you?"
Lin Ye teased as he stepped up in front of Mai Sakurajima.
He crouched down, reached out, and brushed his fingers against her cheek, feeling the smooth, pale softness of her skin under his fingertips.
To her own surprise, Mai Sakurajima felt a wave of security and comfort wash over her.
She wondered whether she should ask for more of this from Lin Ye.
This kind of reassurance from her boyfriend made it so easy to feel at peace inside.
"I'm not."
"There's no point talking back, you know!"
Lin Ye said with a smile, continuing to tease her.
"Fine, I'm scared, happy now? My dear boyfriend-kun."
Mai Sakurajima said.
She knew perfectly well Lin Ye was testing her, trying to get her to soften up and stop being stubborn.
Well, if that's what he wanted, she'd indulge his little wish.
She didn't think there was anything embarrassing about giving in.
Compared to other women — especially Yukino Yukinoshita — she would never back down, never show anything but her toughest side.
Mai Sakurajima had always considered Yukino Yukinoshita her greatest rival. If Yukino were here, she'd absolutely show off her boldest, most fearless side, determined to make that woman crack first.
But Yukino wasn't here. It was just her, and honestly, she hadn't thought much about how to act.
In front of Lin Ye, showing a softer, more vulnerable side of herself — wouldn't that only stir his protective instincts, the kind every man secretly had?
"So..."
Before Lin Ye could answer, Mai Sakurajima spoke again. "As my boyfriend, Lin-kun, shouldn't you be doing something for your girlfriend right about now?"
She giggled, resting her right hand on top of his and pressing it to her cheek.
Lin Ye immediately understood what she meant.
Did she even need to spell it out?
This was clearly time to comfort his girlfriend.
Lin Ye quickly began stroking Mai Sakurajima's cheek with his hand. The gentle touch made her eyes narrow slightly as she savored the comfort of the moment.
"Lin-kun, what should we do next?"
The amusement park visit had only just started, and Mai Sakurajima naturally wanted to keep going — who knew when she'd get another chance to come here with Lin Ye.
She treasured every moment they got to spend together like this.
"Something that'll get your heart racing, Mai. Something intense, nonstop."
Mai Sakurajima: ???
She had just said she was never doing anything like that again.
And Lin Ye wanted to go back?!
Ugh.
This jerk just loved tormenting her.
Though, to be fair, she'd already known that about him.
"Fine, you go ride it. I'll wait down here."
In any case —
She wasn't going.
"All right then, let's do something more normal," Lin Ye said, relenting.
Mai Sakurajima felt a small spark of happiness at his change of heart.
It showed that Lin Ye actually did care about how she felt, that he wasn't just deliberately giving her a hard time.
After all, she was his girlfriend. No matter what, a boyfriend ought to show some consideration for her, shouldn't he?
It wasn't like he could just ignore her feelings entirely.
Even if Lin Ye truly never gave her any consideration, she'd probably still love him — but it would make her a little sad to think about, all the same.
"Okay," Mai Sakurajima agreed with a smile.
A few minutes later, once she'd more or less recovered, Mai Sakurajima looped her arm through Lin Ye's and headed toward the next attraction.
The rides that followed were much tamer, nothing overly intense.
Lunchtime.
The amusement park had a food court set aside for meals.
Lin Ye bought two crepes and two cups of cola.
Under the bright sun,
Lin Ye sipped his cola, savoring the refreshing comfort of the moment — the sharp fizz of the carbonation was deeply satisfying.
The crepes disappeared quickly.
The two of them sat on a bench to rest.
There were plenty of visitors passing by,
many couples, many families.
Laughter and cheerful chatter filled the park.
Mai Sakurajima's eyes drifted over the passing crowd.
She found herself paying closer attention to the pretty girls nearby, or the girls who might be pretty, because she'd noticed Lin Ye's gaze kept drifting around, as if searching for something.
He was definitely checking out pretty girls.
There was no other explanation, as far as she was concerned.
That was what Mai Sakurajima thought.
Suddenly,
a figure caught her eye.
No — to be precise, two figures.
Just from behind, they looked strikingly pretty, with a certain elegant air about them.
Mai Sakurajima's gaze settled on one particular figure. Something about her felt familiar, so she got up to go take a closer look.
That caught Lin Ye's attention.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
But Lin Ye followed after Mai Sakurajima anyway.
A moment later,
when the two figures turned and their eyes met,
everything froze.
Mai Sakurajima recognized her instantly. Even with the large-framed glasses changing her usual cute image, there was no disguising that exquisite face.
Ai Hoshino.
It was Ai Hoshino.
As for the girl beside Ai Hoshino, Mai Sakurajima didn't have much recollection of her — probably just a friend of Ai Hoshino's.
And when Ai Hoshino spotted Mai Sakurajima, she froze too.
The person she'd been desperately hoping to find had actually appeared — and she'd nearly given up on ever finding her, had almost convinced herself it was impossible.
She'd thought coming to the amusement park with Sayaka Maizono today probably wouldn't accomplish what she'd hoped for.
But then — there Mai Sakurajima was.
Which meant... Lin Ye-kun was here too?
With that thought, Ai Hoshino looked past Mai Sakurajima.
A tall, familiar figure immediately came into view.
It was Lin Ye.
The boy she loved.
It had only been two days since they'd last seen each other, but to Ai Hoshino, it felt like an eternity.
"Lin-kun,"
Ai Hoshino said before she even realized it.
That confirmed it for Lin Ye.
He was genuinely surprised — he hadn't expected Ai Hoshino to actually show up here.
Who was this for?
As if that needed asking.
It didn't need saying at all.
Ai Hoshino had obviously come here because of him.
There was no other explanation.
Sayaka Maizono nodded politely at Lin Ye, showing her own friendliness.
She, too, was startled by this whole situation.
She hadn't held out much hope, had honestly thought it was next to impossible — but now that it had actually happened, she was stunned all the same.
What a coincidence — no, fate, maybe.
It seemed Senpai Ai Hoshino's longing for Lin Ye had truly crossed time and space and reached him, drawing him here.
And she herself had gotten to meet her idol, Mai Sakurajima.
She really is gorgeous.
Even in disguise, hard as it was to recognize her as Mai Sakurajima,
that graceful figure, that elegant air — every bit of it radiated Mai Sakurajima's unmistakable charm.
Sayaka Maizono was so envious.
She'd already loved Mai Sakurajima from behind a screen.
And now, with the real Mai Sakurajima standing right in front of her, Sayaka Maizono was dying to walk up and talk to her, to satisfy her own admiration and affection.
"Miss Hoshino,"
Just as Ai Hoshino was about to step toward Lin Ye, Mai Sakurajima moved first, stepping in between Ai Hoshino and Lin Ye, blocking the way.
Ai Hoshino frowned, sensing the hostility radiating off Mai Sakurajima.
This... shouldn't this be different?
But since Mai Sakurajima was showing hostility, Ai Hoshino wasn't about to be warm and friendly back. She had her own pride, her own dignity.
"Hello, Miss Sakurajima,"
Courtesy for courtesy —
Ai Hoshino greeted her.
"Hello."
With the greetings exchanged, the two quickly fell into an awkward standoff.
Mai Sakurajima spoke first. "Miss Hoshino's here for the amusement park too?"
"Of course. I wanted to come play here over the weekend. How's your day been so far, Miss Sakurajima?"
"Pretty good. Lots of fun."
Mai Sakurajima smiled.
This exchange had a completely different atmosphere from their first meeting.
Mai Sakurajima still remembered how enthusiastic, proactive, and full of admiration Ai Hoshino had been toward her back then. Now, none of that warmth remained.
Part of it was because of her own attitude just now, but she also knew it was mainly because she and Ai Hoshino had become romantic rivals.
No wonder Lin Ye hadn't accepted Ai Hoshino as a girlfriend. If he had, and Ai Hoshino became yet another one of his women, the dynamics among all of them would face their toughest challenge yet.
"What did you ride?"
The moment she asked, Ai Hoshino immediately followed up by listing off the rides she'd been on herself.
"The roller coaster was so much fun, Miss Sakurajima. Did you get to try it?"
"I did. It was great. If the line hadn't been so long, I'd have gone again."
That statement genuinely stunned Lin Ye.
Mai Sakurajima wanted to ride the roller coaster again?
That was a flat-out lie.
This had to be Mai Sakurajima's pride talking, putting up a front, refusing to admit defeat.
But Lin Ye had no intention of calling her out on it.
This was a battle between women. As a man, staying out of it was clearly the wisest choice.
"Then we should go try some other similar rides — I'm sure Miss Sakurajima would love them. Hehe, there's one I've always wanted to try, but Sayaka was too scared, so I never got to go."
Sayaka Maizono: ???
It was clearly Senpai who'd been too scared — since when had that become her fault?
This was way too funny.
She really hadn't expected Senpai to lie so shamelessly, straight-faced.
This, she supposed, was the power of love.
Facing off against her rival, Senpai Ai Hoshino was going all-out.
And to think, in private, Senpai Ai Hoshino had said over and over how much she admired and adored Mai Sakurajima — but the moment reality set in, the moment they became rivals, she turned into this aggressive, take-no-prisoners version of herself.
"Senpai, I... maybe we should go try something else!"
Sayaka Maizono cut in.
She was really just trying to give Ai Hoshino a graceful way out, not wanting Senpai to keep digging herself in deeper.
Because if Mai Sakurajima actually said yes, Senpai would have no choice but to grit her teeth and go through with that intense ride.
And if she couldn't hold it together and made a fool of herself afterward, that would be even worse.
"No, I really want to ride that one with Miss Sakurajima. Miss Sakurajima, you in?"
Ai Hoshino's heart was actually pounding with nerves.
She had a feeling Mai Sakurajima wasn't used to that kind of extreme ride either, but there was no guarantee — something unexpected could always happen.
Still, no matter what,
this time, Ai Hoshino was determined to prove she was better than Mai Sakurajima. Courage was the best way to prove that here, at the amusement park.
As for the ride itself, she refused to believe Mai Sakurajima would actually enjoy it either.
"I can do it. I'm just worried Miss Hoshino might chicken out in the end."
"Why would I chicken out? I love this kind of thing."
Neither of them was willing to back down, each holding firm to show her resolve.
But neither of them made a move to actually walk toward the ride — a quiet sign of just how much they both dreaded it.
Lin Ye thought it over for a moment, then reached out, took one girl's hand in his, and started walking toward the line for the ride.
"Since you both want to go, then let's go. I've been wanting to try it myself anyway."
He genuinely wanted to go, and he meant to follow through.
And with Mai volunteering to go along willingly this time, that made it even better.
Lin Ye was already looking forward to seeing Mai's reaction on the ride.
As for Ai Hoshino, he had complete confidence in her — she'd survived a Strange Game and adapted to it. There was no way a mere extreme thrill ride would scare her.
That was what Lin Ye thought to himself.
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