The next morning came faster than I expected.
"Gojo! Are you ready yet?!"
Kiana's voice boomed from outside my door, her enthusiasm breaking through the walls like a wrecking ball.
"Yes. Give me a moment…"
She was fast today wasn't she?
I thought that girls usually take a crap ton of time to prepare themselves for a hangout? How come I'm the one being rushed now?
Shaking my head in mirth, I finished buttoning up my shirt. I picked up a large jacket that was pretty long and comfy.
It was winter season right now and I didn't want to get caught in the cold.
Sure I was adapted to it. But being tolerant is different from being comfortable.
At this moment, my phone buzzed.
I picked it up and looked at the notification on it.
[Mei: Wanna go out later? We can go catch a movie.]
[Gojo: Sorry. Kiana and I are a bit busy today. You can ask Bronya though.]
[Mei: Oh. Ok. Sorry for bothering you.]
Hmm
There was something weird about this message but I just couldn't put my finger on it right now.
Oh well.
As I was about to turn off my phone, I suddenly received another message.
This time though, it was from our wonderful little secretary.
[Bronya: Gojo. Do u want to duo queue? We can go fr lunch later too.]
[Gojo: We are nvr going for lunch once we start playing.]
[Bronya: So yes?]
[Gojo: Sry. A bit busy atm. Can play tonight.]
[Bronya: Oh. Ok.]
?
I'm getting a sense of deja vu here.
Opening the door of my room, I was met with the sight of Kiana pacing back and forth in the living room.
And for a moment, I was slightly stunned.
She was wearing an orange off-shoulder top with a little cartoon cat on the front, complete with a paw pin near the strap. It was paired with a high-waisted black skirt that ended just above her knees. To finish it off, she had a black beret on her head as well.
"You're finally done!" Kiana stopped pacing around with a grumble when she saw me come out. But, it quickly turned into a cheeky smile when she realised my pause.
"Hehe, this lady is pretty, isn't she?" She puffed her chest out. "I can see you drooling from here!"
"I…"
"No need to be ashamed. I'll reluctantly forgive you for your stare."
"You…"
"What? Are you still at a loss for words?"
"Why the heck are you dressed like this in winter?'
My deadpan broke any and all momentum that the white haired girl had as her ahoge drooped slightly.
I let out a laugh as I shooed her off.
"Go get dressed properly. You're gonna regret dressing like this if we go out later."
"I'm not afraid of the cold! The Kaslana are not afraid of any obstacles!"
Kiana shouted exuberantly as she ran to the door. "C'mon! Time's a wasting!"
"If you say so…"
I'd give her 30 minutes tops before she gives up.
—----------------------------------------
"Ah choo"
Kiana let out a sneeze as she rubbed her red nose.
A cold wind blew by, causing Kiana to shiver before she hugged herself with a shiver.
I sighed.
"I told you-"
"Zip it! I don't want to hear it."
She turned away, clearly regretting every decision that led her here, but still too stubborn to admit defeat.
Another gust of wind blew, and she flinched like I was about to tickle her in the waist.
Looking at the girl suffering there, I shook my head.
What a silly girl…
Was looking good more important than being comfy?
In one swift motion, I took off my jacket and placed it around her.
She let out a yelp before turning around to look at me in surprise.
"Wear it. I'm not gonna carry you around if you faint."
"Are you implying I'm heavy?"
"Yes."
I'm not lying, and I'm not trying to deny it.
That sent Kiana fuming for a bit, but she quickly calmed down as she pulled the jacket over her body.
"Thanks…"
"Am I hearing things? Kiana is thanking me?"
"Gojo. Don't think I don't know about your Gundam…"
"Don't think I don't know about your Homu comic."
"I believe we can come to an agreement somehow…"
"Let's just get into Homuland." I laughed. "We're going to get swamped soon."
"Right! I almost forgot!"
Classic Kiana.
—---------------------------------------------
We made our first stop at a carnival game.
It was one where you needed to shoot a bunch of things to get a prize.
Honestly, it was a scam. The prize they had wasn't even worth more than the amount it cost to play the game once.
But unfortunately, it had a Homu theme. So our white haired little gremlin got baited.
She hit all the targets easily given her gun training. Then, she looked at me with a smug look and wiggled her eyebrows.
Are you challenging me?
With a sneer, I got fricking scammed due to her as well.
I paid the money, picked up the gun and took aim.
I'm not the greatest marksman in the world. Kiana was definitely better than me.
However, I have an advantage.
*Clunk*
In a split second, I had already hit all the targets myself.
"Y-you… how?"
Kiana was dismayed.
It seemed that she couldn't beat me in yet another thing again.
Now it was my turn to wiggle my eyebrows smugly at her.
"Maybe one day you'll beat me."
"We'll see…"
Err…
Why do I not like the sound of that?
—--------------------------------------------------
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Come on! It's the Homu Dropper 50! It's only, like… 50 meters tall."
"Exactly! That's fifty meters of my life I'd like to keep inside my body, thank you."
Kiana grabbed my arm before I could retreat. "Don't be a coward, Gojo. What's a little roller coaster to how fast you move anyways?!!"
"That's different! And I'm not fast!"
"Yeah yeah chump. We're getting on!"
Five minutes later, I was strapped in beside her. Regretting all my life choices.
Why didn't I just say no…
The coaster launched. Kiana screamed in excitement.
I screamed in betrayal.
But halfway through my scream, I realised…
Huh…
It's not as scary as I thought.
I was always afraid of roller coasters in my past life, but who knew that it wasn't really anything when you could move past the speed of sound.
When the ride ended, Kiana noticed that I wasn't all that phased at all. A determined look appeared on her face before she finally dragged me onto something else.
This time however, it was a terrible, terrible mistake.
It was a haunted house.
When we came out of it, our souls looked like they had left our body as we huddled together like our lives depended on it.
"W-we… are n-never going into a-another one of those again!"
Kiana gritted out.
"Nah, I'm done."
I could not adapt… to this shit…
I just want to go home now… please…
—--------------------------------------------------------
Time passed by quickly as the sun soon began to set.All the chaos- the games, screaming and terror, we finally decided to call it a day.
Well, almost.
"Let's get some pizza!" Kiana declared, pointing towards a nearby stand. "My treat!"
"The money in your hands literally came from my pocket…"
"Bah, semantics!"
"That's a big word. You sure you understand what it means?"
I was ignored.
Kiana bought two slices, one Pepperoni and another Hawaiian.
And for some reason, Kiana decided to give me the Hawaiian.
"You know I hate pineapples on pizza right?"
"Yup."
With a sneer on my face, I jumped forward and took a quick bite of the Pepperoni pizza in Kiana's hand.
"Ah! That's mine!"
She pushed my face away from the pizza, but it was too late.
The damage was already done.
In the end, the Hawaiian returned to Kiana's hands as she gloomily ate it.
We walked along the pier, looking at the boats sailing on the lake as we ate.
"Man… this pizza isn't as good as I thought it would be…" The girl beside me suddenly spoke with a hint of melancholy in her tone.
I raised an eyebrow. "Pizza at a stand isn't gonna be the best in the world y'know?"
"Yea…" Kiana sighed. "But I thought it would at least taste a bit more like my stinky dad's…"
"That guy can make pizza?"
"Burnt pizza." She corrected me. "He makes it using Shamash. He looks goofy when he does it but…" she paused. A smile appeared on her face as she remained looking at the scenery.
"It's the best pizza I ever had…"
I didn't respond right away.
Something about her words…
It just reminded me of something.
Memories of a long distant past suddenly rushed into my brain
Memories… of my past life.
Of when I had a family of my own.
Sometimes I wonder now…
Mom…
Dad…
How are you guys?
I felt a sudden sting in my eyes.
But a sudden warmth in my palm suddenly awoke me.
"Kiana?"
"Are you thinking about something again?"
She held my hand, looking at me seriously straight in the eye.
"You shouldn't keep everything bottled up y'know. Everyone cares about you."
I smiled.
"I get it."
But there were words left unsaid.
I'm sorry, Kiana.
But…
I'm still not ready right now to share some things.
The night ended, slightly bittersweet.
(A/N: How was the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment. Please review as well if possible
I tried something new with this chapter. Hope you guys liked it.)