LOST TIME MEMORY Vol. 1

Chapter 5.3

They went on the ride two more times, Ene and Momo forcing Shintaro to join them each and every time, despite his trembling knees. Maybe he was still tired after yesterday. He still couldn't believe he'd slept through an entire day. But his muscles were still sore, so it must've been out of almost pure exhaustion. Mary didn't want to go anymore after the first time, so Seto tagged along with her, and they went off somewhere. Shintaro thought they seemed particularly close to one another. Kano went off on his own after the second ride; Kido joined them for all of it. At first, she'd seemed like she had a tolerance for rollercoasters. Like it didn't bother her at all. However, after the third and last round, even she was starting to get tired. The other two girls just looked like they'd had a great time.

"Now onto the next one!" Ene said.

"Yeah!" Momo yelled.

"I'm taking a break. You guys go without me." Shintaro exasperatedly sat on a nearby bench and leaned on it with his arms spread out, his mouth agape.

"No way..." Momo said, a slightly saddened tone to her voice.

"I'll join you later. Just taking a little break."

"Hm... Alrighty. Let's go, Momo!" Ene said. Momo herself looked at her brother for a second. Kido made a gesture for her to be on her way as she stood beside Shintaro. It was like she was telling them she'd watch over him while they were gone. Like a babysitter. And so Momo went off to another ride with a relieved smile, and Kido stayed behind, equally relieved to be free. Now, only the two remained. And they just happened to be among some of the most awkward people in the group. Shintaro didn't know what to say, and Kido just seemed like she didn't have anything to say. Only after a few torturous minutes of silence did one of them speak up, and it wasn't Shintaro.

"Hey," Kido called out to him. "Thanks again for saving our skins."

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it." Kido gave him a warm gaze, one that looked like she'd just decided to lower her guard around him. "I wonder what those guys really wanted."

Kido gave it a deep thought as she sat next to him. "Honestly... It looked like they were searching for us."

Shintaro gave her a wary look. "You think so?"

"Yeah. If they wanted money, they'd have just kept the hostages there and demanded a ransom. But instead, they just kept on searching and searching."

"Right. I did overhear something else, though..."

"What's that?"

Shintaro pursed his lips. "Nah, never mind." He shrugged it off. "Thanks for helping Momo out, by the way. I didn't really know she was struggling with that..."

"O-oh... Yeah, that's just how it goes. Easier for those with eye abilities to consult another than those without. We know how it works, after all. Not to be rude or anything..."

"It's okay. It's true, anyway... Also umm..." He scratched his chin. "I did see you at the mall, didn't I? By the Boba Tea stand?"

"Hm? I think so? If it was the first time Momo saw you there, then yes. She made a big fuss about it."

"Kinda depresses me that she didn't say hi."

Kido tilted her head, her long green hair poking out of her hoodie. Even in the scorching heat of a summer's day, she was still intent on wearing it. In the same way, Shintaro stubbornly wore his jacket. It comforted him, and likely her, too. "I think she was just in disbelief. I heard you haven't been out for a few years?"

"She told you about that? Well...Yeah." He didn't want to expand on that. Kido was still a stranger.

Catching onto his discomfort, she said "Don't worry about it. Things happen."

He looked at her in surprise. She was looking away, but she noticed the slight smile Shintaro gave her. Her eyebrows curled up, her face got red, and she abruptly stood up from her seat.

"I'm gonna go find Kano so um... I'll see you later." She silently walked away, and Shintaro thought yet again of how surprisingly nice she was. Though really shy, too. He felt that her eyes gave her a sharp look most of the time, but she was quite pretty when she softened her expression despite not wearing makeup. His own thoughts made him cringe a bit, but it upped his mood a bit. He sunk his back into the bench and let out a deep sigh with a smile plastered on his face.

"I really should have been there," he said to no one in particular. He'd wished he'd spent more time with Momo. More time on the outside. It really wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, and he hadn't had a problem with going out in the past anyway. Though, really, even back then he hadn't gone out much at all. The sky wore a drape of intensely beautiful blue. But the sun was a problem. And Shintaro's jacket wasn't really doing him any favors in terms of sunbathing. He flapped his T-shirt and tried to air out the heat.

"Um." A voice whispered behind him; he barely caught it. He looked over and saw Mary, hiding underneath her almost translucent bangs. "...W-would you happen to know... where the others are?"

Shintaro scratched his chin and looked around. Kido had just been there. She'd gone off past the rollercoaster they'd ridden before, then past an open path beside a fried food stall. Momo and Ene had gone in the complete opposite direction. But he didn't know their destination. "Sorry. Kido went that way but didn't say where she was going."

"Oh," she said, and then she just stood there, thinking. Here was another awkward person right after the other. This time, though, Shintaro really didn't know what to say whatsoever. And Mary seemed like she might have been okay with just becoming a statute for the remainder of the day if he didn't do anything.

"So er... you wanna look for them?" He finally asked. She nodded in response, her hands clutching her frilly, blue & white dress. Now that Shintaro was actually paying attention to his surroundings, he noticed that quite a number of people were looking her way. Her hair and outfit made her stand out a lot. She was adorable, too. Some were even obviously contemplating asking her to take a picture with them like she was a foreigner. She didn't look like she was Japanese. Shintaro thought she kind of looked like she could've been a mascot for Disneyland. He didn't tell her that, though.

"Right. We can start looking for Kido, then, I guess. You know her number?" Mary shook her head. Shintaro gave an awkward chuckle. "It's alright. I don't have Ene with me anyway." She looked at him, slightly puzzled. "I almost forgot she's on my phone. I gotta make sure to bring her with me from now on."

Mary silently followed after him. Shintaro felt like he was filling in for Seto as a sitter or as a caretaker of sorts. It made him wonder, though. "Where is Seto? How'd you guys get separated?"

"He went to the toilet, and I got distracted," she replied with a troubled look. It was barely above a whisper.

"Oh." Shintaro figured he should keep the conversation going, at least. "What distracted you?" She merely answered with a finger pointed at something far away. Even from a distance, they could very clearly see big, round animals walking around in pairs. Children were trailing behind. Maybe they'd thought she was working there, too. "Makes sense. Wamma wait for the others? Or look for them?"

"I-it's okay...." Her eyes were still downcast and hiding behind her fringe. She really was incredibly timid. But then, unexpectedly, she looked at Shintaro out of the corner of her eyes. Just for a moment before looking around. It was as if she was racking her mind for something to do. Then, with a voice as small as the first time she spoke to him, she said, "W-would you mind going... there?" She was looking at a carousel, one with swings dangling from it. It was the sort of ride that took you round and round. At least it was something that was more to Shintaro's liking than a rollercoaster. He gave her his now-signature smile, which was only a slight upward slant in the corner of his lips.

"Sure," he said. And that's where they went instead.

Route: ?