Knowing Love

Chapter 5

"Here. Water."

"...Thanks..."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Well... Alright...I suppose..."

"Hmm..."

Towa crosses his arms as he quietly watches Fujieda fumbling to open the bottle cap. The latter is sitting on an empty bench, pale-faced and sweating, his long legs shaking slightly. As soon as he manages to remove the bottle cap, he downs the clear, lukewarm liquid at once — and only then does his complexion start to look somewhat better.

A small distance away from them, a series of excited screams and laughter ring loudly at the same time a huge roller coaster surges through the spiraling rails.

"I've heard that extreme rides are not for everyone but I would never have thought that you're one of the people it isn't meant for," Towa does not bother to hide his amazement, "I suppose we do learn something new about each other every day."

"I just learned that about myself, too," Fujieda's voice is weak, "And it isn't something I want you to learn."

"It's fine. I won't think any less of you just because you're afraid of an amusement park ride."

As he says this, the corner of Towa's lips curls into a mischievous smile. Fujieda does not need to ask to know that this person is secretly reveling in the sight of him sweating and shaking like a newborn fawn after getting off the roller coaster ten minutes ago. On one hand, it fills him with indignation but on the other hand, he cannot bring himself to get angry either because it makes him happy to know that the person he loves is genuinely having fun — even if it turns out that he needs to sacrifice a bit of his pride for it to happen.

Autumn has swept over the country. Although their promised trip to the mainland was hindered two times in a row, it appears that the saying "third time's a charm" is really true. It takes a few months for Fujieda to fully recover from his injuries after the car accident, and he spends a few more months taking care of all the important work that has been postponed during his absence from the office. Despite the long delay, however, they are able to make it happen in the end.

"You don't seem bothered by any of the rides we've tried so far," handing back the half-drunk water bottle to Towa, Fujieda turns his gaze to him with a resigned look, "We've tried several attractions and I don't think I've seen your face changed in the slightest bit."

"They're pretty fun," Towa sits down by his side, drinking from the same bottle Fujieda did just now, "Actually, I want to ask you what makes you so scared that you can barely stand after getting off the roller coaster. Was it the height? Or the speed?"

"...I think I'm just not good with rides that make you feel as if the inside of your stomach is being turned upside down," Fujieda sighs, "Well, I don't regret trying them, though. If I didn't try, I would never know."

"At least you know which ride to avoid if we ever come to a place like this again."

"Once in a while is fine. I got cold feet, true, but they wouldn't exactly harm me either."

"Oh? So you're willing to get on those extreme rides again?"

"Just once in a while, alright?" the young lawyer puts an emphasis on his earlier remark, but he chuckles as he does so, "So? Anything else you want to try?"

"Are you sure you can already move around?"

"I'm fine. I just got a bit shocked when the roller coaster suddenly lunged like that."

"If you say so... Let me think..."

"It's almost sunset though, so we may not be able to make it on those popular rides if the queues are still long."