Ch 246. Your First Experience Should Always Be Enjoyed With a Smile

"There's no Ferris wheel here, even though it's a theme park staple..."

Inside Tokyo Disneyland, Hoshimi murmured to himself as he briefly looked over the map in his hand.

Yukino, who had just returned after picking up the FP (FastPass) cards, overheard his mumbling. She walked up and coldly explained, "I heard they didn't build one to enhance the immersive experience."

"Oh?" Hoshimi glanced at Yukino. "What does that have to do with it?"

Raising her chin, Yukino pointed at a nearby fairy-tale-style building. "Didn't you notice? You can't see any outside structures from inside Disneyland. This helps with immersion, so now do you understand why they didn't build a Ferris wheel?"

Hoshimi nodded, understanding that a Ferris wheel would be too tall and disrupt the immersion. But for some reason, he felt that the explanation was a bit forced. Could there be another reason?

Whatever, not worth thinking about. If Yukino says so, then so be it.

Hoshimi stopped pondering.

"Here, take this." Yukino handed him the FP cards.

Hoshimi took the small cards and flipped them over, inspecting them. "Yukino, what are these?"

Yukino linked arms with Hoshimi and casually replied, "It's written right there. FASTPASS. It's a fast-track ticket. If you have an FP card for a specific attraction, you can use the fast lane during the designated time, skipping the regular line."

"I see..." Hoshimi flipped through the small cards with interest.

Looking into Hoshimi's crimson eyes, Yukino continued, "I wasn't sure what you'd want to try, so I picked a few based on my own preferences. Is that okay?"

"Emm... let me see..." Hoshimi examined the attractions listed on the cards.

"Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin... Castle Carousel... Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall... Space Mountain... Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters..."

"These seem like pretty mild rides..." Hoshimi looked at Yukino. "Yukino, how about we try something more thrilling? I saw there's a roller coaster and a log flume ride. Should we go for those?"

Yukino gazed at Hoshimi and said in a soft, eerie tone, "Are you sure you want to ride a roller coaster? Don't forget, this is real life..."

"Uh..." Hoshimi averted his gaze, feeling a bit hesitant.

Maybe not. It's real life, and dealing with the aftermath could be troublesome...

After some thought, Hoshimi, his eyes wandering, said, "Yukino, let's skip the roller coaster, but I still want to try the log flume ride. I've never done that before."

"Mm..." Yukino hesitated for a few seconds before slowly nodding.

Since it was a date, both of them should have fun, not just her. Besides, it was Hoshimi's first time at a theme park, so she wanted him to enjoy himself as well.

"I'll go exchange the FP cards. Wait for me here." With that, Yukino headed over to the FastPass machine.

Hoshimi stood still, his gaze following Yukino as she moved, watching her every step until she returned.

"Here, the FastPass for the log flume ride you wanted." Yukino handed the newly acquired FP card to Hoshimi.

Hoshimi took a look. "So, it's called Splash Mountain. Nice name."

He then looked up at Yukino. "Yukino, what should we do now?"

Yukino checked the time. "There's still a little while before the FP card's designated time. Let's walk around and check out anything with no lines."

"Alright, I'll follow your lead, Yukino~" As a theme park novice, Hoshimi blinked mischievously and teased, "Yukino, you better treat my first time with care~"

"..." Yukino gave Hoshimi a side-eye, linked arms with him, and dragged him toward a nearby attraction. "We're here to have fun. Keep your mind clean and stop thinking about nonsense."

"Heh~" Hoshimi chuckled lightly and stopped teasing her.

Now that they were here, it was time to fully enjoy the experience. After all, as he said, this was his precious first time at a theme park. He wanted it to be memorable.

Bickering was fun, but there was something more to it.

...

At the Tiki Room in Tokyo Disneyland.

In a mysterious wooden room, Hoshimi stared at a blue statue and asked curiously, "Yukino, what's this called?"

"Mm?" Yukino, who had been watching the Hawaiian honeycreepers, glanced at the blue statue. "That's Stitch, the main character from the anime Lilo & Stitch."

"Stitch..." Hoshimi pondered.

He felt like he had seen it somewhere before. When could that have been? In his past life as a child?

Hmm~ It was too long ago, and his memories were a bit hazy...

Hoshimi shook his head, not bothering to recall. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Yukino, it's 10:30. It's almost time for Splash Mountain."

"Oh? Is it? Then let's go." Yukino linked arms with Hoshimi, and the two left the Tiki Room together.

...

A little while later, at the entrance of Splash Mountain, Hoshimi glanced at the project description, feeling slightly less excited.

"The drop is only 16 meters... that's kind of small... and the steepest angle is only 45 degrees... not quite thrilling enough..." Hoshimi muttered to himself.

Hearing Hoshimi's grumbling, Yukino pinched the soft skin at his waist, clearly displeased.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Hoshimi turned to Yukino, feeling a slight pain in his side.

"Hmph~ Nothing~" Yukino huffed.

She recalled the outrageous things Hoshimi had made her do in his dreams.

Skydiving from thousands of meters up, bungee jumping from skyscrapers, surfing on 25-meter waves, riding ultra-thrilling roller coasters for hours without rest...

Compared to those extreme activities, these so-called 'thrill rides' at the theme park really seemed tame.

"..." Hoshimi guessed what Yukino was thinking. His eyebrows arched slightly, and a subtle expression appeared on his face.

Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea... He'd try it out in their dream world later tonight...

"Mm?" Hoshimi's attention was caught by a note in the project description mentioning that photos would be taken during the descent, and they could purchase them afterwards.

The photos weren't expensive, only around 1,300 to 1,450 yen, which was about the price of a bowl of ramen. But when he thought about it like that, it did seem kind of pricey...

"Yukino, do you want a photo?" Hoshimi asked.

"A photo during the drop?" Yukino confirmed.

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