As the sun dyes the city in its crimson shade, I walk with reluctant steps towards the destination mentioned in that suspicious note.

Wonderland Park…

I personally don’t have any fond memories of it…

No, I guess I do have one…

No, what am I saying? I have no such things! Certainly not with him, of all people!

The nerve to even ask for another date when he hasn’t even apologized for the other day!... Wait no, it’s not a date! It’s not a date, I tell you!

“Done with your squirming yet?”

A voice calls out behind me, interrupting me of my train of thought.

“I did not squirm!” I immediately retort.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” From behind, the owner of the voice - a boy whose height only equates to his annoyance - continues.

“And what are you doing here again?”

“Are you kidding me?” Yoichi raises his eyebrows. “Not like every day I get to be the audience for once. Gotta get myself the best seat possible, of course.”

“Sounds like you know what he did,” I promptly glare at him in return, only for Yoichi to flip out a reclining chair and a bucket of movie-theater popcorn, lying comfortably on the concrete road wearing a pair of cheap sunglasses as if there’s nothing to do with him.

“Of course not,” Yoichi answers lazily. “All on him. This time, I’m just the messenger.”

It would be foolish of me if I’d believe anything he said. Magicians are natural con men, after all. I’ve seen more than enough times when he did it on him to know any better.

When the two of us are still going back and forth, the sudden emergence of a figure interrupts our conversation. From afar, the sight of a familiar, yet strange blond hair appears. Familiar, because I’ve seen him enough times already to know, but strange, in the sense that he’s nothing like I’ve used to.

His hair is straightened and slicked back, looking a lot more neatly than its usual wild, delinquent style. Gone are the excessive piercings, now he just wears a pair of earrings like any other person. And though he doesn’t wear any suits, a casual white shirt still makes him much more polite than any fancy clothes he decided to wear before.

He looks kind of c…

No! Don’t fall into his traps! It’s all just a show!

Who cares if he dresses up, and that he looks a lot… nicer than usual!

Meanwhile, the perpetrator stands still for a while, his eyes glancing towards me, then behind me where Yoichi stands… well, lies.

“Uh… hi,” after a while, he finally speaks.

“Hi yourself,” I turn in the other direction. You think that’s all it takes for me to forgive you?

His eyes shift elsewhere again. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where exactly his gaze is heading. As a matter of fact, I can turn towards that target right now.

“Don’t mind me,” Yoichi, still in his perfectly punchable sunglasses, answers with his mouth filled with popcorn. “Keep going, you two. I’ll even get a room for you if you want.”

As Hakuen’s glance turns into a glare, I can even tell what he’s thinking right now.

Dude, help me out here!... or something along that line.

And I’m sure if it’s Yoichi, it’ll be something like you got this, buddy for an answer.

“Then… uh…”

“... Fine,” I raise my finger forward. “Seeing that I’m here already, I might as well. You get one chance, no more, no less. You hear me?”

Just like that, his face lit up like the sun, while his voice turned unusually cheerful and confident as Hakuen takes a long bow:

“Thank you! You won’t regret it, I promise!”

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It does fit him a lot more. That smiling face, I mean.

… Wait, dang it Natsume! Why do you keep being like this? You’re not supposed to let down your guard this easily!

But it does beg the question - this park is already abandoned in the two-week gap in our previous visit. Every ride is already wrecked, by us, nonetheless. So what does he have left in plan to ask me out in this place?

As the thoughts run across my mind, Hakuen slowly pushes open the steel gate with utmost care. Without proper maintenance, two weeks is already more than enough for its hinges to rust away. Even its surface is now covered in a layer of rugged, brown rust as if it can fall apart at any moment.

And in fact, it does. Even if Hakuen was being as careful as he could with pushing the gate, its limit is only so much. With only a slight touch, a large crack and snap echo, and the giant steel plate comes crashing down. Thankfully, it’s no domino piece, or else I’d have to be afraid that every other attraction would come along swinging with it.

But for some reason, I don’t feel any mad. If anything, it’s rather funny.

“I… uh… promise things will be better,” Hakuen awkwardly scratches his head, returning his hairdo to its original messy style.

“We’ll see about that,” I answer, trying my best not to show a smile on my face.

It seems like the attempt has worked, seeing the boy before me has his face flushed even more than before as he awkwardly scratches his head once more:

“S-Shall we continue?”

The two of us continue further into the park. With no lights to speak of due to the whole place being out of commission, it’s hardly what someone would call romantic scenery. And if I have to be honest, it’s getting kind of creepy with each step I take accidentally crushing a dried leaf or a wooden plank lying around. Thankfully, I chose not to wear any heels for tonight, or else it would be a rough one.

After a few minutes of walking, we’ve finally made it to our destination. Through the glimmering moonlight, I can vaguely make out the shape of a crumbled pile of rusted iron. Normally, in front of such a distinctive landmark, one would take no time to remember where they are. For me, or rather, this park, however, things aren’t that easy. After all, we trashed the entire place. Who would remember which pile of junk is which?

Only until Hakuen points towards the side do I realize our current location. A small wooden cart lying on the ground, clearly hastily made, and clearly not well made. Nails are still poking out on its rims; the frame itself isn’t even a true rectangle; and its wheels are… let’s say I’ve seen books rounder than those.

“Uh… sorry I can only do this much,” seeing that I haven’t said anything, Hakuen awkwardly speaks up. Only now do I get to see him closely enough, and so, only now do I see what he’s actually like after two weeks.

His hands are filled with callouses, half-healed cuts, and burn marks. Bandages can be seen poking out his sleeves and neck. And there’s still a thin layer of grease on his hand too - at first, I thought I was some kind of cream, but now that we’re close enough, it smells like motor oil…

Hakuen, just what did you do?

“So… am I supposed to ride this?” I gesture towards the half-made contraption. To say that I’m not concerned at all for my safety would be a lie, but at the same time, seeing his effort, am I really that heartless to push it all away?

But only after the words have left my mouth do I realize they were unintentionally damaging to his pride. And, right on cue, Hakuen’s face flushes once more as he’s sent into a panic, desperately trying to convince me:

“I-It’s not what you think! I know I didn’t do as good of a job, and I can’t rebuild an entire coaster, but…”

“... Relax, I kid. Even if I don’t ride it, I appreciate the effort.” I answer. Fine, at least this smile he’s earned.

“Then…”

“Uh… maybe not,” I let out an awkward laugh. Appreciating the effort is one thing, but those nails still look really scary, all right?

“Oh…” Hakuen lowers his voice in disappointment. The air around us, thought to have warmed up from the incident, goes quiet once more.

“So…” I utter, trying to throw him a hint without being so obvious.

To my surprise, no answer. Or at least, that’s the case for a second. Taking a deep breath, Hakuen finally steels himself with a clenched fist, turns to me, and says:

“Okay, I’ll admit - everything else I’ve built was a bust. This makeshift coaster was the best one, but I’ll still finish this date no matter what!”

From his other hand, which has been inside his pocket the entire time, comes a small remote with a single button. Hakuen grips the device as if to channel the last of his courage, and presses the button.

A whistling sound comes from behind me. And as I turn around, a magical scenery appears before my eyes.

Fireworks. A summer’s specialty. Countless sparks of different colors of the rainbow, all shining brilliantly in the starry night sky. A spectacular show, which only gets better with the addition of the final round, as to my surprise, letters start to be spelled out from the shining flames.

The actual letters, though…

“I… lose you?”

As I turn to Hakuen, the boy’s face has already turned paler than a corpse. Falling to his knees in despair, he mumbles his final words of defeat:

“I… It’s supposed to be… I love you…”

In the end, I can’t control myself anymore.

“Pff… Hahahaha! I’m sorry, I really am, but…” Wiping away my tears, I take a step further to the depressed boy.

With a gentle pat on his head, I continue:

“Thank you.”

“You’re… not disappointed?” Hakuen lifts his head, tears almost welling in his eyes.

“Nope,” I lightly shake my head. “You’ve tried so hard to make up with me, how can I be mad? If anything, this is the most entertained I’ve been in a while.”

“Oh…”

Not letting him be down on himself again, I continue:

“Well? Aren’t you going to finish what you’ve said just now? I’m waiting.”

Upon hearing those words, Hakuen’s face lights up again, his eyes shining even brighter than the fireworks just now. Wiping away his tears, the boy takes a deep breath and shouts as loud as he can:

“I know I’m useless, and I don’t have any talents! I know I’ve only been fooling around with no direction for my future! But… these feelings I have for you, they’re all true! They have been true since we met, and will continue to be true as long as I live! I love you, Natsume!”

“... Now that’s more like you.”

“Then…”

“For what happened the past few weeks, consider them all undone. As for your confession, however…”

Putting a finger over my mouth, I let out a cheeky smile:

“You’re gonna have to wait another week to find out.”