While Ryouta may have been absolutely terrified by the ride operator’s stunt, getting onto the ride was worth it. It was fun, terrifying, and he got to confirm that it was true how some people could have a very sensual experience on such a ride. However, once they got back down to the ground, they were met with a Cassandra who really didn’t seem very happy with the ride operator. All the previously playful operator could do was hang his head low in shame as Cassandra stood by him with her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes glaring at him every time he dared to bring his head back up.
Ryouta may have been terrified from the stunt, but Cassandra was utterly pissed off. Now, she had to resist the urge to overdramatically hug Ryouta and Serra after their safe return. It wasn’t like they were in any actual danger or anything, after all, plus she already felt somewhat better by taking her anger out on the ride operator.
But as soon as the two riders got out of their seats, Cassandra could not help but to wrap her arms around them. She did not express just how worried she was since she knew that it would be obvious, but she still hugged them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd waiting in line found the whole situation hilarious at first before awkwardly looking around and trying to distract themselves during Cassandra’s chewing out of the operator and now her slightly dramatic reunion with her lovers.
And then there was Alice who was busy enjoying the ice cream cone that she got just as the ride launched. As tempting as it may have been to indulge in the drama, it had been too long since she last had some ice cream.
The ice cream was so delightful that she did not even come up with any tragic fantasies involving what would have happened had the stunt been real. Then again, it was difficult to try and turn such a situation into an erotic fantasy as that was the type of fantasy that she preferred.
“You’re not allowed to ever ride anything like this ever again,” Cassandra grumbled with a pout to Ryouta. The message was intended for Serra as well, not that Serra could tell since she was still being held by the taller woman and was incapable of reading her lips in such a position.
“That’s alright,” Ryouta said. “I think I had my lifetime’s fill with that.”
Convincing Serra to not ride it again would be a much more difficult task seeing as how it was enjoyable on a whole other level to her.
“Ex… excuse me,” the previously spunky operator spoke up, “I’ve uh… gotta get through this line. Other people are—”
He cut himself off as soon as Cassandra’s eyes returned to glaring at him.
The terror that Ryouta felt was but a fraction of Cassandra’s. It was all this operator’s fault that Cassandra was very sure she might have been watching Ryouta’s and Serra’s final moments, and this operator was going to suffer for that.
Seeing Cassandra like this, Ryouta wondered if his tsundere girlfriend had suddenly evolved into a yandere girlfriend due to the experience. The glare that she was giving the operator was definitely that of a yandere’s, after all.
“A tsundere yandere,” Ryouta thought to himself. Alas, he came to the conclusion that Cassandra was really neither. She was hardly ever a tsundere anymore outside of fanservice and she was only acting like a yandere because she was genuinely terrified for them. Now, if he really wanted to see a true tsundere yandere, he would have to ask Saya to try that for him. If she could basically use any personality that she wanted and change her body to match, “Yeah. Saya, since I know you’ll have access to this thought later, I want you to try being a tsundere yandere for me. A tsundere yandere little sister puppy. Just uh… don’t hurt me, please. Don’t be the violent kind of yandere. At least, not the kind that is violent toward the person she loves. And don’t be the violent kind of tsundere, either. Alright, that’s all for my request.”
Despite Saya not even being active due to him not being linked to the system, Ryouta still had quite the request for her.
And it was a request that would most certainly be fulfilled. He could already imagine her voice calling him “onii-wan” in that sort of creepy, dangerous tone that yanderes tended to use.
He couldn’t wait to actually hear it.
Once that whole dramatic situation was over with, the group continued to walk around the area. Cassandra found an ally of justice in Alice as Alice ended up wanting to experience all of the different foods available, resulting in the two women spending most of their time off on their own in pursuit of delicious food. Kennel corn, cotton candy, everything deep-fried from cookies to sticks of butter, and funnel cake with copious amounts of vanilla ice cream and strawberries on top – the two women seemed intent on needing to buy new pants after this.
Cassandra had successfully converted Alice into being a patron of the sin of gluttony. Alice may have been more fond of the sin of lust prior to this, but how could she resist so much delicious, utterly unhealthy food? They also got to enjoy some kebabs made with that fancy synthetic meat that had been all the rage lately. Everybody was switching over to it due to its exact similarity to real meat, how much cheaper it was, and for those tax bonuses from being more environmentally friendly.
And this synthetic meat was definitely legitimate.
“I knew that they were making advances with this, but I had no idea it was so similar!” Alice said before happily taking another bite out of the kebab.
“It’s not that special,” Cassandra replied. “I’ve had synth meat this good before. The only reason this stuff is everywhere now is because of how cheap it is. It’s like… stupidly cheap. Like cheaper than candy.”
“Ah, I see!”
“It’s also supposed to be even healthier than the real deal, so there’s basically no reason to ever eat real meat again unless you’re one of those people who hates science and wants everything to be natural.”
“Well, I do believe that there is some merit to their beliefs. There was a large movement toward organic food at the beginning of the century, was there not?”
“Just because there was a movement for it doesn’t mean that there was merit to it. Trying to make everything as organic as possible is inefficient, more expensive, bigger impact on the environment, and all that. Like, sure, I get it… but that movement ended up being for conspiracy theorists instead of people who were worried about their health and the environment. Whether they like it or not, all the modified stuff that’s been coming out is cheaper, healthier, less impactful on the environment, and can be changed to taste however we want.”
“This is something that you seem quite knowledgeable on!”
“I wouldn’t really say that. I only know what I know because my dad was one of those conspiracy theorists. Claimed that all the stuff we’re doing to our food is changing our minds and being used to brainwash the masses and other bullshit like that. Said that the revolution only had as much support as it did because the global elites hiding in the shadows wanted it all along, and they used all this new ‘science food’ to make people obedient. Yeah, right, the elites brainwashed us into overthrowing the elites. Sounds like a perfectly logical theory made by somebody who totally isn’t full of bullshit, right?”
“Hmm. I am trying to think of how I could justify such a belief. Simply for amusement’s sake, mind you. Alas, I am not sure if there are any justifications I may think of.”
“He says that the revolution didn’t target anybody who it wasn’t supposed to target, but I’m not sure who else it could have targeted. I mean, everything changed. Buildings got burned down, the people responsible for trying to ruin our planet got dragged out into the streets – what else were they supposed to do? There’s no secret shadow council of lizard people living beneath the surface controlling us and, even if there was, oh no, they succeeded in stopping us from killing ourselves. Those horrible shadow elite lizard people.”
Alice raised a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Those horrible lizard people indeed! I must admit that it is interesting to hear of such beliefs, though. I have never encountered anybody who has actually believed such things. Part of me has always believed such people to be a dramatization or a… what is the word? The logical fallacy for people who act like an extreme stereotype?”
“A strawman? It’s the closest thing I can think of, anyways.”
“Ah, yes, that! I thought that such people were simply strawmen who did not truly exist.”
“Unfortunately, I can confirm that they exist. My dad unironically believes this is all some giant conspiracy theory, that the new government is plotting against us, and – oh, get this. This one is really stupid. Like, your IQ is going to drop because of this stupid. You want to hear it?”
Alice perked up with an excited smile as she nodded her head.
“You know how we’ve got all that debris in orbit and stuff, right? We basically can’t launch anything new because of how dangerous it is?” Cassandra asked.
“Mhm!”
“He thinks that’s a hoax. He says all the videos and radar images of the orbit being full of debris is a hoax to keep us from leaving the planet. You know, who would have thought that the people who never thought that the climate was actually going to try and kill us would now think that there’s some elite organization pretending that we’re trapped on the planet and that none of the stuff we’re doing to save the climate is working. Just… how does that happen? How do you literally go from thinking that all the climate stuff is a hoax, even while the sea levels are rising and overtaking towns, while fish are going extinct and bugs are dying out, to thinking that we’re being trapped here as a conspiracy theory so that the climate can kill us despite there now being proof that we’re finally reversing all the damage we’ve done?”
“By being crazy? A-ah, my apologies. I probably should not speak poorly of your father even if you—”
“No, please do. Shit talk him as much as you want. He deserves it.”
“As tempting as that may be, I do wish that you two could reconcile. You are still father and daughter, after all.”
“I mean, I’m open to it. He’s the one who has to stop being a massive dick and crazy conspiracy theorist. It’s not like I want to despise him. He knows that, too. I’ve told him before to his face that I want nothing to do with him if he can’t get over himself.”
“What did he say about that?”
“He said that I’m brainwashed by propaganda and that only he knows what’s best for me since I’m too blind to see it myself. He sounded like a cultist.”
“Do you believe that he meant it? Do you think that he genuinely wishes for your best?”
“No. I think he’s a crazy, dangerous, selfish conspiracy theorist. He doesn’t actually want to do anything for my own good, he only wants to control me. You know that there used to be this huge anti-vaccine movement before they made that pretty much globally illegal? I read that there were all sorts of ‘concerned’ parents wanting ‘the best’ for their children… by refusing to vaccinate, hiding their kids from the government, harassing them even after they were adults, and all that. Those kinds of people don’t care about being healthy or doing the right thing. They only care about being on the inside of some global conspiracy where they can feel special and smart while having an excuse to control their kids.”
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“You do not think highly of such people, do you?”
“Not at all. I mean, I feel bad for the kids who had to be taken away from their parents, but it needed to be done. They were in danger.”
“I see. Well, that was an interesting conversation. Perhaps a bit too heavy for what is meant to be a day of celebration, however.”
“Yeah, well, as much as I’d rather not talk about my dad, this day gets me to do it more than any other day. I don’t even remember what we were talking about that led into this.”
“We were talking about the ‘meat’ and how wonderful it is! If it is truly as cheap and as healthy as you have said it is, we should buy some! I would love to experiment with it in the kitchen.”
“Not sure if it’s available at the local store yet, but we can check for it. They’re still ramping up their production so that there’s enough for everybody.”
“You really are knowledgeable about this!”
“I mean… whenever we’re not playing games or doing anything else together, I’m probably watching or reading about this sort of stuff. It’s not like I’m smart or anything. I just repeat what other people say about it. God, if my dad heard me say that then he’d think it’s some sort of self-aware ‘aha’ moment admitting that I’m brainwashed.”
Alice smiled and reached over the picnic table to hold Cassandra’s hands. “I cannot wait for you to meet my father. I promise you that he will be jolly and kind enough for all of us! If there is a more wonderful father in the world, I would like to meet him for it would be comparable to discovering a real dragon!”
“You really like your dad,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “Must be nice.”
“A-ah, I do not mean to sound like I am bragging.”
“It’s fine. I’m happy that at least one of us likes our dad. I’ll have to live uh… what’s that word for when you live through somebody else for something?”
“Vicariously?”
“Yeah, that. I’ll have to live vicariously through you to know what it’s like to have a likable dad.”
“Well, once we are married, he will be your father as well! You will not need to live vicariously through me at all. In fact, considering that we are most certainly going to spend the rest of our lives together, you may as well already consider him your father!”
“You’re pretty confident about us spending the rest of our lives together.”
“Should I not be?” Alice asked with a bit of smug.
“I – I mean… it’s the plan, so… I guess that there’s nothing wrong with being confident about it. But we still need to, you know.”
“Get married?”
Cassandra tried her best not to turn red. She did not succeed. “Ye-yeah.”
“Hmm. That has made me think of a potential issue.”
“What?”
“Who is going to propose to who? While it was traditionally the man’s role to do such a thing, said tradition died before we were even born. The three of you, counting Serra as well, all started to date at the same time as well. I suppose that it may make the most sense for one of you three to do it?”
“I – I don’t know if I could. Plus… I know it’s selfish, but I kind of want to be the one proposed to.”
Alice nodded her head in agreement. “Then it comes down to Serra or my hero! Of course, it could always be Aza or Eva as well.”
“Aza… I can’t imagine her doing it, and I’m pretty sure she’s with us in wanting to be proposed to. That’s the kind of woman she is.”
“Mhm, mhm. I agree.”
“But Eva… I – I can see her doing that with how she is. Plus it would be a new experience for her, and she loves trying new things.”
“Mhm, mhm.”
“Serra… I’m not sure, but I’m kind of leaning toward thinking that she would prefer being proposed to going off of the fact that both me and her waited for Ryouta to ask us out instead of taking the initiative ourselves. Then again, she’s way more assertive now.”
“Mhm.”
“And Ryouta… I think he’d probably want to do it himself. But at the same time, I think surprising him by doing it ourselves would be really nice, and getting to see him all embarrassed and happy and probably crying would be fun, so—”
“Why would I be crying?” Ryouta asks, his voice coming from directly behind Cassandra. He managed to get a squeak out of her without even needing to poke her sides.
Cassandra turns around with reddened cheeks, ready to deny everything that they were just talking about… only to completely forget what she was going to say as soon as she sees the sight before her. “Where… where did all of those come from?”
Hanging against Serra’s back with its flippers over her shoulders being held by her hands was a massive, stuffed penguin almost as tall as she was. Then underneath each of Ryouta’s arms were two more stuffed animals just as large: a snake and a lion. “As it would turn out,” Ryouta said, “Serra is a prodigy at carnival games.”
Serra didn’t even have to hear what he said to have a proud and smug smile.
“They are all so cute!” Alice said. “However, I am worried about where they will be going. Our bed is not large enough for all of us and our new friends.”
“They could be on display somewhere. By the way, the snake is for you and the lion is for Cass,” Ryouta explained.
“Didn’t you get one?” Cassandra asked him.
“I… I wanted one. Serra was going to try and win me one of a wolf, but she apparently reached the prize limit and wasn’t allowed to play for prizes anymore.”
“Then I shall add such a wolf to my mental birthday list for you, my hero!” Alice declared. “I shall get you the largest, most fluffiest wolf that the world has to offer!”
“I want to say that that’s kind of ridiculous, but I don’t think I can pass you up on that. I really do want one.”
“Aren’t we all a bit too old for giant stuffed animals?” Cassandra asked.
“But they’re cute.”
“My hero has a point,” Alice said with a nod.
Serra put down her penguin to take the lion from Ryouta so that she could hold it up in front of Cassandra.
Cassandra attempted to resist at first, but there was no way that she could resist forever. The lion’s black, beady eyes stared into her soul and demanded acceptance. Its soft, plushy body attracted her fingers and demanded to be squeezed. Its overwhelming size overrode her sense of reason and demanded to be hugged.
Slowly and hesitantly, Cassandra reached out to the lion, grabbed it gently, and hugged it against her. “I – I guess that it’s kind of cute.”
“I wish I was that lion,” Ryouta said.
Cassandra did not know why he said that until she noticed that she was holding the lion’s head against her chest. “What? Are you jealous of stuffed animals now?” she asked, hugging the lion even closer against her chest.
“Only of that one.”
“I must second his jealousy,” Alice spoke up.
“It’s – it’s not like I wouldn’t do this for you whenever you want,” Cassandra replied to them both.
“So, you’re saying that whenever we want to use your boobs as pillows, all we have to do is go for it?” Ryouta asked.
“That does sound like what she said!” Alice said.
“You still have to ask first!” Cassandra pouted.
“I guess that we can get consent first. I call dibs on doing it first once we’re home later,” Ryouta said.
“I call ‘dibs’ on second!” Alice said.
Serra then held up three fingers to signify that she was calling dibs on third.
“Don’t just call dibs on who gets to use my chest!” Cassandra shouted at them before immediately realizing that she just drew even more attention to her than when she chewed out the ride operator earlier. And this time, those who were walking by had no context and could only rely on their imaginations for what she could have meant by using her chest.
Needless to say, Cassandra lifted up her new lion and hid her face behind it.
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After wandering around for a bit longer, riding a few rides, eating some more food, telling Alice and Cassandra that they asked for their stomach aches by eating so much unhealthy food and that they would likely spend the rest of the evening regretting such poor life choices, it was finally time for the ultimate event – the event that everybody was looking forward to.
Wherever a similar festival was being held, each and every one of them featured the same event on this day.
And it was one that they were all already ready for.
It was the reason for why they came to the festival with spare clothes: why Cassandra wore heavy, black clothes; why Serra had a swimsuit on underneath her clothes; why Alice had on such thick and unattractive undergarments despite her flashy preferences; and why Ryouta switched into swimming trunks before they came.
It was also why each of them now held water guns in their hands.
The main event was about to begin.
To celebrate the firefighter-led revolution that extinguished the flames of corruption, greed, and fires that threatened to consume the world in ever-growing heat, it was now time… for a massive water gun battle.
Cassandra made sure that her war paint was waterproof for this exact reason.
Two sides. Each one had a flag that needed to be captured. Whoever got hit by water would need to sit it out until the next round. Best three out of five. Approximately one hundred versus one hundred in a field set up with various obstacles and barricades.
It was not only an event to celebrate the day and the firefighters’ deeds, but to celebrate unity as well as anybody who got even slightly wet would have to go and sit out on their own. Having enough referees to monitor every single person was absurd, so the participates were expected to self-report.
Honesty, respect, community – these were all virtues meant to also come out during the event even though it really just came down to being capture the flag with water guns.
And the game was about to begin.
The team that Ryouta and his girlfriends were on wore blue scarves around their necks while the opposing team wore red scarves.
“I’ve got a plan,” Cassandra said. “Me and Alice will take the lead going around the east side. We’ll try to bait their shots and use Alice’s chair as a shield. Ryouta, Serra, you two back us up and take out anybody who focuses on us.”
“It feels weird receiving strategies from you,” Ryouta teased, “but I’m okay with this.” Part of the reason for being okay with it was because he was imagining her wearing a tight military officer’s uniform with the chest part unbuttoned.
Alice was imagining the exact same thing except with more whipping.
As for Serra, she was perfectly content looking at Cassandra’s rear in its current, jean-covered form.
“Getting Alice the flag is our top priority. As long as we can get it to her, we can sacrifice ourselves to shield her from shots, and her chair should help,” Cassandra said.
Ryouta wanted to point out the flaw of using the VIP to bait out shots since they wouldn’t be able to give her the flag if she got knocked out, but he also wanted to let his girlfriend be the strategist for once. If she wanted input on her plan, she could always ask him, and he was sure that she knew that.
“Remember, we have to report ourselves if we get wet, but we have to like… actually get wet. A little drop of water on you doesn’t count. Think like, a cup’s worth of water being spilled on you. That’s how wet you should be at least before you take yourself out for the round,” Cassandra explained.
Serra then signed to them that she was wet, earning an amused chuckling from Ryouta and Alice while Cassandra looked less impressed.
But then she thought of something else.
Thanks to their desire to accommodate Serra… they all knew sign language. There were no radios nor any other methods of long-range communication permitted, but there were no rules against signing to one another.
No matter how far apart they were, they could still communicate so long as they could see one another’s hands.
“Different plan. We’re still going to get the flag to Alice, but we’re going to split up into teams of two to get there. Having Alice be our flag carrier while also putting her in danger was stupid. Instead, Ryouta and Serra – you two are going to go up along the eastern edge of the allowed area. Scout it out, try to take our opponents out from distance, and then signal when it’s alright for us to move up. I think it’ll work,” Cassandra explained.
“You sure you don’t want to recruit anybody else into our plan?” Ryouta asked. “I mean, there are like… a hundred other people around us.”
“No, they all have their own plans and I can only trust us. Also… most of them are little kids who are going to run around only trying to shoot people.”
Ryouta looked around. Cassandra was, in fact, correct. While there were other adults mixed into the crowd, the majority of the group was full of kids.
“There’s one group I’m worried about,” Cassandra said. “Did you see them? That family group where they were all wearing the same shirt?”
“I wasn’t really paying attention,” Ryouta answered. Alice and Serra had similar answers.
“There were like twenty of them wearing yellow shirts. All adults, all in good shape. They’re on the other team and they’re definitely going to be working together. We have to avoid them since we don’t have the numbers to compete.”
“What, you don’t think the four of us can handle twenty of them?”
“I – I don’t think so.”
“Are you forgetting who I am, Cass Cass? All you have to do is give me the order and I can handle them.”
“You get points for acting cool… but this isn’t a game. I’m sure you could screw with them in a game, but you don’t have swords or magic or anything here.”
“Hey, I’ve played competitive shooters before. The Divine Brigade even used to have a division dedicated to shooters, but they weren’t really successful enough to get as popular as the main group. Still, we won some small tournaments.”
“But how’s that going to help you against twenty people?”
“I’ll think up a strategy on the spot. All you have to do is trust me.”
Cassandra sighed and nodded her head. “Alright. If I give you the signal to take them out… it’s up to you.”
“Got it, captain,” Ryouta said with a salute.
Seeing her boyfriend refer to her as captain and give her a salute like that – suddenly, she was joining in on the fantasy of dressing up as a military officer.
And now, it was time for the battle to begin.