'Inmate Eight' was not wrong. When the group arrived at the roller coaster ride, they did indeed have to line up.
Fortunately, it was a weekday, so the line wasn't long, and it was soon their turn.
The roller coaster seats two people per row. Anna, harboring a secret scheme, silently counted the number of tourists ahead of them and quickly took out some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to share with everyone.
After sharing the snacks, the gluttonous girl naturally stood together with Sora and successfully got arranged by the staff to sit in the same row. Mahiru and Ruri sat in the row in front of them.
"Ehehe~"
Anna snickered smugly:
"Please call me the Master Planner!"
Sora looked over: "What is Anna laughing about?"
"It's nothing." Anna hurriedly reined in her smile, fastened her seatbelt, then tilted her head and whispered.
"I just suddenly remembered 'Detective Conan'. The beginning of everything was the roller coaster murder case."
The corner of Sora's mouth twitched slightly, unable to resist complaining:
"When sitting on a roller coaster, don't mention Conan anymore."
"Alright then." Anna's gaze shifted, lowering her voice.
"I suddenly remembered another movie. I think the name is 'Final Destination'. The content of the third movie also involves..."
Before 'Inmate Eight' could finish, Sora simply reached out his right hand and covered Anna's mouth:
"This topic ends here!"
First it's Detective Conan, now you're talking about Final Destination. Be careful your jinx doesn't come true!
The next second.
Sora suddenly felt something wet and slippery quietly sweep across his palm. He looked at 'Inmate Eight' in shock.
No way.
You're actually licking someone's palm in public?
"I didn't! I didn't mean to! Just now was an accident!"
Anna's pretty face quickly flushed red, and she hurriedly and shamefully explained:
"I-I just smelled the aroma of the Every Flavour Beans on Sora's hand, so I subconsciously..."
"Ptooi, ptooi~"
Anna stuck out her delicate pink tongue, quickly spat twice, covered her pink lips with her hands, and said in a shy voice:
"Sora actually tastes salty..."
Damn it! Don't say things that will cause misunderstandings. The university students in the back row are already looking over with subtle gazes! Of course palms taste salty when they sweat!
Once all the passengers were seated, the staff checked everyone's safety harnesses again. After confirming everything was secure, the roller coaster finally started moving.
"Phew..."
Sora took a deep breath, holding his breath, his heartbeat involuntarily accelerating quietly.
Humans are inherently creatures meant to stand on the ground. Riding a thrilling and terrifying ride like a roller coaster, saying you're not afraid is definitely a lie.
"Ah..."
As the roller coaster abruptly plummeted towards the sky, passengers in the front rows had already started screaming.
At this moment, a slightly cool little hand suddenly reached over and tightly grasped Sora's right hand.
A surging sense of weightlessness hit him, and Sora instinctively returned the grip on the soft hand in his palm.
"Ahhhhh—"
The howling wind rushed into his ears, and 'Inmate Eight's' screams were even louder, drowning out everything else.
Five minutes later.
The roller coaster slowly came to a halt.
"It's finally over..."
Sora let out a long sigh of relief. He quickly realized his right hand was being tightly held by someone. He couldn't pull it out even if he wanted to. Looking down, he saw that at some point, he and Anna had ended up with their fingers interlocked.
"Anna, you can let go of me now."
Sora spoke up to remind her.
"Eh?"
Anna slowly snapped back to reality. Her pretty face quickly flushed red. She shamefully let go of his hand, suddenly remembering her prank operation:
"Hey, hey... Sora hasn't experienced holding hands with a girl with fingers interlocked before, right?"
Sora: "..."
Sorry.
I already interlocked fingers with Kuroneko previously.
Unfastening his seatbelt, Sora stepped off the roller coaster, then looked toward the two girls in the front row. He saw that Ruri's eyes were misty and ready to cry, clearly having been terrified.
On the other side.
Angel-sama's reaction was quite strange. She sat quietly in her seat. Half of her pretty face was pale, while the other half actually flushed with crimson. It was completely different from the look of surviving a disaster that the others had.
"As expected of Angel-sama." Sora praised internally.
"Unshaken even if Mount Fuji collapses before her. To be able to remain composed on her first roller coaster ride, truly impressive."
"Mahiru, Ruri-chan, you can get up now." Anna reminded them from the side.
"Other customers are waiting to get on."
"Anna..." Ruri looked over pitifully, completely lacking her previous confidence.
"Pull me up."
"Leave it to me."
Naturally, Anna lent a helping hand.
Meanwhile.
Mahiru finally slowly regained her senses, as if her soul had just returned to her body. She looked up at Sora, her pearly white teeth tightly biting her lower lip. For some reason, her pretty face was as red as fire:
"S-Sora-kun..."
"What's wrong?"
Sora looked over in confusion.
"I..." Mahiru quickly averted her gaze, her pink lips moving slightly.
"P-Please help me up..."
Sora: "..."
I thought you were steady as a mountain, which is why you didn't get up. I didn't expect you were so scared your whole body went limp, and you couldn't get up by yourself!
But then again, a teary-eyed Mahiru asking for help is actually even more genuine and cute.
"Coming."
Sora took two steps forward, walked up to Mahiru, bent down, and unfastened the seatbelt on the girl. Then he grasped Angel-sama's soft hand, applied a little force, and pulled the girl off the roller coaster.
Perhaps because her soul hadn't fully returned to her body, Angel-sama's legs were clearly weak. She involuntarily slumped into the boy's embrace, nervously hugging Sora.
"Careful."
Sora subconsciously wrapped his arms around Angel-sama's slender waist.
"..."
Seeing the two embracing each other, the smile on Anna's face quietly froze.
(T-That's so unfair!)
(I only got to hold hands, but Mahiru actually ended up hugging Sora... Ahhhh! If I had known, I would have made Sora carry me down too!)
After leaving the roller coaster, Mahiru slowly calmed down. Her pretty face was flushed red, and she looked down at her toes:
"Sora-kun, you can let go of me now."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I-I can stand steady now..."
Sora tried releasing his right hand. Seeing that Angel-sama could indeed stand steady, he finally relaxed.
"I want to go to the restroom..."
Angel-sama looked down and spoke softly. She covered her skirt with both hands. For some reason, the tips of her ears had taken on a cute crimson hue.
Ruri wiped the corners of her eyes and quickly said:
"I want to go too."
"I know where the restroom is." Anna simply stepped forward to lead the way.
"Let's all go together."
"..."
Having nothing to do, Sora naturally followed along.
The restroom wasn't far. After a few minutes, the group arrived in front of it. Fortunately, there weren't many people, so there was no need to queue for the women's restroom.
"Phew..."
Entering a stall, Mahiru quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Her pearly white teeth shamefully bit her lower lip.
Only after actually riding the roller coaster did Mahiru realize she was actually afraid of heights, so...
What do I do now...?
Do I have to keep wearing it?
But wearing it is so uncomfortable...
But if I take it off... what if someone finds out?