“I Want to Go to MouseSea!” ①
“Um, Yui-san. I have a request…”
Timing it for when Yui-san got home and was washing her hands at the sink, I worked up the nerve and called out to her from behind.
Yui-san turned to look at me, puzzled, through the mirror.
After drying her hands, she turned to face me properly.
Her long lashes blinked in confusion a few times.
“What’s wrong? A request?”
Actually, I was about to ask Yui-san for our next date.
I know Yui-san will pretty much always grant whatever I ask for, but this moment right before asking for something always makes me nervous anyway.
“Um… there’s somewhere I want to go with you, Yui-san. It gets crowded on weekends, so I was wondering if we could line up our paid leave and go on a weekday instead… Are you busy these days, Yui-san…?”
Lately Yui-san had been doing a lot of overtime, coming home late more often than not.
She’d mentioned over dinner recently that work had finally settled down, so I worked up the courage to bring it up.
Maybe that was a little too selfish a request.
Nervous, I peeked up at her, and found Yui-san looking down at me with gentle eyes.
“No, it’s totally fine. Sure, let’s take leave together. Where do you want to go?”
“Yes…! I want to go to MouseSea!”
“Huh… MouseSea?”
“I realized I haven’t been even once since coming back to Japan… and there’s no MouseLand in England, either…”
“O-oh, right… I see, MouseSea, huh. I think the last time I went was with Ritsu, back in university… ha ha…”
“I figured MouseSea would be good since you can drink there too, but would you rather do MouseLand instead?”
I’m so glad she didn’t say no.
Delighted, I threw my arms around Yui-san and asked — which did she like better, Land or Sea?
“No, it’s fine. Sea works. …Just to check, though — what kind of person are you at these places, Kanata? What do you like to do there?”
Yui-san put her hands on my shoulders and looked at me with unusually serious eyes.
What kind of person am I there? What did that even mean?
I tilted my head, and Yui-san cleared her throat once.
“You know, like — some people are all about the shows, some people want to ride all the attractions… everyone enjoys it differently, right?”
Ah, I see what she meant.
That’s true — time is limited, so we can’t do everything, and it’s probably worth agreeing ahead of time on what to prioritize.
Though honestly, I have a feeling Yui-san would just prioritize whatever I wanted anyway.
“Hmm, let’s see. I want to ride tons of attractions. I especially love the one where you drop! Let’s ride it together.”
“The drop… one, huh… right, that one… okay, got it… attractions… yeah, okay, no problem…”
“Hehe, I can’t wait. So, Yui-san, when should we go?”
Delighted, I squeezed Yui-san in a tight hug.
Theme park dates really do have that couple-y feeling to them, this might be great!
I really hope we get to ride a ton of attractions together.
“In that case… how about Friday? The next day’s a day off too.”
“Then I’ll put in my leave request for Friday!”
“Yeah, I’ll do the same. If it makes you happy, Kanata, I’ll do my best…”
“Hehe, thank you. Let’s have so much fun.”
Going out of her way to take leave for my sake even though she’s busy — Yui-san really is so kind.
I want to be the one to pick out a headband that suits her.
Weekdays should be less crowded than weekends, so the attractions shouldn’t have too long a wait.
Well — knowing Yui-san, I have a feeling she’d happily drop a small fortune just to skip the lines anyway…
I’m not sure whether the teru-teru-bōzu I made Thursday night actually worked, but the promised Friday turned out exactly as clear and sunny as I’d hoped.
Tapping my toes into my sneakers at the entryway, Yui-san watched me and smiled.
“Sneakers today, huh? That’s kind of unexpected.”
“I’m planning to play hard today, so I bought these just for the occasion. I broke them in properly, so I think I’m all set.”
I said it, puffing my chest out with confidence, and Yui-san laughed.
Not just the shoes — I’d gone out of my way to buy an easy-to-move-in shirt and pants for today too.
I usually gravitate toward skirts and blouses, but today, with the attractions in mind, I’d even pulled my hair back into a firm ponytail. My bag, of course, was kept to the bare minimum.
“Guess I’ll wear comfortable sneakers today too, then.”
Yui-san pulled a pair of sporty sneakers with thick, cushioned soles from the shoe rack.
Yui-san’s always so stylish, so she owns plenty of shoes beyond just sneakers, but I’ve always thought sneakers suit her best of all. Though I’m sure that’s partly because of the strong impression they made when we first met.
That two-tone pair, the ones that remind me of Orca-kun… I wonder if she’ll ever wear those again someday.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Ah, Yui-san, wait.”
I gave her arm a gentle tug just as she was about to step out the door.
Catching on to what I meant, Yui-san grinned and leaned in, her lips meeting mine gently.
“…Come on, you can’t forget the goodbye kiss.”
I said it, puffing my cheeks out in mock protest, and Yui-san laughed, saying sorry, and gave me one more kiss.
How many years had it been since I’d last gone to MouseSea? Hand in hand with Yui-san, we rode the train decorated with the mouse character.
I love this train. It always makes me genuinely excited, like it’s really about to carry us off to a land of dreams.
“It’s amazing how everything’s handled through the app these days, isn’t it.”
“Right, being able to check the map and wait times and everything, it really is impressive.”
“When you went with Ritsu-san, did you two do Land or Sea?”
“Ritsu and I went to Land, but… hmm, it wasn’t exactly a great memory. It was rough.”
Yui-san said it looking utterly drained, and I tilted my head.
“Rough?”
I asked, and Yui-san suddenly looked up with a start, shaking her head hurriedly side to side.
“Oh, no… I just mean, you know how Ritsu is — she dragged me around nonstop from opening to closing without a single break, it was exhausting… that’s all I meant.”
“Ha ha, that does sound like Ritsu-san.”
I could picture it easily.
She seems like the type who could run around all day at that same lively energy, from morning till night, and still come out completely unfazed.
I’ve never met anyone with more stamina than Ritsu-san.
“Oh, right, did you never go when Ritsu-san was living in Osaka? To that theme park down there?”
“Never went. She invited me, but I said no way and turned her down.”
I laughed at Yui-san, shaking her head firmly side to side.
“Then… maybe next time we should invite Yuuri and Ritsu-san and go to MouseLand together.”
“What!? No thanks, I’d die if I went with Ritsu. I can push through it with you, Kanata, but there’s no way I could survive it with Ritsu.”
It’s not even the kind of place you need to “push through,” but Yui-san’s funny sometimes. Still, it makes me really happy that she’s willing to go anywhere, as long as it’s with me.
Talking about all that, the train arrived at our destination before I knew it.
At that moment, I was so lighthearted, so carried away with excitement… I never imagined, not for a second, the incident that was about to happen right after this.