The Carousel Project
An Affiliated Project between Teniyume and Endless Dreamers
Part One: Welcome to X-Zed Amusement Park / Yanagi Renji
Note: Please keep in mind that as you read the story - you are able to click on the highlighted words (in pink) and be able to see a visual of it, so you can imagine what the object looks like
* * * * *
"Why are we doing this again?" asked, obviously bored as she looked outside the window, watching the fast moving objects as the bus she sat in sped through the road.
Yanagi Renji glanced at as she tried stifling a yawn. He let out a sigh and couldn’t help but wonder why the poor girl was so bored on this trip. Since no one bothered to even listen to her complaints; he thought it was best that he answered her question. " -chan." He spoke, getting her attention.
She turned her face to look at him. "Yes, Yanagi-san?" she asked the third year Rikkai Dai student.
"We decided that the team needed a break, so we're going to an amusement park."
She frowned at his explanation. "Amusement parks are for silly children…" she mumbled, "It's more exhausting. If we need a break, we should sleep."
Renji just looked at her and shrugged slightly.
" -chan!" Kirihara exclaimed, jumping onto his seat. "This is a new amusement park that opened." He stated excitedly. "You can't mean that you're not interested? I've heard they have the best thrill rides, gaming halls, and food stalls that serve all kinds of exotic things."
crossed her arms and looked away. "I am not interested in X-Zed amusement park." She declared. "I hate thrill rides."
Nioh poked his head out from behind 's seat. "Do you mind not complaining?" he said exasperated. "You've been difficult all the way here and you're ruining it for people who are actually excited to go!"
"Here?" asked, totally ignoring his remark. "You mean we've reached it?" she asked out loud, but then realized it was a dim-witted question, because the bus had already stopped.
Yukimura Seiichi walked out of the bus, followed by everyone. "Okay everyone." He announced. "We don't have to do this together, so you're all free to go wherever you want."
looked at him with wide puppy eyes. "Can I go…"
"No, you may not go home, -chan." Yukimura interrupted sternly. "You volunteered to help us out for the duration of the nationals and this is how we’ll repay you back."
let out a sigh. "Meanie…" she whispered, looking at the gates of the park. Everyone else had already taken off into different directions. Renji had already collected the tags for them a couple of days earlier, so the team didn't have to go through the hassle of waiting in long lines.
"Do you want to spend the day with me, -chan?"
looked startled at the sudden voice and found Renji in front of her. "Are you sure?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you doing this for more data gathering?"
"No." He answered truthfully. "Let's see what this park has to offer."
moved her hands behind her back, still looking suspiciously at him. She was going to say something when she saw…."Is that Hyoutei tennis team?" asked out loud as she noticed some of the familiar players.
"Yes."
She frowned a bit when she noticed another thing, "Oh….Seigaku too?" she pointed to the other side of the gate. "What is going on?" asked Renji. "I don't think this is a coincidence that we're all suddenly here."
"No." he replied. "All the participants in the tournament had been offered free tickets on this specific date…"
"So that means…"
"You'll probably see all the people that participated in the nationals amongst other tennis school members from the region as well as those who were not there this year. Atobe Keigo's father sponsors this amusement park, so he booked the whole day for everyone."
"Che…" mumbled. "Rich brat." She remarked, but she was still confused. "Why didn't you tell the team this then?" she asked, looking up at him. They were still by the outside gates talking.
A smile touched his lips. "Seriously…." He said softly. "You've spent enough time with the team. Do you think they'll actually devotedly tag along if they knew Atobe was involved in this whole day setup?"
"Yanagi Renji." chuckled. "You're a smart man."
"It was agreed upon Seiichi, Genichirou, and me."
"Oh well…."
"So -chan…" Renji looked at her. "Shall we explore and see what X-Zed has to offer?"
"Even I'm excited now." She proclaimed. "Let's go."
* * * * *
stood in front of the main gate, trying not to gawk at the scene before her. She had been to amusement parks before, but not like this one. "It's…." she wanted to say, but no sound escaped her lips.
The amusement park was by far one of the best ones in Tokyo. Just knowing that the Atobe Empire had actually funded X-Zed was enough for the people of Tokyo to know that this amusement park should be considered one of the best.
felt engulfed by the surroundings. The music was loud, vivid colours everywhere, rides, thrills, screams, and…. "Eh?" whispered, looking around at the massive crowd everywhere. "I feel like I'm at a tennis tournament." She remarked, recognizing almost everyone around her.
"I told you; it's been booked for us for the whole day." Renji explained, standing next to her and holding something in his hand.
"Yes, but…It's just weird." She mumbled then frowned, "Everyone's in casual clothes and…Renji-san! Look! Yamabuki is here too,” she said as she pointed toward a group by the side, arguing about tickets.
"It is rude to point, -chan."
crossed her arms. "I don't know whether to have fun or be paranoid that everyone I know is watching me."
"So you actually want to have fun?" he asked with a smile.
looked up at him and hesitated. "Well, since…since we're here."
Renji unfolded what was in his hand and spread it with his two hands. "So where do we go?" He asked, looking at what apparently was a map(1).
"Wow." whistled in awe, "This place is huge."
Renji nodded. "I heard Masaharu say that he was going toward the haunted house."
made a face and shuddered, "No. I don't want to go anywhere near the haunted house. Especially when it's two stories high..” while looking at the display picture of the haunted house on the map, asked in an appalled tone, "..Also, look at that horrendous thing? What is it?"
"That should be the amusement park mascot(2)." Renji answered calmly.
"Huh?" She asked, peering into the map, "Mascot? I thought it was part of the house? Good god! What is it?" She whispered, looking annoyed, because she couldn’t make out what it looked like.
Renji actually chuckled. " -chan, you're looking at it upside down,” he explained as he flipped the map to the side a bit, "It's a cat."
"A…cat?" asked in a flabbergasted tone. She narrowed her eyes to concentrate more on the mascot and after a while, she realized that it really was a cat and questioned, "Why would they have a cat as a mascot?"
"Apparently, it is well loved. They did a survey on it."
pursed her lips and shivered, "Please let's not talk about cats anymore."
"I am well aware that you don't like cats."
She ignored that remark and said, "Can we go to the Lethal Weapon(3) ride?"
"Lethal Weapon is a roller-coaster ride." He read while looking at the display picture, "You'll see your feet against the sky, encounter five complete upside down experiences, travel at 85 km/hr, and feel 4Gs of gravity on the totally awesome Lethal Weapon.(3)"
"You're analyzing too much." rolled her eyes, taking his wrist and pulling him with her, "Let's go. It's to the left of the antique carousel and we need to pass the haunted house and stage performance to get to it. It's next to the bumper cars and drop zone area."
Renji nodded. "Let's go then."
* * * * *
They walked toward their destination and couldn't help but observe her surroundings. First of all, she was surprised that spending her time with Renji was this enjoyable. She never really thought much of the data man, however today; she was looking at him in a new light. They stopped by just in time to see Nioh walk in with a girl. Just as the group Nioh was with walked in, saw one member of Rokkaku run out screaming for his life. It was their captain, Aoi Kentarou.
"That was loud." alleged, covering her ears as Aoi's screams echoed miles away.
Renji jotted down something in his mini notebook which he carried around with him, while muttering quietly to himself, "I did not know that Aoi Kenatrou can project his voice to that level octave."
looked at him. "Why is that important?"
"Everything's important."
let out a sigh; she really didn't understand him sometimes and ordered, "Let's keep going," as they made their way to their ride. After the haunted house area, they reached the stage performance part. "Is that Wakato Hiroshi?" asked Renji as she watched the Hyotei third year perform a dance on stage.
"Yes." Renji replied.
"He is good." remarked, observing Wakato Hiroshi and she noticed that everyone was watching the third year show his moves and dance to the music so professionally.
"Let's go."
"No, wait…" argued. "I want to see if anyone else performs." She pleaded, looking at Renji.
Renji held a paper in front of her. "It says the next show will be Horio Satoshi."
paled at the comment and looked at Renji. A bead of sweat dropped off the side of her face. "Let's…." she whispered. "Let's leave now." She said, horrified when she saw Horio get on stage. Horio Satoshi from Seigaku was popular in the region for his annoying voice. knew better than to stay there and listen.
They both fled for their lives.
* * * * *
"Wow! I didn’t know the bumper cars was that popular?" exclaimed as she saw the long line of students who waiting to get to play on the bumper cars as they walked by.
"It is a popular game as it seems."
"I see Fudomine members."
"It is also for aggressive players." Renji added as he noticed Kamio Akira amongst the crowd.
nudged him lightly. "You can't make those kinds of assumptions." She glared at him. "Yukimura-san is waiting in line too." She remarked as her eyes fell on their school tennis captain.
"Then you haven't been in our captain's presence when he's in his monster mode."
"Monster?"
"He is one of the three monsters of Rikkai Dai."
looked at him wryly. "Is that something you should say proudly?" she asked sarcastically. She didn't even want to know who the other two monsters were, but there was a small hint of a doubt that she actually knew who they were.
Renji just smiled. "Let's move along." He ordered softly. "We're almost there."
nodded as they walked past the crowd. She was amazed at how crowded the park really was. She was so engrossed by the people she was passing that she didn't realize they had reached their destination till she heard Renji announce it.
"Wow." whispered as she looked at the rollercoaster before her. "It's huge!" she whistled moving her head up to see its full length. "And it's so tall!"
Renji nodded. "Shall we get in line?"
"YES!" she exclaimed, running ahead of him and getting in line. Already, she noticed a lot of people she knew. In front of her was…." Marui-san?!" she exclaimed as she saw him standing in front of her with a mouthful of cotton candy.
"It is not wise to eat all that before this ride, Bunta." Renji explained, walking toward them.
Bunta licked his finger, "Like it matters." He said cheerfully, grabbing another handful of cotton candy. "The cotton candy here is amazing!" he announced, stuffing it into his mouth.
Jackal poked his head from the front and looked back at them. "I had to drag him here from the stall before he finished the whole cart."
looked at Marui wryly. "Marui-san…"
"What? What? You want one?" he asked horrified as he hugged his candy. "Get your own! This is mine!"
narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not interested in your cotton candy." She crossed her arms. "I don't even like sweets." She stated. "I just don't want you throwing up all over us if you stuff yourself too much with sweets."
Marui rolled his eyes. "To think for a minute that you were actually worried about me." He muttered. He looked at Renji and grinned as he realized something. "Were you with -chan this whole time?" he asked surprised.
Before Renji could say anything, Marui found a whole stack of candy in front of him. "Keep your mouth occupied before you say something you'll regret." Yagyuu replied, coming out of nowhere.
blinked. "Yagyuu-san." She smiled. "Have you come for this ride as well?"
"No." Yagyuu waved goodbye at her. "I saw Bunta causing problems." He replied, leaving the group behind.
put a finger to her mouth and she frowned. "Weird." She whispered, looking a bit disappointed, but then her eyes widened as she recognized someone. "Kikumaru Eiji!" She yelled, making the third year Seigaku player and everyone in the line to look at her. "Come here, Eiji!" She waved.
"Hey! No fair!" Someone in the line yelled as Kikumaru made his way over to . "He's cutting off the line."
"It's alright, Kamio-kun!" Tachibana Ann remarked. "He's her friend and it's only one person."
"Che…" he muttered infuriated that he was waiting for so long. He pulled the headset from his neck and put it on, listening to his music. He figured that if he listened to his music, the air around him wouldn’t bother him. The whole day he had been annoyed, first at the bumper cars, because he had waited for too long and now this.
Kikumaru waved at as he ran toward her. " -chan!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "I didn't know you guys were here too."
smiled at him. "Well, it looks like I'm not the only one." She said with a smile.
"Nope!" He agreed, flashing her one of his famous smiles. "Look what I bought!" He said excitedly as he unzipped his jacket and showed her his t-shirt(4).
took a step back and unconsciously hugged Renji's arm. Argh! She was thinking when she saw Eiji wearing the amusement park t-shirt with the mascot's picture on it. Not that again?! She shuddered, closing her eyes.
Eiji looked worriedly at her. " -chan!" He said softly. "Are you alright?" he asked, stepping closer to her, but every time he did that she took a step back.
"I think it would be sensible if you zip your jacket." Renji remarked. " -chan is terrified of cats."
"Eh?!" Kikumaru exclaimed, looking at . "But it's so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!"
closed her eyes. "No, I'm sorry." She grimaced. "I just think it's horrifying!"
"Che…."
, Kikumaru, and Renji looked toward the source of the voice.
As soon as saw Shishido Ryou standing in front of her, she took another step back. He was wearing the same thing Eiji had on, but his was a cap(4) adaptation of it.
"If you don't like cats, then you shouldn't have come here in the first place."
glared at him. "You don't have to be rude you know…" she mumbled incoherently. "You don't even know me well enough to butt into my conversation."
"I know Kikumaru Eiji." Shishido answered.
Before could say anything, Renji intervened. "Come on, -chan." He interrupted. "It's our turn." He put a hand on her shoulder lightly and led her to the ride. Kikumaru also followed them, as he was the last one to be allowed to go. There were a lot of people there. was grateful that Shishido was not on their ride.
felt a sweat drop off her face as she looked at the structure. "They weren’t kidding when they said 'more than 600 tonnes of steel was used to build the ride(3)." told Renji as she saw how the ride was built.
"Come on! Come on!" Eiji urged. "Sit with me."
bit her lip and stood closer to Renji. "I'm sorry, Eiji…." She apologized. "I…I think I'd like to ride this one with Yanagi-san." She whispered, clutching onto the sleeves of his shirt.
Renji felt her trembling a bit. "We can leave if you don't want to ride it." He offered.
"No."
He didn’t argue as they made their way to the seats. hesitated, but sat down on the right side of the twenty seater-trains, while Renji took the left. Her feet were dangling in the air, already obeying the law of gravity. She clutched onto the safety bars as they descended and locked her in.
"Don't be afraid, -chan. It will be over in a few minutes."
"I'm not afra…" she was going to say, but the hiss of the train as it started to move shut her up instantly.
"Hoi! Hoi!" Kikumaru yelled from behind them.
closed her eyes as the train moved….
* * * * *
" -chan?" Renji asked as wobbled out of the ride. She was clutching onto his arm, afraid to let go. "That…" she breathed. "That was amazing!" she whispered, falling onto the floor.
Renji caught her up and put an arm around her waist. He didn’t care that everyone was looking. "Did that ride exhaust you?" he asked.
"It was amazing!" She alleged. "The non-stop drops, dives, bends, rollovers, sidewinders, double spins, loops, and plunges were the best(3)." She yelled, throwing her hands up, but immediately felt dizzy and would have lost her balance again if Renji didn't catch her.
"You need to sit down." Renji ordered, helping her sit on a bench.
held onto her head and let out a sigh. "I overdid it." She admitted, closing her eyes.
"You'll be fine."
She nodded and moved closer to him. "Renji?" She called softly, not using the 'san' suffix.
"Yes?" He asked, noticing that her eyes were closed.
"Thank you for spending the day with me…" She whispered as her head fell on his shoulder.
"Anytime, ." He replied. "Anytime." He repeated softly.
~~~
DeVeliCious
Edited by Anon
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Authors' Notes:
Welcome everyone to part one of The Carousel Project. I have started this off with Yanagi Renji.
Part two will feature Shiraishi Kuranosuke from Shitenhouji Chuu written by Megane-ko from Teniyume.
Here are some notes from the story:
(1) Map was brainstormed by Babybel and I, drawn by Babybel, and illustrated by Megane-ko
(2) Mascot drawn by Kawamoto
(3) The Lethal Weapon ride is from Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia
(4) T-shirt and cap was drawn by Kawamoto
