The Carousel Project

An Affiliated Project between Teniyume and Endless Dreamers

Part Seven: Saviour / Oishi Syuchirou

“Hurry up Oishi! C’mon, let’s go before the lines get really long!!” yelled Eiji, as he dragged his frazzled doubles partner through the thickening crowd. 

“Don’t you think we should slow down a little?  Someone might get hurt!” said Oishi.

“Aw c’mon Oishi!  It’ll be fun!” cried Eiji with his…Eiji smile. 

“Ah…I’m not sure this is a good idea.  Maybe we should do this later.  Why don’t we go get something to eat?  After all it IS lunch-time you know…” stuttered Oishi, rubbing his head.

Unfortunately for him, it only made Eiji dash quicker.  “Yeah!  We should eat AFTER we go on the ride!”

Giving up, Oishi decided to let himself be tugged by Eiji until they were separated by a—CRASH!!!!

Savior

Earlier that day…

Today was a busy day at Tokyo’s newest (and currently most popular) amusement park X-Zed. 

At any rate, since the amusement park was funded by the Atobe family, it was natural that Atobe was able to grant passage to anyone he wished.  It just so happened that he chose to utilize this, so that most of the rival schools would be able to attend the amusement park for free. 

Tezuka, surprisingly took up the offer, agreeing that the regulars were in need of relaxation after Nationals, so here they were.

Once the bus had stopped moving, the regulars had set off towards the White Water Canyon in two groups.  As time passed however, the groups gradually begin to loosen their unity with each other and pretty soon, the regulars started drifting apart individually.

After going through the haunted house, (and losing Kaidou in the process) Eiji had immediately grabbed Oishi and sped off in the direction of the infamous Lethal Weapon ride, much to his dismay.  Though heights and thrill rides didn’t exactly bother him, he was still aware of the potential dangers that could present themselves in the most…unexpected situations.

As the park was rather busy, the walking areas swarmed with people.  Not far from the haunted house, Eiji in his excitement had accidentally dashed right into an unsuspecting person. Usually under ordinary circumstances, Eiji would’ve apologized profoundly, but today he was just so eager to get to the Lethal Weapon, that he continued straight forward without a care in the world.

, upon being slammed into, lurched forward past the disposal bin, before stumbling into the ground.  Falling on her knees, she was able to use her hands to stop herself from sinking any further into the pavement. 

Unfortunately, her glasses weren’t so lucky, the glass separating from their frame upon contact with the ground. 

“Ow!!  Mou…not again!  This is the third time this month!” moaned , fingering the broken glass.

“Eiji!!” shouted Oishi in a reprimanding tone, having seen the ordeal.  Loosening his hold on Eiji, he had quickly dashed over to the fallen victim to see if she was hurt.

Pulling the girl from the ground as gently as he could, Oishi looked back expecting to find his doubles partner, but only found that he had already been swallowed by the crowd.

The sun at this point was bright and hot, watching the people in the crowd gliding around the two middle school students like a river flowing around the rocks.  To , the shadowy figures of the moving people really did seem like a river. One that was filled with many colors from different clothing, hair and skin.

Feeling herself being hoisted up from the ground, tried to identify her savior.  Starting from the firm hand gripping her arm, her eyes traced past the bandaged wrist, up the lean arm connected to a broad shoulder, and finally ending at a strangely familiar face.

“Oishi?  Is that you?” asked a small voice from below.  Upon looking down, Oishi’s eyes met with the pair of bright green ones belonging to Eiji’s hapless victim.

“Ah, -san!” exclaimed Oishi, helping her balance.  “I’m really sorry about Eiji!  He just gets so excited sometimes that he forgets about everything else!”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it!” replied unabashed.  “It was inevitable with me standing in the middle of the crowd like that,” she added, brushing the dirt off her jeans, pocketing what remained of her glasses.

Oishi blushed in response.  Everyone in Seigaku knew that was the clumsiest girl among the third years and maybe even the whole school. 

As fate would have it though, just also happened to be in the same class as Oishi.  You could say that this was a good thing, as Oishi was able to come to her rescue most of the time, whether it was from the floor, desks, chairs, or any other mobile or immobile objects.  Eventually, it through these encounters that the two were rather acquainted with each other. 

Famous for being a regular on the tennis team, Oishi was liked by many girls, included.  Dismissing it as infatuation, had a gut feeling that Oishi would never choose a girl in fear of hurting many others.  So she continued to live her life, occasionally stopping to admire its quirks.

“So what brings you here to X-Zed?” asked , peering at him.  Without glasses, everything was slightly blurred making everything hard to see.  “You don’t seem happy to be here.”

Oishi was taken aback by the statement.  “Ah…no that’s not it at all!  It’s just that…well with all the regulars running off on their own, it’s kind of hard to keep track of them!  I mean, what if something bad happens to them?  And you know how Eiji is, he’s probably injured a bunch of other people on his way to the Lethal Weapon.”

grinned.  “Aw, c’mon Oishi, I know you’re worried, but have a little faith in your teammates!  I’m sure they can take care of themselves, so just enjoy yourself a little!  And if you’re worried about Eiji, just call him!”

Upon realization that what had said made sense, Oishi quickly whipped out his cellphone.

“Hello?  Eiji? are you there?”

“Oishi?! Where are you?  I’m in line at the Lethal Weapon!!  And I found my friend with Inui’s friend!  Are you coming?”

“I can’t Eiji, I’m helping -san!  You should just go ahead without me!  And call me if you find any of the other regulars.”

“Eh, -san?  Why?” asked Eiji with a pause, still unaware at what he had done earlier.  However, as Oishi was about to explain, Eiji spoke again, having come to his own conclusion.

“Ohhhhhhh, no wonder you didn’t want to go to the Lethal Weapon ride.  You have a date with !!!  Oishi, you should have just told meeeee!!!  Jya, have fun!  And don’t let her die nya!!” he added before hanging up.

stifled her laughter, as Oishi got off the phone with Eiji.  He had a rather bewildered look on his face, as if he had just drank some Inui juice.  “Help me?” she asked grinning smugly.

Oishi blushed, “Well, it’s the least I can do after Eiji and I almost trampled you.  Plus, can’t you not see without your glasses?”

Focusing the blur that was Oishi, grinned, “Oh believe me, I’ve been in worse situations.  But yeah, we should go.  There’s too many people walking around here, I might have another accident.”

Oishi nodded in agreement, and with that, grabbed onto his hand. 

“Um sorry for doing this, but I really can’t see.”

Oishi laughed, “No! Don’t be!”  Squeezing her hand, the two students moved along with the crowd.  As the two walked down the park path, idly told Oishi about the structure of the amusement park, the highlights, the best rides, and places to get good food.

“You seem pretty familiar with the place.” Oishi said, “but it hasn’t been open for even a week.”

laughed, “My dad’s part of the safety department, so he got us in earlier than the grand opening.”

“Wow, so you’ve pretty much been through the whole park already?”

“Yeah, but this place is just so much fun, you can’t help but come again.  Too bad it’s expensive though.” started, “But enough about me!  What about you?  Have you gone anywhere?  Done anything?”

“Well let’s see, most of us went to White Water Canyon first.  After that, we split into two groups, depending on the places we wanted to go.”

“White Water Canyon?  Good choice, it’s got a beautiful view, and nice slides.  The pool is also nice and deep enough to swim in.”

“Yeah, I really liked it too.  Haunted House was cool too, very realistic.  For some odd reason, Kaidou wouldn’t go in with us, so he stood at the entrance.  But when we came back he was gone.  I hope he’s okay…”

“There you go, worrying about your teammates again,” said , giving his hand a squeeze. “Lighten up a little!”

“Ah hai! hai! Gomen, I forgot!” said Oishi, rubbing his head before continuing,  “Well eventually we worked our way back to the roller coasters near the gate.  After riding those, we split up even more.  Of course Eiji then decided he wanted to ride the Lethal Weapon, and then we ran into you…”

“Oh so you WERE enjoying the park after all!” said with delight.  “And here I was, thinking that you spent your day worrying about your teammates!”

Realizing that they were now walking next to the game booths, gently nudged Oishi off to the side of the path.  “Have you tried any of the games yet?  The ones on this side are pretty easy!” she piped up.

“Not yet, but I’ll give it a shot.” said Oishi, turning to the booth closest to them.  On closer inspection, the game basics involved tossing a fifty yen coin onto various raised plates in the back of the booth.

let go of Oishi’s hand as the maintainer of the booth came to the front offering a small demonstration to those who seemed interested enough to participate.

“It’s all in wrist!” he said in loud croaky voice, waving a fifty-yen coin, “Watch carefully now!”

Everyone around the booth watched in awe as the old man flicked his wrist in graceful gesture, releasing the coin at his eye level.  Spinning, the coin flew in a nice arc before settling on one of the farther plates with a clank.  “See?  Just like that!  Only fifty yen coins allowed now!”

Perceiving the strategy as effortless, some people surrounding the booth quickly dug in their pockets and purses for loose change, while others lined up in front of the old man to exchange bills for change.  Oishi himself dug out a few fifty yen coins in his pocket.

“You can do it Oishi!” said looking on,  “My brother won something from a similar booth the other week.  And I’m sure with your tennis training, it’ll be no problem!”

“Yoshi!” replied Oishi, his tone putting on more seriousness.  After a few people had left, Oishi stepped forward, recalling the wrist movements the old man had used to flick the coin. 

“Heh, this wrist movement is almost similar to that of the moon volley’s.” Oishi thought to himself.  “I wonder if the old man plays tennis.”

But now was not the time to wonder, as Oishi judged the distance from the counter to the plates.  After careful consideration, he decided to aim for the middle row of plates.

Taking careful aim, Oishi flicked his wrist in the same manner as the old man.  Flying in a higher arc, the coin landed gracefully on a plate situated in the middle row, as Oishi had intended it to.

“Looks like we have a WINNER!” shouted the old man in an exuberant manner.  “Pick a prize!” he said, gesturing to the random array of prizes on the wall.  There were many prizes such as plushies of the mascot, as well as keychains, but one prize in particular caught Oishi’s eye.

“I’ll take that omamori over there.” he said excitedly.  The old man grinned.  “Omamori it is.  Last one too.”  Taking the prize off the hook, he flipped to the back.  “This one’s for love.” he said as he handed it to Oishi.

“Ano…thank you very much sir,” said Oishi accepting omamori.  Inside, he had hoped it was for health, but love was okay, he guessed.  Walking away from the game counter, he spotted lingering near the road awaiting his return.

“Ooh, what did you pick?” asked , folding her hands and leaning in to get a better look at what he held in his hands.

Oishi, at the spur of the moment, nervously presented her with the love omamori.  “Um here !  This is for you!”

“Mm?  Thanks!  This means a lot, coming from you!” said with a smile.  She could make out the park’s mascot on the front, but as the kanji was miniscule, couldn’t tell that it was a love talisman.

Giving the attached bell a small flick before attaching it to her cell phone, looked up.  “Ne, are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten here yet.  Any place you want to recommend?”

“Hmm…well the snack stands are often crowded this time of day, so I think it’s best if we head over to the food court.  But if you love sweets, I’d suggest the cotton candy at the snack stand.  It’s really good.”

“Ah, well I’m not really a sweets person…” said Oishi.

“Okay, food court it is then!”

As stepped out into the sun, she felt his arm brush against hers, as Oishi slinked an arm through the crook of her elbow.

“Oh that’s right,” she murmured, a tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks, “I’m blind.”

Oishi, sensing her embarrassment began to loosen his arm, but held on at the last second, much to his surprise.

“The food court should be at the other side of the snack booths straight ahead of us,” said .  As the two walked nearer to the end of the road, more people began to jostle each other about to get to their destination.  Oishi felt himself being squeezed so close to that he could smell the delicate herbal scent coming from her hair. 

Oishi then came to realize that this was the first time he had even saw her in such a quick paced surrounding.  At school, she always had her hair combed back in two plaits, but today, she had let it down, small waves clambering to her lower back.  Coupled with the fact that she was missing her glasses, she really did look different.

Though everyone outside their class saw as somewhat of a clumsy fool, her classmates, especially Oishi, knew that what she lacked in balance, she made up in tenfold with charisma, kindness, and intelligence.  In fact, many girls in their class often approached her with their problems, whether they involved the next day’s history test, or a boy they liked.

of course always helped everyone to the best of her ability without forcing her opinions on them.  Sometimes, Oishi himself felt that it was she, who compelled him to be more generous towards others.  Crazy as it seemed, he also had never told anyone this. Not even Eiji for that matter.

The more his mind raked through the memories they’d shared, the more comfortable he felt with giving her the omamori.  After all, was a nice friend.  Maybe even more than that.

Finally, as the students crossed over the snack booth area, the bulge of traffic began to decrease.  Along the way, Oishi counted the familiar faces he saw: Marui Bunta with an armful of cotton candy, several other Seigaku students and Yanagisawa of St. Rudolph.  However, before he could spot anyone else, his movements were abruptly stopped, as had suddenly walked into a pole.

“Oof!  Wow I can’t believe I missed that!” mumbled , using her free hand to rub her head.

“Daijobu?!”  asked Oishi exasperatedly.  “Are you hurt anywhere?”  Brushing her bangs out of the way, Oishi tried to locate any freshly formed bumps.

sighed, but still managed to smile.  “Don’t worry Oishi I’m fine!  Remember, who I am?  I go through this every day.  Although that omamori must be really powerful or something, ‘cause nothing’s really happened since you’ve gave it to me.  Usually, I would’ve had about ten bad things happen to me about now.”

“That’s good,” replied Oishi, “…but still, please be more careful!”

“Alright, we’re almost there anyway,” replied , shaking her head.

Eventually, the two came to a vast space filled with many identical tables and chairs all arranged neatly.  Surrounding the space were various fast food stands, the smells of each mingling to produce a mouth-watering aroma.

“All the food here is great, but I believe that stand over there has the best burgers.” said , pointing with her free arm.

“Sounds good!” replied Oishi.  At this point, he was rather hungry from the morning activities that had taken place, so together they walked to the stand that had indicated.  After ordering and receiving their food, Oishi and both sat at the nearest table.

“Enjoying the park?” asked , squinting at her food.

“Yeah, definitely!  Thanks for showing me around.”

“And thanks for being my eyes.”

“Erm, it’s no problem at all.” said Oishi.

The two ate quietly, letting the sounds around them fill up the void that was silence.  Oishi occasionally poked his head to see if any of his teammates were in the vicinity.  squinted uncomfortably, as the influx of blurry images were making her quite dizzy.  Once they were done, Oishi threw out the trash, and returned to the table.  Sighing inaudibly, wished that she could see Oishi a little better.  Sure, she knew the layout of the park and most of its attractions, but to her, it would have been a little better if she could see it all. 

As the silence closed in, it finally occurred to , that now would a good time to ask Oishi what the kanji on the omamori said.  Retrieving the charm from her cell phone, turned towards Oishi, sitting across from her. 

“Ne Oishi, can you read this to me?  I can’t see it,” she said, pointing to the kanji under the charm.

Oishi nervously grasped the outstretched omamori in his hand.  How would she react if he told her it was for love?

“Well, let’s see.  It says: ‘May Love Find You.’” he finally managed to stammer out, after pausing for a few seconds.  “…It was the only one left,” he added quickly.

“Aw, that’s cute.  At first, I thought it was one for health or luck.  But this one works just as well.” said smiling.  “Thanks again.”

Feeling himself beginning to heat up, Oishi quickly threw out his answer.  “Um, no problem.  I’m glad it works for you.  Hopefully it will help if I’m not around for you.”

“Haha, even so, you’ll always be my savior.”  laughed, “Though I wouldn’t mind if love found me.  After all, that is the purpose of this omamori.”

Oishi grinned sheepishly.  “Who knows, if it’s as good as you say, it might even happen today.”

instantly felt her cheeks heat up in response.  “Saa, should we go find Eiji?  He’s probably had his turn at the Lethal Weapon by now,” she stammered, hoping to divert the subject.

Expecting for Oishi to jump up and agree, looked at his blurry figure quizzically.

After a couple of seconds, Oishi stood up and walked over to ’s side of the table, sitting next to her. 

“No…I’m sure he’s fine by himself.” Oishi finally said with a smile.

smiled, a light breeze playing with her hair.

“But you on the other hand…” continued Oishi, brushing a strand of bangs from her hair “…I’m not so sure about.”

“Hey!”

~*~*~

End

by: Jovitar

finished 10/29/06

Edited by Kashii