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Standing in the bustle of Main Street (tinkling vintage style music, the heavy scent of cinnamon wafting from the bake shop, and people everywhere taking pictures with the castle behind them), Rin couldn’t decide if he was overwhelmed or moved. Growing up at a distance to Tokyo, Disney hadn’t been on his parents’ radar, no matter how many times Gou had begged. And once their dad had passed, well . . . Rin hadn’t expected to spend a day at the park, especially not once he’d reached adulthood, and definitely not with another guy.
Definitely not this guy.
Haru was nose-deep in the park map. “What do you want to see first?” he asked.
Rin couldn’t believe he’d agreed to come. He’d planned to bribe him with promises of a giant hotel pool, but when Rin had mentioned Disney, Haru had merely checked his scheduled and marked it on his next day off.
Hiding his excitement in a yawn, Rin stretched out his arms and cracked his fingers. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
“Then let’s walk around,” Haru said.
They started up Main Street toward the castle.
“It’s really something, huh,” Rin said. “Everywhere you look.”
“What did you expect?”
“More kids. I didn’t expect this many adults.”
“I think it’s a date spot,” Haru said.
“Is . . . is that so?” Rin said as though he’d never heard such a thing.
Haru seemed as comfortable walking around a theme park as he did everything else. As they wandered through Adventureland, he agreed to all of Rin’s suggestions without hesitation: riding Pirates of the Caribbean twice, stopping for a Pork-Rice Ball with fried egg (the Disney blogs said it was a must), buying mouse ears. Haru would surely balk at that! But no, he accepted the pair that Rin held out and put them on his head.
“Aren’t you embarrassed?” Rin asked with a disbelieving laugh.
“Why should I be?”
“You’re wearing mouse ears.”
“So are you. A lot of people have them on. If you didn’t want to wear them, why spend the money?”
“I want to,” Rin mumbled and whipped the map from Haru’s pocket. “Nitori told me about this haunted house. I want to ride it.”
“It’s in the back,” Haru said.
“How do you know that?”
Haru tapped the map in Rin’s hands.
“You memorized it?”
“It’s not complicated.” Haru pointed to a path. “That should take us there.”
It was a cloudless day and not too hot, but walking in the full sun, Haru took off his jacket and tied it around his waist, leaving him in only a white t-shirt that was, in Rin’s opinion, unfairly attractive. Being roommates with Haru should have gotten this out of his system. He’d accidentally seen him naked how many times? And yet the sight of his half-bared arms in the sun had Rin’s heart thumping.
It thumped harder when they reached their destination. The Haunted Mansion loomed over them.
“Uh . . .” Rin said as they walked through the queue line.
“Scared?” Haru said.
“Who’s scared?”
Haru blinked. “You can hold onto me.”
“Hold onto yourself!” Rin cried, but he did scoot closer to Haru during the ride and very possibly leaned into his shoulder while their doom buggy crossed a graveyard.
Cherish this , Rin scolded himself. You’ll never get this opportunity again.
A few hours later, when they had circled back to the park entrance, Rin rubbed his slightly sunburned nose.
“So you probably want to go home,” he said.
Behind his sunglasses, Haru frowned. “Isn’t there a second park?”
“You’re kidding. You’re up for the other one?”
“Wasn’t that the plan?”
“I didn’t want to force you,” Rin said. “Most people don’t do them both in the same day. Our tickets don’t cover it, so we’d have to pay again.”
Haru clucked his tongue and grabbed Rin by the wrist. “You paid for these; I’ll pay for the other park.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Rin said. “There’s not much of the day left.”
“It’s important to you, isn’t it? It’s not like we get time off like this together very often.”
Which is how Rin found himself standing in Tokyo DisneySea when he’d expected to be on the train home.
“What do you think?” Haru asked.
“It’s huge!”
“I read the map while you were in the bathroom. There’s a ride I want to check out in the American Waterfront. It’ll take a while to walk that way.” He touched Rin’s nose. “You’re sunburned. You should put your hat on.”
Rin adjusted his mouse ears. “I’m fine.”
Haru’s mouth quirked at the corners. “You’re like a little kid.”
“Who’s a kid!”
Haru clasped his shoulder and started walking. He stopped occasionally to take a picture. “Should I take one of you?” he asked Rin.
“Huh? No.”
“I thought you might want to remember this.”
I could never forget , Rin thought.
The ride that had caught Haru’s attention was out near the harbor area beside the replica of a ship. Even from the outside, Rin could hear screams.
“This is what you want to go on?” Rin asked.
Haru nodded.
Nervous, Rin looked around. Children were waiting in the queue with their parents. How bad could it be?
“Fine,” he said.
At first, the attraction didn’t seem too bad. As they stood in the Hotel Hightower’s ornate lobby, a screen shaped like a stained-glass window played the story of an American businessmen and adventurer who had stolen a priceless artifact from an ancient culture and ended up cursed.
Serves him right , Rin thought.
What kind of ride was this, anyway? He tuned out the presentation and glanced around. Was the whole ride going to be like this, standing up? Maybe it was another haunted house. Haru had liked the other one. Rin followed him when the line started to move, clinging onto his shirt so they wouldn’t get separated. The queue line wound through a room filled with fake artifacts, and the next thing he knew, he was being boarded into an elevator and told to buckle in.
Rin looked at Haru. “What’s going on?”
“Put on your seatbelt,” Haru said, focused on his own.
“Why do I need a seatbelt?”
Taking a deep breath, Haru leaned over and fastened it for him. “Hold onto your things,” he said.
“Huh?”
“It’s going to drop.”
“What is?”
“The elevator.”
“What?!”
“Didn’t you know?” Haru asked. “This is the Tower of Terror.”
“I want out,” Rin said.
“Everyone,” called the elevator attendant who cast her gaze over the passengers, “please tug on the yellow strap attached to your seatbelt. Thank you and enjoy your stay!”
The elevator doors closed and they began to rise.
“What a fool you are!” came the disembodied voice of the businessman. “Why didn’t you listen to my warning?”
Rin’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Would they plummet right away?! He frantically felt around for something to hold onto and found nothing. But the car didn’t fall. It rose smoothly, whooshing up another few floors as the voice continued to speak. Doors opened onto the spectral image of the lost adventurer approaching a cursed statue. Before he touched it, the statue zapped him with green light and the adventurer disappeared.
As the scene faded, his heart racing in anticipation of the fall that would surely come at any moment, Rin closed his eyes, but the elevator only rose higher. When the doors reopened, their car faced a mirror. “Wave goodbye to your present life,” the adventurer said.
“What the hell kind of ride is this, Haru!” Rin screeched, but Haru was busy waving at himself along with the other passengers.
The lights dimmed. An image of the statue appeared in front of them and the lights went out completely.
All of a sudden, Rin had the strange feeling of being rushed upwards at great speed. They emerged from the darkness to a gaping hole in the side of the hotel that looked out over the theme park, hovering for a moment as something bright flashed. The car dropped a few feet, then a few more.
Down the pitch black shaft, the elevator (and Rin’s stomach) plummeted. He scrambled for hold. Haru mercifully offered his arm and Rin latched on, cowering against Haru’s shoulder as the elevator stopped its sudden descent and made a terrible whirring sound as it rushed upwards. At the top, they seemed to float. The car shook and Rin screamed as everything fell away a second time.
What kind of ride was this? Who did this sort of thing for fun? What the hell was wrong with Haruka Nanase ?!
“Don’t come back anymore,” warned the adventurer when they had made it (safely) to the ground.
As if I would! Rin thought, still catching his breath.
Even after they had unlatched their seatbelts, he kept hold of Haru’s arm, uncertain whether his legs still worked properly. Outside, Haru deposited him on a bench. He bought Rin a bottle of water and asked a cast member to take their picture.
“I look stupid,” Rin said, looking at it later. They were sitting on the same bench watching the sun go down. Above them, the windows on the hotel opened and closed as more elevators plunged to their doom.
Haru nudged his shoulder. “Want to stay for the fireworks?” he asked.
Rin, his stomach finally settled, nodded in surprise. “What’s with you today? You’ve been so nice.”
“Aren’t I always nice to you?”
“Well . . . I’d appreciate it if you’d cook meat more often.”
“I’ll make some before you leave again.”
Rin smiled, then asked the question that had been on his mind. “Am I getting in the way?”
Haru frowned. “Of what?”
“You spend all of your days off with me. Isn’t there anyone you’d rather be here with? A girlfriend or something?”
“Why would I need someone else when I can come here with you?”
Rin’s heart clenched at the sincerity in his voice. Haru probably hadn’t meant that the way that he hoped, but if this was how they could be together, if Haru would choose him over everyone else, Rin would take it. He nudged Haru’s shoulder in return.
“Guess you’ll just have to come here with me every year.”