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Friday night usually meant winding down after a long week, but for Nakamura, it meant staring blankly at his phone screen until the sudden ping of a notification illuminated his face.
It was Hirose.
Hirose: "Hey! Just wondering if you're up to going somewhere tomorrow? 😇👀"
Nakamura blinked, a familiar warmth blooming in his chest. He really should be used to this by now. Hanging out was essentially their default weekend setting, though, if he was being completely honest, ninety percent of those plans were entirely Hirose’s idea. But who was he to complain? Every single spontaneous trip, every aimless walk, and every shared meal was just another chance to learn a little more about the guy who currently held his entire heart captive.
Trying to sound casual—or at least, as casual as one could manage when their heart rate just doubled—Nakamura typed back.
Nakamura:"Sure, I would love to. Hmm, what do you have in mind this time, Hirose?"
The reply came almost instantly, the typing indicator dancing for only a fraction of a second.
Hirose: "Well, I want you to be the one to think of something this time! I feel like I always choose. I want you to tell me what you want to do, you know? Please? 🥺✨"
Nakamura dropped his phone straight onto his face.
He wants to do what I want? That is so... cute. Oh my god, I love him even more, I swear, Nakamura screamed internally, muffling his chaotic thoughts into his pillow. Don’t worry, my sweet Hirose, I will find the absolute best, most perfect date—I mean, HANG OUT. Just a normal hang out.
He scrambled up, aggressively opening a browser tab and typing in local attractions. He spent a good twenty minutes weighing the options. A cafe? Too quiet. A movie? They wouldn't be able to talk. Finally, he paused on a brightly colored webpage featuring a massive ferris wheel and glittering neon lights.
Hmm... an amusement park. He’d probably love that," Nakamura muttered, a grin spreading across his face. He tapped out his response.
Nakamura: "I guess we can go to the amusement park downtown?"
Hirose:"AWESOME DUDE! Let's do it! 😍"
Nakamura quickly looked up the logistics, sending over the details for an afternoon pass. They locked in a slot from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM, which seemed incredibly budget-friendly and gave them plenty of time to hit all the best spots. "Okay, amusement park with Hirose it is," Nakamura whispered to his empty room. He walked over to his closet, spending the next hour meticulously planning an outfit that screamed 'I didn't try hard at all' while secretly trying very, very hard. Saturday afternoon arrived, and the amusement park was bustling with weekend crowds. Nakamura stood near the main entrance gates, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he adjusted the strap of his black sling bag. He’d settled on a sleek black half-sleeve shirt paired with loose, baggy gray pants—effortless, clean, and comfortable. "Nakamura! Over here!!"
Nakamura turned just in time to see a familiar blur of pink and blue rushing through the crowd toward him. Hirose was practically vibrating with energy, completely unbothered by the mid-day heat in a layered outfit: a bright pink hoodie over a white tee, classic blue jeans, and a tiny, compact backpack. "Sorry to keep you waiting, man! I got totally distracted by this giant, cute crabby mascot by the gates!" Hirose panted, offering a sheepish, dimpled grin as he caught his breath. Nakamura’s heart did a violent flip. CUTE. ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. HUHUHU, SOMEONE SAVE ME—oh, wait. His eyes drifted down to Hirose's mini backpack. Clipped to the zipper was a familiar, bulging-eyed plastic crustacean.
"I didn't know you still had that," Nakamura said, a soft smile breaking through his cool exterior as they began walking toward the ticket lines. "And you actually put it on your bag? Looks like we thought the same thing. I didn't think I'd see it again after I gave it to you during our Chinatown trip."
"Of course I kept it!" Hirose beamed, then blinked as he noticed Nakamura’s bag. "Wait, oh! You put Octo-Buddy on your sling bag?!"
Nakamura proudly lifted his bag, showing off the small vibrant orangey-red octopus dangling from the strap. "Yep, it lives here now. Look at us, we're completely matchy." "Heck yeah we are! Alright, let's get in line before the crowds get any worse."
As they joined the ticket queue, the universe decided to remind them it was midday in the middle of summer. The clouds parted, the sun blazed down with sudden, malicious intensity, and within five minutes, Hirose was visibly wilting inside his heavy pink hoodie. Beads of sweat were pooling at his temples, his cheerful energy momentarily draining.
"Hey, wait here, Hirose. Don't lose our spot," Nakamura said, patting his shoulder. "Oh? Okay!"
Nakamura darted out of the line, weaving through the thick crowd until he spotted a row of vending machines. He grabbed a couple of ice-cold bottles of water and jogged back, pressing the freezing plastic unexpectedly against Hirose’s flushed cheek.
"Agh! Cold!" Hirose yelped, laughing as he took the bottle.
"I'm back. I don't need you fainting on me before we even get to the rides," Nakamura joked, cracking his own bottle open.
"Thanks, man, you're a lifesaver," Hirose sighed, twisting the cap off and taking a long, desperate gulp. He wiped his mouth, casually handing the bottle back to Nakamura to hold while he unzipped his backpack to grab a tissue.
Without thinking, Nakamura took Hirose's opened bottle and took a sip from the exact same spot on the rim. A second later, reality caught up with him. Wait. Same bottle. Same rim. Indirect kiss?! Oh my god, our lips technically just—
"Alright, we're next! Let's get the tickets!" Hirose cheered, completely oblivious as he pulled a totally frozen, blushing Nakamura forward by his sleeve.
Once they finally passed through the turnstiles and entered the park, Hirose immediately grabbed his phone. "Let's take a picture of our tickets first! For memories!"
They held their tickets side-by-side, snapping a quick photo against the backdrop of the colorful park. "Make sure you send that to me later, okay?" Nakamura smiled, his internal panic finally melting away into pure happiness as they walked down the main plaza. "So, what ride should we start with?"
"Nothing too crazy yet, I want to save my energy!" Hirose pointed toward a cluster of spinning structures. "Let's ease into it." They started with the classic bumper cars, where Nakamura spent the entire five minutes aggressively targeting Hirose, resulting in a flurry of dramatic gasps and competitive shouting. Next, they strolled over to a gentle log flume ride that gave them just enough of a splash to cool down from the intense sun. Afterward, they grabbed some soft-serve ice cream and queued up for the high-flying swings, laughing as the wind caught their hair and gave them a view of the sprawling park.
As the afternoon began to transition into the late festival hours, they found themselves in a weirder, themed section of the park. "Ooh, look at that one! A haunted house!" Hirose pointed excitedly toward a dark, imposing building. Oddly enough, the exterior was decorated with neon signs of sushi, tempura, and bowls of ramen. "Wait... a food-themed haunted house? That’s hilarious, we have to go in." "I don't know, Hirose, food and horror seems like a weird mix," Nakamura muttered, but Hirose was already tugging him toward the entrance.
The sign above the door read The Kitchen of No Return, and the moment they stepped inside, a heavy, suffocating darkness swallowed them whole. The air genuinely smelled like stale frying oil and old soy sauce, which was somehow more unsettling than a regular graveyard theme. "Nakamura, I completely regret going in here, man!" Hirose whimpered. His brave exterior vanished within three seconds. He grabbed the fabric of Nakamura's black half-sleeve shirt, twisting it into a tight fist. "Why is it so dark? Why does it smell like a greasy diner? Good thing you’re here, right? ...Nakamura?"
Suddenly, a strobe light flashed green, illuminating a giant, glowing pile of what looked like toxic wasabi on the floor. From behind it, an actor dressed as a zombie chef brandishing a massive, blood-stained rolling pin jumped out, letting out a gurgling roar: "FRESH INGREDIENTS!!!"
"AGHHH! GET AWAY!" Hirose shrieked, jumping three feet into the air and dragging Nakamura down with him. They scrambled forward, blindly entering a hallway entirely blocked by hanging, thick white ropes designed to look like giant udon noodles. It was a sensory nightmare. "Push through them! Push through them!" Nakamura urged, using his hands to clear a path. But the noodles were heavy and densely packed. In the sheer, blind chaos of batting away fake carbohydrates, Hirose’s grip on Nakamura’s shirt slipped. "Nakamura? Wait, I lost your hand!" Hirose’s voice sounded frantically distant.
"Hirose! Just stay where you are!" Nakamura yelled back, but a hidden partition panel suddenly slid shut between the noodles with a loud SLAM, completely separating them.
Now on the opposite side of the maze, Nakamura completely lost his mind. All concern for his own survival evaporated, replaced by absolute, unadulterated panic for his crush. He began stumbling wildly through the dark, completely ignoring the theatricality of the ride. A glowing, zombie-like sushi roll jumped out from a hidden wall cabinet, clicking its chopsticks menacingly. Nakamura aggressively smacked the chopsticks out of its hand. "GET OUT OF MY WAY! I LOST MY BABY—I MEAN, HIROSE! HIROSE, WHERE ARE YOU?!" he screamed, his voice cracking violently into a high pitch.
A second later, a giant, terrifyingly realistic piece of raw salmon jump-scared him from a dark corner, flailing its slimy-looking fins. Nakamura didn't even flinch. He used both hands to aggressively shove the giant fish backward into its own cubby. "NOT NOW, SALMON" he roared, sprinting down a dimly lit corridor. Meanwhile, Hirose was wandering a different hall, hyperventilating. He rounded a corner near an emergency exit sign, hoping for sweet release, only to stumble directly into a dead end.
From the shadows, a six-foot-tall, hyper-realistic mascot of a deep-fried tempura shrimp slowly emerged. Its golden-brown, textured foam batter glistened under an eerie green strobe light. It tilted its massive, hollow-eyed shrimp head and let out a low, guttural, fried-food groan. "TEEEEEMPURAAGHHH..."
Hirose’s soul practically left his body. His brain entirely short-circuited under the pressure. "AHHH!!! NAKAMURA TURNED INTO A TEMPURA!!! THEY FRIED HIM!!!" he shrieked at the top of his lungs, backing himself flat against the wall, paralyzed by the sheer absurdity and horror of the moment. Just as the Tempura mascot took a menacing, slow-motion step toward a weeping Hirose, Nakamura burst through the nearby udon-rope curtain. His eyes locked onto the scene. Something primal snapped in Nakamura's brain. The sight of Hirose trapped by a piece of oversized appetizer triggered a level of adrenaline scientists have only recorded in mothers lifting cars off babies.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU OVERCOOKED SEAFOOD!!!" Nakamura bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls like an anime protagonist entering his final form. The Tempura mascot completely broke character. The actor inside saw a furious, wild-eyed teenager charging down the narrow hallway at full speed with literal killer intent. Realizing he was not getting paid enough to get tackled by a teenager fueled by the power of love, the giant tempura turned around and began to flee for its actual life.
What followed was a glorious, high-stakes foot chase through the grand finale of the haunted house. The giant tempura sprinted frantically, its massive foam, batter-covered tail flapping wildly and smacking against the walls. Nakamura was hot on its heels, arms flailing, screaming bloody murder.
"I'LL PEEL YOU! I'LL UN-FRY YOU!" Nakamura shouted.
They burst through the heavy exit doors into the bright Saturday sunlight—first a terrified, sprinting piece of fried seafood, closely followed by a screaming, demonic-looking Nakamura, leaving a crowd of onlookers outside completely stunned. The mascot dove behind a security curtain, wheezing, while Nakamura finally skidded to a halt.
They collapsed onto a nearby wooden bench, panting heavily. Hirose was clutching his stomach, bent completely double as tears of pure hilarity streamed down his face. Nakamura was slumped next to him, his hands still trembling from the adrenaline rush. "You... you chased the tempura..." Hirose wheezed, practically suffocating from his own laughter. "Nakamura, oh my god... when you yelled you overcooked seafood... that was the funniest, most unhinged thing I've ever seen in my entire life." "I thought it was going to eat you," Nakamura muttered, his face burning a spectacular shade of crimson as he leaned his head back against the bench, utterly exhausted by his own heroism. "Anyway... no more food horrors. Look, the line for the roller coaster is right there, and it's actually short. Let's do that to get the adrenaline out."
"Seriously?" Nakamura groaned a few minutes later as they walked up the metal loading ramp. The rhythmic, mechanical clanking of the coaster tracks above suddenly sounded like a death toll. "We literally just cried our lungs out in a haunted house, and now you chose for us to sit in the front row of a coaster?"
"Relax, dude! This time we will actually enjoy it, trust me!" Hirose grinned, completely refreshed by his laughing fit. He hopped into the front car, buckling himself in and pulling down the heavy, padded safety harness over his pink hoodie.
Nakamura sat beside him, his hands gripping the safety bar so tightly his knuckles turned translucent. The ride operator checked their restraints, gave a cheerful thumbs-up, and with a heavy clunk, the coaster began to move. It started with a deceptively gentle, agonizingly slow climb up a massive, towering hill. Click... click... click... click...The mechanical gears dragged them higher and higher into the stratosphere. With every click, Nakamura felt a piece of his soul leave his body. He tried to play it cool, staring straight ahead, but cold sweat was pouring down the back of his neck.
"Wow, look at the view, Nakamura! You can see the whole city!" Hirose said, leaning over excitedly. Nakamura took a deep, shaky breath, trying to force his vocal cords to work normally. "Yeah... yeah, you know what... this isn't bad after all. The breeze is nice. It’s actually kind of ch—"
They hit the absolute apex of the hill. The front car tipped over the edge, balancing precariously for one horrific, silent, agonizing second. Nakamura looked down and realized there was no track visible—only a vertical drop into a gaping abyss.
"AAAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!"
The coaster plummeted at ninety miles per hour. The gravity shift violently plunged them into a chaotic sequence of dizzying corkscrews, vertical loops, and blinding high-G turns.
Hirose threw his hands straight up into the air, his hair flying wildly as he screamed in absolute, ecstatic joy. "WOOOOOO! THIS IS AMAZING!"
Directly next to him, Nakamura was experiencing a profound, multidimensional spiritual crisis. His eyes were wide with pure, unadulterated agony, his cheeks flapping violently from the sheer velocity of the wind. He felt like his internal organs were playing musical chairs. In a moment of sheer, unbridled terror, his psychological filters disintegrated entirely.
"HIROSE! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I MEAN IM SO SCARED! ANGELS TAKE ME! AAAAAAAA! PLEASEEEEE" Nakamura shrieked at the top of his lungs, confessing his deepest, most treasured romantic secret to the universe out of pure, survival-induced madness.
Between the roaring velocity of the wind, the deafening rattle of the steel tracks, and the collective screaming of twenty other terrified passengers behind them, Hirose couldn't make out a single syllable. He turned his head sideways, squinting through the speed. "WHAT?! did you say something about a shoe?!" he yelled back, laughing so hard as they entered a double-corkscrew.
But a second later, the coaster entered a tight, crushing loop, generating maximum G-force pressure on their bodies. Under the intense physical strain and absolute, paralyzing fear, Nakamura's body completely betrayed him. His muscles locked up, and his digestive tract staged a violent coup.
A very distinct, entirely unholy, and incredibly loud sound was forced out of him, immediately followed by an odor that could only be described as a biohazard.
As the coaster flew through the inversion, the wind direction shifted perfectly, carrying the newly created atmosphere directly across the front row. Hirose’s joyful expression instantly withered into utter horror. His nose wrinkled in deep disgust even as they were completely upside down. "GEEZ! SOMEONE FARTED, MAN!!! THAT IS FOUL! IT TASTES LIKE EXPIRED EGGS!" Hirose screamed, gagging mid-air.
Nakamura shut his mouth instantly. The sheer mortification literally knocked the remaining air out of his lungs. His soul didn't just leave his body; it packed its bags and moved to a different country. He stared straight ahead with a hollow, dead expression, praying for the coaster to derail and end his suffering right then and there. When the train finally pulled back into the station with a smooth hiss of hydraulic brakes, Nakamura sat frozen, staring into the middle distance.
They unbuckled and walked past the photo preview stall. Hirose stopped dead in his tracks, pointing at monitor number three and bursting into a renewed, violent fit of breathless, hysterical laughter. He was practically hitting the counter.
The high-speed camera had captured them with merciless clarity. Hirose looked like a majestic, glowing anime protagonist with a radiant smile and perfectly wind-swept hair. Nakamura, right next to him, looked like a Victorian ghost experiencing electricity for the first time: his face completely distorted in primal fear, eyes bulging wildly, and a look of profound, shameful realization painted across his features at the exact moment of his bodily betrayal.
"Oh man! Look at your face!! This is a masterpiece! This is going on my wall!" Hirose cackled, clutching his ribs. "You look like you saw a ghost and smelled it at the same time!"
"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Nakamura mumbled, his face burning hotter than the sun as he rolled his eyes. But as he looked at Hirose—whose eyes were crinkled with genuine, unbridled happiness, completely distracted from the actual smell—the contagious nature of that beautiful laugh caught up to him. A reluctant smile tugged at Nakamura’s lips, and soon enough, he was laughing right along with him, the intense embarrassment finally melting away into the evening air.
Time flies when you're escaping mascots and surviving near-death experiences. By the time they reached their final destination, it was nearly 6:00 PM. The harsh midday heat had completely dissipated, replaced by a cool evening breeze. The sky had shifted into a breathtaking canvas of deep oranges, soft pinks, and purples.
"The Ferris wheel," Nakamura said softly as they stepped into the swinging metal cabin.
The wheel began its slow, deliberate rotation, lifting them away from the noise of the park below. The atmosphere inside the cramped cabin shifted instantly. The chaotic energy of the day melted away, replaced by a sudden, heavy quiet.
Hirose leaned his head against the window, watching the ground shrink and the lights of the park spark to life. "You know... I had so much fun today. Thanks for suggesting this place, Nakamura. You really picked the perfect spot." Nakamura looked at him, the golden hour light hitting Hirose's face in a way that made him look completely ethereal. "Of course," Nakamura said, his voice dropping an octave, softer than usual. "I made sure that if I was the one choosing, it would be something you'd never forget."
Hirose turned his head, his eyes meeting Nakamura's. The space between them suddenly felt incredibly small. The gentle swaying of the cabin felt less like a ride and more like a shared heartbeat. Nakamura’s gaze drifted down to Hirose’s lips for a fraction of a second, his heart hammering against his ribs. The tension in the air was thick, heavy, and undeniable. Hirose didn't look away; instead, his breath hitched slightly, his fingers twitching against his jeans.
Is this it? Nakamura thought, his hands growing cold. Should I tell him?
Suddenly, a loud, mechanical CLUNK echoed from above. The cabin shuddered violently and ground to a dead halt, swaying precariously in the wind. A static-heavy voice erupted from a tiny speaker on the ceiling: “Attention guests, the ride is experiencing a temporary technical glitch. Please remain seated. We will have you moving shortly.”
They were stuck at the very top.
Nakamura looked over and noticed Hirose had gone completely pale. His knuckles were white as he gripped the metal bench, his eyes wide with a deep-seated fear of heights he had been trying to hide all day. He was visibly trembling. Nakamura didn't think twice. The awkward tension evaporated, replaced entirely by his protective instinct. He slid off his side of the bench and moved directly next to Hirose, closing the distance between them.
"Hey," Nakamura whispered gently. He reached out, his hand sliding into the soft strands at the back of Hirose’s hair, gently guiding Hirose’s head down until his face rested securely against Nakamura's shoulder. He wrapped his other arm around Hirose's back, pulling him close to ground him. "There, there. Don't look down. Just look at me, or keep your eyes closed. We're going down soon, trust me. I’ve got you."
Hirose let out a shaky breath, burying his face deeper into Nakamura’s shoulder. His hands cautiously reached out, gripping the fabric of Nakamura's black shirt like a lifeline. "You promise?" he murmured, his voice muffled but incredibly sweet. "I promise," Nakamura said, his chin resting against the top of Hirose's head. He gently rubbed soothing circles into Hirose's back, his heart swelling with a warmth so profound it terrified him more than the roller coaster ever could. For a few perfect, quiet minutes, the world stopped spinning, and it was just the two of them, suspended in the sunset. Eventually, the gears groaned back to life, and the cabin smoothly lowered them back to solid ground.
As they stepped off the platform and walked toward the exit gates, the romantic, cinematic fog immediately shattered. Nakamura’s stomach let out a monstrous, echoing growl that was so loud a passing toddler turned around to look at him in shock.
Hirose, completely recovered from his fright, burst out laughing all over again. "Wow. Sounds like chasing a giant tempura really takes it out of a guy."
"Shut up," Nakamura laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, his face burning. "I am absolutely starving."
"Tell you what, since you saved me from a life of being deep-fried and held me while I whimpered like a baby up there, dinner is on me. Let's get some actual ramen. No mascots allowed."
"Deal," Nakamura smiled.
As they walked toward the subway station, their shoulders bumping together with every step, Nakamura felt a quiet confidence settle over him. He hadn't confessed, and he'd definitely embarrassed himself at least three times, but watching Hirose smile beside him, he knew there would be plenty more dates—hang outs—in their future.
THE END😝😝🤯