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Emu toyed with her sweater’s zipper, jerking it up and down with fidgety fingers. She scrutinized the thousands of people that explored Phoenix Wonderland’s frightful demeanor.
Although she noticed a handful of her cherished friends in the crowd and excitedly waved to them, they weren’t the person she desperately wished to arrive sooner. As if to pass by time, Emu began counting the monstrous mascots that strolled with pride: contently terrorizing the amusement park’s visitors.
However, that teeny-weeny activity instantly started to bore her out of her mind.
Emu wondered if Nene knew where the two planned to meet up. She glanced behind her, the Ferris Wheel was subtle enough, and if not, the best location to easily spot. It would have been wonderful to take a romantic ride with Nene: gazing at the stars and adoring how they dazzled against the dark blue canvas that was considered to be the night sky, huddling up together for warmth as they whispered their plans for the unknown future.
It would have been marvelous if the attractions at the amusement park weren’t shut down to raise the Haunted Maze’s popularity.
Her mind wandered endlessly, what if Nene was too frightened to show up? Emu mentally chided herself; this was too extreme for a first date, she should’ve taken Nene to an arcade! It was unlike her to be so worked up about something as simple as this, but when it came to Nene, Emu only wanted the other girl to feel comfortable.
A sulky pout formed onto her lips, recalling the moment the idea she devised the date.
“It was horrifying! Monsters lurked in every crevice of that place!” Tsukasa shuddered at the memory, surprisingly enough, he didn’t complain about carrying Emu’s countless bags of sweet treats.
“Was it really that scary?” Emu glanced at his pale face, her voice muffled with the chocolate bar she bit into; shortly, Tsukasa reminded her how dangerous it is to speak with food in her mouth. Emu shrugged at his concerns, “I only helped with what costumes the employees should wear. Other than that, my brothers did the rest!”
“I, Tenma Tsukasa, am no liar! Even Shiho herself shut her eyes in some of the mazes! Someone as fearless, courageous, and talented, such as myself, could not even dare pry their eyes from the ground in fear!”
“Shiho went too? Hm.. that explains why I heard her say it was super lame,” Emu tossed the wrapper into a nearby trashcan.
He scoffed at her statement, “It was not ‘super lame’. Unlike your glorious leader, Shiho is a liar!”
He added on, “Saki invited me to tag along with her bandmates. I would’ve refused if Shizuku wasn’t going. I wish I did. Worst mistake of my life!”
“Oo! Speaking of Saki, I saw her at school with the most humongous boquete of roses! It was extremely pretty! I asked her where she got them but she told me to gu ess!”
Tsukasa’s slight miff turned upside down, he hushed his voice like a teenage girl ready to gossip, “Ichika bought them for her for their anniversary. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you, Saki always shows off her relationship whenever she can— Wait, we’re getting sidetracked!”
“Right!” she huffed out, crossing her arms with ensure seriousness. After a couple of seconds, Emu couldn’t resist cracking a smile.
“Why don’t you invite Nene to go with you? She plays horror games, doesn’t she? I’m sure she won’t get too terri..fied,” he suggested. His voice decreased in volume as Emu’s eyes glistened with malicious intent.
“AMAZING IDEA, TSUKASA! I could use this as an excuse to hug her all the time ~♡!” her smirk grew larger with every word uttered. Her legs picked up their pace, excitedly skipping across the mall.
“You’ll do it anyway— Hey! Wait for me!”
Emu shot a worried look at her phone screen, it’s been an official twenty minutes since their supposed date started, and Nene wasn’t responding to her messages.
Once she deemed the first date to be a total bust, a glob of grayish-green hair entered her peripheral vision. Whipping her head so fast it made her dizzy, Emu sobbed tears of jubilation as she lunged at Nene, attacking her with an embrace.
“Good.. I found you. I was nervous you’d think our date canceled,” Nene softly exhaled, the most loveliest violet eyes softening with relief. The diva tenderly patted her back; her ears miserably failing to decipher whatever worries Emu muttered in her shoulder.
“Iwassoscaredyouwouldn’tshowupandthoughtyougotmadIpickedthisforourfirsteverdate!”
“Huh..?”
Emu loosened the hug, clasping both hands on the other’s shoulders, and revealed her glossy eyes. Her voice shook with raw emotion, “I was so scared you wouldn’t show up and thought you got mad I picked this for our first ever date!”
“Oh Emu,” a tiny smile crept onto Nene’s lips. “I wasn’t mad or anything like that. I had Rui drive me over here, and for some reason, he believed it was a great idea to run a couple of red lights and make illegal turns. A cop pulled us over, somehow Rui managed to get away with it without paying a fine. I wanted to text you about what happened, but my phone was completely out of battery.”
A rush of pint tint invaded Emu’s face; she felt silly for even believing Nene would do such a thing as ditching her!
“If I’m being honest,” Nene continued where she left off, “It’s interesting. For an amusement park made for children, I didn’t think my classmates would rant on about how terrifying the maze is.”
Emu wiped the tears that shamefully left her waterline, chuckling at Nene’s words, “It’s to boost the park’s rating. My brothers said if this did well, then they’ll do it again next year. Oo, and guess what?! All the money goes to Wonderlands x Showtime’s show budget!!”
Nene’s nose scrunched in disgust, “Ugh.. I already know Tsukasa won’t shut up when he finds out. Rui too, he’d make us waste half of the budget on random mechanisms..”
“But it’ll be really good for us! I can imagine how many smiles the audience will have ♪ ~” Emu grinned from ear-to-ear, reflecting the determination her soul fabricated without difficulty.
“I guess you’re right.. Oh! Before I forget,” Nene dug her hand deeply into her pocket, yanking out a black, miniature bag. She handed it over to Emu, her previous smile faltered for a split-second.
Emu tugged the bag’s strings; like a child unwrapping their birthday gift, she quickly pulled out the gorgeous bracelet that laid inside. Her jaw dropped, it was certainly the best creation she’s ever seen, and it warmed her heart to see that Nene was the one who made it.
“I love love love it ♡ !” she absentmindedly repeated like a broken record, not wasting a single second to adorn her right wrist with the stunning gift.
“I’m not good at making jewelry like you are, and I mean it when I say I’m never touching the materials again, but I wanted to try to make you something you’d love.” Nene fiddled with her fingers, slightly embarrassed about Emu’s overreaction.
“But Nene, it’s so pretty, you’re definitely an expert! The beads are even the colors of our hair!” She rolled her sleeve to her elbow, waving her arm to show off the heartfelt gift her girlfriend benevolently created for her.
“Hehe, promise me you won’t explode when I say we’re matching.” Nene exposed her left wrist and the beauty that hid underneath her sweater.
“WHAA!! You’re the awesomest person I know and love!” Emu cupped the diva’s jaw with her palms, smacking her lips all over her face again and again.
“Calm down!” she pleaded, the humiliation of others around them witnessing was too much to bear. Nene cleared her throat, “T-That’s enough. Let’s go to the maze already.”
Retreating from her display of affection, Emu flexed her achievement, “WAHAHA, your face is super red!”
Nene tried her best to conjure up a glower, only for it to convert into a wonky smile due to her fondness of her lover’s blissfulness. Emu reached out to hold the other’s hand, to which Nene gleefully accepted, and intertwined their fingers together.
The pink-haired girl shoved past countless of nameless faces, never bearing the thought of apologizing for her temporary discourtesy. Nene, however, shouted a bunch of sorries for the sudden impact. The only time Emu bothered to slow down was when an employee managed to sneak up on her and petrify the living daylights out of her. After that, she continued on her night by vigorously pulling Nene’s arm forward, carefully considering the usage of her strength to prevent accidentally hurting the diva.
Ear-splitting screeches originated from those around them, causing Emu’s fright meter to heighten in levels. If the outside of the Haunted Maze fear inducing, she could only imagine what other future terrors she’ll experience.
Finally reaching her destination, Emu halted her fast-paced stomps.
“Ha.. are we there yet?” Nene wheezed out with the little oxygen left inside her lungs, she hunched over, placing her hands on her knees to recover from her exhausted physical state.
“Uh huh! We just got to wait in this looong line,” she peeked over to the side, peering at the insanely lengthy line.
Nene groaned, “You’re kidding.. don’t we have a pass since we work here?”
Emu clicked her tongue as a reply, placing a hand on her chin to quicken her thought process. It’s true her reputation at Phoenix Wonderland can be very beneficial in this situation; although, the pink-haired girl despised abusing her power most of the time.
“I’ll feel bad if we took their spot in the maze. People waited their turn, we should wait ours!
“That’s fine. I need time to rest anyway,” the diva breathed out heavily. Nene leaned towards Emu, using her body as a pillar for support.
Emu giggled to herself, after all this time of knowing each other, Nene was unable to reciprocate her large amount of energy. She flipped her phone out of her pocket, swiftly snapping a photo of how precious this moment was to her.
“Give me a heads-up next time! I probably look bad, delete it,” Nene gently scolded, the tips of her ears blatantly expressed her flustered attitude at the moment.
Emu clicked on the photo, allowing the other to view and conclude whether she liked it or not. “I’ll delete it if you want, but I think you look adorable!!”
Carefully analyzing every molecular pixel the picture displayed, Nene released a satisfied hum, “It’s.. actually good. You can keep it.”
“HOORAY~!” she clamorously cheered her excitement, pointing her phone in the air, “I’m going to make it my wallpaper later. Let’s make more, okay? I want to have memories of this night!”
Nene nodded as Emu pressed the circular button to take pictures of the two of them performing several cute poses together.
Pleased by the colossal number of photos, Emu tossed her phone into the other’s hands, “Okay~! I’m done. You can play that RPG game you like since your phone died.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mhm! Watching you play is fun!”
“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” she muttered quietly, her tone barely able to be considered a whisper.
Nene shifted her focus on the shiny screen that laid before her eyes, too engrossed by the vibrant colors to register her surroundings. Emu observed over her shoulder, audibly awing at her beloved’s ability of swift combat.
In order to keep the line moving, Emu had to lightly push Nene forward due to the diva’s weakened sense whenever she sunk into the game’s world.
Before Nene could finish her 3rd boss battle, it was time for both girls to go inside the maze.
“Ugh.. I was so close to winning,” she begrudgingly handed back the device to Emu before rubbing her fingers’ muscles.
Emu plunged the phone in her sweater, grasping onto Nene’s delicate hand with her clammy ones, “I can’t stop shaking! Even Tsukasa himself was traumatized by this maze, what if I’m not the same after this!? Even Shiho, the most stoic girl I know, had to shut her eyes!”
“Relax, Tsukasa gets scared by bugs, I don’t think his words are valid. For Shiho, uhm, I don’t have a good reason for her reaction,” she trembly admitted, urging them into the maze.
Emu shook her head; now wasn’t the time to panic! After all, Mafuyu’s smile was way scarier!
Squished against Nene, they began their appalling journey.
A blurry force flew past Emu, slightly grazing her pink strands. If she didn’t move, it could’ve bonked her on the head.
“Bats,” Nene blurted out, forcibly dragging Emu further in, “I recognize those robots. Rui spent a whole month building them. I didn’t know it was for this.”
“That’s so awesome!” Emu beamed, her broad smile as infectious as a disease.
In the heat of the moment, the terror that fiercely controlled her brain washed away. Every meticulous invention fabricated by her humorous friend was laced with unwavering care, chunks of his ‘troublesome’ personality (not really, Emu believed it to be fun more than anything) drilled down to metallic outer layer. It was heartwarming to see him take part in such a large collaboration.
“Look!” Nene loudly whispered, pointing at an open casket to their right.
A vampire rested inside. His arms crossed his chest, red liquid dripped from his crackled lips, looking as if he perished right on the spot.
With every jittery movement, Emu’s bracelet danced on her wrist and produced a jingling noise. It alerted the vampire, his bloodshot eyes became clear to those who dared to disturb his slumber. He lunged at the two girls, baring his teeth to expose his razor-sharp fangs.
The diva was the first to react, hauling out shorter one from the monster’s grasp. Emu, who didn’t register what had happened until recently, complied to the escape and outshined the other in speed. The oxygen levels almost suffocated Emu, the poor girl coughed up the mist that tickled her lungs. Nene ran through many fake cobwebs, the pearly strings tangled within her hair.
She regretted not taking Tsukasa’s warnings seriously; she wished she could give her past self a big punch for even listening to his suggestion!
Nene halted her legs, she breathlessly apprised between gasps for air, “He’s.. gone.. It’s safe for now.”
“Nene, we’re gonna die!” Emu raucously wailed, inching closer to provide a sense of comfort to contrast the grotesque maze.
“Are you listening to yourself? We’re not going to die. Trust me.” Nene reopened her arms, authorizing Emu’s request for an embrace.
Emu vertically shook her head so rapidly it made her brain so flips. They were almost finished with the Haunted Maze, she was sure of it! They trudged further, the eerie melody deafening their ears.
Lurking in the corner of a turn, an arm outstretched on front of Nene and startled her, clutching onto a wooden stake drenched with a metallic smell. A vampire hunter, or at least what they believed the worker to be, silently glared at them as they ignored the bloody weapon by continuing their journey. Skeletons sprawled on the floor, stretching their arms for assistance. Emu grimaced at the sight, and with heavy stomps she shrieked at a vampire playing with the bones.
Though it took ten thousands years, the exit was finally visible; the bright light felt like a national treasure, too precious for this world. Emu sprinted out with glee, getting slightly anxious with all the vampires perusing her. Nene shortly followed after, being the receiving end of the monsters’ taunts.
“No offense but I’m never returning to this maze,” Nene spluttered, her racing heart unable to settle down from the horror.
“But this was so fun! Let’s go trick or treating next year then!” Emu twirled around, her high spirits recovered swiftly.
“Just the thought of doing something is so..” she trailed off her sentence, murmuring, “I’m tired.”
Emu grabbed her phone, aggressively bumping the screen with her fingertips while she stuck out her tongue.
“What are you doing?” Nene queried, rubbing her icy palms against each other to generate warmth.
“Texting Rui! He’s going to pick us up.”
“Ugh.. I hope we don’t get arrested because of him.”
A blithe chuckle erupted from Emu’s lips. The tension in the air completely disintegrated and was replaced with nothing but mirth.
In a sense, this was a successful first date.
Emu hoped to experience more moments like these with Nene, and only Nene.