More Ways than One

It took Ootori a lot of courage just to ask Mayumi to the latest theme park, X-Zed. It was probably the most expensive theme park in the whole of Japan, even. Atobe had graciously extended a hand to welcome the Hyoutei Regulars, as well as to the other schools, of course, just because he was ever so generous.

Throughout the journey to X-Zed, Ootori had been feeling awfully nervous. What would he say in front of her? What would he do?

It wasn't that he hadn't prepared for this, quite the contrary in fact. He had spent the whole previous night practicing what to do and say, to the extent that his mother had to come in and tell him to calm down and go to sleep, and that everything would go smoothly if he just acted like how he usually did. Even that took a lot of persuasion.

When they finally arrived at the theme park, he took note of the huge amount of people there that day. Surely, the theme park would attract curious people to the place, but he hadn't expected this many. Poor Ootori was almost about to panic when the fact that they had arrived at the place hit him but he managed to avoid looking like a total idiot in front of his senpais.

He recalled that had promised to meet him at the theme park itself, and she did mention being a little late, which bought Ootori the extra time to hopefully sneak away from his senpai-tachi. Otherwise, he was sure they would tease him to no end.

**********

So here he was, with Shishido-senpai, walking around the theme park. Earlier, Shishido had bought himself a cap, shaped after the mascot of the theme park, a cat. Ootori couldn't help but find it rather amusing to see his senpai walking around with such a cap on, and despite trying to hold back a chuckle, he failed rather miserably.

"So, where should we go first, Choutarou?" He heard his senpai ask him, to which he immediately replied.

"Hmm… Maybe follow Oshitari-senpai and Mukahi-senpai, or---"

Ootori got cut off when he heard familiar voices sounding from nearby.

"Kuso kuso! Watch where you're going, bubblegum boy!"

It was none other than his other senpai, Mukahi Gakuto.

"A… ah, yabai, Shishido-san, let's go there. Mukahi-senpai just bumped into a Rikkai tennis club member, Marui Bunta-san…"

He had a rather bad feeling about this. Ootori could see Shishido frowning as well. However, his doubles partner told him not to worry. Heaving a sigh, he just stared in the direction of where the other Hyoutei doubles team was standing, hoping that Gakuto wouldn't start a fight.

It seemed like it wasn't about to end anytime soon, and Shishido had taken a few steps forward, probably about to go stop the red-headed Hyoutei regular from going too far. Much to his dismay, he accidentally bumped into a female in the crowd instead.

"A— sorry," Shishido thankfully caught the person he bumped into, "Are you okay? Next time, be careful."

"Ye… yes, I'm okay! But I'm sorry, I—I didn't mean to bump you, it's just that I—wait, Shishido Ryou-san?"

"Heh? How do you know my name?" There was a puzzled look clearly on Shishido's face.

Ignoring Shishido's question aside, the girl continued, "And… Ootori Choutarou?"

Ootori lowered his head slightly and replied curiously, "A—yes… but how do you know our name?"

The doubles pair then learnt that she was , a third year from Hyoutei, and she had been present at the Hyoutei tennis matches because she liked the sport very much. As the silver-haired boy looked at the other two people beside him, he really thought they clicked pretty well.

"Oh no, Shishido-san, we've lost track of the others! There's no sign of Oshitari-senpai or Mukahi-senpai…" Ootori noticed, and had begun to panic again. "This is bad… what should we do now?"

"So sorry! That must be my fault!" The female third-year bowed.

Hoping he didn't make him feel bad with what he said, Ootori hurriedly waved his hand and told her he didn't mean it that way at all. In any case, he was thankful to the female, since it was about time for him to leave anyway, and two less senpais to worry about would make leaving a whole lot easier.

What snapped the tall boy out of his thoughts was the voice of his capped doubles partner, who decided that the girl he bumped into would now be their theme park guide. Shishido could have easily got himself a map from the information counter, but he didn't, which elicited a small smile to creep onto Ootori's face.

This was one of the best chances for him to leave, Ootori mused.

Just as they were about to go off, Ootori stopped them. "A-anou…"

Both pairs of eyes turned him, a look of curiosity flashing in their gazes.

"Wha… what's wrong, Ootori?"

"Yeah, what's wrong, Choutarou?"

"Ca… can I stay here? I feel unwell, and I can't stand crowds…"

"Stay here? Alone?"

"Then we aren't going!"

"Don't say that, Shishido-san, just go with her, well—I just don't want to ruin this day. We hardly go to this kind of place, so when we go to one, we should enjoy it to the fullest." He replied, in all honesty.

"But you're not enjoying it, Ootori."

"She's right."

"Don't think about me, I'll enjoy it in my own way. I can just take a walk around here and then wait on the bench. Perhaps, I'll get something to drink or eat. Come on, Shishido-san, you do want to take an advantage of this time, don't you?"

"Well, how could I enjoy this day when I know my partner will just be sitting here with no energy to enjoy it himself?"

"And what if you collapse?"

"That thing is impossible. Actually, at first I didn't really want to come, hence I'm just going to sit here and enjoy myself."

"Ootori…"

"Fine, then."

"Eh?" blinked. "What do you mean with 'fine, then'?"

"We're going now," Shishido cleared it up. "Choutarou said he'll be fine this way, so he'll be fine. So… let's go."

"I see. You're excited with this thing, huh?"

"Eh?"

pointed at the cap Shishido was wearing.

"So you like cats, huh?"

"A—shut up, don't give any comments. Ja, Choutarou, we'll leave now."

"We'll be back. So don't go far away, ne?"

Ootori nodded meekly. As they finally left, Ootori heaved a long sigh of relief, glad that his senpai bought his story. "Sorry for lying, Shishido-san, -san, but I have my own date, too."

He watched them finally disappear into the mass of people, before he quickly got up to leave.

**********

"Sorry I'm late!" politely bowed to Ootori, who also did the same thing. It was quite a funny scene in a theme park full of people, but others were too busy enjoying themselves to take notice.

"Ah, it's alright, -chan. I just got here not too long ago." After getting away from my senpai-tachi, that is, Ootori thought. "I'd like to call it perfect timing!"

Helplessly smiling at him, because she knew just how he wouldn't take a 'sorry' from her, slid her hand into Ootori's, dragging him further into the theme park. A bright red blush immediately found its way onto the silver-haired boy's face as he meekly followed her lead.

Walking through the many people in the crowd, spotting a few familiar faces along the way, they went around looking at which rides they wanted to have a go at.

Ootori spotted Hiyoshi on the way to the rides; with the brown-haired boy wandering around almost aimlessly near the snack booths, looking as if he had been forced to come to the theme park without a choice. Somewhere inside him, Ootori hoped that Hiyoshi would be able to enjoy himself as much as the rest of the Hyoutei regulars were. After much contemplation on whether or not to approach Hiyoshi, Ootori decided against it, due to the fact that he had already lost the other boy in the crowd.

Finally, and Ootori ended up where the spinning cups were, with Ootori not caring who was watching him any longer. He was honestly having fun just being with , making small talk with her while searching for a good ride to try out, and that was obvious with the way he kept on smiling. As long as she was enjoying herself as much as he was, it didn't matter one bit who would poke fun at him later…

His thoughts and actions were starting to seem a bit too mushy, and a blush crept back onto Ootori's face. It wasn't too obvious, especially since they were spinning around, and it was hard to pay much attention at all. Thank god for that, Ootori thought, watching spin the cup they were in faster and faster.

**********

"My stomach isn't feeling too good…" Ootori covered his mouth with a hand. "I didn't think it'd be possible to spin something so fast…"

A light chuckle filled his ears, despite the voices of the crowd, followed by his own laughter. It was almost as if there were only two of them in the world, and Ootori liked it that way. Subconsciously, Ootori reached forward and took hold of 's hand, squeezing it a little.

The only response he got was a slight blush that formed on her cheeks…

Much to Ootori's disappointment, however, quickly turned away, leading him to yet another place in the huge theme park. It was only after going through a few more rides, such as the roller coasters, the 3D movie ride, and the antique carousel that they found themselves at the game booths nearby, hands holding cotton candy that they had bought earlier.

They were walking along the different game stalls, some for darts, others for shooting and tossing rings.

"Do you like these kinds of games, Ootori-kun?" asked; her eyes look almost as if she were reminiscing about the last times she came to play such games.

"Y-Yes, I do," Ootori barely managed out a reply.

"I used to play these games with my brother when we were much younger. Now, he simply doesn't have the time to come. I guess, good things never last forever, huh?"

"That's not true…" Ootori gently smiled, as if comforting . That earned him a beam from the girl back in response.

"Maybe it'll last with you, Ootori-kun!"

The silver-haired boy couldn't reply, because firstly, he wasn't sure if he actually heard her right that time; and secondly, she had already started to run to some game stalls.

He watched look at the prizes that could be won, displayed upon shelves in their full glamour. A whirl of thoughts had began to fight about in his head, about trying to get the stuffed toy for her, as well as embarrassing himself by trying to do so, but he gave in anyway. Purely by luck, Ootori managed to hit it down, which really made him thank his lucky stars.

"Here you go," Ootori handed the stuffed toy, shaped like a cat, yet he wasn't exactly sure what it was. It was cute, though.

"Thank you, Ootori-kun!"

"Ah, it's not a problem at all… I was lucky enough to get it for you," Ootori smiled, his hand scratching his head sheepishly.

Loud sounds suddenly broke through their conversation, and both of them turned their heads in the direction in which it came from.

"It's the stage performances, Ootori-kun! Let's go watch!"

**********

The stage performances were more than superb – typical, coming from a theme park funded by the Atobes. Ootori was much busier looking at from the corner of his eye, nevertheless. With her holding that stuffed animal he won for her, he was appreciative of the chance to even be able to ask her out this time.

He hoped that he'd be able to go out with her yet again, but it took him that much courage to simply ask her out this first time, so it would probably be the same for the next few times he actually tried…

"Ah! Tezuka-san!" Ootori exclaimed, seeing a rather unexpected person in the crowd. The buchou of Seigaku merely gave him a polite nod in response.

"It's nice to see you here," Ootori mannerly smiled, noticing the girl that was standing beside Tezuka.

"It's good to see you too, Ootori. It was kind of Atobe to invite our team to this place," Tezuka seemed to smile slightly, but Ootori couldn't be quite sure.

"I shan't bother you any further, Tezuka-san. I hope you have fun," Ootori bowed slightly, before turning to walk to where was.

"Who was that?" asked, curious.

"He is the buchou of the Seigaku Boy's Tennis Club."

"Eh? Are you sure? He didn't look like a student at all!" exclaimed in disbelief.

Ootori chuckled at 's response, replying, "I guess he gets that a lot."

All of a sudden, the boy got snapped right out of his conversation by a voice he was more than just familiar with. "Oi oi Choutarou, didn't you say you were feeling unwell?"

"Shi… Shishido-san… -san…"

"On top of that, with a girl… hmm, you sure are something, Ootori," snickered, causing the silver-haired boy's face to turn to a faint shade of red.

"Su… sumimasen! I don't mean to lie to both of you, but… I just can't say I'm going out or something…"

"So you can actually lie too, huh?" Shishido's expression showed that he was rather shocked. "Maa ii, you should just told us that you have a date or something."

"But you know what, Shishido-san?" Ootori said, in hopes of being able to change the topic.

"What?" It apparently worked.

"You do look like you're part of a couple. With -san," He whispered into his senpai's ear, just loud enough for him to hear through all the noise. It seemed to have a great effect on his doubles partner, too. Ootori could have sworn he never saw Shishido's face this red outside the tennis courts before.

"WHAT!? Are you stupid!?"

"Don't be shy, Shishido-san!" Ootori gave Shishido a small grin, "I won't ruin your first date, so I guess we'll part here."

"Oi oi! Choutarou!"

Without so much as letting his senpai reply, Ootori quickly walked off, dragging with him.

**********

"You look awfully relieved," noted, a smile appearing on her face. "Glad to escape from Shishido-senpai, I see."

"He and -san seem to be getting along very well," Ootori replied, slightly envious. However, 's reply was rather unforeseen.

"What they can do, we can do better, right?" grinned, her free hand entwining with Ootori's. This only resulted in Ootori tensing up, almost stiffening at the touch. Only after a few good seconds, Ootori seemed to calm down a little, but his face was still just as red as ever.

"-chan…"

"What is it, Ootori-kun?"

Mustering up whatever courage he had left for the day, "I've been meaning to ask you… Would you… um… Would you go out with me again?"

At the same time he said that, Ootori closed his eyes, like a reflex action. His heart was pounding, unsure of whether or not the reply would be a good or bad one. Much to his dismay, kept silent. Just as he was about to open his eyes, however, he felt something soft press against his left cheek.

"… chan?" Ootori blinked, unable to look straight in the eye.

"I'd be happy to, Choutarou-kun!"

Ootori's infamous smile once again appeared on his lips as he gave the girl a light hug. seemed to give the boy immense courage to do certain things, and hugging her was one of them. But really, those words were all he ever needed to hear.

"I like you, -chan."

##########

July 30, 2007
Written by: Setsuna
Edited by: linchpin

This story is a part of the Teniyume and Endless Dreamers affiliate project, The Carousel Project. The next story will feature Hiyoshi Wakashi and will be written by Endless Dreamers' resident writer, Kashii, so please watch out for it.