A Whistle, a Bell and a Fortune Cookie

Bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings and anklets are a few of the many forms of jewellery that could be found attached to some part of a woman's body. Some women craved diamonds or valuable stones for show, while others wore simple pendants and bracelets for the sake of it. It was rare for someone to see a girl without her beloved trinkets, and jewellery was always considered a sure-kill as a present for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, birthdays or just a simple a date.

**********

"I can't believe you lost all of our tickets baka!"

"I did not lose them, you had them last!"

"Gentlemen, could you both please shut up while we sort this out? You two are attracting a lot of attention."

nodded and flushed at the peculiar stares they were receiving by people of all sorts walking by. She couldn't blame them though, the Yamabuki Junior Boys tennis team was the only tennis team to be wearing their regular jackets and school uniform… and their bickering didn't help much.

"… I'll say it one more time bastard, I didn't lose our tickets!" Masami Higashikata yelled at his team mate, his voice growing hoarse from their never-ending argument over who lost the entire team's tickets.

"If you didn't lose our tickets then why the hell are we standing here and not in there?!" remarked Ichiuma Kita angrily, pointing at the stream of people admitting and purchasing tickets at the ticket booth before walking through X-Zed's large and colourful gates.

"Ichiuma, Masami – enough," said Minami Kentarou, the Yamabuki captain, in a low and final tone. His eyes flashed dangerously and he glared at all of his team mates as if daring them to argue.

No one did.

"Gomen, -chan," Minami said apologetically, his expression softening when he turned to and met her gaze, "We should have been more organized than this."

"No! It's okay," said , shaking her head and turning red at Minami's sudden apology. "I... I should actually be thanking you for letting me come here with the team!"

"Minami-buchou desu!!" a high-pitched voice suddenly squealed from the direction of the carpark outside X-Zed, attracting the Yamabuki team's attention along with a few other passbyers. " We found the tickets desu!"

and Minami turned around to see two figures walking towards them. The shorter one had jet-black hair and a band around his head, waving something frantically in his hand, while the other was tall with bright orange hair, his Yamabuki regular jacket swung over his shoulder, showing off his toned muscles.

"Minami-buchou!!! Here are the tickets des- ahhhh!"

The shorter boy clumsily tripped over a crack in the almost-flawless concrete outside the gates, the tickets flying out of his hands. With a quick hand motion, the taller boy was just able to catch the tickets between his index and middle fingers. Masami and Ichiuma gaped.

"Lucky~!" the taller boy sighed, lowering his hand and tilting his head.

took a few seconds to process the quick hand action the boy used to catch the falling tickets, before running towards him and pulling him into a tight hug.

"Sengoku!" she breathed after pulling away, her black-blue hair flinging back as she did so.

"Did you miss me?" Sengoku teased, causing tinges of pink to appear on 's cheeks, as his hand entertwined with hers, "Oy, Minami, I saw you make my cute little girlfriend blush, and if I didn't know any better I would think you were hitting on her."

Minami rolled his eyes as he accepted the tickets handed over to him by Sengoku. "…Overprotective…" he muttered.

"Dan-kun, Daijoubu ka?" asked the shorter boy in a concerned tone as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Daijoubu desu!" Dan Taichi yelled, giving a taken-back a salute. " Thanks for your concern -senpai!"

"Here you go Dan," said Sengoku handing him his ticket and ruffling his hair, "have fun today."

"Hai Sengoku-senpai, arigatou!"

smiled at the young boy as she watched him and the rest of the Yamabuki team disappear in all directions, ready to finally explore the amusement park.

"Sengoku..." said quietly, not looking at Sengoku, as they inched away from the ticket booth "I think I saw Yanagi Renji from Rikkai dai with a girl walk past us when you went with Dan to find our tickets…"

"Hmm? And what about it?" Sengoku said, peering at his girlfriend through his blue-green eyes, while one hand was on her back, guiding her through the gates.

"… It was Mishima-san."

Sengoku stopped and looked at unexpectedly, a smile playing on his lips. "The manager of the team right?"

nodded.

"Ehhh… Yanagi is quite lucky… having such a cute girlfriend like her," Sengoku said but then quickly added, "but to me she's not as cute as my -chan!" as he saw 's eyes fall in disappointment.

smiled coyly as she felt blood rushing towards her face – yet again.

"Oh yeah," Sengoku said, reaching for something in his pocket, "I got this for you."

's eyes shyly peered at the little blue box Sengoku just handed her, her fingers twitching as they trembled with the silver fastening. As she lifted the lid she saw a glimpse of silver, a soft jingle was emitted from the box as her hands shook slightly.

" A whistle and a bell?" asked, staring at the cute little silver whistle and bell sitting on the palm of her hand, attached to a thin silver snake chain.

"Just in case you get lost today," Sengoku said casually, chuckling as he pulled 's hair back, fastening the necklace around her neck.

knew Sengoku must have put a lot of thought into getting her this present, she knew he liked to be original but getting her a necklace with a minute whistle and bell attached to it made her heart melt, as well as making her blush.

"A...Arigatou…" whispered, glancing at her feet, " I really like it."

"Hontou?" Sengoku asked excitedly, glasping her hand in his. "I'm relieved, I thought you might have thought it was weird."

"N... No!" exclaimed, shaking her head slightly. "It was really sweet!"

Sengoku gave her a large grin as he dragged her away from the gates, ready to explore what X-Zed had to offer them.

**********

was a nice, shy girl. She was the type that liked blending into the background, hiding herself from all the attention she could've received. In terms of looks she was quite average, large dark eyes with blue-black hair and a fringe with long bangs. She had a short stature and didn't like wearing anything that showed off her feminine physique.

However, that was exactly why Sengoku took such an interest in her.

It was true he had quite a few fangirls, considering his reputation as a two-year in a row representitive at the Japanese-American Junior High goodwill tennis tournament, but when it came to girls he was quite choosy. He was flirty and a ladies-man, but he also cared for a lot, even though she was his kouhai. He always thought was 'cute yet guillable', so when he finally had the courage to ask her out, he had to say it quite bluntly, "I really like you, will you be my girlfriend?"

Now X-Zed was Tokyo's biggest amusement park funded by the Atobe Corporation. This particular day was especially reserved for all the junior high tennis players, each school receiving free tickets. As expected, all the coaches of the teams gave up their tickets and allowed one member not in the tennis team to come along for free. Because got along with everyone in the Yamabuki tennis team, Sengoku suggested they bring her along. No one really argued against that since they knew Sengoku and were together, but Sengoku did receive quite a few jealous stares from the boys, and from the girls.

**********

"S-Sugoi…!"

"Hmm… Just like Atobe to show off like that."

The Glass House was exactly as its name suggested – a house made out of glass. But it wasn't just a normal sized house, oh no, it was more like a small castle; complete with little torrents and miniature blue flags.

"But… why did Atobe build a glass house in an amusement park?" asked curiously, her eyes widening at the sight of it.

"Atobe just funded the place; I don't think he meant to build a glass house here," Sengoku said matter-of-factly, patting 's head as he did so. "Wanna go check it out?"

"Uh-yeah, anou… what's that Sengoku?" asked suddenly, pausing slightly, when she noticed the corner of something sticking out of his pocket.

"Huh? Oh this?!" Sengoku said, as he pulled out a tiny piece of paper from his pocket. "Those paper things you get inside fortune cookies."

"Let me see!" chirped sweetly, snatching the paper away from him and reading it aloud. " Some unexpected news would be coming your way today, and you can truly see what is inside of you."

"Well the first part is right," Sengoku said, grinning, "Yanagi and Mishima are here together– Lucky~!"

"I suppose…" said softly, her hand absent-mindedly fumbling with the tiny whistle and bell on her neck, making a soft jingling sound.

Sengoku let out a laugh as he watched his 'cute little girlfriend' go into thinking-mode, "C'mon -chan, let's enjoy ourselves!"

A warm-hearted smile formed on 's lips as she let Sengoku lead her into the delicate gates of the Glass House.

"…I really think you can fit more than half the tennis teams in Tokyo in there…"

"Ha-ha… Do you now -chan?"

**********

X-Zed was a quite busy and noisy amusement park, much louder and packed than an average one. and Sengoku had to admit that they didn't choose the best day to go visit the place, seeing it was the weekend where most students and families were free. It had actually taken them more time to get out of the Glass House than it did to explore the place.

When they finally departed from the long queue a good fifteen minutes later, they were met by an ear-crackling screech.

Horio Satoshi, a first year from Seigaku, was doing a solo performance of Japan's national anthem and unfortunately some clumsy person had turned the microphone on the full-blast – enhancing Horio's unusually high voice.

After much pushing and squeezing through gaps, and Sengoku made it to the snack booths – unharmed but a little shaken.

"…That was the most terrifying thing I ever heard…" Sengoku whispered to as they stood in the line at the snack booth, waiting to be served. However, they both knew they were in for a long wait as Marui Bunta, a third year regular from Rikkaidai was stocking up on his candy supplies.

grinned happily as she watched Sengoku emit a small shudder; she was getting used to his company and she hadn't blushed for the last ten minutes maybe?

"Here you go -chan," Sengoku said suddenly, pushing a bag of cotton candy into her arms and dragging her out of the long line. "What were you thinking about?"

"Hmm?"

"You were spacing out."

"Oh! Um… I… I was wondering how you got this cotton candy! Didn't Marui-San buy nearly all their supplies?"

"Ahhh… I nicked it off him as he walked past us. He had too much to hold anyway."

"… That was so mean…"

**********

It had to take a reasonably big food court to fit about fifty different stores with food from about twenty different countries, not including the usual fast food stores, tables, chairs and of course, a little section dedicated to dessert. It definitely needed to be a relatively large food court to fit about three hundred people, not including security guards, store managers and the occasional cleaner. With all cluttering and clanging of cutlery, cries from children wanting candy and ice-cream, loud voices of people calling out to their friends and the whole atmosphere of having around four hundred people packed into the one building, it was quite easy for a person to get lost and driven around by the crowd.

, unfortunately, was one of them.

She had told Sengoku she felt like eating ramen when they finished Marui's nicked bag of cotton candy, but the thought had quickly dissolved from her mind as they entered the bustling food court building. With about three hundred people eating, choosing what to eat, and moving around, it was hard enough to not get shunted to one side, let alone find a ramen store or a place to sit. Hence, Sengoku had told to stand near the dessert stalls while he went off to look for ramen. , of course, protested and said she would be fine eating anything, but Sengoku had insisted and quickly disappeared into the crowd, leaving a frowning behind.

Now, a good ten minutes later, after being pushed around by little kids just out of their diapers and being made to move to one side by parents hushing and chasing after their children, was standing in the middle of god-knows-where.

She had lost sight of the dessert stalls after being pushed aside by a ferocious little boy who was playing with his toy aeroplane. Like a leaf floating along a raging river, was pushed and shunted along with the current of people rushing to particular stalls, and after squeezing through gaps and a frequent "excuse me", had finally managed to wedge herself into a little corridor aligned with trolleys of buckets, mops and collections of detergents.

Watching the people rush past her, she automatically reached into her pocket, trying to fish out her cell phone. As if reality had just hit her, gasped and let one hand cover her mouth, "Oh no! I left my phone on the bus!"

**********

was staring out the window, watching the trees and scenery fly by her as the bus bounced rhythmically down the smoothly paved road. She unconsciously took her phone out of her bag and proceeded to put it into her pocket when a hand gently brushed against her fingers, taking her phone out of her hands.

"I wouldn't take that with me, if I were you," Sengoku said grinning, putting her phone into a box filled with different assorted cells belonging to the other Yamabuki regulars.

"…Why?"

"You wouldn't want to lose it, would you -chan," Minami said, turning his head back so he could just glimpse her confused expression.

"B-But… What if one of us gets lost?"

"Then we go to the information booth obviously!" Masami Higashikata piped up loudly from the back of the bus, earning himself a scowl from Minami.

flushed at her obvious yet stupid statement, whilst staring at the floor, twiddling her thumbs. A strong hand had found its way onto her shoulder and she suddenly found herself getting a gentle pat from Sengoku.

"Daijoubu!" Sengoku said assuringly, lifting his hand off her shoulder. "I'll look after you, -chan."

**********

anxiously glanced at the watch around her wrist. It indicated that Sengoku had been gone for almost twenty minutes. It was quite possible with so many people that Sengoku had gotten lost as well, or perhaps he was lining up in another long queue, waiting to be served. Or maybe he was trying to find her; realising wasn't at the dessert stalls. Whatever it was, wasn't in the mood to wait. Impatience and anxiety spread through her body like a bad virus, as she chewed her lower lip, still restlessly scanning the crowd of rushing people, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person she was waiting for.

Five uneventful minutes passed, and was nervously fidgeting with her necklace, twirling the chain around her finger. She was just about to leave and find the information booth, hoping Sengoku would be smart enough to know she would've gone there, when her fingers brushed against the cold surface of the silver whistle around her neck.

blinked and stared at the little whistle sitting on her palm.

Sengoku had said it was "just in case" she got lost. Uncertainly, lifted the whistle off her palm with her index finger and thumb, before bringing it towards her soft, pink lips. In one swift movement, her lips clamped against the mouthpiece, taking in a deep breath before breathing out with all her might.

**********

Have you ever said something stupid really loudly in the middle of a crowded street, just to see about two dozen heads turn your way and give you a raised eyebrow or a look that plainly stated, "What on earth is wrong with you"? Or have you been one of the people that gave those types of people weird looks and a raised eyebrow?

Either way, that situation was not the most comfortable place to be in.

A small hoot had left 's lips the moment she blew into her little whistle. The hoot wasn't loud enough to overpower the clanging of cutlery, the loud yells from customers and the stomping of feet inside the food court; however it did manage to attract the attention of the people standing about ten metres in front of her.

felt blood rush to her face as she received raised eyebrows and weird looks by about a dozen people rushing past her. So she was a teenage girl standing in a corridor with trolleys full of detergent and mops blowing a little whistle around her neck for comfort. She had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, right?

Wrong.

felt so embarrassed she was praying for the wall to open up and swallow her or for a mop to suddenly fall from the sky and land on her head so it could hide her tomato for a face.

Just when she thought her face was about to melt, she heard a familiar snigger and breath tickling her ear.

"So here you are."

slowly turned around and found herself face to face with a worried yet amused, Sengoku Kiyosumi.

Relief washed over her to see him there standing next her, and was just about to fling her arms around him when she noticed the tray of food he was holding in his hands. Instead, she forced herself to open her mouth and ask, "How did you find me?" in a raspy voice.
She didn't think his hearing was good enough to hear her blow the whistle if he wasn't in her ten-metre perimeter.

Sengoku merely shrugged and said, "Well, I went looking for you when I went back to the dessert stalls and didn't see you there. Then I thought that maybe you wanted to play hide and seek or something. Really -chan, if you wanted to play hide and seek you could at least tell me beforehand so I didn't have to buy so much food first. Anyways, I just walked around until I came past here and saw people rushing past someone with weird looks on their faces. Then what do you know? I just poked my head through the rushing crowd and I see poor little -chan standing alone next to trolleys of detergents, as red as a tomato."

flushed even deeper (if that was even possible, she probably looked more maroon then red now), and grimaced. Sengoku was teasing her on purpose.

At first she felt fear sweep over her at the thought that Sengoku might have been angry at her, but glimpsing to see his usual playful grin, she relaxed and returned him one of her own nervous smiles.

"Well, as long as you're okay," Sengoku sighed, sticking out his elbow so could sling her arm through it. "Sorry, my hands are full," he said apologetically, indicating the tray full of food in his hands as wrapped her arm around his.

"It's okay," she whispered in his ear, as they once again squeezed through the tiny gaps between the people in the crowd, trying to find the exit.

had then decided she absolutely would not leave Sengoku's side throughout the entire duration they were in X-Zed's gates – for the sake of not risking making him mad if she got lost and to spare her from the embarrassment of blowing her little whistle again.

Perhaps the most popular ride in the whole of X-Zed would be the rollercoaster also known as the Lethal Weapon. With its many giant loops and rigid tracks, was pretty sure the name was not just an exaggeration.

Watching the unstable little red cart pull up alongside her, she had a sudden urge to turn around and run out of the line. However, Sengoku's firm grip on her arm kept her from moving as she suddenly found herself being pulled into the back seat and strapped down by a middle-aged lady who was in charge of the ride.

"Don't worry," the lady said with a kind smile, when she saw 's horrified face, "you'll be fine, as long as you didn't eat too much beforehand!"

gulped and glanced nervously at Sengoku, recalling what they had eaten just a mere fifteen minutes ago.

herself only ate half a bowl of ramen and drank a tiny bottle of water, while Sengoku (claiming that all his tennis training gave him a large appetite) had eaten one large bowl of ramen, a hamburger, large fries and double-choc sundae, all washed down with a bottle of coke.

"I really don't like this… I really, really don't like this!" squealed , pressing her eyes shut as the cart began to move.

"Don't worry," said Sengoku, squeezing her hand gently. "Just scream."

"Huh–" began to ask before being cut short by the first violent lurch forward and continued with a loud piercing scream.

"I REALLY HATE THIS!"

**********

"… I hate roller coasters…" grumbled as she rubbed her sore stomach with her hand (which was blistering red from gripping the seat too hard) while stumbling out of the line. "Are you okay?" she asked Sengoku in a concerned tone.

had evidently gotten over her shyness, she was no doubt quite comfortable around Sengoku now – their ordeal with the Lethal Weapon, consisting of a lot of hand-holding, screaming and yelling their hearts out, did help of course.

Sengoku shook himself gently and looked up at her, "Yeah I'm okay – where do you want to go now?"

His face did look a bit green.

shrugged as she steadied herself – the ride had made her a bit dizzy not to mention the constant stampede of butterflies inside her stomach. "Anywhere you want as long as there are no more roller coasters!"

Sengoku grinned and shook his head, "Nope, it's your turn to choose our next destination."

"Mmm…" mused out loud, looking around her until something bright and colourful caught her eye. "I got it!" she yelled suddenly, grabbing Sengoku's hand and leading him around the Bumper Cars, before realizing what she had just done and halted abruptly.

Sengoku sniggered as he watched 's face turn a hundred shades of red before finally settling into a deep magenta. He gently grasped her hand and smiled at her, "No, you lead the way."

slowly chewed her lower lip for a few seconds before nodding, "M'kay," she agreed finally, her face settling back into a deep shade of pink, while tugging Sengoku's hand, indicating him to follow her.

**********

"Hell no," Sengoku said firmly, freezing on the spot, staring at the huge attraction before him.

"Pretty please?" pleaded sincerely, clasping her hands together into a begging motion as she tried to nudge him nearer to the site. "You said you'd go anywhere I want…"

"That did not involve going through mild forms of torture."

"What's wrong with it?" argued , gesturing the large antique carousel behind her.

The Carousel looked like a giant colourful tent, surrounded by swans, carriages and white stallions. Giant gold pillars suspended the features about a foot above the floor and the bulky pole in the middle that supported the whole structure was decorated with vibrant paintings of mellows and other astonishing images of nature.

Young children and their guardians lolled around the Carousel, some were waiting in the unusually short queue, while others were climbing on and off the horses – could even see a few parents snapping pictures of their children laughing and smiling while on the ride.

"…It's a ride for kids," replied Sengoku shortly. "I'll go anywhere but here."

"But it looks fun!" protested stubbornly, "and you are a kid!"

"No."

pinched her eyebrows together and pushed her mouth into a gentle pout. The same pout that always got Masami spluttering and made Akutsu do whatever the hell she wanted just so she would stop. It had worked on Sengoku a few times in the past as well.

"Ah- well, it's just very, um, embarrassing," stammered Sengoku, recoiling away from her, in attempt to stay immune against her very useful tactic.

's pouting mouth was instantly joined by wide, melting eyes – forming 's Pouting Mouth and Shiny eyes combo that would make puppies everywhere glare at her in disgust.

"Ah- okay," sighed Sengoku, giving in, "You always use that on me…"

grinned and slipped her arm around his, tugging him towards the line, oblivious to Sengoku's constant muttering of, "How embarrassing… how very, very embarrassing…"

**********

"Sengoku – damn, you look beat," remarked Minami spotting Sengoku stumbling towards the car park, with walking quietly alongside him. "What happened to your regular jersey?!" he yelled as he saw a crumpled jacket with a large green and orange stain on the front hanging limply in Sengoku's arms. He also noted the strange aroma of ramen, beef and coke lingering around it.

"I don't want to mention it," muttered Sengoku bitterly, while giggled uncontrollably beside him, earning herself a sulky glare.

Minami raised his eyebrows and turned to , "Please explain -chan, or Sengoku-kun will find himself doing punishment laps tomorrow." He stated plainly.

gave Sengoku a fleeting apologetic glance, and gulped hard to suppress her laughter then opened her mouth and explained.

The Carousel ride wasn't as amusing for Sengoku as it was for . Despite being very reluctant to go on the 'baby' ride, Sengoku still managed to force himself to aboard the Queen Swan with and settle sulkily between the two wings. Parents gave him strange glances as they put their children on the horses, carriages or swans before walking off the ride and taking out their cameras – all in which had been oblivious to.

The ride itself wasn't as bad as Sengoku thought, sure he was getting quite dizzy and his stomach wasn't agreeing with him, but he got to see 's naturally coloured skin tone (she wasn't blushing at the time) and his sharp eyes couldn't spot any familiar faces much to his relief.

However, as the ride came to a sudden halt, Sengoku felt something run up his throat and leaned over the side of the swan – emptying the contents of his stomach in the process. had pretty much stared at him and patted his back whilst trying to stifle her giggles, as she watched orange and green pulp pour out of his mouth and onto the spotless golden floorboards. A young toddler who had waited so eagerly to go on the ride gave and Sengoku a horrified glance before running away from the Carousel yelling, "Mummy! Mummy!" while the man operating the ride shoved a plastic bag in 's hands and shooed them away.

"Gomen," said apologetically, bowing her head as her cheeks glowed again, "It's my fault for what happened to Sengoku's jacket."

"…You threw up on a merry-go-round…?" asked Minami slowly, shaking his head in disbelief. "I think I won't comment on that."

"Good," replied Sengoku shortly. "I think I have to borrow someone else's spare jersey for training tomorrow – my other one is in the wash."

"At least your fortune cookie was right," piped up brightly. "Some unexpected news would be coming your way today, and you can truly see what is inside of you," she quoted. "Don't you remember?"

"Mm, unfortunately," said Sengoku curtly, ignoring the loud roars of laughter from Minami and the gentle giggles from .

It would be a long time before Sengoku would be able to live it down.

##########

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