User:The Koromo/Clarity

Makoto grinned, rubbing his hand in his greasy, unkempt blond hair. Next to him was Koromo, whom he had been offered to cater and assure that she did not get herself into any trouble. Of course, he had wanted to bring her here from the start, hence the grin; and he did not want it to look like bringing her to the amusement park was merely a chore ordered by her guardian to earn some cheap cash. He was sure a babysit at this age would not be too odd, even though he was only three years older than Koromo (Makoto nineteen, hitting twenty in July, and Koromo sixteen, respectively) - but he was extremely tall, standing at an easy six foot three.

Koromo hopped up and down in a fit of excitedness, her long blond hair - which certainly looked out of place on a girl who appeared so young, he thought - flowing in the night wind below the voices and shouts of the park crowd. Rides, rollercoasters and ferris wheels and slides and drop towers all triumphed, monolithic and massive, over the people who were next in line to ride them. Lights flashed and blinked, from the rides or otherwise, all around the park. In the west, a gorgeous, large lake that stretched as far as the eye could view embraced the twilight horizon, a pretty rainbow of colors being made by the touch of the amusement lights and the puffy, glowing clouds that amassed over the sun. The smell of cotton candy seemed to linger on the air, amongst the various other aromas of other appealing, yet undeniably tooth-rotting treats. Makoto tended to avoid that kind of food, anyway - he'd stick to his habit of salad and lobster.

Koromo, as excited as ever, began to tug impatiently at Makoto's belt. "Come on, Makooootooo! The Koromo wants to ride the ferris wheel first!" Before her babysitter could respond, she was off, running cheerfully amongst the crowds of people. Makoto sighed and followed her off, and though he was glad she was enjoying herself, he figured she should and could cut the habit of giddiness.

Koromo was well in line when Makoto caught up to her. He noticed that the waiting line was considerably short, Koromo third in line, in fact, and a wave of worry panged into him as he approached Koromo and assimilated himself into line with her. "Jeez, how long have you been waiting?"

"Only a few minutes! The line was like this when I arrived." Koromo smiled, and Makoto sighed in relief. Kidnapping was always a deep paranoia of his, whether it was possible or not in the situation.

After about a minute or two of more waiting, the duo approached the employee operating the ferris wheel. He was a stout, unkempt man who wore a pair of sunglasses (despite the fact that night was setting in) and a dark green security shirt. With his beard greying and his posture certainly authoritarian, he looked like quite the grouch.

Makoto held up the tickets and handed them to the operator, and began to enter the gates to get on the ferris wheel before Koromo was abruptly stopped by the guard. The operator held up a sign that read "MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE" - a height which required someone at least 4"3 - and Koromo certainly did not look nor act the part.

The operator spoke, "Sorry, kid, but you ain't tall enough. Buzz off and go ride the kiddy slides or somethin'." The operator radiated this tone venomously, Koromo displayed a saddened facial expression, and Makoto felt his knuckles whiten at the way he had treated Koromo. Instead of doing what he wanted to do, however - that being beat the ever loving mucus out of this guy - he excused him.

"Alright, sir. We're sorry." Makoto grabbed Koromo's hand and they both walked off, and Makoto plopped himself on a bench that was in front of a bush and water fountain just before Koromo started to tear up considerably.

"Did-did Koromo do a bad thing?" she asked, her tears beginning to flow freely, before she started sobbing. Makoto was alarmed, and wrapped his arm around Koromo's shoulders.

"Look," he replied, "that rule he had is bullshit, and pardon my French for that, but its a ferris wheel. It's not like its a twister or anything. The rules there shouldn't have been so strict. 4"3 for a ferris? You didn't do anything bad, Koromo." This did not calm Koromo's crying, and she began to grip onto Makoto's arm.

"I really wanted to go on that ride!" she wailed. "I am too short for everything!"

Makoto sighed, rubbing his temples. That operator had legitimately pissed him off, and he wasn't going to let Koromo wallow in misery - he didn't want to trigger her moodswings, specifically at an amusement park which was supposed to, well, amuse. An idea suddenly hit his head. "Climb into my jacket."

"What?"

"Climb into my jacket. I'll sneak you onto the ferris wheel." Makoto reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Looking around for any "NO SMOKING" signs, he saw there were none and lit it, propping it on his lips.

"But isn't that against the rules?" Koromo sniffled, no longer crying, but still lingering tears.

"Look, kid; I don't mind bending the rules and I don't mind getting the benefit of making you happy on the side. Just trust me, kid." Makoto's laid back persona was a benefit to him, if he did say so himself. And sure, he may have experienced occasional moodswings, but not like Koromo did.

"Hey!" Koromo responded to his comment as she crawled into his leather jacket, and stopped sniffling. "I'm not a kid! I'm Koromo!"

Makoto couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. She might've been a tough nut to crack at times, but the moments of clarity, humor and cheeriness she experienced not only made herself happy, but cheered Makoto up as well. Makoto had babysat before, and if he had to be totally honest with himself, he was initially babysitting Koromo for Ryuumonbuchi's dough. However, in the months proceeding, they had grown such a solid, steady relationship that they both completely forgot Makoto was previously just in it for the money. He was actually having fun now.

Makoto stood up after Koromo had finished making herself comfortable in his jacket. Makoto walked back in the direction of the ferris wheel, and whispered to Koromo. "If anything you need to talk about comes up, just hit me, okay?" Immediately after stating this, Makoto felt the thud of a fist on his chest. "I don't mean LITERALLY!"

Makoto approached the operator - the line was gone this time, though there were still some people on the ferris wheel. It was just now he noticed how absurdly huge this ferris wheel was - stretching far above the night skyline and above the trees considerably. He had been to America twice before, so, being a visitor of Coney Island in New York, this was nothing new to him. It was just now he noticed the thing was so, well, tall, for lack of a better word.

The operator raised his eyebrows, and Makoto began to speak to him. "I came back after getting a soda. My friend's on another ride right now, okay?" The operator nodded his head and opened the gates, not knowing Koromo was in Makoto's jacket. The two got on, the operator activated the ferris wheel, and when the duo was considerably high enough into the air Koromo slithered out of Makoto's leather jacket and strapped herself in a belt. The two smiled at each other, and Makoto nudged her with his elbow. "I told ya, didn't I?"

"Thank you, Makotoooo!" Koromo shouted, her voice carrying over the wind. She attempted to hug him, but her seat belt prevented her from doing so. "This is so fuuuun!"

"Aye, don't mention it, kid." Makoto could not help at blush at the thanks - he was a rather bashful individual when it came to praise.

"Ah! Look!" Koromo pointed out to the east, just on the horizon. "I can see my mansion complex from here!" Sure enough, there were two large buildings out in the far distance, but even with their size, they just looked like mere specks from the view of the ferris wheel.

Makoto grinned. There was something about the idea of seeing a familiar sight from a far distance, particularly when above ground level, that applied a form of inexplicable hope in him. What that hope was or what it meant, he did not know - but it certainly felt nice.

"Makotooooo!" Koromo giggled. "Let's try something fun!" Without stopping to hear his opinion on what that "something" was, Koromo began to kick her legs back and forth, rocking the ferris cart they were in like a swing. Makoto joined in on Koromo's laughing and began to do the same.

"Hey! This is fun!"

"Koromo knows!"

However, the same operator from before intervened their fun. "Oi! No rocking any of the carts up there!"

"Oi, sorry!" Makoto shouted back. Koromo un-clipped her seat belt and climbed back into her babysitter's jacket, whom stepped out when the ferris cart hit the ground. Makoto thanked the operator, and when the two were far away enough, Koromo climbed out of Makoto's jacket. She giggled, "Thanks, Makoto! That was fun!"

Makoto smiled back. "Of course, don't even mention it. You're sure that's all you wanna do, though?"

"Yes. You see, when my mother was young, she would always go on that ride, before she started to learn mahjong. It is very significant to I, The Koromo..." Koromo smiled, but there was a sadness in her eyes.

Makoto frowned as they approached his car, but he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and he hugged her. "C'mere!" He began tickling her, and she stumbled into the passenger's seat laughing. Makoto swung himself over the car and into the driver's seat. "I know your parents are gone, and it shouldn't have been that way. By the way you describe them all the time, they sound like they were great people. Thing is, Koromo, we all care about you just as much as they did. Touka, Hajime, that butler of yours...we can all count as friends. Friends and family. Understand?" Koromo blinked and then grinned. "Yes!"

Makoto laughed, and he began to turn the car into ignition. "C'mon kid, it's late. Touka may be home soon." The two grinned at each other and began to joke around and talk more as they drove back home, both of them ready to get some sleep for a new day.