"Uuughh..."
That was the first thing I said the moment I got off the jet coaster.
My legs were shaking like crazy, and I had so little strength left in my arms that I looked absolutely pathetic to anyone who saw me.
"Hai... Are you all right?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. I’m fine."
Maria looked at me with real concern.
The others had the same expression.
I didn’t want to make anyone worry over nothing, so I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.
"Huuuh. Haaah."
Gradually, the trembling faded, and my body settled back down.
"I guess I was tense because it had been so long since I rode one."
"Is that so? Then that’s a relief."
Only after seeing the shaking in my body stop did Maria finally relax, and that made me feel a little guilty.
I’d only ridden it for fun, and yet I’d ended up making her worry like this.
I really was hopeless.
"Hehe, it was fun."
Thankfully, Maria got her smile back.
She seemed to be recalling the jet coaster we’d just ridden.
"Yes, it was fun."
I went along with her and thought back to it myself.
To when we’d been on the jet coaster.
It hadn’t been that long ago, so maybe calling it the past was a stretch, but the past was the past.
Once I thought about it, the only thing I really remembered was how much I’d screamed.
'Mm. Never again.'
At the very least, unless someone else wanted me to ride one, I decided I would never do it of my own free will.
"It was a really good experience. A place where you can shout without holding back... It was refreshing in a different way from karaoke."
"Well, the circumstances are different."
"You still haven’t seen the best part of the jet coaster yet, you know?"
The commander had come up right beside us before I knew it.
She said the best part wasn’t over yet.
What was left again...?
"What do you mean, Kotori?"
"That thing!"
"...Ah! The photo!"
While listening to the two of them, I finally remembered what it was.
There was a photo taken partway through the ride.
"The one who was taking sneaky shots while riding, right~?"
"No, putting it like that makes it sound a little weird... Though, weirdly enough, it’s also kind of accurate..."
Yoshinon’s wording was a little odd, but in a way it wasn’t wrong.
After all, if you looked at it a certain way, it really was something like a candid shot.
"I see. I’m curious."
"In that case, shall we go take a look?"
"Yes!"
Since Maria wanted to, there was no reason not to.
So we headed over to the place that showed the photos.
"Hahaha. Look at that face. You’re seriously ugly."
In the photo I was in, there I was, looking incredibly ugly.
My face was twisted up from screaming, and it was definitely not handsome.
"Yes, but I think it’s a really good picture."
"Maria in this photo is clearly having a great time."
Unlike me, Maria in the photo looked happy.
She was laughing with so much energy that her expression was completely different from mine standing beside her.
"You can buy it, too. Should I get it as a souvenir?"
My ugly face wasn’t really something I cared about.
It wasn’t even my original face anyway.
More than that, I just wanted Maria to have something like this as a keepsake.
"Would that be all right?"
"Yes. Of course."
As soon as I said that, the others started asking me to buy theirs too.
That went for Itsuka-kun’s side as well.
In the end, I bought seven photos total, including Yoshino, Maria, Kaguya, Yuzuru, the Fire Keeper, Miku, and Mayuri.
For the record, Itsuka-kun bought quite a few too.
"Here you go, Maria. Take care not to lose it."
"...Yes. I’ll treasure it."
Maria was smiling as she said that.
Seeing her smile, I smiled back in the same way.
Because when Maria was happy, I was happy too.
The photo I bought her would definitely become a memory.
It was just a little disappointing that she couldn’t take it back to reality.
"...It would be nice if I could bring this photo back to reality."
"Huh? Did you say something, Hai?"
"No. Just talking to myself."
I brushed off Maria’s question and changed the subject.
"Would you like to rest for a bit now? Or would you like to go ride something else?"
"We already lost some time with this, so why don’t we go ride something else?"
Sure enough, we’d already waited an hour, so with time already slipping away, it felt a little wasteful to just rest.
"Then let’s head to the next one right away!"
And so we spent the rest of the day wandering all over the amusement park and enjoying ourselves to the fullest.
****
After the time when the sky turned yellow had passed, what greeted us was the dark night sky.
White stars were dotted across the pitch-black heavens, and a large moon shone down from the center of it all.
Maria and I headed to the Upper District Park.
The late-night date had been decided by Maria’s declaration that she wanted to spend the night with me.
Surprisingly, no one else objected, so I didn’t really have any complaints either.
It was just that this situation was a little awkward.
"Hai? Are you all right?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. I’m fine."
I’d called it a date, but I’d assumed there would still be some distance between us.
But no, Maria grabbed my arm and pulled me right up beside her.
Yeah.
It was definitely nice.
That much was undeniable.
I was a man, and not a eunuch, so being next to a cute girl like Maria was obviously a good thing.
The problem was that I had no immunity to women.
I had almost no resistance at all, so just being pressed up against a woman like this made my heart pound like crazy.
Just to be clear, if it were Yoshino, I wouldn’t feel anything like this.
If I felt this way about Yoshino, then that would just make me a lolicon.
Anyway, I was currently spending some quiet time with Maria at the Upper District Park.
"Hai. The view is really beautiful."
"Is it?"
Seeing Maria leaning against the railing and looking out at the scenery made my tension ease up too.
What was I even getting worked up over, with such an innocent girl?
Once I relaxed, a smile naturally came to my face.
Maria looking out over the view was just so pure.
It made her seem like a completely innocent child, and that was enough to make me smile.
"Still, time really is cruel."
For once, I really did feel like time was cruel.
Only a few hours ago, we’d all been having fun together.
And now it was already night, and once this date ended, we’d be heading home.
After being transported to this world.
No, even before I was transported to Dark Souls, once I became an adult I hadn’t had any reason to come to an amusement park.
And I certainly hadn’t had any reason to meet a girl like this.
So this time felt precious, and I wanted it to last longer.
But even if I thought that, time wouldn’t stop.
So all I could do was hope that this moment would become a page in our memories.
Not just my memories, but everyone’s.
"Hai. Today was really fun. Truly. Everything about it."
"I feel the same."
I agreed with Maria as she looked out at the scenery.
It wasn’t just today that had been fun.
Yesterday, the day before that, there had been plenty of fun things too.
Well, eating Mana’s cooking hadn’t exactly been fun, but still.
"The stars are easy to see today too."
"Yes. Very easy to see."
At Maria’s words, I looked up at the sky, and sure enough, the stars were clearly visible.
Still, even though the stars were easy to see anywhere in this virtual space, maybe because of where we were, they seemed even brighter here.
Maybe it felt that way even more because I was with Maria.
"...Just like Hai said, with Hai beside me, it really does feel different."
"Huh?"
Maria, who had been looking at the sky, suddenly repeated what I had said.
That was what I’d said when Maria first started looking at the stars.
She still remembered it.
But why bring it up now?
"Ever since that day we first looked at the stars together, I’ve been feeling something in my heart."
Before I could even ask why she was saying that, Maria spoke first.
It felt like what she was about to say was very important, so I stayed quiet and listened.
"When I thought of Hai, my heart beat faster. And when Hai was with someone else, a woman, I didn’t like it."
"...?"
As I kept listening, I started to understand what Maria was feeling.
"...Hai."
Maria called my name again and turned to look straight at me.
Meeting my gaze, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Today was a very fulfilling day. Everything that happened today became precious memories to me."
"...Yes."
At her heartfelt words, I gave a small reply and nodded.
Seeing my reaction, Maria smiled faintly, looking happy.
"You know, Hai...? Would it be all right if I made one unreasonable request of you, just this once? The first and last one?"
At her words about making one unreasonable request of me for the first and last time, I parted my lips.
"Of course. In fact, you can be unreasonable with me anytime. I’ll go along with just about anything."
When I said that, Maria let out a small laugh.
"Hehe. Is that so? But this request might be a little difficult for Hai."
Hearing that, I made a puzzled face.
What kind of unreasonable request could it be?
"It’s a simple thing. It’s something you do at the end of a date."
"At the end? What is it?"
Even after hearing Maria’s words, I still didn’t understand.
The end of a date?
Wasn’t that just saying goodbye?
"Hai, you really should have noticed that much. You know, at the end of a date..."
Then, suddenly, I remembered the things Maria had said before.
She wanted to understand love.
She had felt something for the first time on the day we watched the stars.
She’d talked about how she reacted when thinking of me.
She seemed to be in love with me.
Once I got that far, I finally understood.
"A kiss."
"It’s a kiss."
The word kiss slipped from both Maria’s mouth and mine at the same time.
A kiss.
The act of two people pressing their lips together.
For someone like me, who had almost no immunity to women, it really was a pretty difficult request to grant.
"Uuuh..."
So I fell silent and looked away from Maria.
Then Maria came closer, grabbed my cheek, and made me look at her.
"Hai. This is making things difficult when you said you’d listen to my unreasonable request."
"It’s just that... I’m not quite ready yet, I guess..."
Even while I was making excuses, my heart kept pounding without stopping.
No, if anything, it was beating even harder.
I wondered if Maria could hear the sound of my heartbeat too.
While I was thinking that, her face drew even closer.
"Hai. Please."
After saying that, Maria closed her eyes.
Gulp!
My senses sharpened so much I could vividly feel the saliva sliding down my throat, and Maria’s face in front of me came into sharp focus.
Her white hair, her gently shut eyes, even her slightly parted lips.
All of it was enough to make my heart race even more.
"Hai...?"
When I still said nothing and only stared, my name slipped from Maria’s lips.
Only then did I come to my senses and steel myself.
"Maria. I’m going to kiss you."
"...Yes."
At the edge of the park, the two of us drew closer.
Above us, stars and moon shone down on us, and below, all the lights illuminated us.
In the middle of it all, our lips slowly began to meet.
Zzzzt!
No, they didn’t meet.
Just as our lips were about to touch, noise rippled through the world.
Kshhhk—
With another burst of noise, we pulled apart from each other.
"What is this... My power, it... ah..."
"Maria!? Maria!? Damn it...!"
I caught Maria as she suddenly cried out in pain and collapsed, then laid her down on a nearby bench.
Maria was breathing hard and letting out pained groans.
Everything had happened so suddenly that my mind couldn’t keep up.
What the hell was going on?
Why had Maria suddenly collapsed?
Why was there noise in this world?
As questions piled up one after another, a familiar voice reached my ears.
"Well, I’ve kept you waiting long enough."
Turning toward the voice, I saw Black Arus.
"But at last... this time has come."
"Black Arus..."
Along with her appearance, the world warped once more.
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