"Let's be clear first—no rides that are too intense. Meteor, your leg only just recovered. We still need another checkup in half a month before I can truly relax."
They'd barely taken a few steps into the park before Rudolf had already repeated the warning several times. She absolutely would not let Eternal Meteor run wild again—she was terrified she'd cause trouble.
"Relax →. I have the best sense of proportion. I've never liked super thrilling rides anyway."
Eternal Meteor patted her chest so hard it made loud thump-thump sounds, sincerity practically radiating off her face. For a moment, Rudolf even wondered if she'd been overthinking.
And last time she came here with Tokai Teio, nothing happened, right…? Maybe she really was worrying too much.
"Yeah," Teio said flatly, "and last time the moment we walked in you dragged me onto the tallest roller coaster."
"You—!"
"And it was the front row."
Under Eternal Meteor's look of pure betrayal—like she'd just been stabbed by her closest friend—Tokai Teio casually crushed the "stage" Eternal Meteor had built into dust, then stomped on the wreckage for good measure.
Rudolf's gaze sharpened instantly. Eternal Meteor jerked her head toward Teio, mouth opening and closing with a distinctly distorted expression.
I'm sorry. I'll treat you to a honey special drink later.
She tried to silently bribe Teio with her mouth shapes. Apologize first—never wrong. She couldn't let Teio keep wrecking her image in Rudolf's eyes.
Assuming there was anything left to wreck.
"Th-that time—there were only front-row seats left! Yeah! And I only rode the roller coaster because I'd never done it before and I was curious! After it ended, I was so scared I almost cried!"
"And then you were so terrified you couldn't wait to jump off the bungee platform," Teio added, still calm, "and because you were scared out of your mind, you were laughing while you jumped."
Unfortunately, Teio couldn't read lips.
Apparently she decided the wreckage wasn't crushed enough. She rolled in a bright yellow road roller and flattened it again and again until not even scraps remained.
"Teio's joking," Eternal Meteor said quickly. "We rode the Ferris wheel together."
"Right," Teio replied. "And on the Ferris wheel you still wanted to jump off—mmph! Mmphhh!"
Eternal Meteor yanked Teio into her arms and slapped a hand over her mouth, then turned to Rudolf with an awkward grin.
Watching these two clowns, Rudolf suddenly felt a headache coming on. Worse than pulling an all-nighter organizing documents.
"...Sigh. Let's go. We'll just walk around first."
Once Rudolf turned away, Eternal Meteor finally loosened her hold on Teio. But Teio still didn't come back to herself—she stood there frozen.
"Teio… do you have to expose me like that?"
Only when warm breath stirred the fuzz on Teio's ear and that tiny voice slipped through her ear canal into her brain did she react.
Her right ear flicked sharply downward. Instinctively she started to push Eternal Meteor away—she'd even forgotten to struggle when she'd been hugged earlier.
But the moment she remembered how it had felt, her hand froze halfway.
"Teio? What's wrong?"
It wasn't until slender, pale fingers waved back and forth in front of her eyes that Teio snapped back. Her face flushed again, so red you'd think she'd been eating nothing but apples—Fuji apples, specifically.
"Let's go."
She stamped her foot and walked toward Rudolf, who had turned back to look at them. She left Eternal Meteor with nothing but her back.
"What did I even do wrong? I didn't mess with her at all."
"You really don't know?"
X's sudden voice made Eternal Meteor drop the cutesy pout she'd been putting on. She fell silent for a beat.
"Fine. I'm not blind. I'm not stupid. And I'm definitely not emotionally illiterate. Of course I can tell."
She hurried to catch up with the two ahead, flashed Rudolf a toothy smile, and made a big show of moving her limbs—demonstrating she was perfectly healthy.
"At first I thought she put on makeup because of Rudolf… but her actions afterward told me the exact opposite."
Teio spotted a spinning teacup ride nearby, eyes lighting up. She dashed to the queue, then turned and waved at them.
Last time she hadn't tried it. And she was confident in her anti-dizziness abilities. This time she'd spin it like crazy and make Eternal Meteor suffer.
"That ride look okay?" Rudolf asked. Seeing the cups turning slowly, everything looking peaceful, she relaxed and walked over with Eternal Meteor.
After the three of them buckled in, Eternal Meteor and Teio—seated on either side of Rudolf—both put on sinister little smiles at the same time.
Rudolf's back prickled. She shifted uneasily.
But looking at the gently rotating cups and the laughing children nearby, she decided she was just being paranoid and forced a smile.
"Let's wait and see," Eternal Meteor said. "See whether Teio actually confesses. Maybe I'll change my mind."
Rudolf was about to respond—
—but the next second, a roaring wind blasted straight into her mouth and swallowed every sound.
Two hands became afterimages, violently cranking the center wheel. The centrifugal force slammed Rudolf hard against the side of the cup.
"Then what if Tokai Teio really confesses?"
Rudolf's face turned a sickly green. It felt exactly like riding in Maruzensky's car—except now there was a crowd staring at them in shock, mouths hanging open.
By the time the ending music played and they stepped off the ride under a bunch of kids' envious looks, only Rudolf was still wobbling.
Teio's face was a little pale.
As for Eternal Meteor? She looked like she'd just ridden a pink-unicorn carousel—completely unfazed.
Under the two girls' uneasy gazes, Rudolf braced herself on a wall and staggered into the restroom.
For some reason, Eternal Meteor felt like she'd seen this exact scene before.
"There's really no room to say yes?"
Once Rudolf's footsteps were fully out of earshot, Teio seemed to make up her mind. She clenched her small fists and pumped them in front of her chest, eyes blazing.
Then she grabbed Eternal Meteor's hand tightly and dragged her down a side path where hardly anyone passed. Only after they stopped did Teio reluctantly loosen her fingers.
"I hate stringing people along. So yes—the answer is definite."
"Yes. I'll reject without leaving even the slightest room."
Teio turned slowly and took deep breaths, rehearsing the words in her mind over and over.
Come on. You're Tokai Teio—undefeated Teio. You can do this!
Teio lifted her head, locked her gaze onto Eternal Meteor's eyes, opened her mouth wide, and shouted louder than she ever had in her life:
"ETERNAL METEOR!! I LIKE YOU!!! WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!"
But the expression she'd hoped for didn't appear.
Instead, Eternal Meteor let out a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I can't."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter130)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter157)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 133
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 125
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 143
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 115
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 99
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 75
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 75
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 51
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
A Guide to Aid in the Underwor 26
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
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