#mulkki

“I genuinely don’t see why we have to come here.” Hikaru frowned, folding his arms and looking around.

It was an amusement park; Well, not really an amusement park. It was more a collection of bouncy castles, stalls, and a small ferris wheel. The headmaster organised it to congratulate them on the first day of summer holidays; it wasn’t as if they got to go home, after all. A reward to keep them from missing family.

“What’s the problem?” Arata frowned, turning around on his heel to look at the three behind him. “Yeah, not being able to see family sucks, but… Isn’t this a way for us to take our minds off that and enjoy ourselves?”

“Now, now.” Sakuya smiled, – thank god he existed, Hikaru mentally sighed, as he was the only one that could actually distract Arata long enough to let him do anything - pointing to the slowly-moving ferris wheel. “How about that? There’s no line for it!”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Haruki nodded, beginning to walk over to it. “After this we can get cotton candy, alright?”

Getting on the ferris wheel was almost easier than Hikaru expected. As Sakuya had noticed, there wasn’t a line at all, and the four of them were all able to get on at once. Stepping onto the shaky floor of the capsule, he sat down on the cushioned chairs and looked out one of the windows as the ride began to move.

It took him a few moments to realise it stopped moving.

“It stopped.” He heard Sakuya remark, looking out the window in surprise. “It’s not running.”

Turning back to look at the three, Hikaru blinked in interest at their reactions. Sakuya looked surprised, and was trying to analyse the cause from where they were at the top of the wheel. Haruki looked slightly freaked out, trying to diffuse the situation. And Arata... was sweating?

“What’s wrong, Arata?” Hikaru blinked in slight concern, leaning in to look at the fiery-haired male.

“Nothing.” Arata quickly responded – really not looking like nothing was up at all, from the way his hands were clenched to the fact that his eyes kept darting around the capsule.

Then it hit him.

“You’re afraid of heights.” Hikaru blinked, staring at a flushing Arata in surprise. “That’s why you didn’t say anything after we got on.”

“No I’m not.” Arata frowned, looking away sulkily. “I just don’t like them. I’m not afraid of them.

“That still means you’re afraid.”

“Does not!”

“Both of you, calm down.” Haruki’s calm voice cut, looking at them with deep-green eyes. “We’ll be getting out, Arata. There’s nothing to be worried about. They won’t leave us here.”

“If you say so….” Arata sighed, leaning back into his chair tightly and groaning. “Just keep talking, then. Talking is soothing.”

“Most people would state the opposite.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, at least I’m talking.”

---

It had been over two hours, and Haruki was starting to go out of his mind.

“I spy, with my little eye…. Something pink.”

“Is it the capsule we’re in?”

“Bingo.”

Sighing in boredom, Haruki leaned back on his chair somewhat. Haruki hardly ever got bored – there was always something to discuss, something to plan. It was an alien feeling, something that wasn’t quite welcome in Haruki’s schedule. They’d been playing I-spy for the past half hour – they’d already said everything at least five times, and to be completely honest, Haruki felt like a parent stuck in a traffic jam with two young children and a helpful sibling.

 “Sakuya, the time?” Haruki asked, rubbing his temples softly. The green-haired boy next to him brought his face up from the side of the window where he had been slowly falling asleep and checked his CCM.

“7:24 at night.” He groaned, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “And my phone’s about to run out of battery, so I should probably leave it.”

“Didn’t you call them to say we were stuck? Where are they?” Haruki questioned, sighing out of his nose. “Could they have forgotten about us?”

Yelping suddenly, Arata shook his head. “T- They haven’t right? They haven’t?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Sakuya observed, looking out the window for any signs of movement. “They probably need to get the tools. It shouldn’t be too much longer, so we’ll be fine.”

“Ahh, I feel restless….” Arata muttered, shakily standing up. “I hate being cooped up in small spaces for so long…”

“Arata, you spend longer in a control pod every afternoon, and you don’t get restless then….”

“That’s different!” The redhead protested, pouting a little. “In the pods, I’m distracted, and not bored, and yeah!”

“That’s nice.” Hikaru tiredly muttered, playing with something or another on his CCM.

“What’s that supposed to mean…? Hikaru….!!!”

-----

It was 9:28 at night, and Arata  really didn’t want to fall asleep.

“H- How can you guys sleep, in a place like this?” The redhead chattered, shivering softly. Arata hated the cold. He really, really hated the cold. He couldn’t handle it at all; especially in summer. It was summer! Wasn’t it supposed to be, like, 200 degrees all day, every day? Well, apparently no-one told Kamui Island that, because Arata swore to god it felt like winter hit him like a brick as soon as the sun set.

“It’s a normal temperature, Arata.” Hikaru yawned, as he was stubbornly beginning to fall asleep at the window. “Put up with it.”

“Why can’t we all sit in like, a huge huddle? Shared warmth, right?” he tried to convince them, waving his hands around to keep warm.  He really, really wished he was in Glenschteim right now. At least he would have gloves there, even if everyone there was fairly stuck-up and vaguely haughty. Or he could convince Muraku to tell him where he got those violet gloves, which were apparently ridiculously expensive. (Well, at least, they looked it. It wasn’t like he had asked, after all.) All in all, he just really did not want to be stuck in a cold, cramped, high-up capsule with no way down.  

“….That’s a surprisingly appealing idea.” A sleepy Sakuya said, blinking in an attempt to wake himself up. “The floor is an insulating metal, after all… Not as if it helps, but it could….”

Haruki nodded. “Let’s do it, then.”

-----

It was 9:42 at night, and the servicemen finally got the capsule down.

“Sorry, boys—hm?”

 Blinking amusedly at the four boys, all asleep in a huddle on the floor - jackets surrounding them as a makeshift blanket, each other’s heads resting against one another calmly – Jeff the serviceman was decidedly relieved, and felt just slightly warm inside.