Eh, It'll Be Fiiine

Something poked my shoulder. Without opening my eyes, I grabbed the melon bread I kept stashed under my pillow and tossed it in the general direction of the nudge.

"There. Now let me sleep."

"I prefer coffee, actually."

My eyes shot open. Sae stood by my bed, holding the melon bread with an amused expression. The morning sun streaming through our wall, half-bandaged with the Furnace Kaiju's tree, cast weird shadows across her face.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, trying to untangle myself from my blanket cocoon.

"0745 hours. We're meeting the others at 0830, remember?"

Right. Seven Flags. I'd almost forgotten about our planned excursion in my half-awake state.

I stumbled into the living room just as Gran Gran shuffled out of the kitchen, balancing two steaming bowls of rice topped with natto and pickled vegetables. She set them down on the low table, where Little Shit dozed, his tail hanging off the edge.

"Itadakimasu," Sae said before wolfing down her food.

I reached for my chopsticks, but the way Sae was inhaling her meal made me pause. She was devouring it like she hadn't seen food in days. That was weird.

Then I glanced at my phone. 8:00 AM.

Oh crap. We're gonna be late.

I grabbed my chopsticks and started shoveling food into my mouth too, barely chewing as I raced to keep up with Sae.

"You two eat like hungry animal!" Gran Gran's voice cut through our synchronized speed-eating. "What crazy hurry for? It's Saturday! Normal people rest on Saturday!"

"Field study," Sae replied between bites. Obviously a lie.

"Study? Ah, very good, very good. Young Lady understands importance of education." She nodded approvingly while collecting our empty bowls.

I kept my mouth shut and focused on my food. For once, Gran Gran's misunderstanding was helping me out. Usually her wrong assumptions led to hour-long lectures about my life choices.

I crammed the last bite into my mouth as Sae stood, bowing deeply. "Thank you for the meal. I'll bring the car around."

The moment she left, Gran Gran turned to me with that knowing look she gets when she's about to dispense unwanted wisdom.

"That Young Lady good influence. Maybe flat like ironing board and dress like man, but she keep you in line."

I nodded solemnly, sending a silent thank you to whatever deity had spared me from Gran Gran's hour-long lectures this time around.

A car horn blared outside, making Little Shit jump and accidentally create a tiny volcanic vent in our table. I grabbed my things and darted for the door before Gran Gran could notice the new scorch mark.

"Study hard!" Gran Gran called after me.

I slid into the passenger seat of Sae's car: a black sedan that looked like it came straight from a government surplus auction. The interior smelled like leather polish and coffee, which tracked with everything I knew about Sae so far.

"Address?" Sae asked, already typing into her GPS.

"Hold up, we need to decide who to grab first." I buckled my seat belt as Little Shit scrambled onto my lap, leaving volcanic footprints on my pants. "Kurumi's place?"

"Affirmative. Setting course-"

"Actually, scratch that. Let's get Toukawa-san first." I pictured Kurumi still wrapped in her blanket cocoon, probably dreaming about cats.

Sae nodded, adjusted the GPS, and eased the car into reverse. As she backed out of the driveway, I caught Gran Gran waving from the Furnace kaiju's wall patch job. I waved back, wondering how long until she figured out what "field study" really meant.

***

I slumped against the car window, watching another containment zone blur past. The rusted barricades and warning signs were becoming as common as convenience stores these days. Little Shit snored away in my lap, his snot bubble popping with every bump, only to puff back up like nothing happened.

"You can't seriously be wearing our school uniform to the amusement park," Kurumi said from the backseat, her bedhead still visible despite her attempts to tame it. When we picked her up, she'd stumbled out of her house in mismatched socks and a wrinkled t-shirt that read 'Meow or Never.'

Toukawa-san sat straight beside her, every pleat in her school uniform crisp and perfect. "It's better than wasting time choosing outfits."

"Come on, this is like one of the last chances you get to wear something fun! Something cute! Right, Ryūka?"

I glanced down at my ash-ridden jeans and faded t-shirt. "Leave me out of this."

"Sae, tell Toukawa-san the school uniform is no good!"

Sae kept her eyes on the road. "Standard issue uniforms serve a practical purpose-"

"See?" Toukawa-san crossed her arms.

"-however, civilian clothing allows for greater mobility in emergency situations."

I let their debate fade into background noise and turned to the window, counting containment zones like sheep. Not that there were many to count. 

"Ryū-chan!" Kurumi's voice cut through my door-counting. "You're our tie-breaker. School uniform: yeah or nah for the occasion?"

"I think… we should decide what to do when we get to the park."

Kurumi whipped out her phone with a grin, and in that instant, it was as if our earlier conversation had never happened. "Oh! Oh! We need to hit ALL the rides with Little Shit! Get those sweet engagement numbers up." She started typing furiously. "Let's see... there's Tornado Twister, Dragon's Descent-"

"The Inky Inferno?"

"Yeah! That spinny one. How'd you know?"

My chest tightened as memories flooded back - Dad and I must have ridden the Inky Inferno dozens of times. He'd always act cool at the start, arms crossed like some tough guy, until the first big swing sent him crashing into the side panel. Then he'd laugh that dorky laugh of his while I pretended not to know him.

"I used to go there. With my dad. Wonder if it's still there."

"I'm sure it is. The owner said most of the big rides survived," Kurumi replied, still scrolling. "But we should probably avoid the central plaza. That's where a Door showed up."

"Wait." Toukawa-san leaned forward. "There's an active Door in the middle of an amusement park?"

"Oh yeah, the owner said it just poof appeared one night." Kurumi waved her hands dramatically. "One minute they're closing up, next morning - bam! Giant door right next to the carousel."

"And the kaiju?"

"No clue! But think about it - mysterious door, missing kaiju, abandoned rides... it's the perfect mystery story for @LittlePoopOfficial!" 

I glanced in the rearview mirror and caught Kurumi poking Toukawa-san's cheek. Classic Kurumi, clearly trying to get under Toukawa-san's skin after the uniform debate.

"Perfect for getting us killed, you mean." Toukawa-san crossed her arms tighter, her uniform rustling. "Do the authorities know about this?"

"Logged and dismissed," Sae said, taking a sharp turn that sent Little Shit rolling across my lap. "Doesn't meet their threshold for intervention."

"Eh, it'll be fiiine." Kurumi draped herself over Toukawa-san's shoulders, grinning. 

I adjusted Little Shit on my lap. The more I thought about it, the more absurd it seemed - my best shot at scoring a Tokyo penthouse before the world ends hinged on capitalizing a trip to an amusement park.

Dad would probably laugh his ass off if he knew.