Song 23

In the hotel lobby, near the reception desk, a magazine rack filled with plenty of pamphlets and flyers all talking about Umculo, and yet, “Why isn’t there one for the theme park?” Meloria pouted, her cheeks puffed out as she used her finger to look through the flyers.

Lucan shrugged, looking through the rack himself, pocketing a couple of flyers that took his interest, but couldn’t find anything for the theme park himself. “Why don’t we just go exploring?” He suggested as he folded another flyer. “It’ll be quicker than looking through this rack all day. And more fun.”

Sighing, Meloria admitted defeat, putting the stack in her hand back into the rack. “Come on then,” she mumbled, already heading out of the hotel. In the corner of her eye, she watched as Lucan placed the flyer into his pocket, feeling disgusted as he made out the image of a woman in the corner. She rolled her eyes, scoffing at the realization. Lucan just wanted to check out the women in the town. If he’s not careful, this is going to become a party of three.

As expected of the city, it is bustling with people of all shapes and sizes. Meloria could feel her palms sweating as she tried to navigate through the crowd. What is this rush hour? She could feel her chest tightening as the gap between people seemed to become smaller. Her vision blurred, making it impossible to see where she was going. “Ah,” She cried, bumping into someone and falling to the ground with a hard thump. “I-I'm sorry,” Meloria mumbled, looking across from her. Her heart fluttered seeing a woman with pale skin and long jet-black hair in front of her. She’s so beautiful, she could be a model. Stammering, Meloria quickly tried to compose herself, getting to her feet and offering the woman a hand. “I’m sorry about that,” she smiled, inching her hand closer.

The woman looked between Meloria’s hand and her face, her face expressionless. Ignoring Meloria’s hand, she pushed herself up. Meloria retracted her hand, laughing nervously. “Sorry again,” she said. “I’m new to the city. Say, could you help me find the theme park?” The woman’s face never changed. Meloria was unable to gauge how she was feeling or even if this woman knew what a theme park was. “It’s okay if you don’t know.” With not a word spoken, the woman raised her arm, pointing to the street to the left. “Thank you so much.”

Meloria gave the woman a slight bow and called out to Lucan to follow her lead. Lucan grumbled, blowing the girl he was speaking to a kiss as he ran off to catch up with Meloria. The street the woman pointed them towards almost resembled the old dusty halls that led Meloria to the music library all those years ago, but this time, as she looked ahead, it wasn’t a library but a Ferris wheel waiting for her.

Giggle, Meloria started to run faster, her heart thumping so hard she could hear it ringing in her ears. Lucan pushed himself further, struggling to keep up with Meloria’s stamina. “Look,” Meloria came to a stop at the gate, her eyes widening as she stared up at the entry sign that read ‘Uki Uki Park’. “Wait,” Meloria raised a brow. “Japanese?”

“Welcome, visitors,” the voice that spoke was joyful, yet also sounded a little arrogant. From behind the pillow, a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, appeared, one arm over his stomach as he bowed towards Meloria and Lucan. “Welcome to Uki Uki Park. I am your host, Tenma.”

“Doesn’t look much of a park to me,” Lucan panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked around, but there wasn’t anyone else around. There didn’t even appear to be any staff members working. “And what kind of name is Tenma?”

“Lucan, be nice,” Meloria scolded, sapping Lucan’s arm.

The corner of Tenma’s began to twitch, desperately trying to keep his composure. “I’ll have you know that my grandfather named me Tenma,” he explained, trying to remain calm as he stood back up straight. He looked back up to the sign, his smile softening. “And this park is the legacy he left to me.”

Grandfather? Meloria mused. Could his grandfather have been a reincarnation like me? It would explain the Japanese-themed name of the park and the name 'Tenma' as well. “Well, I think your park looks great,” Meloria smiled widely, making Tenma blush. “Can you show us around, please?”

With a snap of his fingers, Tenma made a yellow rose appear in his hands. He presented it to Meloria, his cheeks stained with a tint of pink. Meloria giggled, taking the rose, holding it up to her nose to smell it. “Follow me, my lady,” Tenma laughed, shooting a glare towards Lucan. “And you as well, if you must.”

Lucan clicked his tongue, walking behind Meloria and Tenma, his teeth grinding together, seeing Tenma place his hand on Meloria’s lower back. Within minutes of meeting, Tenma was already getting too comfortable with his big sister. “Watch the hand, buddy,” he barked, instantly making Tenma shift his hand upwards.

“So, my wonderful guest, what name shall I call you?” Tenma smiled, looking down at Meloria, studying her face.

“The name is Meloria,” She responded with a goofy smile, her heart fluttering. “And I am to become Reybu’s idol.”

“An idol, you say?” Tenma hummed, moving his hand to grab Meloria’s hands, noting how soft her skin was. “Well, Miss Idol, let me take you on a tour around Uki Uki park.”

With that declaration, Tenma laughed as he pulled Meloria in all manner of directions. “My name’s Lucan,” Lucan called out. “If you cared!”

Meloria was in complete awe as Tenma showed her every inch of the theme park. It was just like the theme parks in Japan; her favourite part was the countless games, which were aligned with stuffed teddy bears as prizes. “My grandfather started to build this place when I was a child,” Tenma spoke up, a nostalgic smile on his face. He walked them over to the ring toss, picking up a handful of rings, giving some to Meloria before casually tossing one over the bottles. A couple bouncing off with a clang. “I managed to finish building it last month. I had a Grande opening and everything. Flyers, a megaphone, everything I could do to bring people here, but…”

“No one came, huh?” Meloria frowned, throwing a ring, just missing the bottle.

“I just don’t know what else I can do to bring people here,” Tenma sat on the edge of the game counter, hands linked in his lap. “Tell me what you think of this place?”

“I-”

“The food tastes like crap,” Lucan commented bluntly, walking over with his mouth full of what Meloria could only assume was something like a corndog. Tenma watched in horror as Lucan used the napkin in his other hand to spit out what he was chewing. “It’s terrible. If you want people to pay these prices, you need it to at least be edible.”

“And what?” Tenma pouted like a child, crossing his arms over his chest and puffing out his cheeks. “You some kind of food genius?”

Lucan grinned, waving the corndog in the air. “In fact, I am,” he chuckled evilly.

Tenma looked to Meloria, hoping it was a joke. “He really is,” Meloria smiled sweetly. She snapped her finger before grabbing Tenma’s hands. “How about we help you attract people to the park? Lucan can work on the food, and I can provide some entertainment!”

“Y-you would do that for me?” Tenma blushed deeply, his heart racing as Meloria squeezed his hands in reassurance. “I can’t pay you.”

“We have a way you could pay,” Lucan chuckled. “We need a place to stay.”

“Well,” Tenma gulped, looking into Meloria’s eyes, seeing a hopeful spark. “Okay, I can set you something up to stay here in the park.” He held Meloria’s hands tighter, bringing them closer to him. “Please help me make this park a success.”

Meloria nodded, pulling a hand away, extending her pinkie out. “I pinkie promise that I will do my utmost best to bring guests here for you,” she swore.

Lucan burst out laughing, watching as Tenma linked his pinkie with Meloria’s. A pinkie promise with Meloria was as good as signing a contract because Meloria always made good on her pinkie promises.