Cliche First Date

“Rise and shine lover boy! Where are we off to first?”

Haru, having just woken up, was getting out of bed when Minori magically appeared in his room.

“Ugh! Could you at least knock before barging in my apartment?”

She tilted her head in confusion.

“Why would I walk over to the door to knock when I used magic to come inside and didn't even use the door?”

“Well maybe you should be appearing outside of my apartment and knocking like a normal person instead of just sneaking in.”

“Nah, this is a lot quicker. Just think of it as a privilege to see me so early in the day since we’re acting as a couple and all.”

“Oh so you’re going to bring it up when it's convenient for you. Fine. Can you at least appear outside of my bedroom, maybe in the living room or kitchen?”

“Yeah yeah I’ll keep that in mind for next time. So where are we going?”

He looked a bit annoyed, but quickly changed gears into joy when remembering the adventures that lay ahead of them.

“We’re going to Mount Fuji Lowlands Amusement Park.”

With a face full of disdain she replied.

“Seriously, an amusement park? Isn't that a bit cliche for a first date? And that's far from what I’d call adventurous.”

“Don’t worry, there's a method to my madness. I just want to get a better sense of what we can do together in order to grow closer after this trial date of ours.”

                                                                                *

Just past the ticket booth outfitted with a flaming roof stood an amusement park like no other. Roller coasters at every end of the park, a drop tower, a pendulum, tea cups, water rides, arcades, museums, a carousel, ferris wheel and even mazes. Just beyond the attractions was a breathtaking view of the beautiful Mount Fuji.

Haru starts walking with a giant smile across his face.

“So what should we start with?”

“I don’t know it was your idea to come here so why don’t you figure it out?”

“Ok I guess we’ll go straight for the roller coasters then.”

“Good because thats all that interests me here.”

Haru looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“You could’ve just told me that instead of expecting me to be a mind reader, especially since you’re the one with the magic.”

Minori rolled her eyes and faced away from him.

“Well I never told you I would give you my full cooperation. Especially not until you start showing me a good time.”

“No worries, the day has just begun. And besides this park is full of world record breaking attractions.”

In front of them stood the world’s steepest roller coaster, a German styled Euro-fighter with a 121 degree drop.

“This is going to be a fun one, let's go Minori.”

The anticipation began as they boarded the train car waiting for it to begin. It wasted no time by immediately dropping into a pitch black tunnel and barrel rolling 360 degrees. They were then launched through a 207 foot tunnel going 62 miles per hour. Upon exiting the tunnel they became inverted and traveled along a series of hills and rolls before braking. A gentle 180 turn put them face to face with the main feature of this ride. The vehicle slowly climbed up to the top of the 141 foot incline before dropping down the steep vertical ramp of 121 degrees. What followed was a series of loops before exiting the ride with an adrenaline rush like no other.

Ok I'll admit that I enjoyed that but I hope that's not the best you got.

Nope we still have a few more to ride before we finish up with one of my favorite attractions.

They proceeded to ride every thrilling attraction they could find as they made their way to the back of the park.

“Looks like we’re almost there.”

“It doesn't look like there's anything exciting back here.”

“Oh but there is.”

Hidden past the trees was a crumbling building surrounded by barbed wire fencing and warning signs. Sitting atop the roof was a murder of crows cawing as if they were warning everyone not to enter. The silhouette of a small child peered down toward the fence entrance.

“What exactly is this place doing at an amusement park?”

“It's just a haunted labyrinth. Don’t tell me youre getting cold feet now?”

“Of course not, this just came a bit out of the blue. I didn’t expect us to do something like this.”

A devious smile slowly appeared on his face.

“If you get too scared I can hold your hand.”

She immediately glared at him.

“I'll be just fine!”

“Ok maybe I'll just lead the way for you then.”

“I’m not so fragile that I need your protection, You follow me.”

“Yes ma’am. Just remember that you can’t swing that scythe of yours in here and don’t use any magic tricks.”

“Yeah yeah yeah. Let’s just start.”

The eerie atmosphere was easily set by the dark and mangled interior. The labyrinth started at the bottom of a creaky spiral staircase. Upon reaching the top they began walking through the abandoned hospital wing. Creepy noises slowly grew louder the further they went.

“This is so terrifying I might just start crying.”

Minori sarcastically replied as she rolled her eyes and waved her arms pretending to be scared.

“Come on, just keep going.”

They were surrounded by bloodied walls and destroyed rooms. In the wall ahead of them was a face peaking through.

“Look at this! It's just a mask on the wall.”

The head groaned and out jumped a zombie from behind the wall. Minori jumped backwards and almost summoned her scythe.

“Ahhhh!”

Haru couldn’t contain his laughter.

“I thought you weren’t going to get scared?”

“ It just caught me off guard, but maybe you should lead the way from now on.”

More and more corpses and screams filled the halls. Zombies appeared and tried grabbing at them as Minori grew tense.

“I told you I’d hold your hand if you’d like me to.”

“No way. Not happening.”

A loud scream from a zombie behind an overturned bed they were near caused her to grab hold of the back of Haru’s shirt in fear.

“Just keep walking.”

“But you’re a shinigami, how could you be this scared?”

“So! That doesn’t mean I have tea parties with creepy monsters in my free time. Just shut up and leave me alone.”

He smiled after peeking behind him to see her embarrassed face hiding behind him for cover.

“It looks like more and more blocked stairwells and barricades are appearing the further we go.”

“Just figure out where we have to go next.”

They begin crawling under overturned beds and lockers in hopes of finding the exit until they both come to a halt.

“Is that a zombie on a wheelchair?”

“No way that has to just be another corpse. There's even a severed leg on its lap.”

“You’re right I’m just overthinking it.”

“They pass the creepy wheelchair corpse and let out a sigh of relief.”

“I’m so glad that one was just a corpse because—”

The sound of creaky wheels began to turn. They turned around to see the wheelchair zombie starting to gain speed in order to chase them.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Minori began aggressively pushing him ahead of her as they both ran. She was using him like a riot shield to get past the zombies ahead of them. Just as they were finally about to finally escape the zombies' sight, it threw its severed leg in their direction. It zooms right past both of them before getting stuck in the wall ahead of them.

“That was close.”

Just as they caught their breath a final onslaught of zombies came charging at them as if to herd them toward the nearby exit. Just as they ran through it in tandem they stumbled and fell. Haru landed on his back and Minori landed across his chest.

“You seem like a real damsel in distress now.”

“Oh shut up.”

She quickly bounced back onto her feet and headed out of the building with Haru following a few feet behind.

“Why don’t we head over to the ferris wheel before we leave?”

“Of course. We wouldn’t want to leave before doing the most cliche couples activity at an amusement park.”

When entering the ferris wheel she sits as far away from him as she can.

“Why are you acting like I’m a zombie?”

“Oh please you have had more than enough bonding for one date. You'll just have to wait until the next one. Speaking of which, do you have any plans?”

“Yeah I have a much better understanding of what you expect so I’ll be sure to keep us in just enough danger for us to continue having fun.”