Xuan placed the present into his car as he drove to the place Yuuhime requested he meet her. He hummed along to the music, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

He was so excited to get to know Yuuhime better. He didn't know much about her personal life, which was fine, but he'd really like to see what she liked and disliked.

He spotted her sitting on a bench by a rest stop. He skidded to a stop and rolled down his window.

"Ready?"

"Of course." She got up with a smile on her face. She held a small and pink hand bag.

"What's the address?" He asked as he started the car up again.

She told him it.

"Also, that bag is a gift for you." He said with a big smile.

"For me?" Her cheeks flushed red.

"Of course, open it!"

She did, peering inside and smiling, "A bear shirt?"

"Not just any 'bear shirt,'" Pointing, he showed her the text written on it.

"It's for the park!" She smiled even more.

"Glad you like it," He said, "I'm wearing one too, so we can match."

His cheeks flushed a little as he said this. He didn't normally like to match clothes with anybody; it simply had bad memories attached to it, bad memories that haunted him...

But he wasn't here to think about that. He was here to grow! Grow as Yuuhime's friend, that is.

"I'll put it on as soon as we get there." She announced. And soon they got to the amusement park, loud and crowded, just like the two of them expected.

"I'll be waiting in line over here," Xuan checked the prices, "You can go put your shirt on."

She left for the nearby bathrooms.

As he waited, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander to what Yuuhime would like.

She didn't seem like the type to be interested in roller coasters. She'd probably like the slower rides.

But then again, he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe she really loved roller coasters.

Or maybe she liked playing the carnival games, or the arcade...

"How do I look?" Yuuhime approached him. The baby yellow shirt and her red skirt clashed wonderfully, and her sea green eyes brought the look together masterfully.

"V-very good," He stammered. She smiled, her sweet features noticeably missing makeup.

"That's so nice of you to say," She murmured. He smiled awkwardly.

Once he'd payed for their tickets (man, why did they have to be so expensive?), he looked at her, "Got two questions for you. First one, do you want sunscreen?"

"No, thank you. I've already put some on."

"Ok, second one, what do you wanna do first!"

She peered at the map in front of them. The ride she wanted was noticeably far away.

"Let's go to this one first." She said, pointing to a nearby spinning rocket ride.

"That sounds great!" He clapped his hands and they set off.

***

After about two hours, Yuuhime stopped in front of a particular attraction. It stood tall and large, dark and cold; The Haunted House.

"Let's go into this one, Xuan." She said with a smile on her face.

Xuan bit his lip. Haunted Houses really weren't his forte.

'But today is for growth,' He reminded himself, 'If I don't face my fears...'

"O-ok!" Shiz, he didn't mean to stutter.

They went into line. It was long and winding, creepily going into the massive house.

After five minutes, he considered hopping out of line after the same fake screams made him jump twice. Ten minutes in, he thought about chickening out after a worker almost made him pee himself. Twenty minutes in, he realized he was too deep into the house to back out now.

Finally, they were allowed in. The air conditioning was nice; he wished he could say the same about the painting on the walls slowly swinging back and fourth, making grunts and howls.

Yuuhime smiled at all the paintings, "Look at that one, Xuan. He looks so silly."

Examining the painting, it was a man with a very large top hat hat and a very large nose. He chuckled a little at it.

Now that he thought of it, all the paintings were kinda goofy looking.

Suddenly, a roaring came from behind them. A figure with glowing eyes charged for them. Yuuhime was already running towards the illuminated hallway in front of them, and Xuan followed, trying his best not to scream.

Before the figure could catch them, a wall slammed up.

He tried his very hardest to calm his beating heart when he heard Yuuhime giggle.

"Eh?" Was what he managed to say.

"Come on," She beckoned to him, stepping carefully through the muddied light.

He followed, his heart still beating like a rocker. They soon found themselves in front of what looked like a cart. A sign said "Hop On! If you dare..." above it.

Yuuhime basically flopped into the cart, and Xuan silently followed. A door shut them into the cart and a bar folded down onto their laps.

"I was hoping we'd get to walk more," She said, grasping the bar.

"Y-yeah." He responded, biting his tongue as to not embarrass himself even more with his shaky and stuttering voice.

"Oh well."

The cart part wasn't as bad. Nothing jumped out at them, and nothing loudly screamed.

Unfortunately, this cart section wasn't long lived, and soon they were falling down into a pit and stopped by an artificial lake with blue lights leading them away.

They got out and went their way. Yuuhime seemed to be having a blast, but the lake gave Xuan the creeps. It bubbled and belched—nothing that he'd like to be by.

As they turned a corner, a mechanical sea monster popped out of the wall. Yuuhime jumped but smiled after the fact.

Xuan, on the other hand, was still shaking after the shock. He tried to force his legs to stay still but that only led him to tripping.

"Careful," Yuuhime told him, "You don't know what's been on the floor."

"Mm." He grumbled. He'd be very happy to get out of here.

The last few scares were lack luster, to say the least. They all had Xuan jumping to the ceiling, but none of them stuck to him for long.

Yuuhime seemed annoyed by this.

"The rest of the house was scary," She started, "But those last few ones seemed less in tune."

"Mhm," He couldn't be happier to be out in the sunlight.

"Hey,"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still scared?" She asked quietly.

"What? No, I'm-"

"It's ok to be scared," She led him to a bench, "Sit and calm down. I'll go get us some of those specialty churros."

"I can pay for them-" He tried to get out his wallet but she was already heading to the stand. He sighed but smiled.

It felt good to have someone care so much.

"Do you not like horror?" She asked as she sat down beside him.

"N-no, I-I uh-" he began but sighed and stopped.

"Well, that horror movie was peak horror," She bit into her churro, "But the Haunted House wasn't bad at all."

"Mmm..." Xuan shifted, "I don't really like Haunted Houses because they're scary, but it's also more..."

Yuuhime scooted closer.

"...My brother liked them a lot when we were younger."

"Hm? So...?"

"Ah! Uh, never mind." He got up, "Where to next? Didn't you mention wanting to go to this Sunflower Warrior one? It's like, right here, sooooo!"

She blinked, but nodded and hopped up, "Yeah, that's the main reason I wanted to come."

"Sweet," He took her hand and pulled her to the line, "Let's hurry up and get into line before the sun sets!"

***

The sunset was beautiful that night. Xuan and Yuuhime sat together as she waited for her bus to come.

'What did he mean by that...' She wondered to herself.

"...My brother liked them a lot when we were younger."

She was kind of aware that they didn't see each other often, but was there something sinister happening?

'Love sometimes is about keeping someone to themselves. If I were him...'

She sighed and squeezed a plushy whale Xuan won for her.

"You ok?" He peered over at her, worry in his brow.

"Just tired," She replied. She snuggled into the giant plush's side and lightly kicked her feet, "Um..."

He gazed at her. His eyes matched the sunset to a T, she thought.

"Thanks for coming with me," She murmured, "It really means a lot."

"No problem," He gave her a toothy grin, "Any time!"

She felt her cheeks flush, and thought she saw his become a soft shade of pink as well.

Her bus pulled up slowly and she got up.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you home?" He confirmed.

"Yes," She gave a quick nod, "It's getting late anyways, it's not fun driving in the dark."

He nodded and waved, "See you later?"

"Mhm," She waved and got onto the bus.

As she sat down and looked out the window, she saw Xuan continuing waving even after the bus started driving away. Smiling, she waved back for as long as she could see him.

***

Yamato stroked his chin. Yuuhime had flopped right onto her bed as soon as she got home, with her brand new shirt and whale toy.

He looked over some notes he'd made.

'-Sweet

'-Strong (Esper)

'-Hates Horror(?)

'-Treats Yuuhime nicely'

It was decided, then. His sister's new "friend" would suffice.