Takumi was damn bored. Not that it hurt to show because 1) his normal facial expression covered that part for him & 2) his friend looked about as bored as he was. When his shift to man the Lost and Found booth was over, he breathed a sigh of relief. One can only stand being fooled thrice and that was because he wasn't informed of the pranksters who like to make people like him search for something that they haven't really lost.

"Um, excuse me."

Takumi turned around and saw a little boy peeping over the counter with a hesitant expression on his small chubby face.
"H-have you seen my mommy?"

"Umm... what does she looked like?" Takumi asked, leaning over the counter to talk to him better.

"She's about this tall, and she has curly hair, her dress is red with little flowers..."

And while the little boy was busy laying out his mother's characterstics not forgetting to mention that his mother smells of jasmine or fried onion as times, Takumi's supervisor came in, guessed what was happening and gave the AE86 driver a smack on the head.

"It~eeee...."

"Baka," the man sighed, "Send him over to the information centre and have them announce the missing kid on the speakers."

"Oh," Takumi blinked, before he walked around the counter to pick the little boy up as his supervisor began to lecture him.

"What do you think we could do? Put the kid on the shelves with the hopes that his mother would see him?" asked the supervisor in sarcasm.

The look on the 18 year old's face said that he had indeed contemplated on that idea.

The supervisor shook his head. Takumi was a lost cause. He thought his friend had a good sense of character when he recommended the boy to him. Yuuichi must be getting old.


~~~~

Bumper cars. Now that looked much better even if they did run on electricity rather than gas filled engines. After dropping the little boy off at the information centre, Takumi headed over to his partner in charge and after being told of the ground rules and what he needed to do, Takumi was all set.

The area that he was watching over was only the adults' section Bumper Cars with the kid's section on the other side of the gate seperating the two. While his friend collected the tickets, Takumi helped the excited and anxious newbies in the cars, making sure that their safety straps were firmly on. A few minutes later, a horn blasted in the air and the music started playing to signal that the ride has just begun. Takumi quickly got off the pad and he and his friend watched the patrons laugh and shriek their way through their drive. Takumi was having an amusing thought of imagining Shingo enjoying this part of the park, when he saw a panicked girl trying to get herself out of a corner as she ineffectually twisted her steering side to side too quickly for the car to move.

His friend nudged at him and Takumi nodded before he stepped back onto the pad to carefully make his way past the other moving cars and finally reached the corner where the girl was. Making sure that he wouldn't get his toes run over, Takumi stood onto the rubber side of the car and leaned over to take charge of the wheel. After maneauvering the car out of the spot which has slowly grown more crowded with inexperienced drivers falling into that same trapped corner, Takumi jumped onto another car to help another helpless driver. After getting two more drivers out of that jam, Takumi was about to jump off the last of his rescue victim when a car bumped into them, sending Takumi sprawling into the seat of the assaulter.

"Sorry about that," came the sheepish voice of the driver. When Takumi looked up it was none other that Wataru Akiyama.

"Wataru?"

"Hey, Fujiwara!" The driver grinned. "Someone bumped me from behind and I couldn't quite stop from ramming at the car you were on. This thing is hard to control. Where are the breaks to this thing anyway? There are no foot breaks in here at all!"

"Wait," Takumi said as he tried to get off of Wataru's lap but only succeeded in wriggling himself into the passenger's seat with his legs sticking up on the hood. Deeming it better than his earlier position, he began to teach the Levin driver on how to handle a bumper car.
"The stick shift. Front for go. Back for stop."

"Oh, hey, it works," Wataru laughed, "A favour Fujiwara, don't tell anyone I didn't know how to drive a bumper car."

Takumi nodded, "Aa."
And was resigned to sit beside the young man until the game ended, embarassingly stuck. When the ride ended, Wataru leaned over to give him a push while his amused friend took a hold of his hands to pull him out. Wataru couldn't quite help keeping his hands from sliding over from Takumi's waist to rest on the young man's buttocks for the last push and when the AE86 driver was finally free, Takumi turned around to thank him with a flag of red on his cheeks.

"Uh... doumo..."

"Think nothing of it," Wataru winked, from his seat, "You can fall onto my lap anytime."

"Umm... yeah," Takumi nodded, feeling his face burn some more. Was it his imagination or did Wataru's hand of assistance feel like an intentional grope?


~~~~

When Takumi reached the Mad House for his next shift, someone was already manning the booth while one was standing at the entrance to keep unpaid visitors out. Walking over to the booth keeper, he asked what he was supposed to do.

"Go to the east side of the house and check on the equipment," the pimple-faced youth said boredly, "There were some complaints about the wall not moving."

Takumi blinked. Walls were supposed to move? Oh well, he thought as he began to walk away, when the booth keeper suddenly called out to him, "Take the white door. It'll take you to the equipments for the wall."

"Ok," Takumi replied, before continuing on his way. Reaching his destination he saw to his puzzlement that there were two white doors - not one - situated on either side of one blue door. Shrugging, he took one to his left and hesitantly stepped inside the darkness with only the aid of the light from the open door - which immedietly slammed shut upon releasing his hand from of the knob.

Takumi cursed inwardly and began groping around desperately for a light switch but found splinters underneath his fingers instead. Telling himself not to panic, he tried to trace his steps back but to his distress found out that his sense of direction has been messed up by the darkness. Only when the floor disappeared from under his feet did he then let himself to panic.

"WAAAHHHHHH!!!"

It seemed like the darkness was endless until soft beams of blue and red bloomed in his eyes, allowing him to see the ground that he was about to hit. Another terrified yell came from the normally stoic driver, which was soon shaken up by the way his body was bouncing up and down, followed by the multi-shaped foam bouncing around with him. A few more bounces and it was then did Takumi realise that he has just fallen onto a trampolin and a crowded one at that. Trying to make himself to stop bouncing was a difficult task for everyone around him seemed to be intent on making him sick and he was not at all surprised when he accidentally fell onto one of the patrons who groaned in protest.

"F-Fujiwara?"

"R-Ryousoke-san?" Takumi's eyes widened when he managed to get a good look at the poor soul who he just squished.

"Fancy meeting you here," winced Ryousuke as Takumi scrambled to get off of the 23 year old with little results.
"You're not good with your balance are you? Hold still," the FC driver grunted when all the younger boy was doing was elbowing him in the guts. Quickly gripping the young man's arms, Ryousuke held Takumi still against him and growled, "I said hold still. On a count of three let me push you off so I can stand up. Then I'll help you up."

Takumi nodded dumbly and Ryousuke began to count, "One. Two. Thre- OOOF!"

Takumi nearly hit his head against Ryousuke's when a heavy weight suddenly fell on top them from above. Ryousuke gave another groan of protest when the person on top of them began wriggling, his boisterous laugh filling the echoing room.

"Ahahah! Man! That was wicked! I thought I was gonna become a pancake or something!" a breathless voice brushed against Takumi's ears, "Hey, aniki! I knew I'd catch up with you sooner or later!"

"Keisuke," Ryousuke said lowly, "Get off of us."

"Hm? Who's this? Fujiwara?!" the younger brother exclaimed, craning his neck to peer at Takumi's face, before taking stock of the blue cap on the boy's head, "You work here?"

"Aa," Takumi gasped trying to push the heavier man off of him, "Get off of me."

"Nah," Keisuke grinned, hugging the two drivers under him tightly, "This is fun."

Takumi 'eep'ed, again going bright red in the face as he was pressed closer against the lean body of Ryousuke, feeling every curve and muscle of both young men and making his usually slow mind take a turn that it has never gone to before.

"Keisuke!" snapped the older Takahashi, finally losing his patience, "I said GET OFF!"

"Ok, ok," Keisuke huffed, allowing his body to slide off of Takumi's, "Sheesh."

Relieved of finally being able to get free from the Takahashi sandwhich, he allowed Ryousuke to push him off and then accepted the older driver's hand to pull him up. Once he managed to keep a decent amount of balance in his legs, he nodded his thanks to both brothers and bounced away.

"You're no fun, aniki."

"Oh? You propose on having the three of us stuck like that till they come and help?"

"Why not? He's cute. What better company than him?"

"..... I didn't say that he wasn't cute..."

Takumi hurriedly bounded away from the brothers until he finally reached the end of the wide trampolin and then jumped, running quickly to the exit, not wanting to hear to rest of their conversation. If he didn't know any better he swore that he could feel eyes boring onto his back as he left.


~~~~

After fanning his face with his cap, he quickly put it back on when he received scowls coming from one of the uptight ride operators. It was just after mid-day and the weather was still sweltering and thinking that it would be cooler working in the rides where water was the main attraction, he was surprised to feel the humidity that was slowly suffocating him in every minute that passed. An explanation by his co-workers that the balmy air was caused by the evaporated water from the troughs where the rides were floating in diminished his hope that the condition would become better.

In this part of the job, Takumi was ordered to oversee the safety precautions of the riders when he met with Takeshi Nakazato who was inside one of the log-shaped rides with two other patrons. The two merely nodded to each other and that would have been the end of their interaction if Takumi's sleeve had not caught onto the edge of the safety bar that Takeshi was holding onto.

"Uh... I think you should just jump on," Takeshi suggested, motioning to the end of the platform that was coming closer to them. After tugging harshly on his sleeve without success, Takumi finally relented and jumped in to sit beside the dark-haired young man with a sigh. As their log floated along the trough, Takumi continued to try and free himself with Takeshi's help. When the young driver was finally free, he turned to thank the brunette when his speech was halted by the sudden jarring of the ride they were in. Their log was apparently being pulled up by a mechanical conveyor belt onto a higher level and in less than a minute they were sliding down a gentle watery slope before the log was pulled up again onto another higher level.
He hadn't anticipated on the splash of water from the second drop and while the log was pulled up again onto the third and highest level, he was just about to finish spluttering in distaste to the amusement of the man beside him.

"Don't you work at the gas station?" Takeshi asked with a smile on his face.

"Not on weekends," Takumi informed him, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, "Business is slow this month so I'm taking a second part-time job here when I'm not needed there."

"Ah," Takeshi replied before he nodded to the front, "Don't look now but we're gonna get wet again so you might as well stop trying to dry yourself off."

When Takumi saw the drop before him, he gulped. The metallic safety bar was slippery in his grip and as the log lunged down the height, the brown-haired youth automatically grabbed the nearest firm handhold that he could reach with a terrified scream, "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

The wind whipped against his face and when they finally reached the bottom of the drop, the water splashed into his eyes and mouth with a drenching finale. He was busy coughing out the water he had accidentally took in that he wasn't aware where his hands were clutching at until the shoulder under his cheek shook in laughter.

"Man, Fujiwara," chuckled Takeshi, "You should've seen the look on your face. Priceless."

Takumi scowled as best as he can scowl when an amused voice spoke up from behind the gate separating the ride and the spectators.

"Comfy?"

Takumi turned to face the grinning Shingo from the Night Kids.

"Very," Takeshi's voice rumbled under Takumi's arms pointing to the fact that he was still holding onto the older man with a death-grip. Quickly releasing him, Takumi opted to stay silent while trying to hold back the blush on his cheeks. When he was finally out of the log he managed not to look at Takeshi if not for the tug he felt on his arm.
"Maybe I'll call you sometime?"

Takumi blinked, "For a race?"

"Iie," Takeshi chuckled, "For a drink or something."

This time Takumi did blush and he absolutely for the life of him couldn't find any words to say. No trademark clueless 'Uuh...' or the inflappable 'Ah?' but a silent stare which Takeshi finally decided to take in as an affirmative.

"Great," Takeshi grinned, "See you later, Fujiwara."

As he watched the tall brunette walk away with the still sniggering Shingo, Takumi's eyes widened at the implication of their conversation. If it was in his nature Takumi would've knocked his head onto the nearest post and call himself all kinds of fools but as it was he merely continued to stare in shock before a towel slapped him on the face.

"Dry yourself off kid," chuckled his co-worker, "We still have two more hours to go."


~~~~

The downhill specialist of Akina was thankful that the day has ended without anymore odd incidents. If any more male drivers that he fought against also started hitting on him after Takeshi he would've been prone to believe that someone spiked their drinks in the amusement park. If that was the case, then he hoped that it would wear out before he would meet any of them again.

"Tadaima," Takumi called as soon as he stepped into the house. A few moments later his father greeted him in return, "Okaeri."

"Remember to wake up early for tomorrow's delivery," Bunta told his son as he folded the newspaper to tuck under his arm.

Takumi rolled his eyes. As if he needed any reminding.
"Hai, hai," he sighed as he stepped into his house slippers but before he could take another step, his father handed him a piece of paper with names scribbled on it.
"Here, they asked me to tell you that they called."

Keisuke Takahashi
Wataru Akiyama
Takeshi Nakazato
Ryousuke Takahashi

".....Dad."

"Yes, son?"

"I'm quitting the amusement park job starting tomorrow," Takumi said firmly as he threw the piece of paper away.

"Why?" Bunta asked in surprise, "I thought you needed the money. It's not that bad is it?"

Bunta had to strain to hear what his son was mumbling about but he thought Takumi said something like:
"It's the drinks, dad. It's the drinks."

~end?