The walk from the Station to the Indoor Amusement Park wasn't long, taking less than ten minutes on foot.
Shioyaki Lemon held Imaizumi Keita's hand, her steps light, her whole being skipping with joy.
This appearance matched Imaizumi Keita's usual view of her, but it didn't quite go with her current outfit.
Lemon's outfit looked too much like a mature office lady big sister...
"Wow, it's huge!"
Standing at the entrance of the indoor playground, Shioyaki Lemon looked up at the colorful building and let out a gasp of wonder.
Even though it was morning, there were already quite a few people here, playing happily among the various facilities.
Imaizumi Keita held her hand as he exchanged their wristbands at the self-service ticket machine, then led her through the ticket gate.
"Kin-chan, which one should we play first?"
Shioyaki Lemon's gaze darted back and forth between the bumper cars and the carousel not far away.
"There's no rush for those." Imaizumi Keita pulled her back and pointed to a nearby area. "I want to try that one."
Shioyaki Lemon followed his finger and saw that it was the shooting game area.
It was much larger than the stall at the fireworks display, with all sorts of air rifles, darts, and ring toss games available.
"Does Kin-chan want to play this?" Shioyaki Lemon remembered her experience at the Festival and couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged. "This isn't fun."
"Oh?" Instead of agreeing, Imaizumi Keita goaded her, "Is it not fun, or is it just because you're terrible at it, Lemon?"
"N-no way!" Shioyaki Lemon immediately retorted. "There was something wrong with the guns there!"
"The guns here are definitely fine."
Imaizumi Keita pulled her along without giving her a choice. "Let's try shooting again. I won't laugh at you, Lemon."
The rules for the shooting game were simple: knock down a row of fifteen fixed little yellow ducks, and you could win different levels of prizes based on how many you hit.
Looking at the neatly arranged little yellow ducks, Shioyaki Lemon's competitive spirit flared up again.
"Bring it on! I'm definitely knocking them all down today!" she said boldly to the staff. "One round to start!"
Bang, bang, bang—
After several gunshots, the pellets mostly flew right past the dolls.
Only one shot probably hit by pure luck, grazing the edge and making one of the little yellow ducks wobble, but it didn't fall.
"Dammit! Why?!"
Shioyaki Lemon scratched her hair in frustration and then couldn't help but jump up and down.
"Kin-chan, I can't hit them! You do it!"
Imaizumi Keita took the gun Shioyaki Lemon handed him, aimed at the dolls on the rack, and fired several shots in succession, hitting almost every one.
However, neither of them cared much about the results; Shioyaki Lemon was mainly accompanying Imaizumi Keita to experience the game.
Imaizumi Keita simply wanted to experience this game once before going to play bumper cars with Lemon...
He quickly finished the shooting game and patted the dazed Shioyaki Lemon to remind her, "Lemon, let's go. Time for bumper cars."
"Eh, Kin-chan is done already?"
Shioyaki Lemon was a bit confused; she thought Kin-chan would play at least several rounds.
"When we're out having fun, it's obviously more interesting to do things together."
Imaizumi Keita didn't explain further and pulled Shioyaki Lemon to the bumper car queue.
They soon reached the front of the line and each chose a car.
As soon as she entered the arena driving her bumper car, Shioyaki Lemon jerked the steering wheel, slammed on the gas, and charged straight at Imaizumi Keita.
Lemon's face was full of excitement; she even imagined Kin-chan's panicked expression when she hit him.
All is fair in love and war...
But Imaizumi Keita's reaction was fast, skillfully drifting to avoid Lemon's head-on charge.
Then he also slammed on the gas and crashed into the side of Lemon's car.
"Lemon-chan, here I come!"
"Eh?! Hey! Why?!"
Shioyaki Lemon looked in disbelief as her car was shoved to the side and shouted, "Kin-chan! You're too cunning!"
Once Shioyaki Lemon adjusted her car, she charged at Imaizumi Keita again.
The two bickered as they drove around the arena, trying to ram each other, becoming quite absorbed in the game.
"Ah! So close!"
"Don't run! Hit me head-on if you've got the guts!"
"You jerk, Kin-chan! You're cheating!"
Bang—!
Shioyaki Lemon finally sent Imaizumi Keita into a side skid.
She rested one hand on the steering wheel and propped her chin with the other, teasing Imaizumi Keita, "Kin-chan, you're not that great after all."
"That's because Lemon-chan is a genius and learns very fast."
Imaizumi Keita replied somewhat helplessly, making the smile on Shioyaki Lemon's face even brighter.
The bumper car session soon came to an end.
Getting out of the car, Shioyaki Lemon still felt like she hadn't had enough.
But as soon as she remembered the other activities remaining, she quickly shook off that regretful feeling.
"Let's go, let's go!" Shioyaki Lemon pulled Imaizumi Keita's hand and asked excitedly, "What are we playing next?!"
The two soon arrived at the "Happy Ocean Ball" area in the center of the venue.
It was a giant pit filled with countless blue plastic balls, also featuring slides, climbing frames, and trampolines.
Several children who looked like they were in elementary school were playing wildly inside, letting out bursts of clear laughter.
"Kin-chan! Let's play that!"
Shioyaki Lemon pointed at the trampoline with excitement, her eyes sparkling.
"...Lemon-chan, isn't that for kids?"
Imaizumi Keita felt a bit helpless.
"Not at all! It says 'big friends can play too' over there!"
She pulled Imaizumi Keita's hand without another word and jumped into the ball pit.
The soft ocean balls instantly submerged their calves; walking on them was uneven and felt quite strange.
Like the children nearby, Shioyaki Lemon splashed around in the ball pit and even scooped up a pile of plastic balls to throw at Imaizumi Keita.
Imaizumi Keita laughed as he dodged, throwing a few back symbolically.
Then he leaned against a soft mat on the side, watching her dash back and forth between the ball pit and the trampoline.
Once Lemon had her fill of fun on the trampoline, she ran back and pulled him, insisting he jump with her.
He couldn't win the argument, so he could only jump a few times with her.
In the weightless sensation of bouncing up and down, the two of them bumped into each other several times because they couldn't stand steadily, making Lemon let out happy, carefree laughter.
They played around for quite a while, not leaving the ball pit until they both started to sweat.
"Ha... I haven't been this wild in a long time. That was great!"
Lemon fanned herself with her hand while taking a sip of a drink bought from a vending machine.
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