After that excitement, we calmly walked around the facility.

“Hey, are you hungry?”

Mae-chan asked, rubbing her own belly.

“Sure, if you are, I’m okay to eat.”

So, we made our way to the main plaza. There was a wide selection of foods, and I decided that I’ll be the one paying for Mae-chan.

“What would you like?”

“Oh, have you got paid yet?”

“No, not yet. My paycheck will be next week, but I have a good chunk of allowance money.”

She looked at the selection. I wanted to guess what she was going to pick. Me being her best friend for so long, I know Mae-chan likes sweet things. She also has a thing for spicy food too sometimes. There was some sweet and sour teriyaki on a stick, and that seemed to be just what she was looking for.

“Oh, can I have the-“

“Sweet and sour teriyaki on a stick?”

I cut in, earning a gaze of amazement from her.

“Eh?! How did you know, Mado-chan?!”

“Did you forget that your best friend is psychic?”

I teased; however, she didn’t take it lightly and pitched my cheek.

“Oww!”

"Oh, sorry. I must have forgotten about that."

“Oh, shut up, Mae-chan!”

We both walked up in line. The establishment smelled a bit greasy as expected as the majority of this place had fried foods.

“Ah, can I have two orders of sweet and sour teriyaki?”

The price was fair, being only 500 yen for the meal. With vigor, we stepped to the side. Mae-chan was the first to bite into it.

“Ooooohhhhh! Pure bliss!”

She jumped about; I was afraid the pointy end of her stick would poke her eye, so I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer to me.

“Calm down, Mae-chan.”

But then, her head reached over, took a bite of mine before I even had a chance to taste it.

“Eh?!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t huh me, Mae-chan!”

She finished chewing before showing me her puppy dog eyes.

“But Mado-chan, I didn’t have breakfast!”

“You still have food on your stick!”

I was annoyed now, as I bit into mine. That beast took my food from me…and shielded her guilt with her cute, adorable eyes. She’s good…too good.

Now nibbling at my meal, I recalled a time when we both went to the festival together. Mae-chan bought too much food and handed me around 3 dango dumpling sticks for me to hold onto. I watched her chomp away at it, and it made me worried that her stomach was going to blow up with all the food that wacky girl was ingesting. I remember crying….

 

 

“Mae! Don’t eat too much! You’ll explode!”

 

Of course, she had no chance of exploding, but back then I…was a fairly ignorant child. Mae-chan was my first best friend…one of my only friends and I didn’t want her to die from eating herself to death. I was so scared that she’d explode that I started crying because she just kept eating…

“What’s that smile on your face, Mado-chan? Are you thinking about something again?”

“Eh?! N-No!”

Another memory I wanted to bury. There…was a lot of times that I never wanted Mae-chan to bring up. But one thing was certain out of everything….

Mae-chan had seen a side to me that I never wanted anyone else to experience. Maybe…I’ll have to bury her so all my embarrassing secrets will stay with this blue-haired madness.

“Hey, can I taste your tea?”

Mae asked, giving me more puppy dog eyes.

“You still have a full bottle of yours.”

I replied, pulling mine to my chest.

“But you have that special kind!”

“I asked you if you wanted the special kind!”

Reluctantly, I let her take a sip of it. Her expression went instantly to pure bliss.

“You know Mado-chan…this reminds me of the time when we were at the festival together. That day I was eating too much and you-”

I nearly choked on my meal as I reached out to her.

“Oh, are you okay?”

“Don’t you dare…bring up that time!”

But instead of heeding my warning, she teased me.

“Don’t die, Mae! You’re going to eat yourself to death!”

Could she read my mind? No, of course not. She experienced the same things as me. So, her mind probably just associated this moment with the same thing as me a moment ago. Needless to say, she needed to be silenced!

“S-Shut up, Mae! Stop it or I’m seriously going to get up and leave you here!”

“Aww, don’t leave me, Mado-chan! I was kidding.”

We both laughed and continued eating. We shared our drinks the entire time. She had a sweet tea that was a bit too sweet, even for me. I’m sure that’s why she didn’t want to finish it and just drank off of mine. Once we were done, we discarded our sticks and bottles and began walking around again.

We played a few more games and time sped by as we enjoyed our time together. We had to be here for around hours just playing different games, chatting about dumb things, and enjoying our time together.

“Are you ready for ice skating?”

Excitedly, Mae-chan wondered as she kicked her feet about. I was a bit excited too as I haven’t done it in a while.

“Sure. But…I’m going to need help.”

I confessed. I bet I was going to fall all over the place and there would be nothing I can do.

“No problem, I’ll help you, Mado-chan!”

We came to a station with a bunch of boots on the rack. They were ice skates for the large circular ice skating rink in the middle of the plaza. The price was fairly cheap for an hour of play. So, Mae-chan used her coupons, and we got all the things we needed. She leaned down and grabbed my feet.

“Eh? Hey, I can put my shoes on myself.”

“Of course, but when you ice skate, you want enough pressure down there that they feel snug…but not enough to feel tight.”

She went on as she pulled off my shoes. I felt like I was being treated like a baby as she skillfully picked out my size.

“Mae-chan…this is embarrassing.”

I looked to see the smaller kids putting on their own shoes. It annoyed me that Mae-chan was the one who was doing this and treating me like a child. After a bit of fighting, I gave in as she fit my shoes for me. Once she snugged the first one in place, she looked up at me.

 

 

“How does this feel?”

“I…think it’s fine.”

She gave me another warm smile as she put on my second one. I wanted to kick them off and do it myself, tell her to stop treating me like a kid…but then I realized something…

It’s been a while since Mae-chan…treated me like how we used to be in the past. She was…treating me like Cinderella, or in her terms…a princess, wasn’t she?

“Hey…why are you blushing?”

Mae-chan pointed out as my eyes went wide. It was obvious why, Mae-chan was treating me…like a princess. She’d always…treated me like a spoiled princess…And I kind of missed this about her.

 

---

 

After we got on our stuff, she led me to the skating rink. It was really cold in here, as expected.

“Okay, hold onto my hand, and we’ll go slow, alright, Mado-chan?’

“….Y-You promise you won’t let me go, right?”

I was worried, but those words blurted out of my mouth. It was obvious…I didn’t want to fall on my butt today, and I was a bit worried about ice skating after so long. But to calm my fears, she went out there first. Skillfully she raced about the rink, going faster and faster. In the center, she spun around and around to no end before coming to a flawless stop.

I was in awe at how simple she made this. Mae-chan had always been good at sports and things like this. I only got into them because of her. She was talented at things like this, and I don't even think she honestly believed how talented she was.

“Come here.”

She held her arms out to me. I was a bit worried about stepping on the ice, but she guided me slowly as we made our way in. The dusk sky was reflecting about us in the skylight. Slowly, she pulled me along with her. Suddenly, my feet began to shake as we turned the corner.

“Eh…I’m going to fall, Mae-chan!”

"I won't let you, don't worry."

She kept her word as she held me close to her. Together we went around once…then twice…the thrice…and by the fourth time I was gaining some confidence.

 

“Isn’t this nice?”

She questioned as I turned to her. That bright smile kept me calm.

She was protecting me, and…I believed in her. How it made me…want to protect her too… as she'd always had for me in the past.

 

 

After getting the hang of it, my confidence was through the roof. But then, she pulled me out of the rink, to my dismay.

“Eh? I was having fun, Ma-chan!”

I complained like my past self. I caught myself, as I clammed up and pouted silently.

"Oh, we're not stopping. It's finally late enough for us to go to the grand attraction."

I was confused, so I followed her down a small corridor. There we came out to a larger ice-skating rink. It was square and about the size of half the facility. There had to be hundreds of people going about it, but that wasn’t what shocked me…

“Wow…”

It was starting to get dark outside, a testament to the winter months, and now the colors of the lights were bright. There were strings of white lights, blue lights, pink lights, and any other colors one could think of. The area shined that of a magnificent gem flickering across this world. There was a large tree in the middle, and the temperature was beyond cold. However, the ice shined with the amazing lights around. It was… a romantic scene. That's the only way I could describe how it made me feel.

“Was this your surprise?”

I asked timidly. All she did was nod.

“When I first came here the Christmas decorations weren’t here yet…but then I saw it online and was like…”

 

She smiled at me brightly.

“I want to take my Mado-chan here with me.”

“Mae-chan…”

 

 

So, for the next few hours, we danced together on the ice. Our scarfs danced in the wind as we held on to each other the entire time. Mae, my best friend who is suffering from her own feelings constantly…still knew how to make me feel…

 

Like a princess…

She was always good at taking away my worries…

“…I love you, Mae-chan.”

I whispered as I held her tight.

“Thank you…for bringing me here.”

“Hehe…I love you too, Mado-chan. Thanks for coming with me.”

 

 

That night we both fell asleep on the train ride back home. We were exhausted for good reason. Mae-chan is struggling…I’m struggling…but one thing was certain in all of this…That I could rely on her to help me through…and that she could do the same for me. Nothing was solved today…no, that wasn’t what this trip was about…Finally, Mae-chan and I established who we were in the past…and who we are today.

We’ve changed from our past selves but one thing was certain...

 

We both love one another, and that will never change.