The next day finally arrived and both Yanagi and Aoi excitedly headed to Holo World early in the morning.

When they arrived there, it wasn't too crowded because it was a weekday, but there were still a lot of visitors. Even foreign tourists.

They went to the ticket booth and bought their tickets before entering.

"Should we take a picture there?" Aoi pointed at the large water fountain with the statues of the Holo World's mascot welcoming them.

Yanagi nodded and they went there to take a picture.

Aoi asked for a nearby staff to help them and positioned himself with Yanagi.

"3, 2, 1...Cheese!" The staff prompted.

After taking a couple of pictures, Aoi looked at the result and handed the phone back, "One more time."

The staff readily nodded and Aoi returned to his position.

"3, 2, 1…"

Aoi caught Yanagi's hand and yanked him closer to him.

"...Cheese!"

Aoi laughingly smiled at Yanagi's surprised face.

The staff returned his phone to him and he thanked her for her help. He showed the previous photos to Yanagi.

"See? You were too far from me," Aoi then showed the last one they took.

Seeing the last photo, Yanagi couldn't help but realize once again that they were actually lovers.

Aoi sent the photos to Yanagi and pointed in, "Let's go."

Yanagi nodded. He used the last picture as his lock screen and caught up with Aoi.

The two of them checked the map first and decided on their route.

Holo World had several areas with each mascot as its main theme. They first went to the horror-themed area which was the closest.

"If we're talking about theme parks, haunted house is a must," Aoi pointed at the large dark mansion.

Yanagi knew Aoi liked horror movies and games, so he had prepared himself for this moment by watching horror movies every midnight by himself in the dark.

He determinedly followed Aoi in.

The queuing line wasn't long and they soon entered the attraction. They were tasked to take the exit key in the master bedroom to escape through the kitchen.

They were only given one flashlight and Aoi let Yanagi hold it.

Walking through the mansion, Aoi keenly noticed Yanagi flinching several times when the ghosts popped out.

He recalled that Yanagi would turn silent when they were watching horror movies together and realized that Yanagi might not be that good with horror.

Was that why he looked so determined when they were about to enter…?

So cute.

He ended up enjoying watching Yanagi getting scared throughout the attraction until they were finally out.

Seeing Yanagi's petrified face, he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore.

"Yanagi, your face! Your face is frozen!" Aoi laughingly took photos of Yanagi's hilarious face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm a-a-a-alright," Yanagi gave a trembling thumbs up.

Aoi burst into another round of laughter, "Which part?"

Watching Aoi laughing so happily, Yanagi felt slightly better.

He might not be able to act cool for Aoi, but this in itself had its own merit.

In the first place, how could he be any cooler than Aoi?

They bought a glass of the area's signature drink and continued their way to other attractions.

Each area had two or three main attractions and they played all of them. Fortunately for Yanagi, the other two attractions in the horror area weren't as scary as the first one.

In the fantasy area, there was a themed photo studio and they unhesitantly went there.

Inside the photo studio were several photoshoot areas that were meticulously made to match the magical theme. They could also use the provided costumes and properties they wanted.

"This place has really gotten bigger than the last time I visited," Aoi commented as he wore the witch hat.

"When was the last time you visited?" Yanagi curiously asked.

"Hmm...in elementary school? It's a long time ago," Aoi picked a wolf-ear headpiece and placed it on Yanagi's head. "I previously lived around here and always went here every weekend. I still have the annual pass but it's already expired."

"You moved out?" Yanagi looked at himself in the mirror and touched the fake ears.

He saw the cat ears next to the mirror and thought that Aoi would look good with them.

"My dad got transferred to another branch, so we had to move as well," Aoi saw what Yanagi was looking at and curled a smile in amusement.

Yanagi snapped out of his imagination, "Eh?"

"Hm?" Aoi took off the witch hat and looked back to Yanagi in askance.

"If…" Yanagi anxiously clutched his shirt, "...If your father gets transferred again, will you also transfer schools?"

Aoi was silent for a few seconds and chuckled, "Why? Won't you chase after me?"

"Yes," Yanagi immediately replied, "I will."

"Then, it doesn't matter whether I will transfer schools or not," Aoi grabbed the cat ears and wore them. "Well, my dad just got promoted last year and has a steady position now. I don't think he'll get transferred any soon."

He was checking himself in the mirror when Yanagi suddenly hugged him from behind.

"I won't let you leave me, Aoi…" Yanagi buried his head in Aoi's shoulder as his hold tightened. "I don't think I can."

"Mn," Aoi hummed and patted Yanagi's head. "Don't worry. I'm a responsible person if I can say so myself."

Yanagi lifted his face to see the two of them in the mirror.

He really fit as a big bad wolf. 

They settled with their props and went to take their pictures. They chose 2 backgrounds which were the magic forest and the animal kingdom castle.

The results were directly printed and the studio also sold several frames matching the themes.

At lunch, Aoi looked at their pictures for a while.

"As I thought, you should trim your bangs, Yanagi. Your face can't be captured clearly," he said.

"S-should I…?" Yanagi touched his bangs hesitantly.

"Or you can at least put them aside like this," Aoi brushed away Yanagi's bangs.

He paused and his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.

The first and last time he saw Yanagi's face was when it was swollen because of getting hit by the ball.

Turns out he wasn't that bad-looking under normal circumstances.

Yanagi thought Aoi didn't like his face and looked away, "I-i-it's fine like this."

"But I want to," Aoi rested his arms on the table and tilted his head. "You want to hide your face from me forever?"

"!" Yanagi hurriedly faced Aoi back, "It's not like that!"

"Then what?" Aoi nibbled his straw.

"I...I…" Yanagi thought of something and resolutely said. "I'll go get plastic surgery first then!"

"Cough!"

Aoi choked on his drink, half coughing and half laughing.

"A-Aoi!? Are you alright!?" Yanagi got up from his seat in a panic and went to rub Aoi's back.

He took out his handkerchief and was giving it to Aoi when he heard him speak.

"I want you to trim your bangs so that I can see your face, not to flaunt you around," Aoi accepted the handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

"Eh?" Yanagi was stunned in place.

Aoi looked up at him, "And I don't think you're bad-looking at all."

Yanagi blushed and felt flustered by the sudden compliment.

Throughout the rest of the day, the two of them had fun without any restraints.

Because they wanted to watch the night parade though, they had to let go of several minor shows and attractions.

They also bought a lot of souvenirs in Peko's area. They got themselves a pair of matching phone straps.

Half an hour before the parade began, they went to the centre of the theme park where the Holo Castle was. There were already many people there since it was where the parade would begin.

When the lights were turned off, everyone was ready with their phone cameras on.

The park's theme song started playing through the speakers. A few minutes later, they could see colourful lights emerging from the castle.

As the characters passed by with their respective mobile stages, they enthusiastically waved at the visitors along with their accompaniments.

Aoi leaned closer to Yanagi, "You know, there were only 3 main mascots here at first. I can't believe there are already 8 of them now."

"I read that the park threw special events every time they launched a new mascot," Yanagi replied.

A few moments after the convoy passed, the castle started its laser show.

Just when Aoi thought that things couldn't get any more spectacular, the fireworks were shot, colouring the night sky with their merriment.

Yanagi watched the fireworks briefly before his focus returned to Aoi.

Rather than the sky, the splashes of colours looked more beautiful on Aoi's face.

Feeling Yanagi's stare, Aoi shifted his attention to Yanagi. Seeing the soft smile on Yanagi's face, Aoi felt his heart thump.

A strange mood welled up inside Aoi's chest. Unknowingly, he had shifted closer to Yanagi.

"...Yanagi," Aoi gestured at Yanagi to lean down.

"?" Yanagi complied and looked at Aoi questioningly.

Aoi cupped Yanagi's face and slowly pressed their lips together.

Yanagi froze and his breath halted.

At this moment, time seemed to stop.