“N-No, it's not that you are in the wrong...”
Pressured by Kii's protest, the clerk pointed to a nearby signboard.
“This roller coaster does not have the safety measures to accommodate someone of your height. If you were to ride on the roller coaster, you might be thrown out of your seat”
This was written on the signboard that the clerk had pointed at.
'To ride on this attraction you need to be at least 140 centimeters'
Kii had only recently grown past 110 centimeters, so she was a whole 30 centimeters shorter than what was shown on the signboard.
Roller coasters normally had a safety bar that lowered on top of the passengers and secured their bodies. However, Kii was too small and a gap would form in that safety measure. With a gap, there was a high chance that Kii would be thrown off the roller coaster during curves of free falls. And of course, the clerk couldn't allow her to get on the ride.
“I am truly sorry, but could you please give up on boarding this attraction?”
“B-But...”
Disappointed, Kii dropped her shoulders. Kii understood the reasons and didn't complain any more. However, since she had gotten her hopes up, she was greatly disappointed was on the verge of crying.
“I can’t grow big all of a sudden!”
“That's too bad”
“Aauuu~~”
“I am very sorry, we will await your arrival next time”
The two separated from the clerk and returned down the path they had come. During that time, they passed people who were going to ride on the roller coaster. As they walked, Kii glanced at the people they passed by with envy.
How do I put it, it's like...
Looking at Kii all depressed, Koutarou felt bad for her, but at the same time it was heartwarming. It was a complex emotion. He felt bad for her since she didn't get to ride the roller coaster, but when he looked at her now he felt nostalgic.
“...It's unfair that grown-ups get to have all the fun... geez...”
The feelings of 'why is it only the adults' was something that Koutarou understood very well. When he was young, he had felt the same way on many occasions. When he looked at Kii, it was like he was looking at himself from that time, and he was overcome with a heartwarming feeling. Because of that, although he felt bad for her, a smile appeared on his face.
“You'll become a grown-up soon too”
“But I wanted to ride it today”
Kii said that and squeezed on Koutarou's hand.
“...Together with Onii-chan...”
Kii was still looking at the roller coaster, filled with people waiting in line to get on. She wanted a memory of her and Koutarou riding it together. That's because she knew that it would be difficult for her to come back here with him again.
Really... she is such a good girl...
When Koutarou got a faint idea of what Kii was thinking, he felt like something was gripping at his chest. And he began thinking that he wanted to see her smile again.
“Then let's ride something that we can only ride today”
Fortunately, he managed to find something that could comfort her right away. This was an amusement park, and there were plenty of things like that around.
“Only today?”
“Yeah. Something like that”
Koutarou pointed at something when Kii looked up, still on the verge of crying. In the direction where he was pointing was a large merry-go-round.
“Why?”
When Kii saw the merry-go-round she rubbed her eyes and tilted her head in confusion. It didn't look like something that they could only ride today to her.
“If I'm not with a small girl like you, it's far too embarrassing for a guy like me to get on”
”Ah!”
Kii looked like she understood. The merry-go-round was full of children and their parents. There were also young couples riding, but the men seemed to be uncomfortable. In the end, it was hard to ride without using children as an excuse.
“Onii-chan, you want to ride something like that?”
A slight smile appeared on Kii's lips. Seeing that, Koutarou gave her a large nod and a mischievous smile.
“Yeah. Can't I?”
“No, that's okay!”
After shaking her head once, Kii showed a big smile and her expression changed into a gentler one.
“...Are you just enduring the embarrassment for Kii's sake?”
“No. I want to ride it for myself. Isn't that horse cool?”
“Hmm. Then I'll leave it at that”
Kii understood what Koutarou was thinking. She was a clever child after all.
“Despite my looks, I'm confident in my ability to ride horses”
“I see. Then let's ride it together!”
And just like that, Kii didn't mind if she was riding the merry-go-round. What she was after wasn't the fact of having ridden the roller coaster.