"Ferris wheel, Ferris wheel~"
Anna grabbed Sora's sleeve with both hands, tilting her pretty face up and whining non-stop:
"Let's ride the Ferris wheel before we go back, this is the request of my lifetime."
Sora was very speechless: "You sure have a lot of 'requests of a lifetime'."
"This time is different." Anna looked at him pitifully. "If we don't ride the Ferris wheel, I definitely won't have the appetite to eat dinner."
Having written down her wish in the Losing Heroine Diary on a whim this morning—to kiss Sora on the Ferris wheel—Anna's heart was currently full of anticipation.
They had finally made it to the Ferris wheel. If they went home now, she definitely wouldn't have any appetite to eat, right?
So, no matter what, they had to ride the Ferris wheel!
"Mahiru, Ruri, what do you guys say?"
Sora turned to look at the two girls beside him.
"I'm fine with whatever."
Kuroneko crossed her arms over her chest, her tone casual.
"I-I don't mind either..."
The blush on Angel-sama's face still hadn't completely faded. She looked down at her toes and responded shyly.
Although she wanted to go home early, Mahiru had a gentle nature and couldn't bring herself to be a wet blanket, so she could only agree.
"Then let's go ride the Ferris wheel." Sora made the final decision. "We won't go on any other rides. We'll head home right after the Ferris wheel."
"Okay~"
A bright smile instantly blossomed on Anna's pretty face, quietly brightening the dim twilight for a moment:
"Let's go, let's go!"
"..."
The group of four quickly arrived beneath the Ferris wheel.
It was getting late, and there weren't many tourists in line. Before long, the four of them successfully boarded the Ferris wheel.
"The last time I rode a Ferris wheel was... the last time~"
Anna held up her phone to take pictures, while simultaneously anticipating whether a pleasant surprise would happen later.
Unfortunately, reality greatly disappointed Anna.
"Nothing happened at all..."
Ten minutes later.
Anna looked like a frostbitten cabbage, walking off the Ferris wheel dejectedly:
"The Losing Heroine Diary is completely unreliable."
"The Ferris wheel was very interesting..."
Mahiru raised her hand to tuck the stray hair by her ear, her eyes sparkling in the night.
Sitting suspended in mid-air, watching the entire city gradually light up with brilliant colors in the twilight, her mood had unknowingly improved a lot.
"We're done with the Ferris wheel." Sora looked at Anna. "We can go home now, right?"
"Let's go..."
Anna agreed listlessly.
The group left the amusement park and took the train home.
After traveling together for a short while, Ruri transferred trains first. Soon, only Sora, 'Inmate Eight', and Mahiru were left.
When they arrived at the terminal station, Anna suddenly let out a soft cry:
"Eh, where's my bracelet?"
Sora looked over:
"What bracelet?"
"A star bracelet my mom bought me when we went traveling during Golden Week." Anna opened her backpack and began searching frantically.
"I remember I was wearing it on my wrist when school ended. How did it suddenly disappear?"
"Don't worry, Anna." Mahiru looked over and gently comforted her.
"Anna likes taking pictures, right? Check your photos first to see where the bracelet was last captured."
"Eh, Mahiru-chan is so smart..."
Hearing this, Anna hurriedly took out her phone, opened the gallery, and began searching.
"Look, this is the group photo we took at the amusement park entrance." Anna held up her phone and spoke quickly.
"I was still wearing the bracelet on my wrist then."
Sora looked over. In the photo, on Anna's raised right wrist, there was indeed a blue star bracelet. Contrasting with her snow-white skin, it looked quite beautiful.
"Although the bracelet wasn't very expensive, it represents my mom's feelings. If she finds out I lost it, she'll definitely be very disappointed..."
Anna bit her lower lip, continuing to flip through the other photos.
When the group photo taken beneath the Ferris wheel appeared, Anna's wrist was already completely bare.
Sora raised an eyebrow:
"Could you have left it on the Ferris wheel?"
"Eh..."
Anna blinked, some blurry memories faintly surfacing in her mind.
"I remember now..."
While on the Ferris wheel, everything was calm. The kiss she anticipated never happened. Furthermore, with Ruri and Mahiru right beside her, she was too embarrassed to make a move. Anna could only look at the scenery alone, feeling depressed. She was playing with the bracelet out of boredom... It seems she took it off?
"It's all my fault."
Anna quickly clasped her hands over her chest, looking at Sora pitifully:
"I definitely left it inside the Ferris wheel car. Sora, can you go back with me to look for the bracelet?"
"No problem." Sora gave a light nod, agreeing. "I'll go back with Anna."
It was already completely dark. Letting 'Inmate Eight' return to the amusement park alone was indeed worrisome.
"Mahiru, you head back first." Sora turned to look at Angel-sama beside him, speaking softly.
"Anna and I can go back together."
"Okay..."
Angel-sama hesitated for two seconds and softly agreed. She didn't offer to go along and help:
"Let me know the moment you find the bracelet."
First, because of the kiss earlier, she was too embarrassed to face Sora right now.
Second, she felt a bit sticky and sweaty. For the mysophobic Angel-sama, she urgently wanted to go home and take a shower... What? You ask why she felt sticky?
Naturally, it was sweat caused by nervousness and embarrassment!
After waving goodbye, Sora and Anna boarded the return train.
Night had completely fallen.
The number of passengers on the train had increased again.
Naturally, there were no seats available, so the two could only stand in a corner, holding on tightly.
"Sora, the bracelet won't be secretly taken by someone, will it?"
Anna bit her lower lip, her tone worried.
"That's highly unlikely." Sora looked down at her and softly comforted, "Most people who find things will hand them over to the lost and found. Those who secretly keep things for themselves are a minority, after all."
"I hope so." Anna was still very worried. "If someone picked it up, I'll never be able to get it back. Mom will definitely be very disappointed..."
Seeing Anna caught in an internal struggle, Sora lowered his voice and changed the subject:
"Speaking of which, how much of your work have you written, Anna?"
"Eh?"
Anna looked up blankly.
"The one called 'Today's Dungeon Meal in Another World is Also Very Delicious'." Sora raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
"Anna didn't just not write anything all throughout Golden Week, did you?"
"O-Of course I wrote some..."
Anna stammered, guiltily averting her gaze.
"How could I possibly forget, ahaha..."
Good heavens, not writing it is one thing, but you actually completely forgot about it!
"For a newcomer, don't worry about results for now. Persisting is the most important thing." Sora said seriously.
"In a couple of days, the Dengeki Bunko Newcomer Award is starting. Anna, get ready to submit your manuscript."
"Ehhhhh?" Anna widened her beautiful eyes, looking over nervously. "Submitting it right now, isn't that a bit too fast?"
"Someone once said, 'If you want to be famous, do it early'." Sora stated straightforwardly.
"Many times, if you don't push yourself, you won't know how outstanding you are. I've read what you wrote before, Anna. Although it's a bit amateurish, it's fluent and interesting enough. You already possess the potential to become a beautiful girl light novel author."
"Ehehe~"
Hearing the praise, Anna raised a hand to fiddle with her hair. An exceptionally bright and pure smile blossomed on her pretty face:
"I want to hear more, keep praising me, Sora."
After a round of praise, Anna's mood had clearly improved significantly, and she temporarily stopped fretting over the bracelet.
"Sora, Sora, what are the requirements for submitting to the Newcomer Award?"
Anna looked up curiously.
"Identity and age don't matter, but there are some things you can't touch." Sora said in a low voice.
"For example, you can't write about politics, and you can't write lewd stuff."
"I-I would never write lewd stuff!"
Anna's pretty face quickly flushed red, and her gaze began to dart around evasively.
Although I was curious and tried writing some, I will absolutely never admit it!
Stare—
Sora narrowed his eyes, his tone suspicious:
"Anna's expression is a bit weird. Are you..."
"I'm not, I didn't, don't make wild guesses, Sora!"
Anna hurriedly shook her head in denial, quickly changing the subject:
"Speaking of which, Sora definitely has lewd manga secretly hidden in your room, right?"