Upside Down

[Sunday, June 6th]

Last night, with Mama"s and Chinatsu"s help, I spent almost two hours trying on different outfits before I finally settled on what to wear today.

I originally wanted to wear a mini skirt, but Mama told me that it wasn"t a good idea since it would be far too easy for the breeze to flip my skirt on the rides. So, I"ll be wearing an emerald green pleated skirt which falls to about 10cm above my knee, a white, sleeveless, fitted v-neck blouse, white ruffled ankle socks, and white strappy sandals. I"m more than satisfied with what we ended up picking out for me.

Mama wanted me to wear eyeshadow, blush and such along with it, but I declined. What I normally wear will be enough as far as I"m concerned and I don"t think I truly need it.

Ryu and Ryo will be here at 10:00 to pick us up. I honestly don"t understand why I feel so drawn to Ryu, but I am. When I was a boy, he was my sole male friend. I thought at first, that I simply wanted to rekindle that friendship. Although the longer I was with him at the party and the more we talked, the more I realized I wanted to be far more than friends with him. I"ve no idea if this can even go anywhere or even if this can be considered a date. Maybe for him this is about becoming friends with me and nothing more. I hope he considers this a date, at least that"s how I"d like him to think of it.

I find it hard to believe that it"s been slightly over a month since I woke up as a girl. Now I"m getting excited about a date with a boy? The thought of him touching me is rather arousing to me? Does that mean I"m gay since I think of him like that? No, no, I"m a girl, no matter what I used to be before.

Well, I suppose saying I"m bis.e.xual would be more accurate at least where Chinatsu is concerned. Mayumi is gorgeous, I can appreciate that, but there"s no desire there. Honoka is the same. Aoi, Ami, Mayu, and Keiko are all very cute as well, but no attraction there either. All the girls I used to fantasize about? I no longer do. Yet, those boys that asked us to play at the pool, I definitely found them attractive. I"ve caught myself looking at other boys thinking the same thing. If I were to say that this is very confusing for me, it would be the understatement of my life.

Whatever. I"m probably overthinking this. We need to get up and get moving. There are things to be done before the boys get here.

Gently shaking Chinatsu awake, I give her a kiss. Stretching and groaning a little, yes, I"m still a bit sore from PT this week, I rise from bed and help Chinatsu stand as well.

After throwing on our gowns, gathering our clothes we laid out for today and collecting Honoka, we begin our day as we usually do, bathing.

I have to say, I love the way I look in long hair, but if I didn"t have my sisters to help me care for this heavy mess, I"d be cutting it off to waist length regardless of how angry it would make Mama. I know, I"m usually very obedient and I"d normally never even consider it, but there are good reasons.

Washing and conditioning my hair takes half an hour at minimum, then it takes three large towels to dry it. Another half an hour of brushing and blow drying to finish. Then there"s styling it.

Honoka"s taken over brushing my hair in the evenings which she spends an hour doing. After she"s done, my hair almost glows. It"s one of the reasons my hair stays so soft and silky. She enjoys it and I enjoy it, so it"s a win-win. Can you imagine me doing this all by myself? It would probably take three or more hours for me to do it alone every day.

Sorry, I seem to be in ramble about random things mode today. It couldn"t be that I"m nervous, now could it? No, never. No sarcasm there either, huh? Yep, I"m just as calm as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Anyway, we take our bath, dress, and cook breakfast as usual. After we eat and clean up, of course, Dad calls us girls over.

"Girls, I"m sure you already know this, but I"m going to say it anyway. You three are to stay together at all times. If you can"t get on the same rides at the same time, you wait until the next one where you can. It"s going to be hard to watch over you in that crowd as it stands, but at the same time it makes it less likely something will happen. Still, use common sense and trust your feelings like Sora did at the pool. As always, wear your watches and cell phones. Honoka, these are yours."

Dad hands her a watch like ours and a cell phone. "Thanks Dad." She tells him which makes him grin.

I had asked Honoka last night if she wanted to invite Mitty and she said that wasn"t a good idea. I could see she really wanted to do so, but she said it wouldn"t look right for her, a fourteen year old girl, to be seen with a thirty plus year old man. I told her we"d make it up to her somehow, which ended up with my face in her b.o.o.bs being hugged. She tried to tell me it wasn"t necessary because she was simply happy to spend time with her sisters. I know she is, we love it too since we have so much fun together, but I still plan to make it up to her.

As I expected, the door intercom chimes at 9:50. He didn"t seem like the type to make someone wait.

Heading to the front door, I open it and ask them to come inside. I lead them into the living room where everyone is.

"Everyone, this is Ryuichi and Ryota Ueno." I gesture to each of them as I introduce them. "This is my Mama, Dad, my younger sister Chinatsu, and my older sister Honoka."

Dad stands and shakes hands with each of them.

"I understand you"re taking my girls to Playland?"

"That"s right, Mr. Kobayashi." Ryu answers.

Dad nods. "Okay, have fun, but I expect you boys to watch out for my girls. Have them home by 9 as well. Ryu, Sora says you know about her situation, but I"m going to reiterate it so we"re clear. Sora tires easily, so I want you boys to keep an eye out for her. Make time to take breaks and do so often. She has a tendency to not say anything until it"s too late and she"s already exhausted. She"ll push herself to that extent if you let her. If it happens because you two don"t do as I"m asking, it"ll be the last time you go anywhere with my girls. Am I making myself clear?"

Ryu nods when Dad looks at him. "Of course, Mr. Kobayashi. I"d already made plans for us to do so."

Dad looks at Ryota and he nods as well. "I didn"t know, but I"ll keep an eye out as well."

Dad nods. "Good, then I"ll take you boys at your word." He looks at us. "I shouldn"t have to tell you, but call the driver or me if you get too tired. Don"t get separated either and have fun."

Honoka says, "Of course, Dad. I"ll make sure it doesn"t happen."

We say our goodbyes and head for the door.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

I suppose I should tell you a little about them.

Ryu is thirteen and is the tallest boy in our grade, almost in the middle school, but he is the most heavily muscled. He"s 170cm tall and last he told me 75kg. Short black hair and warm brown eyes. I told you he"s been into martial arts since was really young, but he also loves sports. Namely soccer, baseball, basketball and the swim team. He"s kind, gentle, willing to help just about anyone, and generous almost to a fault. Not to mention very softly spoken. Not the best student there is, but not the worst either. I used to constantly help him to study for tests.

Ryo is fourteen and is slightly taller than Ryu at 172cm and maybe a little heavier. Short black hair and brown eyes. In my eyes, he"s nowhere near as handsome as Ryu, but he"s not bad looking at all. His main interests are baseball and basketball. His school work could definitely use some work from what Ryu told me. He also has a tendency to speak without thinking, but he doesn"t seem like a bad person.

As we are walking to the station, I find out exactly what Ryu meant when he said Ryo is impulsive when he suddenly says, "d.a.m.n, now, I can see why you"re all Ryu could talk about for the last week, you"re hot as h.e.l.l." I look down with a combination of embarra.s.sment and anger coloring my cheeks.

Ryu sighs. "Didn"t we talk about this right before we left the house, Ryo? I specifically asked you not to make an a.s.s of yourself for once."

"What? I gave her compliment. I wasn"t rude either." Ryo replies looking confused.

Honoka turns to look at Ryo and asks, "Do you think it"s appropriate to tell someone you just met something like that? My sister isn"t all that good at dealing with people she doesn"t know, especially boys. How do you think that made her feel to have someone she just met minutes ago say something like that? And by the way, what you said isn"t a compliment to most girls. A compliment is "you"re cute" or "you"re very pretty." "You"re hot as h.e.l.l" is a euphemism for "You"re pretty and I want to screw you." Girls aren"t as dumb you seem to think we are."

"Huh? What? I didn"t mean it that way. I really meant it as she"s pretty, not that I want to do her." He replies looking even more confused.

"If you don"t know the context for something, then you shouldn"t use it."

"Nee-chan, would you drop it please?" I plead. Right now, all I want to do is go crawl into a hole and close it after me. Why does something so simple go off on tangents like this?

"If you want Sora. I still think he should apologize." She says with a sharp tone. She"s really upset over this. I mean I wasn"t happy to have someone I don"t know say that, even without the s.e.xual connotations. h.e.l.l, how could he not know it? I still have a lot to learn about being a girl and I know.

Ryo taps me on the shoulder. "Sora, I truly didn"t mean it like that and I"m sorry."

"It"s fine, let"s just drop this and get going." I mutter trying to defuse the situation. I"m embarra.s.sed enough as it stands. Not because Honoka defended me either.

Of course, you"d know the train is going to be packed. One single time I"d love it if it wasn"t. Suffice it to say, I end up sandwiched between my sisters with the boys blocking the worst of the crowd off of us. Thankfully, we don"t have to be on the train for long and after we make our way out of the station, we take the short walk to Playland"s entrance, which has a fairly long line of people waiting to get tickets.

"Sora, why don"t you and your sisters find a bench and sit down. We"ll come get you after we get the tickets." Ryu tells me.

"Thanks Ryu, we"ll do that." I reply.

It doesn"t take a long time for them to get our tickets and when they get over to us, I take Ryu"s elbow as we make our way inside. It"s crowded and there"s no way I want to get separated. Ya, that"s it.

Apparently, Ryu thought this out, as he has a list of rides and an order to take them in. Although, I"m not to sure about some of them he has listed. I"ve never been to an amus.e.m.e.nt park, so I have no idea what I"ll like or dislike. I suppose it"s going to be a try and see adventure for me.

First one up is named "The Whip." According to the guide, this thing you sit down in paired seats while it spins you around at 100kph in a 30m circle, then it raises up to vertical and back down again several times. Sounds fun and once I got past the feeling I was going to smack into the ground at high speed, it is. I yell and laugh having a great time on it. The grin on Ryu"s face as he watches me makes me feel warm and tingly at the same time. Even more so when I reach over and grab his hand with the one I"m not using to hold down my skirt.

The next one he has marked is named "The Sky Swing." Now, it looks like fun, but we girls flat refuse to go on it. Why, you ask? After we see one girl in a dress expose her nether region to everyone and the three of us being in skirts, you tell me. We told them go right ahead and sit down to wait for them. It does look like a lot of fun though.

Up next, it"s a spinning ride, but slightly different than the norm. In that it spins in all 3 axises. I like it, but at the same time, I don"t. The constant back and forth of the positive and negative G"s didn"t do much for my stomach and honestly, I"m a bit queasy when I finally get off the ride.

When we take a seat to allow me to recover a little, Ryu apologizes. I give him a weak smile and tell him, "It"s nothing to be sorry for. If I didn"t want to get on the ride I wouldn"t have. I had no idea it would make me feel like this, so don"t apologize." He sits beside me and rubs my back while I recover somewhat. Thankfully, it doesn"t take a long time.

I take his elbow again as we make our way over to the next ride, one of the twelve rollercoasters here. It"s not even close to the biggest one, but it"s still fairly tall at 37m and gets up to a maximum speed of 120kph. Another one I hold his hand on as I giggle and yell my way through the ride. I never knew I like stuff like this, but how could I have with the way I was? I also notice that Ryu never once took his eyes off me during the ride. I let go of his hand long enough for the restraints to be removed and immediately took it again with a huge smile plastered across my face.

Chinatsu and Ryo have been pretty much been in their own little world since the first ride. They seem to be getting along pretty well. Honoka, well, she"s been following along with us, keeping an eye on the people around us. I suppose she was suspicious of one guy, because she got in between him and me. She stayed there until some girl came up and they left together. I send a questioning look in her direction and she simply shakes her head.

"Are you having fun Sora?" Ryu asks me.

"Oh, most definitely Ryu. Thank you so much for inviting us today."

He smiles as he glances at his watch. "It"s past lunch time. Are you hungry yet?"

"I could eat. Nee-chan, Chinatsu, Ryo, are you hungry?"

They all reply "Yes." which settles our next stop. After we all decide on burgers for lunch, the boys head to the counter to get our orders while we find an empty table. When they return, it"s hard not to notice Chinatsu"s smile as Ryo sits down beside her and Ryu beside me. It seems that they"re really getting along since I"ve only seen Chinatsu smile at me that way. If she likes him, so much the better. I just hope she doesn"t try to hold herself back for my sake. I suppose we had best talk about this if things keep going this way.

Me? My eyes keep making their way back to Ryu"s handsome face, where I stare into those warm brown eyes of his. I"ve been smiling so much today, I"m sure my cheeks are going to hurt tonight, but I don"t care. I"m happy and having a wonderful time with Ryu. I know it"s impossible, but I wish we could have come alone.

Shaking my head as I tear my eyes away from him so I can finish my lunch, he begins laughing and grabs my knee and nods in the direction of the park mascot being swarmed by a large group of kids. I look and laugh along with him as the kids manage to knock the poor person inside on their b.u.t.t, but I"m mostly focused on his warm hand still holding my knee. When he finally notices he"s still holding onto my knee, he blushes and quickly removes it. d.a.m.n! He"s just so cute! He blushes furiously when I give him a dazzling smile, grab his hand and put it back. Forget the burger, I want him for lunch!

After lunch we find a quieter place, where Honoka pulls me against her to make me rest. I didn"t expect to be able to fall asleep, but I did. Her lightly shaking me an hour later wakes me up.

We ride three more of the rollercoasters, one of them being the largest one in the park. How something like that can be thrilling and scary at the same time, I don"t know, but I know I want to ride it again sometime.

Later that evening, we go to the haunted house. I don"t know if this is their plan or what, but both Chinatsu and I end up against them. At one point I almost literally leap up into Ryu"s arms as an actor with a b.l.o.o.d.y axe came at us. I"ve said it before, knowing something isn"t real intellectually is one thing, emotionally is a completely different matter. By the way, I loved the haunted house both for the thrills and for the other benefits.

As the sun sets, I ask to take a break. I"m really getting tired by now and I think everyone knows it. Even with taking fifteen minute breaks every hour, it can only help so much. I still want to go on the ferris wheel though. I"ve heard the view from the top of the 350m ferris wheel is fantastic at night and I want to see it with Ryu. I"ve already asked my sisters and they said it was fine with them. It seems like Chinatsu has the same idea with Ryo, and Honoka said she"ll be waiting at the exit for us. Sorry Dad, I know we promised to always stay together, but this is important to me too and it"s not as if anyone can do anything to me while we"re on the ride.

So, here Ryu and I are, in a car to ourselves looking at the night skyline of Tokyo while holding hands.

"Ryu?" I say quietly.

"Yes?"

"Would you think badly of me if I kiss you?" I ask nervously. I can"t even look at him right now, so I continue to look out the window. My heart is pounding away while I"m hoping he won"t take what I"m asking in the wrong way.

He sighs. "Sora, how are you so brave that you can do things like that? I"ve wanted to kiss you since we got in here alone."

I shake my head. "I"m not brave Ryu. I"m scared to death you would think I"m a s.l.u.t for asking you and you wouldn"t want anything to do with me."

He turns me to face him, lifts my chin and tells me gently, "Sora, I"d never think that of you."

As I look into his eyes, I can see he means it. It almost seems as if my heart stops and I just know, at this moment, I"m the only thing that matters in the entire world to him. Everything and everyone else has disappeared. His eyes trace my lips and then look back to my eyes several times telling me without any need for words, that he can"t think of anything else but kissing me. I have b.u.t.terflies I"m so nervous, not to mention very excited at the same time. My body seems to have a mind of its own as my arms reach around his neck to gently pull him to me as he slips his arms around my waist to do the same.

At first the kiss is small and heartbreakingly gentle, but it quickly it grows bigger and more intense as I pull him closer to me, demanding more. I tentatively touch his lips with my tongue as I seek a deeper kiss from him. He breaks our kiss to look at me as if asking, "Is this alright?" I don"t answer him with words, but actions as I softly trace along his lips with mine. Soon, I let out a soft moan as he crushes me against him, now, becoming the one to demand more and I willingly submit to him.

I have no idea how long we continue kissing, but, my G.o.d, it was so much better than anything I had imagined with him.

Who would have thought he would be able to make me forget we"re surrounded by thousands of people in a park?