Hajime: "Number 33, front and centre. We're taking you to your prize."
Jinx: "Kay! Come on, guys!"
Hajime: "Aaand they're coming too..."
Jinx: "Obviously. Where's the fun in going there myself?"
Hajime: "Fine, keep up."
Hajime, Seitarou and Kazari lead the five of us outside into the courtyard. It felt like my excitement was growing with every step.
Kazari: "There it is."
We stood there in amazement for a solid minute.
Nico: "Woah! That's crazy!"
Rock: "You built this?"
Uno: "I haven't been to one of these in years."
Jinx: "Brothers, welcome to my playground!"
Kazari: "It's not the most fantastic, flashy playground in the world, but hopefully you like it."
I wrap your arms around her.
Jinx: "It's perfect! Thank you, Kazari! I love it!"
She smiled.
Kazari: "Now, go have fun, all of you."
Jinx: "Yeah! Come on!"
We ran over and stood in the middle of the equipment.
Uno: "Aw man, I haven't seen any of this in forever."
Jinx: "So, I'm gonna be honest... I don't know what to do with all of these."
The Boys: "Huh??"
Jyugo: "But this is what you asked for."
Jinx: "Yeah, but I didn't know what a playground was until I read about it in one of Nico's magazines. Can you guys teach me how to play on this stuff?"
They smiled.
Nico: "Me first!"
He looked around before taking my hand and brining me over to the main part of the playground. We both went up the stairs.
Nico: "Let's go down the slide."
He sat at the top of the slide and put me in his lap.
Jinx: "Uhm... what do we do now?"
Nico: "Now, we slide! I'll count to three, okay? One... two... three!"
He slid down to the bottom with me in his lap and we laughed on the way down.
Nico: "Wasn't that fun?"
Jinx: "Yeah! I wanna do it again!"
Nico: "Tell you what, why don't you go down yourself this time and I'll catch you."
Jinx: "Kay!"
I ran up the stairs and sat at the top of the slide. Nico had his arms outstretched to me.
Nico: "When you're ready!"
I took a breath and slid down. Nico caught me in a hug, and we giggled as he spun me around.
Jinx: "I love slides!"
Nico: "I'm glad!"
Uno: "Alright, it's my turn."
Nico gave me to Uno. He took me over to a strange looking piece of equipment.
Jinx: "What's that?"
Uno: "This is called the monkey bars."
I giggled.
Jinx: "What kind of name is that?"
Uno: "It'll make sense in a second. Do you remember what a monkey is?"
Jinx: "Uhm... oh, Samon!"
He laughed.
Uno: "Yeah, that's right. I'll show you how this works."
He put me down and walked over to them.
Uno: "The objective is to get from one side to the other without falling."
He needed to lift his feet up off the ground as he swung from bar to bar, making it across to the other side. I clapped.
Uno: "Now, you try."
Jinx: "Uhm..."
Uno noticed the slightly nervous look on my face and lifted me onto his shoulders.
Uno: "What say we try it like this first?"
Jinx: "Kay."
He went over to the bars.
Uno: "Okay, now grab on. Just like I showed you... that's it. Let's go one bar at a time... one, two, one, two."
All the way to the other side.
Uno: "That was perfect! You ready to try it yourself?"
I nodded, feeling confident.
Uno: "Atta girl!"
He lifted me off his shoulders and helped me up to the first bar.
Uno: "I'll catch you if you fall, okay?"
I did it just the way Uno showed me. I got halfway across.
Jinx: "Uno... my hands hurt..."
He held me.
Uno: "Okay. I got you. Take a break."
I let go of the bars and he held me in place.
Uno: "Show me."
I showed him my hands. He gently blew on them, then kissed them both.
Uno: "Now, give them a little rub."
I rubbed my hands together.
Uno: "Better?"
I smiled.
Jinx: "Yeah."
Uno: "Ready to keep going?"
Jinx: "Yeah!"
I held onto the bar above my head. He let me go, and I continued where I left off. I managed to make it to the end without any more hiccups.
Jinx: "Did you see, I did it!"
I laughed as Uno put his hands under my arms and lifted me up high.
Uno: "You sure did! My little sister is so strong!"
Rock: "Alright, it's my turn."
Uno put me down, I took Rock's hand and he lead me over to the strangest looking thing yet.
Rock: "What's this?"
Jinx: "You don't know either?"
Kazari: "This is a new thing. People call it a 'flying fox'. It's like a swing but with more of a thrill. Number 69, this can be dangerous for her. She's too small to go on it alone."
Rock: "No problem, Kazari. I'll go on with her."
Kazari: "One more thing, hold on tight towards the end."
Jinx: "Why?"
Kazari: "You'll see, dear."
She goes back to supervise with Hajime and Seitarou.
Jinx: "Dangerous...?"
Rock: "Don't let that word scare you. Come on, let's go on it together."
It was a tight fit on the small seat, but we managed. I held on tight to the rope. Rock held the rope with one hand and me with his other. When he kicks off, the swing travels down a cord diagonally.
Rock: "Here it comes..."
I had to decide whether to shut my eyes or keep them open. The excitement ended up outweighed the fear, so I kept them open. When we reached the end, there was a loud knock and we swung up a few feet. I let out a squeal until we came back down.
Rock: "You okay?"
I giggled.
Jinx: "Yeah, that was fun!"
Rock: "Wanna do it again?"
Jinx: "Yeah!"
We did it a couple more times. And even once by myself with Rock holding the swing so I didn't go too fast or high.
Jinx: "Hey, where's Jyugo?"
I looked around until I saw Jyugo sitting on one of the regular swings. He seemed distracted.
Uno: "Jinx, listen..."
He whispered in my ear.
Jinx: "Uh, okay!"
I walked up behind him and pushed on his back. He turned his head to me.
Jyugo: "What are you doing?"
Jinx: "Uno said I'm supposed to push you. Lift your feet up."
He smiled and let me push him a little before he stood up.
Jyugo: "Tell you what, you sit there, and I'll push you."
I smiled and sat. He went around behind me, grabbed the chains, pulled me back and let go. I giggled
Jyugo: "Kick your legs. Out when you go forward, in when you come back."
I did what he said. It was more fun when I swung my legs in sync.
Jinx: "Higher, Jyugo!"
Jyugo: "Alright, hold on."
He pushed me harder, and I swung even higher.
Jinx: "Hahaha, I'm flying!"
He smiled.
Jyugo: "You sure are! Look at you go!"
He stopped pushing and I soon slowed down. I jumped off, giggling.
Jinx: "That was fun!"
He smiled and ruffed my hair.
Uno: "So, what should we play now?"
Nico: "How about a game?"
Jinx: "Yeah! Uhm... what game?"
Rock took a good look around before suggesting.
Rock: "How about hide and seek?"
Nico: "Good idea, Rock!"
Jinx: "How do you play?"
Uno: "It's simple. There's one seeker and everyone else are hiders. The last person found by the seeker wins."
Jyugo: "Isn't this a 'more the merrier' type game? There's only five of us."
Tsukumo: "Perhaps I can be of assistance."
We all jumped.
Rock: "Woah! Where'd you come from, man?!"
Tsukumo: "Shinobi's lay in the shadows."
He was still playing ninja. I guessed he wasn't ready for everyone to know the truth yet.
Jinx: "Tsukumo! Will you play hide and seek with us?!"
Tsukumo: "I shall, Jinx. Though I warn you, I'm quite the talented hider."
Jinx: "Yay! Hm..."
I looked over at Hajime and the others and ran up to them, smiling
Jinx: "Hajime, Seitarou, Kazari! Will you play hide and seek with us?!"
Kazari: "Oh, no, dear. I'll let you kids play."
Jinx: "Aww, okay. Hajime?"
Hajime: "Not a chance. I don't play games."
Jinx: "Hm, should have guessed."
Seitarou: "Uhm..."
Hajime sighed.
Hajime: "Just this once, Seitarou."
Seitarou: "Really, sir? Okay, I'll play with you, Jinx."
I smiled. At that moment, Yamato was jogging by. I called out to him.
Jinx: "YAMATO! DO YOU WANNA PLAY HIDE AND SEEK WITH US?!"
He ran up to me, smiling.
Yamato: "I'd love to!"
Jinx: "Really? Yay! Come on, then!"
Hajime: "Et tu, Yamato?"
Kazari: "Oh, hush. Let them have fun. They're still kids, after all."
Hajime: "Yamato's older than me!"
Kazari: "Well, he still has a child's heart. Unlike someone..."
Jinx: "Two more players!"
Uno: "Alright, I think we're set! You can be the seeker, Jinx."
Jinx: "Kay!... What do I do again?"
Uno: "Close your eyes and count to twenty. When you've done that, you can open your eyes and say, 'ready or not, here I come!'. Then you can come find us."
I closed my eyes. Jyugo took my hands and put them over my eyes too.
Jyugo: "Keep em closed. No peaking."
I started counting out loud, hearing everyone run and hide. When I was done, I opened my eyes to see everyone gone.
Jinx: "Uh- uhm... what was that line again? Ready or-! Uhm... I'm coming to find you!"
I giggled and started looking. I found Tsukumo first hiding behind his 'cloak of invisibility' just a few feet away from me.
Jinx: "Found you, Tsukumo. You seriously didn't think that would work, right?"
Tsukumo: "Uhm... give me another chance?"
Jinx: "Sorry, buddy. Rules say you're out. Maybe next round."
I headed over to the main part of the playground with the two slides. Crouching under the regular slide...
Jinx: "Found you, Seitarou!"
Seitarou: "Aw, man. Heh, good job, 33."
I smiled. I heard someone giggle from inside the tube slide.
Jinx: "*sniff sniff* Heh, gotcha."
I quietly climbed up the stairs and go down the tube slide, running into Uno on the way down.
Uno: "AH!"
Jinx: "Found you, Uno."
Uno: "Dang it."
We both slide down the rest of the way.
Uno: "How?"
Jinx: "You giggled."
Suddenly, something sitting in the sandpit caught my eye. I walk over to it.
Jinx: "Is that Yamato's hat?"
I picked it up.
Yamato: "Ah, you found me, 33!"
I squealed and jumped back. Yamato's face was sticking out of the sand. Only his face.
Jinx: "Yamato... you only had twenty seconds... how did you-?"
He stood up and brushed himself off.
Yamato: "With determination!"
Jinx: "Right... well that's definitely the most creative hiding spot so far... good job."
I looked around for a while before running over to a big tree a few meters away from the playground itself. I did a lap around it.
Jinx: "That's weird... Jyugo's scent is all around this tree. Hm..."
I started running around and around the tree until I caught Jyugo, wrapping your arms around him from behind and giggling.
Jinx: "Gotcha!"
Jyugo: "Heh, can't escape you, can I?"
Jinx: "Nope!... Oh, hi Rock!"
I looked up and found Rock in the tree.
Rock: "Dang it, Jyugo! I told you you'd give me away!"
Jyugo: "Don't be a sore loser. She looked up by herself."
Jinx: "Actually, Rock, you're one of the last found."
Everyone who was found regroups in the centre of the playground. The only one who wasn't with us was...
Jinx: "Nico... Nico, come out! You're the last one!"
He ran up to us out of nowhere.
Rock: "Where were you hiding?"
Nico: "I was standing behind Hajime the whole time."
Jinx: "So, that's why I couldn't smell you..."
Seitarou: "What?"
Jinx: "Uh! I mean-"
Uno: "You sniffed us out?!"
Jinx: "Uh-! Round two! Tsukumo, I found you first, so you're seeker! Start counting!"
I ran and hid.
Jyugo: "That little cheater."
Yamato: "Ahahaha! I like her spirit!"
A couple more games later.
Hajime: "Alright you, rugrats! Time's up! Back to your cell!"
We didn't complain this time because we all had fun. We were also quite out of breath. Except for Yamato. I'm pretty sure he could do this for a week straight.