Rollercoaster — R.A. (Part 1)
Summary — You’ve been dying to get on this rollercoaster since you were a kid, but your friends were way too scared to join you. As you finally got to the front of the line and got to your seat at the front, the operator explained that all seats of the ride needed to be full in order for it to operate. Thankfully, a blonde stranger dressed in a suit volunteered to ride next to you.
Pairing — reigen arataka x fem!reader
Rating — general audiences
“I can’t believe no one wanted to ride with me…” You grumbled to yourself, standing in the longest line you had ever seen in your life.
You had been wanting to ride this rollercoaster since you were way below the required height - around six years old, roughly - and the day had finally come. Only, although you had brought people to ride with you, after seeing the height of the rollercoaster, they instead opted to just wait for you outside.
Now, here you were standing in line.
Ugh you were so bored, but at least the wait was almost over. There were around six people ahead of you and they were about to get on the ride. You observed the group and the visible excitement on each of their faces. The couple at the front looked at each other and held hands as they gushed about the ride, saying things like, “I hope the wait was worth it,” and “I’m so nervous!”
You watched as they held hands and laughed while swinging their feet over the large net beneath them. Absentmindedly, you sighed and found yourself wondering when you would be doing the same with your own partner. It’d been almost 5 years to the day since your last relationship, and it had been you-don’t-know-how-many months since your last date — both of which ended badly. A shiver ran down your spine at the thought of them, but you were snapped out of your thoughts by the speakers blaring a countdown.
On one, the ride shot forward at seemingly the speed of light. This was just one of the parts of the coaster that really sold you on riding - this, and the fact that at its peak, you could see two different cities that were miles apart.
The screams of the group shot adrenaline and excitement through your veins.
And then the moment came.
You beamed as the next train rolled to a stop in front of you.
Quickly, you made your way to the front seats and buckled in your seat belt. You imagined what the ride would be like - what the wind would feel like on your face, what the g-forces would feel like on your body from the catapult launch, and, most importantly, how beautiful the view would be at the top.
As you observed your surroundings, you noticed the ride operator making his way toward you. This was it. He was going to check your seatbelt and soon, your anticipation would be satisfied. He made his way closer and stopped in front of you.
"I'm sorry miss, but unfortunately I can't start the ride unless you have someone seated next to you."
Your heart dropped to your stomach.
"Yeah...The system won't let me start the ride unless both seats are filled. I'm guessing you didn't see the sign?"
You looked into the teenaged ride operator's eyes, tired from working a job that most likely underpaid its workers. He sighed, saying "Unfortunately, this ride doesn't allow for single riders. Once a seat is filled, the other has to be filled or else the ride won't start."
"Is there any way for me to still ride the ride without someone?"
"Unless someone volunteers to ride with you, no. Sorry."
You felt defeated. You knew your friends weren't going to ride with you if you asked and you didn't want to wait in the line again. You began to unbuckle your seatbelt when a voice piped up from the line.
"Excuse me! Did you say single riders can't ride this ride?"
You looked to the voice, noticing a blonde man in a grey suit and a pink tie. He seemingly just got out of work and decided to attend an amusement park by himself. How odd.
"Yes," The operator responded, "Unless you want to ride with someone you don't know, I can't start the ride." With his words, an idea sprung into your mind.
"So, you could start the ride if we rode together?" You asked the operator, still in your seat. You watched him look at you with a deadpan expression and pause.
"...Like I said, If you have a partner, you can ride the ride. If he wants to ride with you, great. Makes my job easier, honestly."
You turned and looked at the man in the suit standing in line. "Well, what do you say?" You asked, raising your eyebrows in anticipation. The man looked at the two of you and looked at the long line behind him.
"Sure, why the hell not?"
The ride operator opened the gate, and the man made his way toward you, sitting in the seat to your right. After he buckled his seatbelt, the ride operator started the seatbelt-checking process and said, "You two are good to go." You beamed at his words, your happiness restored by the kindness of a stranger in the same situation.
As the operator checked the other seatbelts, you decided to strike up a conversation with the man beside you. "Thanks for riding with me. I've been wanting to ride this since, like, forever ago," you said, smiling contentedly.
The man looked at you and shrugged, "It was no problem. We both didn't have partners anyway." He smiled, holding his hand out and saying, "I'm Reigen Arataka, the greatest psychic of the 21st century."
You chuckled at the title and shook his hand, responding with, "(y/n) (l/n), the greatest rollercoaster enthusiast of the 21st century." He chuckled at your response, and you continued, "So, how come you're riding by yourself?"
"Well, I came with my apprentice and some of his friends as a surprise. Unfortunately, they're all under the height limit and I really wanted to go," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why are you riding alone?"
"My friends are all chickens. No one would ride the ride with me because they were too scared, so they said they'd wait for me outside instead."
"Psh. What a bunch of scaredy cats. How bad could the ride be? It's just a rollercoaster."
"That's what I said! They just kept going on and on about how tall it was and blah blah blah."
"456 feet, I'm pretty sure."
And just like that, he went dead silent. You looked over to your side to see a pale, wide-eyed face staring ahead in fear. A small drop of sweat dripped down his face, and you chuckled. "You didn't know it was that tall?"
He slowly turned to you, fear still evident on his pale face and he said a simple, "No."
You laughed in your head, thinking it wasn't best to laugh at his nervousness straight to his face. Instead, you gave a small reassuring smile. "Trust me, the fear will disappear when the adrenaline kicks in. Don't worry, it'll be fun!"
"I'm not scared at all," he stuttered, lips quivering comically as he tried to put on a brave face. Your giggle was cut off by the ride operator reciting the spiel before starting the coaster.
The excitement made its way back into your veins at full force and your smile widened. You grabbed the handlebars tightly and glanced over at Reigen when the countdown began. You heard the gears whir beneath you as the machinery readied itself for another departure.
"This is it!" You said excitedly, "Are you ready?!"
Reigen's face somehow grew paler and his grip on the handlebars tightened intensely. You noticed his knuckles turn white as his grip got even tighter. You felt sorry for him - clearly, he stepped into the line completely blind, not knowing what the ride had in store.
In the split second before the ride catapulted you forward, you felt Reigen's hand grab yours and squeeze tightly. You didn't get the chance to react before you felt the g-forces pulling on your body and the wind whipping at your face, subconsciously squeezing his hand back as you screamed. You heard Reigen scream as well, but in fear rather than delight.
The flash of the camera didn't faze you as the adrenaline rushed through your veins and the ride continued forward. At the peak of the coaster, the ride slowed to a rolling stop, and you finally saw the view you had been dreaming about. To your left, miles away, was one big city, and to your right was the other city, high-rises galore. You took in the view of miles of pine trees and of the orange and pink sunset in front of you, appreciating and committing the moment to memory.
In a split second, you felt something squeeze your hand and remembered you hadn't let go of Reigen's hand. At the same time, the two of you glanced at your intertwined hands and then at each other.
Again, before you could do anything else, you felt your stomach rise as the ride dropped from its spot at the top toward the ground. You began to scream again, noticing Reigen's mix of yelling and laughing beside you. His hand squeezed yours once more and again, you squeezed his back.
Finally the ride slowed to a stop as you reached the end. You laughed and pushed some hair out of your face, clapping your hands in delight. "That was AWESOME!" You said, turning to Reigen and seeing him already turned to you. He had a charming smile on his face, crooked with excitement and slightly out of breath as adrenaline still rushed through his veins. "See? I told you it was gonna be fun!" You laughed.
"You were right," he laughed back, sending small butterflies fluttering through your stomach. You smiled, glad that despite going on the ride by yourself, you had someone to share this experience with.
You and Reigen unbuckled your seatbelts, promptly exiting the ride together. You made your way down to the area where they sold photos taken on the ride and looked for yours. Finally, after an entire decade of knowing about the ride’s existence, you were able to experience it firsthand. After speaking with the employee at the desk and chit-chatting for a bit while waiting for the pictures to pop up on the screen, you finally saw the photo that would let you remember the momentous occasion.
And boy, was it hilarious.
There in the photo was the two of you, front and center. While you had a great big smile on your face, Reigen’s face held pure terror. You tried your hardest not to laugh at his expression, but couldn’t contain your giggles at his scream of fear. “There’s no way you made that face naturally,” you said as you covered your mouth while giggling.
Reigen scoffed and chuckled as he responded with, “Well ex-cuuuse me that not everyone is a psycho adrenaline junkie who fantasizes about deathly rollercoasters.”
You gasped as you clutched your invisible pearls, saying, “How dare you! I am utterly offended by your false accusations!” He chuckled again as he watched you turn to him before you continued, “I am no mere adrenaline junkie, sir; like I said, I am simply the greatest rollercoaster enthusiast of the 21st century.” You laughed and turned away smiling, making sure to give him a cheeky side-eye before saying, “Tsk tsk tsk. You’d know that if you’d paid attention to my glorious introduction…”
He mimicked your offended gasp from before and said, “Me? Not paying attention? Now that’s crossing a line, missy.” Turning to you with a smirk he continued, “Care to apologize to the innocent party who clearly did nothing wrong?”
“Nuh-uh, the innocent one here is clearly me. Only a truly innocent person would have that much joy on their face for a picture.”
“More like only a truly psycho person,” He said, dramatically saying “Ouch!” when you playfully jabbed him in the shoulder. With that, you turned back to the screen with a smile, looking at the picture once again.
That was when you noticed something you hadn’t noticed before. Between the two of you were your hands, clamped together with your fingers intertwined tightly. The gesture looked strangely intimate, as if it was something natural for the two of you. It almost looked as if…
You felt a blush creep onto your face as the thought crossed your mind. He was a relatively attractive guy and you couldn’t deny that you didn’t think so the first time you saw him in line. The thought of potential sparks only fueled the fire that burned your cheeks.
Glancing at Reigen, you noticed a similar pink hue covering the apples of his cheeks as he also noticed the gesture. Accidentally making eye contact with each other, you both quickly moved your gazes to somewhere random. You were both pulled out of your embarrassment by a monotone voice saying, “…So….are you guys gonna buy anything orrr…?”
You both looked at the person behind the register and chuckled in embarrassment. “Uh, yes please. I’ll take one copy,” you said before Reigen followed saying, “Make that two.”
You bashfully smiled at each other as you waited for the pictures to print and for the cashier to give them to you.
Finally making your way through the exit to where your friends were supposed to be, you noticed their absence. Looking around, you started to get confused.
"Something wrong?" He asked, intrigue evident on his face. You looked around one more time, wondering where your friends went. Where had they gone? They were LITERALLY your ride home. You had all carpooled here together as a group.
"My friends," You said, turning to him, "They're gone."
"I have no clue. Let me call them - sorry, one sec."
You waited as the phone rang, a hand on your hip in anticipation. Finally, your friend answered, and you exhaled in relief.
"Hey, where are you guys?"
"(Y/N)! You will NOT believe what happened. First - did you have fun? How was it? Was it just like you were expecting?"
"It was great! There was a problem at first, but it all worked out! I'll tell you more when I see you in person, though."
"YAY, I’m so happy you loved it! Alright, so, while we were waiting for you, we decided to get some funnel cake at one of the stands nearby. (Friend) decided they wanted a hot dog instead, and - being the utter genius that they are - decided to try one from this super dingy stand that was, like, super far from the ride. Unfortunately, due to their highly intelligent decision, despite us telling them NOT to, (friend) ended up getting severe food poisoning - like, vomiting and shitting profusely, severe."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Seriously, I wish I was. Anyways, we ended up having to drive to the hospital so (friend) could get treated in the E.R."
"So... how am I gonna get home? Did y'all forget you're my ride?"
"No, we didn't forget. That's the biggest thing I was worried about when we knew we had to take (friend) to the E.R. We can come pick you back up, but I really don't know how long the E.R. will take. I'm so sorry, (y/n)."
"Damn," you said, looking to Reigen to see him on the phone as well. He had walked a little farther away, presumably to give you some privacy or to get some privacy while on his own phone call. "Well, I'll see what I can do. Is (friend) doing any better?"
"Eh, they're so so. There's still a ton of vomit but thank goodness there's not a lot of shit. Honestly, I'd count your lucky stars that you didn't have to witness the chaos over here. I guess just have fun while you're waiting? You still have all your stuff, right?"
"Alright, then. Oh- CRAP! (FRIEND)'S VOMITTING AGAIN! GET THE BAG, QUICK! (y/n), I'll call you back, okay? HANG ON!- Okay, bye!-"
And, just like that, you heard the call end abruptly.
Well, I guess I'll try and make the most of it.
I mean, just how bad could spending time with an attractive stranger be?
