[b]Toma Tanaka - April 26th, Afternoon[/b]

A low, defeated groan escaped Toma's throat. The boy sat lazily in a park bench, his track jacket thrown off next to him leaving him in his plain grey t-shirt. 

His breathing was a little labored, as he had just finished helping an older man -- who owned a bookstore & cafe -- move his wares to a smaller building. Toma's wrist wasn't anywhere close to healed, but he had kept that to himself and taken the job anyway. It had hurt more than he expected, and the dull, hot pain was still present. Whatever -- the job was done.

Toma had asked why the man was changing buildings. 'Downsizing,' he had answered.. Business had slowed down over the last little while, and the larger store was too much. Upon learning that the older man was the only one who ran the store, Toma had asked if he was looking to hire.

Of course the man said no. That would have been too easy. He 'had it under control.' Recalling that, Toma sighed again and turned his head away from the bright sun as the brief cover of clouds passed, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow with his good hand. He was convinced now -- no steady job he was qualified for existed in this town. All the boy had managed to find were a few one-time deals. It was better than nothing, but the frustration was getting to him.

Speaking of frustration -- those goddamned disappearances. Another one had happened, and the victim this time was Hamada. That was troubling enough, considering she was still missing, but to add to that, Hamada's friend -- Ueno Saya -- who had been with her at the time of her disappearance had been assaulted.

That confirmed to Toma that the disappearances were in fact kidnappings -- not that there was much doubt about that to begin with, though. It also confirmed that the kidnappers were willing to get violent. Toma grimaced in anger. What the fuck were their motives? Why were they only going after students of Warakuma High?

The boy bit the side of his lip hard, drawing blood. It didn't matter [i]why[/i]. Whoever these people were, they were evil. And they needed to have their existences erased.

But despite his efforts, Toma still had zero clues. The only thing he hadn't tried was talking to Ueno and Noboru; he hadn't seen either of them in at least a week. He was also worried that it might be a bit of a touchy subject, but he didn't really care at his point. He just wanted answers.

He looked down at his nearly useless right hand, cursing it with a frown. Unbearable frustration. 

Track was the only thing that helped him let off some steam lately, and he took full advantage of it every time the club met by running himself ragged. Speaking of which, he checked the time on his phone. It was almost 12. Arata, the head of the Track club, had invited them all to get together at the amusement park today. To "bond," as he put it.

At first, Toma had said no -- he didn't particularly feel like it, and he thought his time would be better spent looking into the kidnappings or finding a job. Arata had pushed, though, and had managed to get a very reluctant 'yes' out of him. He mulled it over in his seat, still deciding whether he should go. 

With a click of his tongue, he stood up and pushed his hair off his forehead. He had agreed to go (no matter how forced he had been), so he couldn't not show up. Toma looked on the bright side; it was his first time going to the amusement park, and he knew he could use a break, despite not wanting one.

It was a way to spend the day and keep himself occupied. And there was a good chance that it'd be fun.

[hr]
[b]Amusement Park[/b]

[i]This was not fun.[/i]

The small group was being lead by Arata, and the guy was way too energetic for Toma. They moved around the park at far too quick a pace, and Toma was just getting dragged along.

What was the point of this? They were basically skipping everything. They should have been leisurely strolling through, taking their time to actually enjoy everything that was being offered, and making the experience last. Toma didn't voice his complaints, though, as everyone else seemed to be having a good time.

The only source of amusement for the boy was watching Arata dote on Tsuruko. The crush he had on her was obvious to everyone, even to her, but as far as Toma knew, they weren't dating. After observing them, his best guess as to why that was was that Tsuruko simply wasn't interested, and she tried to subtly communicate that. It all went over Arata's head, though. The guy had spent a huge amount of money playing a carnival game to try and win a stuffed toy that the girl had off-handedly said was cute. After his dozenth-or-so try, he had actually succeeded, too. Her joyful reaction, Toma noticed, was a little forced.

Eventually, they reached what many considered to be the park's main attraction -- the roller-coaster. Toma paled ever so slightly as the group began to talk excitedly, heading to the end of the line. 

[color=f26522]"I-I, uh, I'm not really up for this ride,"[/color] he said to the group, quickly getting his cracked voice under control. [color=f26522]"I'm hungry, so I'll just go eat something while you guys are on it."[/color]

Arata began to protest, of course, but Toma was having none of it. [color=f26522]"You don't understand, Kimura-kun. I'm [i]really[/i] starving."[/color] The energetic boy eventually gave up with an over-exaggerated huff of disappointment.

Sighing in relief, enjoying the relative silence now that he was no longer with the group, he went to a stand and bought an ice-cream sandwich before going back near the entrance of the ride and leaning against a railing. 

As he enjoyed his cold snack, he looked up at the coaster, a fairly out-of-the-blue, morbid thought crossing his mind. He imagined a strap failing during the ride, his buckle opening up and letting him plummet to his death. He gave a bit of a nervous snort as he entertained the idea. That'd be huge news in this town, and would be terrible for the amusement park's business. And of course, if that were to happen to him, both his parents would be devastated. He frowned imagining his parent's reactions, and pushed the idea out of his head. 

He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his good wrist before going back to eating, considering the option of ditching the group to go off on his own. Spending his time alone in an amusement park probably wasn't the coolest thing a teenager could do, but he wasn't fond of rejoining the members of the track club, either. And they likely wouldn't miss him too much.