Star Trick: Deep Space Lyin' (The Misadventures of Kokichi and Kaito)

The Planetarium (2)

        Soon, they arrived at the planetarium, which was a large, circular building with a golden dome at the top. Kaito stared at it in awe while Kokichi yawned with boredom. Hundreds of other people were there taking pictures before walking in while others just stopped and looked to admire the building. Filled with excitement, Kaito ran up the stairs of the building with Kokichi walking behind with his arms casually placed behind his head. They entered the lobby of the building where a narrow, red carpet rested on a golden marble floor. Kaito and Kokichi followed the red carpet to a couple of doors and opened them. Inside, was a large, lit theatre with a massive stage at the front, an even bigger screen above it, and the domed ceiling towering high above their heads. 

    "Wow! This is amazing!" Kaito exclaimed breathlessly. Kokichi merely stuck his tongue out as if to say "boooring." Before anyone else could, they took their places in the front row right in front of the stage. Kaito had a crap-eating grin on his face as everyone settled in their seats. The theatre was lost in a sea of murmurs as the audience waited for the show to start. Suddenly, the theatre's lights began to dim slowly until it became pitch black. Everyone waited in hushed excitement until they heard loud, booming, adventurous music that was supposed to resemble space. The audience began to cheer and applaud when the screen above the stage lit up with the Earth, followed by a quick zoom into Tokyo, Japan at the exact location outside of the planetarium. The camera panned upwards to see someone parachuting from the sky until he fell below the camera out of sight. Suddenly, that same guy jumped onto the stage from behind it, wearing the same exact parachute. The audience cheered louder. It was an optical illusion to make it look like the guy came from the screen and onto the stage. 

    "Didja see that?! Didja see that?!" Kaito asked Kokichi excitedly. Kokichi merely shrugged, unimpressed. 

   "Sorry I'm late, folks," the man with the parachute said. "I guess I 'dropped' in at the wrong time." The audience laughed at his joke, even Kaito who laughed way harder than he should have. "I'm your host, Auta Supesu, and I'll be teaching you the ins and outs of outer space! Haha, see what I did there?" Again, the audience, and Kaito, laughed. Kokichi rolled his eyes and made gagging sounds. Mr. Supesu taught the audience interesting facts about outer space, most of which Kokichi slept through. 

   "If you folks will take a look at our dome, you'll see stars...not in the painful way, either," he winked. The audience laughed again.

   "Haha, that was a good one!" Kaito said. "Don't you think so, Kokichi?"

   "Meh," Kokichi replied. Even though Kaito couldn't care any less about Kokichi's opinion, he felt disappointed to see that Kokichi wasn't enjoying the show. He decided to not let it bother him, however, and looked up at the dome which had a bunch of constellations and galaxies. The audience "oohed" and "ahhed" at the sight. This went on for a couple of hours until the lights turned back on.

   "Now that you guys had your little space adventure, it is now time for the Q&A portion of our show," Mr. Supesu said. "Any questions?" Hands shot up through the audience. Kaito saw a blur of white out of the corner of his eye shoot up and felt his heart skip a beat. 

   *Oh, no,* Kaito thought to himself, closing his eyes in fear. *Just please ask to use the bathroom, or something.* But, unfortunately for Kaito, Mr. Supesu picked Kokichi to ask a question. 

   "Yes, you, young man," Mr. Supesu said, gesturing towards Kokichi. "What's your question?" One of the ushers handed Kokichi a microphone. Kaito shut his eyes, hoping and praying that Kokichi would just ask a simple question about space. 

   "Okay, well...y'know how fire needs oxygen to burn?" Kokichi asked.

   "Yes, of course," Mr. Supesu replied.

   "Well, if there isn't any oxygen in space, how does the Sun keep burning?" Kokichi asked. Kaito sighed in relief and surprise. He didn't expect Kokichi to ask an actual, legit question about space.

   "Excellent question!" Mr. Supesu replied, and explained it in outer space mumbo-jumbo that Kokichi didn't really care to try and understand. 

   "I see," Kokichi replied. 

  "You have any other questions?"

  "Actually, I do," Kokichi nodded. Kaito groaned inwardly. "Where does a black hole end? Like, when things get sucked into it, where does it all go?" Again, Mr. Supesu answered Kokichi with the best of his knowledge. Kaito was surprised and relieved again. Maybe Kokichi was interested in space, after all, he thought to himself. 

   "Well, young man, I hope I answered your questions so you could understand better," Mr. Supesu said. "Let's have someone else ask a ques-"

   "Actually, I have one more!" Kokichi interrupted. Mr. Supesu stared at him.

   "Um...okay, but just ONE more," he said.

   "Absolutely!" Kokichi replied, a slow smile spreading across his face. Kaito had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Anyone who hadn't been around Kokichi long enough would see that smile and think it was a normal, genuine smile. But Kaito knew better than anyone in that room that when it came to Kokichi, there was no such thing as "normal," or "genuine."

   "Okay, what's your question?" Mr. Supesu asked. Kaito wanted to jump up and snatch the microphone from Kokichi, but part of him was strangely curious to know what his next question would be. 

   "Do aliens have dicks?" Kokichi asked with the most mischievous smile he could muster. An immediate hush fell among the audience. Mr. Supesu stared at Kokichi, dumbfounded. A few nervous giggles rippled through the audience. Kaito then sprang into action and took the mic from Kokichi.

   "Uh...sorry about that," Kaito said. "It's just, um...my brother. He, uh...wants to be a stand-up comedian."

   "Well, he should probably practice more," Mr. Supesu said with a flabbergasted chuckle. Kokichi snatched the mic back from Kaito.

   "Nee-heehee...it seems like comedy would come naturally to you, Mr. Supesu," Kokichi teased. "You wouldn't even have to say anything! All people would have to do is just look at your face!" Just then, the audience erupted into a fit of lughter.

   "Security!" Mr. Supesu said. Two large burly guys came up to Kokichi and Kaito to escort them out of the theatre. 

   "Awww, the nerdy Mr. Auta Supesu needs his two gorilla goons to kick the naughty, little boys out, huh?" Kokichi teased some more. "BTDubs, bright boy...your name is stupid!" One of the security guards snatched the mic from Kokichi and led both of them out of the theatre. All the way to the car and back home, Kokichi smiled smugly while Kaito drove away in heated silence.