“Um, first, you choose a frame. Which size do you want? There are five options.”
“Size? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the bigger the better.”
“Then I’ll go with the biggest one. I’ll set the brightness to automatic and add no decorations. …Okay, here it goes.”
He doubted she knew what was going to happen, but she looked charming enough with the excited sparkle in her eyes.
He was embarrassed standing next to her, so he left a space between them and smiled awkwardly.
“C’mon, what kind of game is it?”
She was still grabbing onto the elbow of his sleeve and she pulled him in close.
At that exact moment, the booth took the picture.
“??”
She turned around in surprise at the sudden light, but her long and skinny eyebrows twisted when the booth did nothing more.
Mutsuki was somewhat troubled as he checked the photo on the screen, but he guessed she would be mad if he retook it. He touched the “confirm” button on the panel and it took around a dozen seconds to print the photos.
“What is this?”
“Like I was saying, this machine isn’t actually a game.”
Anger visibly grew on Ange’s face when he handed her the printed photos.
He began to wonder if he should have retaken it after all. Depending on how one looked at it, it almost looked like they were smiling together with their arms linked.
“What is this!? So it just takes pictures? That isn’t a game at all!”
“Well, you’re actually supposed to draw on the pictures you take.”
“Where’s the fun in that!? How stupid!”
He had started this because he had thought she would find something “stupid” to be fun, but she had gotten mad instead. She seemed to especially dislike how friendly they looked in the photo. She blushed and stomped out of the booth.
Mutsuki scratched at his head and followed her.
But he did secretly pocket his first one-on-one photo with a girl since it had come out so well.
Ange seemed more cautious after that first failure, so she avoided any kind of machine with a screen as she started searching for something that looked fun.
Even in such a large place, there was only so much they could do, so they naturally ended up at a certain device.
“You called this the crane game?”
“Yes. You grab the prizes with that crane.”
“Hmm.”
Still looking sullen, she stopped in front of the prize area that contained over one hundred machines.
The prizes were exposed behind a single layer of glass and one could snag one for as little as one hundred yen. The genre had an attraction for people like her who knew little of normal games and it drew her attention quite well.
“Want to try it? Although it’s not easy, so I doubt you can get anything.”
There were plenty of varieties: orthodox cranes, shovels that scooped up treats and glass beads, extending arms, baskets the prizes were shaken into, and hooks to snag the prizes. For a beginner like her, he guessed the roulette that relied entirely on luck would give her the best odds of success, but…
“I can teach you the trick to it if you want. So which one do you-… Uh, oh.”
“…”
When he noticed what her slanted blue eyes were focused on, he grimaced.
She apparently wanted a Lazy Bear cushion, based on a mascot character that had gotten popular recently. It was a large prize and there was only one per machine. And of course, each play in those machines cost two hundred yen.
“I can get this too?”
“Um… W-well, yes. If you can grab it. But…”
“I’ll do it. Just tell me how.”
Her unconcerned tone of voice would not take no for an answer, so Mutsuki had no choice but to operate the machine in question and teach her how it was done. It was an orthodox crane type where Button 1 moved it to the side and Button 2 moved it forward. He told her that she had to stop the crane above the prize to grab it, that targeting the center of gravity was best, and to go for a spot that was not too thick but not too thin since it responded to pressure.
But…
“Okay. I’ll give it a shot.”
The machine cost two hundred yen a try, but he inserted a five hundred yen coin which was worth three games.
Ange stared at the prize beyond the glass with as serious a look as when she wielded her great sword. Mutsuki had paid for three game’s worth to make sure she was convinced, but…
“…Here.”
Whirrrr.
“…There!”
Whirrr.
Whir-whir-whir-whir-whir.
“…”
“…”
“…? Is that all?”
“Yeah, you failed your first try.”
The claws had grabbed the prize at a good spot, but they had risen back up without lifting the target in the slightest. Then they moved back above the prize hole.
“What the hell!? What a piece of junk!”
“I told it wasn’t easy, didn’t I?”
He smiled bitterly at the angry girl because he had expected this to happen.
Prize games generally had two types of machines: the lure machines that drew in customers with their magnificent prizes and the opened machines that drew in customers with the ability to actually win something.
Mutsuki had looked into it because his sister Mutsumi was really into the Lazy Bear series, but the cushion was a new product. That meant it would be in one of the lure machines. The machine was only meant to show off the prizes, so it would be made so no one could actually win them.
There would be days when it was set up to be possible, but a weekday like today was hopeless. Based on Ange’s game, the claws were too loose. Even one hundred games would not be enough to get it.
“Grrr…”
Oblivious to that world of adults, Ange furrowed her brow and glared at the machine as she reached for the buttons again.
Three games would never satisfy her, so Mutsuki inserted another five hundred yen, increasing the “remaining plays” light to “4”. In the meantime, he started looking for another solution.
Fortunately, he quickly found what he was looking for. It was the machine he had worked himself to death conquering after Mutsumi had begged him.
“…”
“…”
“Ahhhhhhh! There’s no way you can get it! Is this thing rigged!?”
After using up all of her plays and only moving the cushion a little over two millimeters, the girl shouted loud enough for the employees to here.
“As I said, it’s really hard.”
Mutsuki returned to her with a smile.
“This isn’t just hard. It’s made so you can’t win!”
“And you lost from the moment you didn’t realize that.”
“…”
“Here.”
He handed his prize to the girl whose adorable face was twisted in anger.
Ange was shocked to have something a few sizes larger than the cushion pressed against her chest. Her eyes opened wide when she realized what it was. The shape was a little different, but it was the same character as what she had wanted.
It was a Lazy Bear body pillow. He had worked his ass off winning one two weeks before for Mutsumi…and then had won another for his jealous older sister. And then a third time for Chiaki when she sulked.
He was so accustomed to it that he had won this one after only two tries. It was not a difficult thing on one of the opened machines.
“You can have it. It’s not a cushion, but it’s pretty much the same, right?”
“~~ I-I don’t need…”
“You don’t want it?”
“…”
She never said she did, but she refused to let go of it.
She quickly grew silent, so he headed to the service counter to get a bag.
When he turned his back, he barely picked up a voice saying “…nk you”, but he pretended not to hear it and continued to the counter.
However, he could not keep up his gentlemanly act, so he peeked back toward her after turning
the corner and asking an employee for a prize bag.
Ange remained entirely motionless for a while, but…
“~~”
He saw her squeeze the pillow just once.