They all walked together to the arcade. As much as he wanted to hold both their hands on the way there. Kichi held back in fear of what other people would think. That as well as the fact that despite agreeing to date each other. He also had the sneaking suspicion that Aoi would get mad if was so forward.

“Here we are.” He said as they entered the building. A simple date inside an arcade sounded like a safe plan to him. Nothing should go wrong while they’re here. It was funny though. He remembered when he went out with Airi that one time. She wanted to go to the arcade, but the coin suggested a different idea. This time around she wasn’t the one who wanted to go, but the coin decided now was the time to go here. Seemed fate wasn’t on her side.

“Now what should we do first? Ooh, that looks fun.” Airi had stars in her eyes as she already headed towards one of the machines. This was promptly stopped by her sister, who pulled her back by the collar.

“We’re not playing on the dance machine.” She said. It was already bad enough to consider the idea of singing in front of them. Aoi definitely would never dream of dancing in front of a crowd.

“Yeah, let’s not do something that’ll draw attention.” He agreed with her. That was another funny thing he found with Aoi. When he first met her, he always thought it would be insufferable hanging out with her. Instead, it turned out they had a lot more in common with each other than anyone would’ve thought.

“How about this instead?” He suggested and took them to a claw game machine. Sure, everyone knew these were essentially scams that cheated in taking you money and keeping the prizes locked inside. However, they were still fun in Kichi’s mind. So he didn’t mind trying it a few times, win or lose.

“I’m going first.” Surprisingly, it was Aoi who wanted to take a crack at this machine. Another twist was that Airi was the one trying to convince her otherwise.

“Are you sure about that?” She asked. “You know how you get when it comes to playing the claw game.” He didn’t know what they were talking about. This seemed like such an innocent game. Yet it appeared that Airi was afraid of the outcome if they chose to allow this to occur.

“Whatever, I’m just going to play so stop bugging me.” Aoi put in one of her coins and went to work. She meticulously and carefully moved the claw over one of the many stuffed animals inside the machine. Her target was a white, fluffy, teddy bear. After spending more time than the average person getting the claw in just the right position. She pressed the button and let the machine do its job.

Its claw hand opened up and descended upon the hapless toy. They all stared at it as the claw tightened its grip onto the stuffed animal and began to pull up. Only there was no strength in its grip and it already failed to pick up the prize. “Ah!” Aoi gave off a yelp of dismay as she watched the claw automatically return to the drop area empty handed.

“Okay, that should be enough for now.” Airi patted her on the shoulders to calm the girl down. “Maybe me or Kichi can get the next try?”

“No fair, the machine’s cheating.” She snapped back. “I’m trying again.” The girl reached into her pocket to produce yet another coin. Even though this was only the second attempt. Kichi now understood the feeling Airi had about this when they began.

Again she went on the same routine as last to pick up what she hoped would turn into her prized possession. The claw was carefully aimed over right on top of the toy and she pressed the button yet again. This time was different from before. This time it actually picked up the teddy bear from the ground. It gave her hope, which were quickly dashed the moment the claw returned back to its up position. The slight bump it made upon reaching its top limits knocked the bear out of its grip. “Oh come on!” Aoi slammed the machine in frustration. “I totally had it.”

“I think now’s a good time to quit.” Airi attempted to calm her sister down. It failed and all it got her was a snarl from Aoi like a wild animal.

“Say, if I promise you I can get it on the next try.” Kichi knew what to do to handle this situation. It was time for him to show them his trick about these machines. “Would you let me take a shot?”

“Fine.” Aoi turned her head up in doubt. While she allowed him to get in a try, the girl seriously didn’t think he’d be able to do it. This boy barely seemed he’d be able beat her in a video game. So she was certain he wouldn’t be better than her at this claw game. “Be my guest.”

“Thanks.” He took her spot at the control and put in a coin of his own. Thankfully his lucky coin was not like a regular currency coin. So there would be no way he’d ever make the mistake of using it on a game like this. “All right, here we go.” Kichi took a deep breath, then close his eyes as he took command of the machine.

“Hey, what kind of joke is this!?” Aoi complained as she witnessed him blindly moving the claw around. “Is this supposed to make me laugh? Because I can’t laugh at something so stupid.”

“What are you talking about?” He replied, acting as if what he was doing was completely normal. “I am trying, don’t worry I’ll do my best to get the toy you wanted.”

“How can you get it if you can’t even see it?” She continued to complain. “L-left, no right, now you have to-”
“I don’t need your commands distracting me.” He tried to put his hand onto her mouth to shush the girl. However since he was blind at the moment, he was unable to find where she even stood and missed the girl completely. It was at this point she completely gave up hope on him being able to keep his promise as she just crossed her arms and shut up.

Meanwhile, Airi was in awe that he was even capable of remotely being able to get the class right over the bear despite not seeing it. She stared at his face to see if he was cheating, but never once did he open his eyes. She then continued to look at him despite knowing he spoke the truth because this also made for a good opportunity to get a good look at his face when he wasn’t looking. She hadn’t found the nerve to admit it yet, but she always thought he was a handsome boy.

After a point in which on one was sure how he could even know if he was at the right spot. Kichi pressed the button to make it make its attempt in picking up the teddy bear. Aoi looked again into the machine to see it actually properly wrap itself around the toy and pick it up. The claw didn’t loosen its grip upon reaching the top once again began the slow move towards the drop area. It felt like an eternity to Aoi, as she had lost many attempts during the move to the winning spot. Those were the worst as she would feel the gut punch of seeing the toy drop back onto the ground again.

Thankfully her fears were not realized as it simply made its way back to the starting point and dropped the stuffed animal into the chute to allow them to retrieve it.

“See, told you I’d get it.” He handed it to her in smug fashion.

“How’d you do that?” Asked Airi in complete awe. “I can’t believe you didn’t just miss it.”

“I don’t know, somehow closing my eyes always gives me better results.” He explained. While Kichi assumed it to mostly be luck. He also got a sneaking suspicion that there might be a camera on one of these things checking so that the machine would cheat less.

“Well… Thanks.” Aoi held the teddy bear tightly and close to her chest. Despite it not being meant for this manner. This would be the first gift he won for her in their relationship. She would hold onto this for a long time.

“It’s no problem.” He responded. “That’s what boyfriends do, right?” Kichi leaned into her to whisper it in her ear, away from everyone else. He too was aware of the implications of his actions, which only served to solidify their relationship status. “Anyway, I’m going to use the bathroom. Just go ahead and look for something else and I’ll meet you there.”

Kichi left the pair and did exactly what he said he was going to do. Nothing weird like the last time he used a public restroom, though he was reminded of it as he looked himself in the mirror. It was going to be a dark mark hanging over his head for the rest of his life, it seemed.

Anyway, after he had finished, the boy left the restrooms to go find where the girls went. However, upon walking out of the room, he was ambushed by Airi. She had left her sister to wait for him here for some reason. And by the way she quickly wrapped her arm around his body, he could tell why.