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“I’ll take twelve erasers, please.”
This was Yoshiko’s fourth time at the arcade this week. To the average person, that would seem excessive, but Yoshiko wouldn’t soon admit it – at least, not until she was going every day of the week.
She was an avid gamer, but she knew she wasn’t there for the arcade games, oh no, quite the contrary, her sights were set on the saucy little redhead manning the prize counter.
Riko, as Yoshiko had so eloquently deduced from her nametag, fished out the erasers from the bin, something she found herself doing quite often. “You’ve been coming here a lot, huh? Aren’t you a little too old to be playing arcade games?” Ouch, the redhead had a little bite to her. But to Yoshiko, that was so hot.
“I-I’ve just been bored, ya know, summer vacation and all...” It was a thinly-veiled lie, but she wasn’t about to air out her actual intentions.
Riko laughed as she handed Yoshiko her prize in exchange for a meager amount of tickets. “For all the time you spend here, you’re not very good at these games, huh?”
“W-What makes you say that?” Offended, Yoshiko quickly went on the defensive. “I’ll have you know I can beat any of these stupid games!”
The redhead was smirking. “Then why are you always getting these cheap erasers? Surely with your skill you could round up enough tickets for something better.”
Well damn. Why did she always get the erasers? Sure, she could afford some of the better prizes, but to tell the truth, the prizes were the last thing on her mind when she approached the prize counter. “T-There aren’t really any other good prizes…at least none that I’d want…”
“Hmm. And what kind of prize would you want?”
“Pfft, all I actually want is your phone number—” Whoops, she definitely meant to keep that to herself.
Yoshiko was surprised to see Riko looking mildly intrigued, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Haha, ok then, tell you what. If you can beat the crane machine in one try, I’ll gladly give you my phone number.”
Holy shit. Was this girl actually flirting back with her? “Umm…yeah, alright…”
“Ok then, lead the way. You got a favorite machine? I wouldn’t be surprised since you come here so often.” Riko’s incessant mocking was starting to rile her up, but ugh, she couldn’t get enough of it.
Yoshiko parked herself in front of a random machine. Truth be told, crane games didn’t give tickets, so she hadn’t spent as much time playing them. But how hard could it be? This machine contained an exorbitant amount of plush toys, her claw would have to hit something. She set her sights on a bright-yellow star pillow, which rested gently atop a mound of other fluffy items.
“Here.” Riko handed her two tokens. “This one’s on me.”
“T-Thanks…” Geez, now was not the time to get flustered. Yoshiko’s pockets were jingling with a surplus of tokens, but she graciously accepted.
She inserted the two coins in machine, the plastic cage lighting up to signal the start of the game. Yoshiko took the joystick in her hand, easing it gently over to her target. Her hands were shaking, didn’t these games usually have buttons instead of joysticks? When she was satisfied with her alignment, she swung over to the other side of the machine to check her depth.
“You’re running out of time~” Riko egged her on.
“I know, I know, sheesh.”
Yoshiko returned to the front of the machine, her hand hovering over the “Drop” button. As the counter silently ticked down, only seconds away from expiring, Yoshiko’s hand slammed the button, releasing the claw. Her fate was now in the hands of the Seven Lucky Gods. The crane dipped down at an excruciatingly slow speed, finally surrounding the star pillow before grazing it ever so slightly. Yoshiko held her breath as the three-pronged claw closed its grip, the metal fingers barely grasping a corner of the pillow. By now Yoshiko was sweating with anxiety, the pillow drooping down as the claw retracted, pulling it up. It was going to be close, that thing was hanging by a thread. As the claw made the long journey to the drop box, Yoshiko felt her heart drop as the star finally gave out, dropping harmlessly back into the sea of pillows, never to see the light of day.
Yoshiko stared, dejectedly, at the pillow that lay there, taunting her. She’d blown her only chance. Looks like all that time she spent in the arcade was for naught. She was about to bang her head against the machine when she felt a soft hand against her own.
“Here.” Riko placed a small object in Yoshiko’s palm. “A consolation prize. You almost had it there.” Riko smiled, waving nonchalantly before returning to her post.
Yoshiko examined the object that lay in her hand. A fucking eraser. Well done, Riko, well done. That audacious little minx went for the most salt-inducing gesture she could think of. Yoshiko was about to rip the eraser in half when she noticed something written on the other side. They were numbers, digits, nine of them to be exact. Shit, was this Riko’s phone number? She turned abruptly back to the girl behind the prize counter, an angelic smile escaping the redhead’s lips as she gave Yoshiko a wink. “Come back soon, ya hear? Gotta practice, wouldn't want that crane machine to keep kicking your ass, now would we?”