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"Ultra bad luck. At this rate, might fail again. Better to be alone. Stay away from the opposite sex. Might bring misfortune to both."
... What a wonderful fortune talisman I got. And I made Shinobu cry... again... gah. What a wonderful year this is shaping up to be...
Keitaro was feeling like crap, and he showed it.
After walking around looking despondent for a while, he decided to approach Motoko for help. She was working here after all...
"What? The talisman is worrying you? So it was an unlucky one. I can't say it was unexpected... have you heard that tying the talisman onto a tree can ward off the bad luck?"
"Oh yeah... now that you remind me..."
"Come on, follow me... I'll bring you to the garden at the back."
Keitaro followed her to the back of the temple. He noticed that the trees were pretty tall, and he wouldn't be able to reach even the lowest branches.
"Um... these trees, are pretty tall... uh..."
"I guess I'll tie it for you then. Bend over so that I can climb up..."
Keitaro bent over. Her legs went over his shoulder as she sat on his back.
"You ready?"
"Yeah."
He stood up underneath a branch to let her tie his talisman more easily. Her skirt stretched over his head as he stood.
Wow... her legs look so... smoo- ack, what am I thinking here? Wait! Can this be considered 'getting near girls'? Does this mean something will happen if this continues? Yikes!
His first instinct was to freak out, but then he realized that he had a girl on his back, and that if he freaked out now, he would drop her, possibly injuring the both of them.
Well... I guess if something bad was to happen, it would have happened already... hmm... but... carrying Motoko feels kind of... nice.
"Urashima, I'm done. You can let me down now.
"Ah, sure. Thanks for your help."
He bent over again so that she could get off.
"Well, I hope that that will help change your fortune..."
She smiled at him, and he realized that she was a very pretty girl indeed.
He smiled back. "Yeah, I hope so too..."
Perhaps this won't be such a bad year after all...
A/N: This one's kind of... um... dull. Anyway, just for some background, this is the first new year after Keitaro arrived at the dormitory.