I love holidays~ Gives me enough time to arrange my thoughts and put it down in writing. Here's part 3, of just how cracked Midorima is.
xxx

And once again, Takao found himself trudging cluelessly after Midorima. The shooter had given him enough time to finish his breakfast at the cafe before pulling the brunette out of his comfy seat into the cold.

Midorima hadn't even listened to Takao's refusals. The taller boy had insisted- no, ordered Takao to man up and confess. He had until the end of the day or else Shin-chan was going to beat him up... yet again.

So Takao, desperate and panicked, offered a condition.

If his lucky item, did prove to be lucky, he will do as Midorima says.

But that still doesn't explain why the two found themselves huddled over a crane game inside the nearest mall. And it wasn't even the normal kind of crane game with plushies and dolls in it. This one had gigantic plushies in it, nearly half of Takao's body in size. And one coin for it cost 3000 yen. When Midorima pulled the note out of his wallet, Takao had nearly gone batshit on him.

Trusting your shots on luck was reasonable, but 3000 yen? Really, Shin-chan!? The words never left Takao's lips though, because Midorima's ordering gaze was on him.

"...You want me to play this...?" Takao asked uncertainly, his feet shuffled back but the hand bodily steering him in front of the large glass case answered his question.

"But Shin-chan!" he attempted to insist that he was just going to waste the shooter's money with this foolishness. The tinkle of the coin sliding in the slot, and the music jangling to life cut his words short as he hurriedly turned back to the challenge.

Midorima's un-gloved hand was warm against his back, as they had both shed their coats and gloves and deposited it in the counter when they came in. The shooter was standing behind him to his right, one hand pressed against Takao's right shoulder blade. The green gaze was intent on the prize. But when those emerald orbs glanced down at Takao's panicked face, there was a trace of amusement in them.

"If you lose, you'll owe me 3000 yen." was all Midorima said.

Takao resigned himself to his fate and grasped the controls of the crane game, one in each hand. His gaze roved over the toys, bears, pandas and several other animals crowded inside the case, all too cute to be ignored. As he was angling his head to look over some of the other toys nearest him, the pendant on his neck threw a suggestion in the form of it's lime-green patch of light.

The ray landed on a pink bunny near the back, a lot of effort in maneuverings will be needed if Takao was going for that one. The bunny must have also caught Midorima's attention because he was also peering at it.

Throwing his luck in the wind, Takao started to move the controls, a ways to the back, a nudge to the left, and then the crane stopped in it's tracks, the clamp swaying slightly on it's hinges. With a whirr of cheap machinery, the clamp lowered and opened up to snap close on one of the bunny's ears.

The toy lifted and started to make it's slow path to the chute, and then it caught it's feet against a panda. Takao paled and knew it was all over. The clamps don't have that much pressure on the anyway, and the brunette could see the ear sliding out of the clamp's grasp. He closed his eyes in defeat and pulled out his wallet, to pay Shin-chan's 3000yen. So much for Lady Luck...

But the tight squeeze on his shoulder made him look up to Midorima's slight smile, before the sound of something falling down the chute grabbed his attention.

Eyes wide and unbelieving, Takao kneeled down and opened the sliding prize door. Voila! The pink bunny, as fluffy and as big as it first appeared tumbled in to view. Taking a closer look, Takao saw black velvet glasses perched on the bunny's snout. Unsurprisingly, the eye buttons were green.

"Look's like your luck's looking up today." Midorima said, a self-satisfied smile once again settling on his face.

Craddling the bunny in a bear hug, it really was too big for it's own good, Takao smiled ruefully.

"It was a fluke, Shin-chan. Once is not enough to convince me. You know what they say, right? Once is luck, twice is a coincidence, thrice is fate." he answered with a pout, though the grip on the bunny tightened.

"We have all day." was all Midorima said.

After playing some more games in the arcade, basketball, of course. The two found themselves loaded with the prizes Midorima had won. They made a quick trip to the counter and left those with their coats, though Takao was loath to release Midori. He had christened the bunny within the first 10 minutes, to Midorima's irritation. And the baggage counter didn't have a box or niche big enough to contain the bunny, so the sight of two guys, lugging about a glaringly pink bunny through the mall became a common sight that day.

Takao was happy in more ways than one. First he was on a date(?) with Shin-chan, Shin-chan had bought him (lucky) jewelry and had got a stuffed toy for him as well. Add breakfast to the list as well, though in the end Takao had paid for himself.

He would even go as far as to say that today was a lucky day, and the brunette found himself starting to believe in Shin-chan's words. If only he had the courage to do it. He lapsed in thoughtful silence.

Midorima noticed and called his attention to it.

"Are you going to do it now?" he suddenly asked. They were sitting on some benches around an indoor fountain, Takao was munching on ice-cream while Midorima had Midori on his lap, to avoid Takao getting ice-cream on the bunny.

"No, Shin-chan."

They continued walking, peering every now and then into shops that caught their attention. The morning was drifting into the afternoon, and they noticed the time when Takao's stomache suddenly grumbled. He laughed, a bit embarassed and dragged Shin-chan into Pizzaro.

As soon as they crossed the doorway, bells jingled and a waiter approached them with a certificate.

It was the restaurant's anniversary and the 1000th customer of the day will get free lunch, of his own choosing. Guess, who was the 1000th?

Takao's grin was ear-splitting as the waiter served them the piping hot jumbo slab of meat lover's pizza. Midorima cringed inwardly at the sheer volume of meat. Good thing Takao had asked to have 1/4 of the pizza be vegetarian. The shooter wasn't too hot for fastfood, but he found the pizza delicious, if not satisfying.

Munching slowly on one square of his corner, Midorima popped the question again.

Takao thought it over carefully. Indeed everything that's been happening today was too good to be true, Midori was evidence of that. The brunette glanced at his side where the bunny sat.

"Before that, I want to try my luck on one last thing, Shin-chan." he answered cautiously. Midorima merely nodded and continued to eat before taking out his cellphone.

Takao's curiosity was immediately perked as he asked his partner who he was texting. Shin-chan wasn't much for socializing and often viewed phones as an intrusion to his privacy. So the sight of Shin-chan texting or calling was a rare. This day had been filled with a lot of rare occurences that Takao was seriously thinking that Midorima had somehow set it all up. Midorima's sharp gaze made him stop his questions.

By the time they were finished with lunch, Midorima had only touched 4 slices of his corner, and Takao was in the middle of his second corner. They still had exactly one half of the whole square left which they had wrapped and packaged for take-out.

"Where do you want to go next?" the shooter asked, cellphone in hand again.

Takao shifted guiltily and pulled out his wallet. From it, he took out a crumpled tattered slip of paper which Midorima recognized as a fortune strip. Whatever fortune printed on it was long faded and unreadable, he raised a questioning gaze in Takao's way and was rendered speechless by the most tragic expression on Takao's face yet.

"It's the fortune I got during my shichigosan. I know it's just a bit of paper but it made a big impression on me when I was a kid."

"What did it say?"

"Dai-kyo... a great curse."

"In what?"

"Ai." the smile was wistful and a touch sad. "It's stupid, I know. But if indeed my luck's turning, I want to at least be confident in it when I go confess." Takao added with a blush.

Midorima finally came clear about the texts he had been sending. He had asked to borrow one of Akashi's family cars, and good thing he did because he had insisted on making the new fortune draw in the exact temple where Takao drew his old one before.

So it was after an hour and a half drive later that the two finally arrived at Takao's old hometown. The car drove them up to the brunette's old house where a caretaker greeted them.

Night was on them as the two walked up the stone steps of the ancient temple. Midori had been left behind to guard house and there was only Takao and Midorima on the stairs.

"You're mental, you know." Takao said to break the silence. The crickets chirped their agreement as he shook his head in disbelief.

When Midorima had insisted on going out of the city and into the countryside for a single slip of fortune, Takao had at first thought he was joking. But when the dark car pulled up, and the dark-suited chauffer in dark glasses opened the door for them, he realized that Shin-chan was dead serious.

"Shut up, just get your damn fortune so you can confess already." was all the taller boy said in answer though Takao was sure he was blushing in embarassment. Midorima, and all the other GoM members were extremists of a sort, but this was a different kind of extreme. Takao had trouble deciding if he should share today's experience with their team members or not.

The O-mikuji box was to the right of the temple and the two made their way to it in moonlight. Takao flipped a 5-yen coin in the offertory for luck and chose a drawer. The white paper glowed faintly in moonlight as the brunette took it out of it's nest.

He flipped the slip over and read his fortune.