So no reviews today, so it's just me. I also don't have much to say so ... enjoy ... I guess ...
Nishikata and Nakai had returned to Takagi and Mano with two plates of funnel cake. 'Should we separate from them after eating? Or after a ride or two? I still need to get Takagi alone, so I can confess to her.' The two of them sat down on opposite sides of the table.
"Sorry." Nakai said as he sat next to Mano. "We could only get one per person, too many people."
"That's fine." Mano said as she took a piece of funnel cake. "So, I didn't expect to run into you two today, what brings you here?"
"That's … kinda hard to explain." Nishikata began as he started tapping the table. 'I can't tell them that I came here to confess to Takagi. Even if she already knows, that would just make the actual confession strange and awkward.' "You see … the thing is …"
"We more or less wanted to spend Christmas Eve together." Takagi finished.
Mano and Nakai stared at the two of them surprised. "So are you two … going out?" Nakai asked.
"No, we're still just friends." Takagi said as she accidentally placed her hand on top of Nishikatas.
There was an awkward silence as they both stared at their hands before they both moved their hand away. "Yeah." Nishikata added.
Both Mano and Nakai looked at the two, unconvinced of their claim. "Yeah, sure." They both say.
'Damn it, I need to change the subject and fast.' Nishikata thought as he took another piece of funnel cake. 'But how am I … I GOT IT!' "Hey, Mano, Nakai, how about after we eat, we all have a little friendly competition?"
They all looked at him a little surprised and curious.
"It's simple really, there are some fun carnival games here, so we have a friendly two out of three."
"Two out of three?" Nakai began. "With four people?"
"I get it." Takagi began. "You mean teams of two, don't you?"
'I'd say she was reading my mind but I did make that one obvious.' Nishikata thought to himself. "That's it exactly, now here's what I was thinking."
"Hold on." Takagi interrupted. "I know what you want the teams to be, but I may have a better idea."
"A better idea?"
"Yeah, how about, you and me, verses Nakai and Mano?"
'But that was what I was going to suggest anyway.' Takagi gave him a knowing smile and Nishikata realized what she was getting at. "I … don't see why not." He turned away pretending to be embarrassed.
"Great, I can't wait to start."
The group continued eating for a bit until they finished, and began making their way to where the carnival games were. "Okay, so for the first one, we'll flip a coin to decide who decides which one, then it's whoever loses."
"Okay, and what's the winner get?" Nakai asked.
"All prizes won." Nishikata finished with a smile.
"Okay, flip the coin."
Nishikata pulled a coin out of his pocket and looked to Nakai and Mano. "Heads or tails?"
"Heads." Nakai replied.
"Okay." Nishikata flipped the coin into the air and caught it as soon as it came back down. "And let's see." He opened his hand, revealing that it was heads. "Looks like you two pick."
"Alright." Nakai and Mano walked ahead while Takagi placed a hand on Nishikata's shoulder and compelled them stay back.
"I know you're planning something, you didn't even try to hide it."
"Yeah, um, how about we let them win."
"Let them win?" Takagi asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, they seem like their not having a great day so … just to give them a little confidence boost."
"Huh? Did Nakai say something?"
"He said that Mano hasn't spoken to him much for the past few days, and I'm fairly sure that's at least partially my fault."
"You mean our fault?"
"I'm the reason Mano can't talk about it, right?"
"Even if she could, I doubt it would help much. But aside from that, it's good that Nakai also noticed something was up, that makes it easier to fix things."
"Yeah, that's why I came up with this idea."
"Oh?" She leaned closer and gave a sly smile. "So you're telling me that you were going to partner with me from the beginning?"
Nishikata blushed again and turned away. "Well … yeah, I would need to, wouldn't I?"
"Yeah, I suppose." She grabbed his hand and turned around. "Now come on, let's not keep them waiting."
"Yeah." 'The sooner we help them out, the sooner we get back to spending time alone.' He glanced up at the sky that was still blue. 'And it's not night yet, so I can't confess yet.' He looked over to the Ferris wheel as his heart rate picked up again. 'At the top of that, that's where I will tell her.'
They caught up to Mano and Nakai, who had been waiting for them for quite some time. "You two ready? Because I think we've picked out the perfect starter game."
"What is it?"
"A test your strength game." Nakai said as he motioned to a stand that had a seesaw and bell tower. "I was thinking, you and I do the first, Takagi and Mano will do the second, and if there's a third, we do something we can all compete in."
"If you insist." Nishikata said as he walked towards it. "Also, you do know that I'm one of the strongest kids in school, right?"
"I feel lucky." Nakai said as Mano looked at him concerned.
Nishikata sighed and shook his head. 'Now, how am I going to lose this without making it look suspicious?'
Nakai walked up to the stall and paid the stall attendant as he was handed a mallet. "Here goes nothing." He raised the mallet into the air and brought it down onto the target, sending the piston flying up the rail, falling just short of hitting the bell.
"So it looks like all I have to do is hit the bell and I win, right?" Nishikata asked as he Nakai was handed a small stuffed bear.
"I thought I had that one." Nakai said as he walked back.
"Well looks like I'm up." Nishikata walked up and paid the stall attendant before being handed a mallet. 'If I hit it with all I have, then there's no way I'll lose to Nakai, but if I hit it too softly, then they'll think I threw it on purpose.' He lifted the mallet into the air. 'What do I do?' He brought the mallet down, but in his daze, he hit the side of the target, causing the piston to fly up half the distance of the pole. "WHAT?!" Nishikata asked as he looked at the attraction in disbelief.
"You have to hit it dead center." The stall attendant said. "Want to try again?"
Nishikata shook his head. "No, I think I'll pass." He was handed a much smaller stuffed bear, and walked back to the others.
"I was off center, otherwise I would have won."
"But you didn't." Nakai replied. "Which means we win round one."
"Yeah, yeah." Nishikata said as he turned away. "So what should we pick for round two?"
"I think we'll pick darts as our second game." Takagi said with a smile.
"I'm great at darts!" Mano exclaimed. "You'll regret that decision!"
They began making their way to the stall where the dart game was as Takagi hung back to talk with Nishikata. "It's best if we go to the last round, right?" She asked.
"Yeah, make it closer, they will be more excited."
"Then maybe I shouldn't have picked darts." She smiled as Nishikata stared at her in disbelief.
"Wait, are you saying that you're bad at darts?"
Takagi didn't answer and simply strode ahead to the stand where the dart game was. "So, shall we begin?" Takagi asked as she paid the stall attendant.
Mano was more concerned as she nervously paid the stall attendant. "I-I am ready."
Both of them were handed five darts, and they began aiming as Nishikata and Nakai watched. "Hey, what happens if one of the games is a tie?" Nakai asked.
"That didn't occur to me." Nishikata replied.
Mano was the first to throw a dart, popping a balloon as it did. "I'm off to a good start." She said as Takagi threw a dart which popped one of the outside balloons. "HUH?!"
'I thought she said she wasn't any good at this.'
Mano threw another, which missed, and Takagi also threw another, which popped another balloon. "How … no." Mano looked away from Takagi and back at the board. "I can still win this." She threw another dart which managed to pierce a balloon, making her feel triumphant. "There, now I just need to-" She was interrupted by the sound of another popping balloon.
"Wow, three balloons, that's my best score yet."
Mano looked at the board again, with intense focus as she readied herself. "It's not over yet." She threw a dart, but it missed, bouncing off the back and clattering to the floor. "I … I …I can still tie this." She threw her last dart, but it failed to pop any balloons. "I … lost."
"Don't be like that." Takagi said as she threw another dart which didn't pop a balloon. "And here we go." She picked up her last dart and threw it, also bouncing off the backboard. "Only three."
"Yeah, yeah." Mano said as she was handed a stuffed narwhal.
"Don't be upset, everyone has bad days." Takagi said as she was handed a stuffed bear that was much larger than the one Nakai was given.
"Uh, can I have a word with you?" Nishikata asked as he took Takagi aside. "You said you weren't that good at darts."
"Yeah, I usually get only one or two balloons with five darts."
"Takagi … these games are rigged, the balloons are underinflated and the darts are dulled, getting one or two is a lot."
"Oh? How did you know that?"
He glanced to the side embarrassed. "I … looked up things like this to try and use against you in our contests."
"Oh?" She smiled at him flirtatiously. "So you were going to challenge me today?"
"I would think that was obvious, but ... plans changed slightly."
"You mean seeing as Mano and Nakai are now with us?"
Nishikata nodded. "I had a few things planned which are now taking a back seat."
Takagi's eyes went wide. "You had plans for just us?"
"Huh? I mean … yeah, I invited you, remember?"
Takagi stood there for a moment before a soft smile formed on her face. "You know, after this, it'll probably be just us again." Nishikata's face went red as Takagi got closer. "Then we can get back to where we were before they interrupted."
Nishikata thought back to what they were doing when they bumped into Mano and Nakai, and remembered that they were in the mirror maze, about to kiss. "Uh … you mean … back in the mirror maze?"
"Oh, that? We could simply do that right now if you want."
Nishikata's face went even redder before remembering what he was supposed to be doing. "Mano and Nakai." He said causing Takagi to also remember.
"Oh, right." She quickly turned around as a look of concern appeared on her face. "Right, right, right, we're still competing with them."
"No … that?" Nishikata asked as he alternated pointing between them.
"Oh ... yeah, we have to help them first."
They quickly ran to catch up with Mano and Nakai, who were standing at a booth that had a lot of soda bottles lined up in a sort of grid. "What took you guys so long?" Nakai asked.
"Nothing." Takagi replied. "So, is this our last game?"
Nakai gave a thumbs up. "You bet, this is the ring toss."
"The ring toss?" Takagi asked as she looked at the bottles.
"Oh no." Nishikata said as he walked up to it. "This … isn't going to be easy."
"How so?"
The stall attendant walked up to them and held up a very small ring. "You guys interested? Objective is to get one of these rings onto one of the soda bottles."
Takagi took a closer look at the ring. "Can that even fit on the soda bottle?"
Nishikata pointed upwards and Takagi couldn't believe her eyes, the prizes were gigantic, some even bigger than they were. "I see, so this is supposed to be difficult."
"You could toss twenty buckets of these rings and not win once." Nishikata said as he paid the stall attendant.
"You could toss a hundred buckets and still not win." Nakai added as he also paid the stall attendant. "Each team gets one bucket, whoever gets a ring on a bottle wins."
"And in the likely event that neither of us win?"
"Then we call it a draw."
"Okay."
Both Nakai and Nishikata were given a single bucket and each of them picked up their first ring. 'Losing this isn't going to be a problem, the problem is getting Nakai and Mano to win.' He threw his first ring and it bounced off a bottle and fell to the floor.
"Okay, my turn." Takagi said as she tried to throw a ring, only to get the same result.
Each team continued throwing rings one at a time, until both of them were down to their last ring.
"It's your throw Nishikata." Takagi said as she watched.
"Well here goes nothing." He threw the ring like a frisbee, and looked over to Nakai and Mano. 'I guess if it's a tie, we can just let them have the prizes, I mean it's not like Takagi and I can carry them around with us when we're trying to-' His thought process was interrupted by what appeared to be some sort of whirring sound, making him more and more nervous as he turned back to the soda bottles. 'Don't tell me.' "I … can't believe it." There, in front of him, lay a single ring that had landed on one of the soda bottles. 'Oh … I messed up.'
Fun fact, when I was in junior high, my older brother actually won this game, on his last ring, and got this giant manta ray that was larger than both of us. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.
