"Hey Hikari!" a young girl with curly, brown hair waved at her.
Hikari smiled at her. "Hi, Sayuri. Aren't you working at the carnival?"
"Yeah. I'm running a little late, actually. I was supposed to be there ten minutes ago. Are you going?"
Hikari nodded.
"Yeah, but I want to buy something to get some change first. They hardly ever take full bills anymore."
Iahii Sayuri rolled her eyes.
"I know. It's not like people walk around with change weighing down their pockets. Well, not a lot anyway. Need a companion?"
"Don't you have to get to your booth?"
"I'm already late. It isn't going to matter."
"Then I wouldn't mind one."
Sayuri smiled as they stepped into the small convenience store. A girl was stationed behind the counter. She had long purple hair and an apron on. She leaned over the counter, flipping through a magazine with interest.
"Hi, Miyako," Hikari greeted cheerfully. The girl looked up and grinned.
"Hey. I thought you'd be at the carnival."
"I'm going there now. I need some change though."
"Got you covered. Might I interest you in our splendid selection of chocolate bars? We have three choices: Hershey's milk chocolate, Hershey's milk chocolate, and the best one of all: Hershey's milk chocolate."
Hikari laughed as Inoue Miyako pointed to the tiny grouping of candy on the left side of the counter.
"Tough decision," Sayuri remarked.
"Isn't it? I think I'll have the Hershey's milk chocolate. Make that three."
"Brilliant choice," Miyako assured, handing them to her. She accepted the bill and cashed out the change, substituting some of it into coins. "That should be enough for a few carnival games."
"Thanks. Are you coming?"
Miyako shook her head sadly.
"Maybe tomorrow evening, but I have to work today. My dad took my computer hostage until I finish my shift."
"Well, maybe we can go together tomorrow?"
"I'd love to. It's better than going alone."
Hikari waved as they left. She handed one of the bars to Sayuri, who accepted graciously.
"She's right you know, it is better to go with someone to the carnival. Lucky you have me," Sayuri winked.
"Actually, I'm meeting up with someone."
"Really? Who? Is it a guy?" she added the last question slyly.
"It's just Takeru."
"Well, it's about time he asked you out."
Hikari blushed.
"He didn't ask me out. This isn't a date."
"Looks like one to me. You did buy him candy," she pointed to the spare bar. "And you're wearing a new shirt plus lipstick. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck- then it's a date."
Hikari rolled her eyes.
"I didn't have anything else to wear, I wanted to try the lipstick before it hardened into rock, and I always buy candy for people. We're just friends, Sayuri. Nothing else."
"To the distress of the entire school. They're all dying to see Takeru hook up with someone. He never even looks at girls. Well, not in the starved way some guys do. And you! You, all the guys are pinning to get your attention. I won't be surprised if someone kidnaps you at the carnival."
Hikari laughed, shaking her head.
"We're friends and nothing more. Sorry to disappoint you."
"I'd rather you take him, to be honest. If he had you to use up his time, I might actually make better scores in English than him," Sayuri remarked wistfully.
They reached the entrance by then, finding Takeru standing and chatting reluctantly to his brother, Taichi, and Koushiro.
"Are we interrupting something?" Sayuri asked, causing Takeru to start, surprised.
"Hikari," he said, "you're finally here. I thought someone kidnapped you." He looked over at the other girl. "Oh. It's you."
The obvious rivalry between the twowas the talk of the school, especiallyin the subject of English. Both were fantastically impressive writers, and competed to score the highest in every exam. They had taken finals that day in school, but the score had not been posted yet. That resulted in a very apparent and bitter tension.
"It's me and I ranked first, end of story. Who are your friends?"
"No one," Takeru interrupted Yamato as he started to introduce himself. He looked at Hikari. "Want to go in?"
"Sure. Oh, I bought you a candy bar."
Yamato poked his best friend in the side.
"She bought him a candy bar," he whispered.
"I can see that," Taichi shot back.
"Shut up," Koushiro snapped at the two of them, earning a funny look from Sayuri's direction.
"I'm going to go to my booth," she said slowly, eyeing the three (to her) strangers cautiously. Some how the one with the mop of brown hair put her on guard. This was going to be an interesting carnival if those teens were going to hang around. And why did that blonde keep smiling like that? What was he trying to do?
"You're in charge of a booth?" Takeru asked sceptically. "Is that wise? Wouldn't you bite off some kid's head for missing the target?"
Hikari poked him in warning.
"Come on, let's be civil. We'll walk you to your booth, Sayuri."
"Sure."
"Stay here," Takeru ordered the three elder teens, who looked confused and hurt at the command.
"You know, I'm starting to think he doesn't like it when I follow him around," Yamato said.
-
Takeru was trying to explain the historical evolution of carnival booths to the two of them as they made their way to the booth. But an audience of two bored, uninterested teenage girls didn't prove to be any good and he ended up explaining it to himself while the other two talked. Sayuri kept trying to give Hikari a conspicuous look, hoping she would take the hint and make a move on Takeru (who had no idea he had lost his audience). Hikari kept on returning the gesture with a conspicuous look of her own, mentally begging her to stop before Takeru saw.
They reached the booth eventually, and Sayuri interrupted him in mid-sentence.
"Your skills are purely oratory. Just because you say it, doesn't mean you can write it."
"I most certainly can—,"
"Remember guys? Civil?" Hikari broke in before it got ugly. She pulled on Takeru's sleeve. "Let's go on a ride. It might warm us up."
"Good idea. Got any change?"
"That was what the chocolate was for." Hikari produced the spare money proudly.
"Great. How about you get the tickets and I'll get some cotton candy or something?"
"Okay. I'll meet you by the Ferris wheel?"
"It's a date."
Hikari winced involuntarily at the word, but Takeru didn't see it. She nodded and smiled, moving in the direction of the ticket stand.
He turned back to Sayuri who had disappeared under the booth to find some target boards.
"You really hate my writing?"
"I like your writing," came the mumbled reply. "I just don't like you."
"Honest person, aren't you?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing."
Be casual. Be cool. Act like you don't care what she says. He couldn't believe he was actually listening to his brother's ridiculous logic. He groaned silently, then forced himself to keep his cool. How did all the other guys make it look so easy?
"The darts game, huh?" he noticed the purpose of her booth.
Her head popped up over the side of the counter.
"What's your problem? You want to go ahead and leave already? I have work, you know, I don't need you breathing down my neck and playing 20 Questions."
"Question 16," he began. She narrowed her eyes and retreated under the booth again, trying to ignore him. "I bet I can beat you at any game in this carnival."
She gave a hallow laugh.
"I can beat you at anything, hands down. Don't embarrass yourself, Takaishi."
"Obviously we can't figure out who got the highest score in English until later, and we might as well compete on something else. I don't feel comfortable when I'm not."
"So I have to agree to make you comfortable? Forget it. I've got a job to do."
"I'm serious. I am king of all carnival games. Go ahead and pick one and we'll bet on it. There's no reason to—I'll win—but to make it entertaining…."
"What are we betting on?"
He pushed his hands into his pockets and forcing himself to appear calm, experimenting with the beginnings of the Takaishi Smile.
"If I win, you have to go out with me."
Her head hit the booth.
"What?"
"If I win, you have to go out with me. On a real date, dinner and everything."
"Are you insane?"
"Completely."
She watched, eyes narrowed. He could feel his face burning and hoped his hat was covering enough of his cheeks to hide it. He wondered if she would lash out in a violent attack from the unexpected proposition. How did other guys manage this?
"And if I win?" she asked slowly.
"I don't know. You make it up. That's your side of the bet."
"Fine," she straightened all the way. "If I win, you have to kiss me."
He blinked.
"What?"
"If I win, you have to kiss me. In front of everyone at school."
"Every—? Are you insane?"
"Absolutely."
He frowned suspiciously.
"You're on."
"Then it's a bet?" She held out a steady hand hidden by a mitten, eyes not leaving his face. He took it.
"It's a bet."
"You're going down, Takaishi. I've never lost a single carnival game."
"There's a first for everything."
"Prepare for defeat and humiliation."
"Prepare for your first customer," Takeru replied solemnly, stepping out of the way to let a young boy wander up to the booth. Sayuri shot him a look of warning and he flashed his secret weapon, but she had already turned her attention on the boy to notice and become another victim of the dangerous Smile.