"Isn't the arcade for little kids?"

"You shouldn't be talking."

Irritated, Taiga quickly faced Ami.

"SHUT UP, STUPIDCHI!"

Ryuuji sighed as he looked into the arcade. They were standing at the entrance. The goal of the couple's trial was to have fun. That would not be hard to do. The last time Ami and he were here, they had a blast, even when Ami was skeptical about this place. It would be a breeze to pass the arcade challenge…if it was not for the very end. He needed to win a prize from those crane games. However, he was supposed to give it to one of the girls. It was at that moment he understood why Hakuoh wanted Taiga to come. Ryuuji looked down and clenched his right fist. Soon, he felt a hand on his fist. He calmed down and looked up to face Taiga.

"Ryuuji, let's go."

Ryuuji nodded.

The three friends entered the arcade as the security cameras kept a close eye on them. They walked down the uncrowded carpeted pathway that took them through the crane game machines. Ryuuji's thoughts soon came back to the task he needed to accomplish his assigned task. These machines consisted anything from stuffed animals to the latest gaming console. One specific machine will be rigged for him, and then the prize he would win would be handed off to one of the girls. The most logical choice would be to give it to Ami. That way, Hakuoh would doubt the fact they were a fake couple. He would then go away and hopefully leave Ami alone. This was why they were at the mall in the first place. They would win his game, and then he will keep his side of the deal. However, it was not right that Taiga had to witness him giving the prize to Ami. She was mad at Ami whenever he would act as a boyfriend towards Ami. This action would be what a boyfriend would do for his girlfriend. Taiga would flip out, act childish, and then wreak havoc between the fake couple. Plus, Taiga liked stuffed animals.

Before walking to the main floor of the arcade, Ami noticed two photo booths, and one of them was unoccupied. She smiled and tugged on Ryuuji's shirt. He looked down at her and faced to where she was facing. He then looked back at Ami.

"You want to take a picture?"

Taiga overheard this and faced them both. Ami nodded.

"Yeah. As a group and maybe then, as pairs."

Embarrassed, she looked down, waiting for Ryuuji to reply. Taiga beat her first.

"Photos? Stupidchi, you didn't even want the school pictures from the school festival."

"Well…um… This is different."

Taiga half-closed her eyes.

"I don't see the difference."

"Just c'mon, Taiga. I want to take photos of my friends."

Taiga sighed.

"Fine."

Ami smiled and walked ahead to secure the photo booth. Ryuuji looked back at Taiga and smiled.

"You know, if you think about it, we've never taken a picture as friends. This will be our first."

Taiga slightly looked down and blushed.

"G-Geez. You make it sou-nd like we're d-d-dating or something. Be-Besides, a dog like you ha-hasn't de-deserved a pic-picture with its master. We're only doing this because…um…uh… Stupidchi's idea!"

Ryuuji and Taiga walked over to the photo booth to see Ami putting some coins into the machine. She turned around and smiled.

"This will be great."

"Wow," said Taiga. "Someone must have given you a bone to make your tail wag so much."

"Whatever. Say, Ryuuji. You can sit next to me if you want."

Before Ryuuji said anything, Taiga beat him to it.

"Why?"

"Huh? What do you mean why? He's my friend too. Besides, it's a group photo."

"Then I'll sit in the middle. Ryuuji, go in first."

Ryuuji was about to follow Taiga's orders when Ami grabbed his arm. He faced her and saw her frustrated eyes. She looked back at Taiga.

"No. Ryuuji should go in the middle. Taiga, you've been selfish about it, even though he's not your boyfriend."

"S-S-So? He's mine…my dog."

Ryuuji half-closed his eyes.

Back to this again.

"No, he's not," said Ami and then she utterly whispered to herself, "He's my boyfriend."

"Huh?" wondered Taiga. "What did you say, Stupidchi?"

Ami smugly closed her eyes and slightly blushed.

"Nothing. Just that I want Ryuuji to be in the middle. If you were in the middle, you'll look like our kid or something."

Ryuuji covered his face, hiding his blush.

Did she just say that? Boy, Taiga will…

He peeked at Taiga through his fingers and saw her widened eyes and reddened cheeks. She stood in silence.

Is she going to say something, wondered Ryuuji.

He then felt Ami pulling him. He looked up to her as she still looked at Taiga.

"If you want to be in it, come inside."

Ami led Ryuuji inside the photo booth. Ami sat down furthest away from the draped entrance as Ryuuji sat somewhere in the middle. Ryuuji looked over at Ami, but before he could speak, Ami raised up her index finger.

"Wait," she silently said.

Moments later, the curtains that served as the door of the photo booth closed. Ryuuji turned around to see who closed them and saw Taiga sitting next to him. Ami let go of Ryuuji's arm and looked at them both with a genuine smiling face.

"Okay. When I press the button, we smile. Oh, could I see your smiling faces? I want this to be good."

"Smile?" questioned Taiga. "After what happened right now? You must be crazy if I'm going to do so."

"Not again. C'mon Tai-"

"Say, Taiga," interrupted Ryuuji. "Remember what I just told you right now. I want my friend to smile for the first actual photo we take. Like that smiling face you had before Christmas."

Christmas, thought Taiga.

She faced Ryuuji.

The night when I realized that I had fallen for him.

Taiga looked straight at the camera and nodded.

"Alright," she breathed.

Ryuuji smiled in content and faced the camera. When Ami noticed that they were both ready, she leaned forward and pressed the button. The timer allowed her enough time to position herself right and smiled. She did, however, use the last two seconds of the timer to lean slightly closer to Ryuuji. The camera flashed and outside printer of the booth came out three of the same picture: Ami only inches from Ryuuji's head, Ryuuji's surprised smiling face, and Taiga with an irritated smile and widened eyes of slight anxiety.

The three walked out of the photo booth, and Ami snatched the photos. She distributed the pictures out to each of them. Taiga looked at the picture and smiled until she noticed something. She dully closed her eyes and looked at Ami.

"Stupidchi, you're a little too close, don't you think?"

Ami looked at the picture.

"Mm… I thought I was given more time to sit down. Guess not."

Ryuuji steered his eyeballs at her.

I highly doubt that.

"Oh, well," said Ami, carefully putting the photo in her purse. She then extended her hand out to Ryuuji.

"Here. Give me the photo. I'll put it in my purse, so it won't be bent."

Before he handed the photo over, Taiga snatched his photo and put the two in her purse.

"I'll do it. It makes more sense me carrying his since he's my neighbor."

Ami retracted her arm and slightly smile. It seems that the pair idea was dead. Though she and Ryuuji would take a picture together, Taiga would also take one with him too. However, Taiga appeared to be caught in the moment, and she did not want to upset her. At the end of the day, either Taiga or her would be very upset anyways. Might as well enjoy themselves before that time came.

"You have a point there, Taiga. Um… So, you guys want to play a game before we leave?"

"Sure," smiled Ryuuji. "What did you have in mind?"

"I liked that racing game we played before. The one with the boats."

Played before, thought a somewhat distressed Taiga.

"A racing game? Do you want to try any other genres?"

Ami grew confused.

"There're different genres?"

"Oh!" pronounced Taiga. "Let's play a zombie one. I love shooting games. Bang. Bang."

"Probably less violate, like one of those adventure games."

"Those are boring, Ryuuji. If you want something less violence, let's play a fighting game, like Soul Caliber or Mortal Kombat."

"How is that less violent?!"

Ami mentally took a step back.

Am I surrounded by two, terrified-by-every-student, gaming geeks? And I'm interested in starting a relationship with one of them. Geez, how did I fall for him again… Oh, that's right. He likes the real me, makes me feel comfortable, cares about me, and is someone I can be true to. Yeah…

Soon, she felt her hand being grabbed. She looked down to see Taiga.

"Are you listening, Stupidchi?"

"Huh?"

"Guess you're not. I was asking if you wanted to play that dumb, old game that Ryuuji just suggested or shoot some zombies' heads off?"

"Dumb, old game?" she wondered, turning towards Ryuuji.

"Air hockey."

"Air hockey? They have it here."

Ryuuji nodded.

"You played it before?"

"I've seen people at the hotels play it in the game hall, though I never played it before."

"Do you want to try it?"

"…Mm… I guess I can try it."

Taiga's excitement dropped.

"Miss Party Pooper."

Ryuuji led the way to the air hockey table. It was in the sport games area of the arcade, near the shooting games. In fact, it was only a few games away from the game that Taiga wanted to play. In fact, she had a clear view of it from where she stood next to the air hockey table.

"Three people can't play this game," she said. "My game's over there, so I'll be watching you two as I shoot zombies."

Taiga excused herself and eagerly walked to her game. Ami watched Taiga as she inserted a few coins, grabbed her gaming pistol, and started to play the game. Ryuuji tapped her on the shoulder. She turned at him, and he handed her a mallet.

"Here. I'll take one side, and you'll take the other. I already put the coins in."

Ami nodded and took the west side. Ryuuji took the west side and got the puck out of his goal slot.

"You want me to explain the rules?"

Ami shook her head.

"No. I've seen it enough times to know that you need to hit the puck and try to score."

Ryuuji nodded.

"Alright. I'll start the timer."

Ryuuji reached over to the electronic score box and pressed the start button. Soon, a small about of air gushed out of the tiny holes on the table. Ami was too astonished by the air gushing out that she did not see Ryuuji set the puck down and score right pass her. When she did realized what was going on, she reached for the puck in her goal slot and put it back on the table.

"You're sneaky, Ryuuji," she said, hitting the puck.

The puck came to his side, and he successfully knocked it back to Ami.

"Well, we're on a timer."

"True," said Ami, defending her goal with her mallet and recoiling the puck back to Ryuuji's side at an angle. "But still. To be sneaky with a girl. Nonetheless, your girlfriend."

"Yeah," he said as he saw the puck gaining speed as he knocked it back. "Listen, you do know about it being-"

"Ryuuji, I know. I'm the one who said what kind of relationship it was between you and me."

Ami knocked it back. The puck had gained so much speed that Ryuuji missed his strike and the puck went in.

"It's a tied game, Ryuuji."

"Yeah, but back to that," said Ryuuji, setting the puck down. "I mean the game is-"

He hit the puck.

"Ryuuji," said Ami seriously, defending her goal. "We've talked about this. He knows everything. If he exposes the real me, it's all over."

Ami sent the puck back to Ryuuji.

"But you don't know that. Besides, I'm sure they'll accept you."

He stamped on the puck with his mallet.

"You say that now, but what if they don't. I already have created an image."

"Well, that's your fault."

Ami choked at his true words, and the puck went into her goal post. She fetched the puck and hit it hard, strictly stating, "Shut up, Ryuuji!"

The puck slightly flew off the table and smacked against Ryuuji's hand. Ryuuji immediately let go of the mallet and tried to shake the pain off. Ami's expression lightened, and she walked over to Ryuuji. She slightly titled her head in shame, diverting her eyes from him.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," said Ryuuji, massaging his hand. "I probably shouldn't have brought it up since he's watching."

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Ami summoned the courage to face him.

"For all this. It's just that…"

She could not finish, and she leaned over and fell on Ryuuji's chest. Stunned, Ryuuji did not know whether to comfort her or not, so he just stood there. He glanced over to Taiga to see she was too focused on her game to see them. He then looked down at Ami and sighed.

"But-"

"Shut up and let me cry," she silently whimpered.

As Ryuuji felt the tears on his shirt, he tried to put himself in Ami's school. If he was spoiled and snobbish on the set of his modeling career, then starting at a new school would be a great chance to start all over. Because of his prideful ways, he had not made a lot of friends and most likely, the friends he did make were faking it. In order to make new friends, he would have to start to change his personality, but it would not be easy. He would have to act. Upon entering school, it works and he likes being genuinely accepted, even though he has to come. Now, a she-devil comes, threatening to expose him because she wants to make him suffer. Not wanting to let go the fact he was genuinely accepted, he would try everything to stop her, even if it meant playing a stupid game. Though it took him this long, he finally understood what Ami was going through. Of course, people would always suggest their own reasoning to help a person, but they would not truly know the situation unless they walked in the person's shoes. He was really blind.

"I think I understand."

Ami looked up at him with watery eyes. He looked down and formed a small smile.

"Sorry, Ami."

"Understand about what? And why are you apologizing?"

"I thought it would be an easy solution for you to just tell the guy off and be exposed, but I'm not you."

Ami smiled and got off his chest.

"So, now if only you can solve this game of house."

"Did you say something?"

Ami shook her head.

"Not really. Um… So, do you know what you're going to do about the text?"

Ryuuji looked down and away from her. Ami's cheerful face slightly turned bitter. She looked over to Taiga, who seemed to have lost the game.

"Hey, Taiga. We're leaving."

Taiga nodded and put the controller down. Ami saw that she wiped her eyes before facing them and walking towards them. She grew concerned.

Was she crying? …Did she see us?"

Taiga confronted them and then faced Ryuuji.

"What's wrong with the mutt?"

Ami looked at Ryuuji.

"He's just still hurting. I accidentally hit his hand with the puck."

Ryuuji looked up and faced the girls with a content face.

"Yeah. The pain's gone though, so let's go."

The three friends walked passed the video games and photo booths. They were near the crane games when Ryuuji felt his phone vibrate. He checked it and looked around. He stopped, causing the girls to stop and face him.

"Say, I'm feeling lucky today."

Taiga was shocked he said such a thing as Ami shook her head and sighed.

"So what of it?" wondered Taiga. "Besides, I don't call it a lucky day when Stupidchi hits your hand with a puck."

"Well, I can prove it to you."

"Huh? How?"

"I can get a prize from a crane game: one of the most unlucky games in the arcade."

"Hah! I would like to see that."

"Alright then."

Ryuuji looked around once again and found the game Hakuoh rigged. He approached it and put some yen coins into it. This boxed crane game was fined with stuffed animals, such as giraffes, bears, and elephants. Ryuuji saw the pink bear and aimed for that. As he moved the crane, he returned to his thoughts about the text.

Win and give it to one of the girls as the other sees. That damn Hakuoh. That's why Hakuoh wanted Taiga with them. He used the facts that Taiga and Ryuuji were friends and she is jealous of Ami. If Ryuuji was in control, he would have stopped this, but two people were already in control. Hakuoh had a grasp on his actions during this dating game. The other one had a grasp on his emotions and resolution, and her name was Ami. He finally understood why she kept this fake persona; the thought of rejection, betrayal, and being alone was worse than telling the truth of her self-being and hoping for something that was nott guaranteed. Though they were pulling the strings, Ryuuji knew that he was in control of their reactions, and with that in mind, he came to his resolution.

He pressed the button to lower the crane and picked up the bear. The crane did not lose its grip and dropped it through the hole. Ryuuji collected his prize from the winner's slot. Taiga started to laugh.

"You got a pink one for you! Id-"

As soon as it came, her laughter was gone when she saw the bear being handed to Ami.