"You do know those things are rigged, right?"

Lili scoffed at Asuka's words. "Oh, come now, Asuka. No reputable business would provide a game that was designed to cheat the customer. Even the slot machines found in casinos are required to offer a fair chance of victory."

"Yeah, well, I don't know that much about casinos. That doesn't really matter, though." Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose. "Lili, this is a claw machine."

The two girls were standing outside a small arcade they usually passed on their way home from school. It was a single-story business tucked away on the ground floor of a modest shopping center. Big letters spelling out "Arcade" in English were mounted on the white facade. Various electronic sounds and music were audible through the glass entry doors. Neither woman paid much attention to those, though. Instead, they were focused on the large claw machine outside the arcade's entrance. The mountain of plushies inside it had caught Lili's eye as the two walked past. Enamored, the rich girl had immediately declared her intention to win one.

"Yes, Asuka, I am aware of the kind of machine it is. And now, I will be taking one of those little darlings home with me."

"Lili, seriously," Asuka said. "Machines like this are programmed to screw with the claw's strength on different turns. It's going to be almost impossible to grab anything."

"The challenge will only make my triumph all the sweeter!"

Asuka stared at the blonde for a moment before throwing her hands into the air. "Forget it. I warned you. It's your money; do what you want." She walked over next to the machine and crossed her arms, ready to watch.

Lili shot Asuka a satisfied smirk as she pulled her coin purse out of her pocket. She fished out the appropriate amount of change and fed it into the machine's coin slot. As the music the machine was playing changed to signify the start of a round, Lili took hold of the game's control stick.

"Now, then," Lili said, a confident smile on her lips, "Let's begin!"

Tilting the joystick in her hand, Lili guided the machine's claw until it was over one of the larger piles of toys. Satisfied with its location, she pressed the big red button next to the control stick. The metal claw sputtered before descending down and coming to rest on top of a plush pink rabbit.

Lili's smile grew wider. Yes! You will soon be mine!

The claw began to ascend, tightened its grip, and promptly let the stuffed bunny slip from its grasp.

Lili's smile fell.

"Told ya," Asuka said with a smirk.

Lili murmured to herself as she pulled out her coin purse again. Selecting more coins, she slid them into the machine's slot. She took hold of the joystick again as the machine started a new game. "It hardly matters if I lose one round," Lili said. "What matters is that I am victorious in the end."

Not for the first time in her life, Asuka groaned at her rival's stubbornness. "Lili, you're only going to lose more money."

"Hush, Asuka!" Lili said as she guided the claw to another pile of toys. "I need only keep trying until I succeed. I can defeat any opponent once I've faced them enough times and studied how they fight."

"Lili, it's just a dumb claw machine! Also, you've never beaten me!"

Lili ignored Asuka as she pressed the big red button once more. The claw lowered again, this time coming to rest on top of an adorable orange fox. The metal pincers closed around the toy and lifted it into the air. Once the claw reached the top of the chamber, it started moving back to its starting place over the prize chute.

"Ha! You see, I – "

Lili's words faltered as the fox slipped out of the claw's grasp and landed back on the pile of toys. She quietly stared at the machine before pulling out her coin purse for a third time.

Asuka sighed in dismay.

To say Lili was unhappy was an understatement.

The heiress rooted through her coin purse for the umpteenth time. She grumbled as she realized she was at long last out of the appropriate coins. Lili snapped the purse shut and shoved it back into her pocket. Reaching into her school bag, she started to fish around for her wallet. I may be out of change, but I have plenty of bills I can –

"Okay, that's it!" Asuka stormed over to Lili. "We've been here for over a half-hour! I want to go home already, Lili!"

"I can't give up yet, Asuka," Lili said, her brow knit in frustration. "I've almost won several times already. I know I can succeed with a few more attempts."

Asuka glared at her. "Lili, all you've done is scattered those stuffed animals around a little and wasted your money. Can you please just let it go?!"

"Asuka, you don't understand how… how vexing this is! If this machine defeated you, you would agree!"

"It can't 'defeat' anyone, it's an arcade game!"

"That doesn't mean it's not formidable!"

"Oh, for... Lili, you're rich! You can just go inside and pay the owner to give you a toy!"

Lili crossed her arms and huffed. "It's the principle of the matter, Asuka. I'm not going to bribe my way to victory knowing that machine vanquished me! However, if you truly don't wish to stay, you may depart without me. I will return home once I am successful."

Asuka's shoulders sagged as she let out a long groan. After thinking for a few seconds, Asuka straightened up, her eyes determined.

"Look, I'll make you a deal," she said. "If I left you here by yourself, you'd probably blow through a big chunk of your allowance on that thing. Your pocket money was enough to buy my house, so I really, really don't want to think about how much of a waste that'd be. Plus, you'd be here for hours. So, how about this? I'll give the stupid machine a try. When I don't win, we can agree that it screws over everyone and leave with your honor intact or whatever. How's that sound?"

Lili contemplated Asuka's proposal as she glanced back at the claw machine. Hmm. I know that Asuka is correct about the possibility of losing more money. We really should be getting home as well. That said, I don't want to leave things with this machine as they are. Then again, if Asuka loses, I can take solace in knowing she was unsuccessful as well. Plus, if she were to fail, I'm positive I could convince her to come back and attempt the game again some other day! Surely her pride wouldn't be able to stand losing to this infernal machine, either!

Lili turned back to Asuka, her mind made up. "Very well, Asuka. I will accept your proposition."

Asuka exhaled in relief. "Fantastic. Which one do you want me to go for?"

Lili examined the various stuffed animals inside the machine's case. Her gaze landed on one particular toy at the bottom of one of the machine's plush valleys. It had white fur and a bright, rainbow-colored mane flowing from its cutesy, oversized head. As Lili pointed it out, Asuka's eyeline followed her outstretched finger.

"The horse?"

"It's not a horse, Asuka," Lili said matter-of-factly. "It has a horn on its forehead. It is clearly a unicorn."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Asuka muttered, "Because that's so different."

Lili ignored the Japanese girl's sarcasm as she moved away from the machine. Asuka took her place in front of the controls, reached into her pocket, and pulled out an assortment of coins. After picking out the right ones and feeding them into the slot, Asuka took hold of the joystick.

"All right, let's get this over with."

Lili watched as Asuka guided the claw until it was directly over the white cartoon unicorn. The brunette didn't hesitate to push the drop button. Both girls watched the claw fall and land on the plush toy's large head.

"Now, watch," Asuka said. "It's not gonna – "

The claw rose into the air with the unicorn in its grip, the toy's little body dangling as it went. Lili and Asuka gawked as the claw smoothly carried the plush back and dropped it down the chute.

Lili blinked.

Asuka blinked.

Slowly, Lili bent down to the small door built into the front of the machine and reached inside. When she stood back up, she had the fuzzy unicorn in her hands. The pair were silent as they stared at the toy.

I don't believe it.

Lili's face broke into a proud smile. "We did it, Asuka!"

Asuka whipped her head up in shock. "Huh?"

Lili clapped her hands together, smile wide with excitement. "My brain and your ability proved victorious today!"

Asuka stared at her rival in disbelief. "That's what you're taking away from all this?!"

"But of course! I wisely selected what prize to aim for, and you skillfully succeeded in acquiring it! No machine can stand up to us when we work together!"

"You're weird, Lili."

"Don't be a spoilsport, Asuka," Lili said, still grinning. She turned around and began to walk away from the arcade, lifting the unicorn into the air to better admire it. "Now that we've proven it's possible, we can come back and vanquish this machine again at our leisure."

Asuka balked at Lili's departure before breaking into a quick walk to catch up to her. "Wait, what? You got your toy already. Why would you want to come back?!"

Lili turned back, a warm smile on her face. "That's simple, Asuka." She held up her prize. "We won this little sweetheart for me today. It's only right that we win one for you as well."

The heiress could tell from Asuka's wide eyes and open mouth that she was caught off-guard by Lili's decree. She watched in amusement as Asuka struggled to find a response. Finally, the Osakan sighed and started to follow Lili down the sidewalk instead.

"You're hopeless, you know that, Lili?"

Lili let out a hearty laugh. "If by 'hopeless,' you mean 'magnificent.' Now, let's go home, Asuka. I'm sure your father will be overjoyed to learn of our triumph."

Asuka rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face, as she and Lili started to walk home.