Zuikaku's day off had been pretty uneventful until she, of all things, found herself seated in front of a pachinko machine at that purposefully gaudy and ear-splittingly noisy parlor. Throngs of people, from salarymen on breaks to housewives, left no rows unoccupied, unperturbed by the constant smell of smoke filling the air—she wondered how they managed that, given all the effort she had to give to keep herself from choking.

She also wondered if the activity was actually exciting, given that nearly everyone seemingly wore the same blank expression, a sharp contrast to the machines they were using.

Just beside her was the Commander, wearing civilian clothes—it was his day off, too, it seemed. He was waiting, ever patiently, with a big smile.

"Well, think you're ready, Lucky Crane?" He said, waving a card in front of Zuikaku. "You've been staring at the machine for about ten minutes now."

Zuikaku inhaled and sighed. Maybe she would never be ready. Not ready to make an inevitable fool of herself—the Commander would treat her like a child again when that happened.

Damn her curiosity, she grumbled. And besides, why this specific machine anyway? It was too cutesy for her liking. But the Commander seemed too eager to teach her how to play that bizarre game. When he's like that, she really can't refuse.

At least, she wasn't the only female there; she thought such establishments would only be frequented by old men. She was relieved to see that there were young women at the place, which she guessed was the reason for the presence of the machine she was using.

"Okay, I'm ready," she finally said. Without a word, the Commander slid the card into the slot.

"Alright, press that little black thing," he pointed to a small button. When Zuikaku did, small balls started filling the tray.

"See that knob on the lower right? You'll want to twist it," he continued. Zuikaku stared blankly in response, first at the Commander and then at the object. She hastily reached for it, giving it a hard twist. The balls shot out the top and into the losing chute.

"Huh?" She stared at it wide-eyed.

"Try again, but not too hard this time. Oh, don't be too soft either, or they won't move; you'll have to adjust the power," the Commander remarked. While he didn't laugh as she had expected, he sounded amused enough to get Zuikaku flustered.

Nevertheless, she decided to try again, turning the knob left and right. The balls launched into the center, audibly bouncing against the pegs.

"Well, you might want to aim for them to hit that thing in the center. That's how you win," said the Commander as he watched.

"Um, okay," Zuikaku trailed off; she wasn't too keen to share the excitement, but when she noticed the balls landing into the hole, and the numbers started rolling, her eyes became glued to the screen, her heart racing.

The three numbers match, and more balls fill the tray.

"Well, this is the first time I saw someone getting the jackpot on their first try. You really are the Lucky Crane," the Commander quipped. Zuikaku heard it and smiled.

Maybe it was because she was already warmed up to that game. Or perhaps it was because she always liked the feeling of winning. Whatever it was, she could feel excitement rushing through her.

And that was a good enough reason to continue.

While she did not always get the jackpot, Zuikaku knew she had fun. The Commander advised against showing it, saying it was bad luck, but she didn't care.

She had lost count of how many spins she had already got, but the machine still had something in store.

"Huh...it takes longer this time…" she mumbled. She already got another spin, and two of the numbers were already matched. The middle one kept going back and forth while the bleeps and the music were becoming increasingly frantic as the good cat on the screen battled it out with his archnemesis.

"Oh man, haven't seen this one in ages. The reach mode. If you win this, you win big. Like, really big."

"Oh," was all Zuikaku said; her eyes were still on the screen. She thought she could win this; all the signs were there.

As it turned out, she did. As hundreds of balls, vastly more numerous than she had gotten so far, poured into the tray and the box below, she managed to keep herself from cheering, partly because of what the Commander had told her and partly because she didn't want to seem like an idiot.

"Oh my. Damn. I wish I had your luck back then, Zuikaku," the Commander whistled when he saw the winning box, filled to the brim.

Zuikaku nodded. For a while, she thought of asking if she could continue, but the Commander, as if he could read her mind, shook his head.

"The most important thing here is, knowing to quit when you're ahead," he said.

Zuikaku had no disagreement with that.


After receiving the receipt for her winning, Zuikaku headed to the exchange counter where the Commander was waiting.

"They have quite a selection here...anything caught your fancy?"

Zuikaku browsed the selection. Truthfully, she found most of them useless, but eventually, her gaze settled on something.

"I'd like that one," she said, pointing at a bottle of liquor; the Commander looked at it as well and was caught off-guard, doubly so when Zuikaku passed it to him.

"Here, for you, Commander. Your favorite, if I recall correctly. Thank you for today; it was fun."

"Uh, are you sure…? I mean, it's your winnings."

Zuikaku tried not to smirk. It was rare for the Commander to react to her like that.

It felt like another victory to her.

And that feeling was sweet to have.