Chapter Text
tsukasa glanced around the prize room. it was a huge room, with every corner in there stuffed to the brim with as many prizes that were able to fit. it seemed as though if it could fit into the cranny, it would be the perfect spot to place even more. all sorts of toys lined the room, from plushies, to remote controlled race cars, to an array of beautifully dressed up dolls. it was a wonderland for whichever child that stumbled into the prize room of the arcade. amused at the sparkle in tsukasa’s eyes, toya simply hums casually.
there were quite a few small items in here, none of which really interested him. the arcade, like others, was known for reserving the big prizes for huge ticket amounts. toya, an arcade game veteran, had managed to accumulate all the tickets tsukasa could imagine just by going to the arcade a few times a week. tsukasa could pick anything, no matter how huge, and he knew his little brother would definitely have enough tickets for him. in the background, saki sings about recognising some of the cat plushies she’s received from toya.
near the back of the prize room, tsukasa spotted the prize he knew he wanted. he walked a little closer and took a better look at it. this prize was not like anything he’d ever seen before : a particularly huge platypus in the colour yellow, staring right back at him with golden eyes. it seemed to blink back at him in the same wonder he had shown it.
in which, rui did like platypuses.. right? he had a strange attraction to them, tsukasa remembers rui going on a tangent about how baby platypuses could be picked up with ease. thinking back on it now, the sight of rui getting so excited over something he was passionate about was kind of..
..off topic! he had to get this for rui, now.
“big brother, there you are!” saki chirps from behind him. “..it kind of looks like you! you want it?”
tsukasa nods, picking up the box that held the platypus and looked over it. only yo immediately put it down and groan slightly when he saw the prize amount : a three thousand tickets.
“i have to win this for rui,” tsukasa muttered under his breath before he went on to look at the other prizes. he didn’t need the tickets, neither was he going to ask his own brother to give him enough to buy a gift! he was going to win this, fair and square, just by playing!
“it’s only three thousand tickets!” saki exclaims happily, grinning up at tsukasa. “toya-kun has way more.” tsukasa nods, which an expression strangely serious. “indeed! but, as the bestest brother ever, i can win this platypus with my bare hands!” he swings his jacket for dramatic effect, hitting saki’s arm in the process. “watch me, tenma tsukasa, as i perform magic!”
he strikes a pose. toya stares at him blankly.
as saki cries fruitless persuasions to her brother, toya knows this will be a long afternoon.
——
two hours, nothing.
“..this machine is rigged!” tsukasa yells, waving his controller around in an attempt to grab the huge platypus. the claw sways with the force, moving in circles at an awkward angle as tsukasa slams the button down angrily for the grab. toya rubs his forehead at the painful sight.
“tsukasa—,”
the silly platypus sits innocently at the same spot, barely having made any progress on moving across the arcade machine floor. it stares up at tsukasa with its huge, round eyes, and it was really starting to piss him off!
“..stop staring!”
a box full of tokens sits on the panel of the machine, but it was not tsukasa’s first. toya reckons the sheer amount of money he had spent on tokens was more of a loss to him if he had just bought the plush instead. tsukasa however, with a burning determination to win this plush for some odd reason, would rather die than give up. even saki had given up on trying to convince him and went off to play some games herself, which had definitely ended up in better luck than the boy yelling at a stuffed animal through glass.
his next attempt was a failure, having just caught the platypus’ arm before the claw slipped away and went back to its starting spot, swinging away as a sore reminder. the next attempt after that was closer, but not by much. he managed to get the platypus off of the pile of other stuffed animals, much to toya’s surprise, but only for a brief moment before the claw lost its grip and fell again.
with a huff, tsukasa pulled two more tokens out of the box and shoved them into the machine, this time using his allocated time to position the claw exactly where it needed to be over the platypus. he peeked at the time of the machine before making sure the claw was lined up, took a deep breath, and pressed the drop button. the claw dropped at an agonising pace, closing around the platypus’ head before lifting it up. “ha!” tsukasa laughs, singing a tune happily while watching it flying into the air, only to watch the claw snap against the top of the machine and lose its grip on the stuffed animal.
“not again!” he whined, dropping his hand against the glass. tsukasa dropped his head and took a moment to compose himself. this was just a claw machine, there was no reason to get so worked up about it. he was going to win, fair and square!
..his words suddenly weren’t as believable when he played two more times and hadn’t managed to win the platypus yet.
at this point, tsukasa was mumbling angry grumbles under his breath and was sure he saw a little kid who had been at the machine next to him scuttle away in fear from the corner of his eye.
no, he had to win this for rui, he set his mind to it!
he took a deep breath and inserted the two tokens, watched the claw throw itself into the middle of the machine, and rested his hand on the controls as the timer began counting down. he slowly moved the claw inch by inch until he was directly over the platypus’ head and waited until it stopped swinging.
with five seconds left, tsukasa pressed the drop button, holding his breath as he watched it clamp down over the plush’s head like he’d predicted. it jerked towards the top of the machine, only slipping a bit, before swinging violently towards the drop corner. with each swing, the yellow animal was slipping in the claw’s hold.
tsukasa’s breath hitched with each swing and finally, it fell, hitting the edge of the plastic of the drop corner.
he saw red. he balled his fists at his side, holding himself back from punching the machine. he felt toya’s hand on his shoulder as a form of silent reassurance.
meanwhile, tsukasa was infuriated. this machine had to be rigged, arcade machines were always like that! however, the plush was heavier than he was expected, making it harder for him to drag it across the tiles. his aim was also.. not to good in terms of the arcade machine, which made it harder to even get it moving. but alas, tsukasa’s double-edged determination still got the best of him. with another deep breath, he reached into his box of tokens and pulled out the last two tokens that remained. he only had one more chance at this.
after lining up the claw as perfectly as he could, he waited until the very last second before pressing the bright blue glowing drop button.
the claw comes to life with a soft whirr, the usual start up he’s grown used to seeing from the hours he’d spend on the same chair. but what was different was that when he moves it to the left, it spins out of his control way faster than usual. it dropped and snatched the platypus’ head, just like tsukasa had planned all this while, except on its own. it rose to the top, slipping a bit before moving the short distance to the drop corner and released.
tsukasa slams the button again in excitement.
“toya! i did it!”
“you hit the payout of the machine,” toya remarks, eyes sparkling with pride. tsukasa yanks the huge platypus out of the small drop box giddily.
“whatever that means, but of course! i have always been destined to win this for rui!” tsukasa cackles pridefully with the plush in his arms.
toya’s widened eyes relax in the slightest. “ah, this was for kamishiro-san? that makes more sense now.” tsukasa pulls away the platypus from toya defensively. “w-well, so what if it was? it’s normal for a star to gift gifts to his best friend!”
“oh? is it not for valentine’s day in a few days?
saki dashes over, suddenly intrigued by this conversation. tsukasa has his free hand on his head in horror.
“big brother! you didn’t tell me you were preparing something for valentine’s! is it for kamishiro-san?”
“what—!? ..stop assuming it’s for him!” tsukasa hisses, turning red as he watched the passerby’s turn to stare at their loud conversation. saki shakes her head, disappointed. “giving someone a gift for valentine’s day with no chocolates? that is so distasteful of you!”
tsukasa was starting to sweat. he was certain he looked like a horrible friend to these strangers now, gifting a gift for a valentine’s date he hadn’t even heard of without chocolates sounded very rude.
pushed to the brink of public embarrassment, he had no choice but to tighten his grip on the darned platypus, grit his teeth, nod and tell saki with closed eyes that he would make chocolates, for his best friend, the moment they reached home.
it was a horrible valentine’s eve.