FicWad

Somehow I ended up ordering a club sandwich while Yumi pointed at something on the menu that resembled an oversized ice cream.

"It should be done in 15 minutes." The waitress smiled at us as she took away the menus.

Yumi sat staring at her lap while I looked out the window. What was I doing here? I didn't need a new girlfriend straight after the two days of madness I had. And besides I hadn't officially broken up with Luna… yet. I felt a sudden twinge in my heart. Why did I still think about Luna? She was insane.

"Um…" Yumi fiddled anxiously with her hands before reaching into her purse and pulling out a box.

"Here." She offered the box towards me and stared down at her lap, refusing to say more.

I looked at the box confused. What was going on? Was it some kind of tradition to now give presents on a date that's been set up by friends? I took the box in my hands. "Thanks… what is it?"

"D-don't get me wrong, it's just an obligatory chocolate." Yumi blurted out, her cheeks quickly reddening. I was still confused. Chocolate? Why would-

Suddenly it hit me and I looked around in awe. There were couples all over the place that I had not recognized before and the shopping mall was decorated in pink ribbons and heart shaped objects. In a large love heart painted at the bottom floor that was previously hidden by a crowd of people, were the words:

"Valentine's Day"

I had completely forgotten. Then that must mean… I looked at the box in my hands. Everything made sense now. Yumi must have had no date for valentines so her friend dragged her along. And Eiji, thinking that Luna had dumped me, had planned everything from the start of the day while I was asleep!

"S-so what kind of things do you do?" Yumi stuttered, her eyes fluttering. She had light blue eyes. I could see she was nervous. This must be her first date or something.

"Uh…" What was I supposed to say to a question like that? "Well… I go to Hibiya High-"

"T-then you must be really smart!" Yumi interrupted. She was slightly leaning out of her seat and her eyes stared intently into mine in admiration.

"Haha…" Hibiya High was a school famous for its high level of standard. Normally you'd need to pass an entrance exam to enrol but you could also pay an admission fee for transfer students. "I guess you could say that."

Yumi opened her mouth to say something more when thankfully the waitress suddenly appeared and placed a club sandwich on my side of the table.

"Tha-"

I dropped my jaw at the sight of the giant strawberry parfait placed down in front of Yumi. It was enough to feed a normal person for a day. And I was suddenly aware of other couples eating the same thing except they were eating it together. My club sandwich looked like a midnight snack next to her parfait.

"A-are you sure you can finish all that?" I stammered.

"W-what?" Yumi asked confused then her cheeks quickly reddened. "A-are you calling me fat?"

I looked at her in dismay. How did the female brain work like that? I could see Yumi's face growing more and more red as I racked my brain frantically for a ray of inspiration.

"No…" If I didn't use the right words this was going to end up bad. "I just think…"

"that..." Yumi was staring at me intensely and I could feel a sweat run down my forehead. "you're…"

Why was I trying so hard? It's not like I liked Yumi. The one I liked was- An image of Luna flashed in my mind. I could see a cheerful smile on her face and her bright violet eyes stared into mine. She was so... "beautiful."

A look of surprise fell on Yumi's face and her cheeks turned even more red. "W-what are you saying?"

I broke out of my trance and realised that I had said my thought out loud. Now I was in for it. I scratched my head and looked away awkwardly. "Uh… sorry."

"Jeez…" Yumi's face was still red and she took a bite out of the parfait.

I didn't know what to do so I followed her lead and took a bite out of my sandwich. Why had I thought about Luna? She always seemed to be on my mind. I mean, she was a psycho and she had murdered someone. I even almost strangled her. Was it possible that I still liked her?

I chewed on the sandwich bitterly. I remember Luna had said she was going to make me a bento today. Maybe I was just caught up in the atmosphere yesterday. I wasn't thinking straight and just kind of strangled her without thinking. I really did miss her. Maybe Luna actually liked me too.

By the time I finished my sandwich, Yumi had finished her parfait. I got out of my chair and paid for the meal. Yumi followed me and we left the café together.

We stood outside silently. Why was she still following me? I had already paid for the meal… although it was Eiji's money. I had thought that she would want to leave as soon as possible after that random outburst by me. I waited for her to say something.

"W-where are you going to take me next?" Yumi finally stuttered.

Well. That was unexpected. I looked around the shopping mall. Apparently, there was some kind of event at the bottom level. "Let's go check it out."

Yumi nodded and we went down. The first thing I noticed was a lot of couples. The second thing was a large platform where everyone was looking. The third thing was a machine thing that a bunch of couples were lining up for. There was a sign at the top that read; "Lucky Love Draw. Are you lucky love enough?"

While I was trying to put one and one together, a couple at the back ushered us forward and we somehow ended up being pushed into the queue. The couple in front of us was making out while waiting in the line and I saw Yumi shifting uncomfortably.

When it was finally our turn at the magical machine that everyone was queuing up for, it displayed a few sets of instructions on the screen such as entering your birth date and the time you've been going out. Seeing as there was no option for "never" I clicked the "six months and less" button. After it was all done, it requested 500 yen which I unwillingly gave before it finally printed out a ticket with a number on it.

I took the ticket and we joined the crowd of couples as they waited eagerly for a timer on the stadium to count down. So this was basically a lottery disguised as a love event. Interesting. We waited a while longer before the countdown was over.

"It's the moment you've all been waiting for ladies and gentlemen." A voice bellowed from the stadium. I saw a man dressed in a suit and holding a microphone coming out from behind the set. "Let's see which couple is going to be lucky love enough to win this year's lucky love draw!"

The crowd cheered. I didn't even know what the prize was. I hoped it involved something that could compensate for my 500 yen. I had to pay Eiji back for this.

"First off, we will have our complementary winners come up on stage." The man announced. He pressed a button on the board in front of him and I saw the screen where the countdown was previously displayed flashing. "And the winning numbers for our complementary prize are…"

I heard drums rolling in the background and the numbers on the screen began to slow down. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths so I did the same.

"463!" The man declared as the numbers halted on the numbers 463. "Will number 463 come up to the stage please!"

I realised that I had not even looked at my number so I unravelled the piece of paper in my hand and looked at it. Not that I was expecting anything but… I heard Yumi shrill. We were number 463.

"E-excuse me, we're number 463!" Yumi cried as she furiously pushed aside couples, dragging me along with her. I didn't know what to think about the whole situation so I decided not to think instead.

Somehow we managed to get to the front, and a few guards in suits helped us onto the stage. Was this really happening?

"And here we have the winners for our complementary prize!" The announcer shook hands with us and we stood there looking out at the crowd as they cheered. The announcer went behind the stage and produced a large teddy bear about half the size of me. "Now before you get the prize, why don't you do a nice kiss for the crowd?"

Everyone began cheering. This wasn't happening, was it? I didn't even want a teddy bear. Apparently Yumi did because she jumped up and gave me a quick peck on the cheeks.

The announcer laughed and handed Yumi the teddy bear. "What a cute couple."

Yumi blushed and we step down the stage and rejoined the cheering crowd while I was still figuring out what just happened. I guess Yumi must really love dolls.

In the end, they announced a third, second and first prize which was something like a two week vacation in Hawaii. We left the shopping mall after it was all over and Yumi exchanged numbers with me.

"So… uh. I'll take you home." I said. Tomorrow was a school day and I needed to get home to prepare. It was already late in the afternoon.

"Ok!" Yumi beamed. She looked cute with the bear behind her back and her cleavage was even more conspicuous since she was leaning forward. She definitely had a bigger chest than Luna… What the hell was I thinking? I looked away embarrassed.

Yumi, noticing my averted gaze, grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her shyly. "Come on, it's this way."

We were about to walk when I saw someone standing in our way.

It was Luna.