The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Volume 3 (WN Version)

86 - The Angel and the Game Center

"...And this is the game center."

After their window shopping...or rather, shopping since they bought clothes, Amane accompanied Mahiru to the game center he usually frequented.

They had no plans beyond this, other than to return home, and took their time.

"It is loud."

"Ah, that's most of the game centers."

Mahiru frowned slightly. The noises here would leave anyone unfamiliar with game centers really frustrated. Amane was fine however as he was used to it.

It was noisier at the slot machines and arcade games, so Amane avoided that area as he lazily led Mahiru past there.

"So, what are we doing?"

"I want to try the crane game, and catch a doll."

It appeared Mahiru was aiming for the crane game, and once she was led to that area, she clenched and relaxed her fists several times when she saw the machines. She looked really excited.

It was Golden Week, and there were more dolls, especially the cute family oriented ones. There were many dolls Mahiru might like.

"...Amane-kun, I wish to pick that one."

"Hm, which one?"

"That one. Does she not resemble that cat, Silk-chan?"

Mahiru pointed at a white cat doll with some charred tea colored fur near her face. The blue eyes did truly resemble the cat they met at the cafe.

It appeared Mahiru was really interested as it really resembled Silk, which Mahiru first encountered.

"Sure does. You want it?"

"I want to try. May I?"

"Sure. The cranes here are easier. If you can't, leave it to me."

"I will try my best not to trouble you."

Mahiru looked enthused in challenging the crane machine, and Amane chose to watch.

Amane could nab the doll immediately, but since Mahiru was the one who requested, he felt it was better to acknowledge her independence and competitiveness.

Mahiru inserted the coin, cautiously touched the knob to move the crane horizontally, and affirmed the situation. The cautious Mahiru probably wanted to be sure how long it would take until she could move the crane.

However, such crane arms would automatically move vertically once the user let go.

"Eh, eh? It cannot move."

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. This machine will move vertically once you let go. You only have one chance."

"Ah? In other words..."

"There's no way to get the doll."

At this point, the doll was in the middle of an empty area.

The crane was positioned slightly away from the drop zone, and would only move vertically thereafter. There was no way to salvage it, or even poke at the doll.

There were some that had a joystick allowing it to move around, and some were time limited, but this was a button type, and she could not redo it. It was a common issue to anyone playing this game for the first time, one they had to live with.

"Well, you wasted 100 yen, but since you can move the crane sideways, use this chance to figure out the speed and the lag in releasing the button, and make use of it next time."