...We Could...

Fumi Twenty-Three

We headed for the park and waited for the twins to arrive. The clocked ticked by as we wandered a little, keeping an eye out for our favorite redheads. But we couldn't find them for some reason.

"Did they stand us up?" Eri wondered, going on tip-toe to do her best at looking over the heads of the Asians.

I shook my head, clutching my wicker handbag a little tighter. "No... I don't think that they're like that... They're probably just late or pulling a prank."

She went back onto her feet and nodded. "You've got a point. I wonder if they Host Club is going to spy on us..."

I shrugged. "If they don't know about it, I doubt it..."

"Yeah."

We kept strolling along and eventually came across a few booths that had games. It looked like a mini-carnival had moved in. As we passed the games we saw the different prizes that you could get if you won. I think Eri was checking out the games and debating if she wanted to play one, but I was looking at the stuffed animals.

"Oooh, Eri-chan, look at that little kitty," I smiled, pointing to a stall that was a ring toss.

Her amber eyes rested on a pure white cat with one eye bright blue and the other a ruby red. "Looks creepy."

"It looks cute," I defended, smiling at the cat.

"It looks like the devil's possessed it."

I sighed silently but was tugged along.

~*~

"Hey, now's your chance, Kaoru," his twin smiled at him from back behind. "You know what she wants, now."

"Yeah, but can I get it?" the younger sighed.

"You can. Go!" Hikaru urged.

Kaoru walked up to the stall with the cat and payed the man yen enough for a game. He aimed and shot his rings, but was three short from the cat.

"Better luck next time," the man smiled.

Kaoru fished out more yen. "Again."

He was given the rings and this time got two short.

"Again."

Again and again Kaoru tried to get the cat. The next time he missed four. The next time he missed two again. The one! But then back down to three. Then two. Then FIVE.

Kaoru sighed, digging into his pocket. "I only have enough for one more game... I have to keep the rest for dinner." He handed it over to the man and was given the rings.

"Here we go."

~*~

"Hey... Is that... Hikaru...?"

I looked at where Eri was looking and smiled. "It's Kaoru! Why is he at the ring toss?"

"Maybe he heard you cooing over the cat."

I felt my cheeks heat. "I doubt it... There's a pretty cool pair of headphones in that booth, too."

His rings made it one by one until he was at the last ring. He aimed, pulled back, and...

...made it!

"He got it!" Eri grinned, rushing forward and dragging me along.

When we caught up to the twins, Kaoru was beaming as he picked out the stuffed cat and turned to hand it to me.

"There you go, Nami-chan," he winked.

I gasped and hugged it, grinning. "Thank you, Kao-chan."

I thought he blushed.