Chapter 139: Yukinoshita Defeated by the Claw Machine!
"Ah, you two came here to play too!"
Yui looked over at them in delight.
"Mm."
Luke and Miura Yumiko answered simply.
"Yuigahama-san, please be quiet."
Another familiar voice came from the claw machine beside Yui.
It was not the machine's mournful wailing, but Yukinoshita Yukino's unmistakable voice.
Unlike her usual calm tone, President Yukinoshita sounded unusually murderous. If Yui disturbed her again, she might genuinely sink her into Tokyo Bay.
"Hm? You came with Yukinoshita? What is she doing?"
Luke questioned the slightly embarrassed Yui.
Yui covered her mouth and nodded, then pointed toward Yukino and began waving her hands through the air.
"You're saying that after I left, you two became bored, so you dragged her to the arcade?"
Luke tried to interpret her movements.
Yui nodded and continued gesturing wildly.
"Yukinoshita has a terrible sense of direction, so you nearly got lost on the way here? Well, that does sound like her…"
Yui began another sequence of movements.
"Hmm—I see. That certainly suits Yukinoshita's personality."
After analyzing her gestures again, Luke nodded in agreement.
"Hm?"
Yumiko sensed something strange and raised an eyebrow.
"What did Yui's movements just mean? You understood all that?"
Her gestures had looked like some kind of radio calisthenics routine.
How had Luke extracted such specific information from them?
"What is even happening here?!"
"Oh, she said Yukinoshita initially resisted coming to the arcade, but the moment she noticed this claw machine, she became completely absorbed."
Luke explained Yui's movements.
"Yuigahama has been watching her feed it coins for quite a while."
"That's why I said it suits Yukinoshita. Whenever competition is involved, something inside her catches fire."
After hearing his explanation, Yui proudly patted Luke's shoulder, lowered her face toward the floor, and nodded with satisfaction.
Her expression and movements were remarkably irritating.
Luke brushed her arm away and looked toward Yumiko.
"That's what she said."
"Oh, I see…"
Miura Yumiko suddenly understood—
Absolutely nothing.
"No, that isn't what I asked. How did you get such accurate information from Yui's ridiculous gestures?"
Yumiko continued questioning him.
Luke glanced toward Yukino, whose entire body seemed engulfed by the flames of fighting spirit, then whispered beside Yumiko.
"Come on, I'm an exorcist. It's normal for me to possess a few inexplicable skills."
Mm.
He had developed this particular skill while communicating with the mute Shiraishi Sen.
The faint breath beside Yumiko's ear instantly turned it red. The warm, ticklish sensation made her hurriedly push him away.
"Fine, I understand!"
"Still, these claw machines really are difficult."
Luke approached Yukino from behind.
"I'm beginning to suspect the owners deliberately loosened the claws."
Then he spotted a familiar plush.
It possessed gloomy eyes that had seen through the darkness of the world, claws capable of tearing apart bamboo and wild beasts, and fangs that reflected an ominous glow beneath the lights.
Ginnie The Grue.
Or, Pan-san the Panda.
Luke had forgotten where he learned it, but he vaguely remembered this plush being one of Yukino's favorites.
Still, it was incredibly ugly.
It completely betrayed the natural cuteness of pandas. Luke found it difficult to imagine Yukino liking such a toy.
A strange person naturally possessed strange tastes.
"Looks like you couldn't catch it either."
Luke watched from behind as the mechanical claw once again released its prey.
"Oh? Are you provoking me?"
Yukino's already blazing competitive spirit began radiating an icy chill.
Her internal switch for victory and defeat had been completely activated.
"Hm? I merely stated a fact. How does that count as provocation?"
"Don't worry. That fact will soon be disproven."
Yukino continued feeding coins into the machine as though filling a piggy bank, yet the plush repeatedly slipped free.
The cold aura surrounding her became increasingly oppressive.
"Don't misunderstand. I think the machine itself may be defective."
Luke continued, "Besides, a beginner can't master one of these immediately."
"In that case, I simply need to become skilled."
Yukino exchanged a banknote for a pile of coins and placed them beside the slot, clearly preparing to occupy the machine indefinitely.
She stared unblinkingly at the mechanical claw.
After her previous attempts, her control had become noticeably smoother.
First, she moved the claw to the right.
Then she guided it farther inside.
"The position looks good."
Luke offered his judgment.
Yukino said nothing.
The claw descended with its usual noisy creaking and attempted to seize the plush below.
Just as Luke predicted, it closed perfectly around the panda's head.
"…I caught it."
Yukino whispered.
Luke glanced toward her and discovered that she had formed a tiny fist in celebration.
Unfortunately, just as with Luke's earlier attempts, the plush swung twice in midair before inevitably falling.
"…Wait. It clearly caught it, so why did it suddenly let go?!"
Yukino aggressively interrogated the mechanical claw behind the glass.
"The gripping strength is too weak. That's all."
Luke answered.
"…Its grip is weak, so I need to try several more times?"
Yukino nodded as though understanding the situation.
"If it were human, I could force it to train until it wished for death. Its grip should become strong enough after that…"
Yukino muttered quietly, sounding slightly terrifying.
"I think repairing it with a wrench would be more effective."
Luke nodded and continued watching her attempts.
As expected, this kind of game was far more entertaining when someone else played it.
Yukino experienced defeat after defeat.
The claw repeatedly missed, and every plush it lifted repeatedly fell.
Her expression became increasingly severe, while the chill surrounding her grew even colder.
She gently picked up another coin.
"That's enough. Continuing probably won't accomplish anything."
Luke stopped her.
"Leave it to me. I'll get one for you."
Hearing that, Yukino looked at him suspiciously before reluctantly surrendering her position.
Luke then waved toward a nearby employee.
"This panda plush?"
"Mm."
The older female employee maintained her cheerful smile and once again removed a toy from the machine for him.
"Here."
Luke handed the plush to Yukino, but her expression was not especially pleased.
"You meant this method? Don't you find this somewhat disgraceful?"
Luke ignored her stubborn objection.
"You didn't particularly enjoy the machine anyway. Besides, you can always catch another one yourself."
He then walked toward Yumiko and Yui, who were chatting nearby.
"Let's go."
Luke spoke to Yumiko.
However, she hesitated.
"Um… Yui said it would be more fun if we all played together."
"That's right. It's been ages since we all went out together."
Yui spoke solemnly to Yumiko.
A complete lie.
Luke stared speechlessly at her.
Yui frequently skipped club activities to go out with her friends and sometimes even spent her weekends with them.
"Playing together will be more fun, right? Is that okay?"
Yui grabbed Yumiko's arm.
"Fine. I suppose I can't refuse."
At that moment, Yumiko's instinct to look after others awakened once again.
She gave Luke a helpless look and accepted Yui's request.
'Damn you, Yuigahama.'
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