Challenge 100 - 41 grasping

"Hey, Mikey, look!" Elly pointed at the crane machine in the window.

"Isn't that you, babe?" He pulled up short with a grin slowly spreading across his face. 

"Well, kind of. It's the cheshire cat." She pressed her face to the glass, her tail swishing excitedly. Hizashi, who had never seen her want a single thing "just because", was thrilled. 

"Let's go in!"

"Babe, we can't. We have to get back to school, remember?"

"Aw, Ches. Yer right, though. I'm on thin ice with Nedzu right now over our last window incident."

"Yeah." She gave the place one last, lingering look before they walked on.

Five hours later, Hizashi strolled up in his civilian clothing to try and win one of the stuffed toys. They were holding t-shirts, and they said they were limited edition besides! The arcade staff had stocked a handful of Alice in Wonderland cranes, knowing Cheshire was growing fast in popularity since she started work here. He converted far too much change and settled in for a long session.

Hizashi was <i>terrible</i> at these types of games. He had very little patience, although intelligence did play a key factor. He knocked one of the sets down in one corner, hoping for a strategy where he could nudge it along until it got close enough to latch on and pop it into the chute.

At one point he had attracted quite a crowd. Many of the people were too polite to say anything, but a few were cheering him on, especially after he had confessed he was "Cheshire's absolute number one fan". He started to sweat as he came to the end of his change, as he noticed the always present opportunities skirting around the corners of the crane. Now that he had spent a lot of money and effort, they could scoop it up when he ran out of cash. He was starting to think this would be the case when an attendant tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir - I'd like to offer to open this up and get one of these for you. You've earned it."

Hizashi flipped a wayward strand of hair that had come undone from his bun, blinking in surprise. "For reals?"

"Yes! Here - what size shirt would you like?"

"Uh... large, please." He beamed as he opened the machine and the crowd around him, also smiling, began to disperse as he got his coveted prize. "Thanks!"

The attendant grinned back. "It took me awhile to recognize you. You're Present Mic, aren't you?"

Hizashi's grin grew even larger. "Are you a listener?"

"Sometimes, especially like, when we work late! Really, though, I saw you two outside the other day. You're dating Cheshire, aren't you."

He nodded. "Yeah. She doesn't ask for things, you know..." He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "But she really loves stuff like this."

"I hope she loves it. If you come again ask for Yuuto." He bowed. 

"We will! On both counts!"