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I tried to steady my breathing as I stood behind the shoujo manga shelves in MegaGamers. I knew eventually my chance would come, and until then, I just had to look inconspicuous.
I heard the bell on the door jingle, and I peaked around the corner of the shelves. Finally! There she was!
After a moment, I heard voices. "Konichiwa!
"^You sound cheerful. What happened? You didn't happen to run into Piro, did you?^"
"^Yes, actually! He came to Anna Miller's... well, a bunch of stuff happened, but he gave me this!^"
There was a moment without speech, during which I heard a piece of paper being examined. "^Told you he was a fanboy. Why on Earth would he give you something like this? And why are you so happy about it?^"
"^Well, he wanted to give it to me to wish me luck for the part. I don't know how I would have reacted, but, before he gave it to me, as we were walking home, CubeSoft called. I got the part!^"
"^Ah. I see. So that's why you're so happy. And you accepted this because of that?^"
"^I... I guess. I was really mean to him last night...^"
"^Kimiko, you need to make up your mind. If you're not interested in him, you shouldn't accept stuff like this. You're just going to end up hurting him or getting yourself hurt.^"
"^But... Oh, it was really strange after Piro had to go help his friend. A bunch of people gave me Valentines.^"
I hurt a muttered curse and something that sounded like "^...forgot to assign agents...^"
"^Pardon?^" Kimiko asked, sounding slightly confused.
"^Nothing. Go on?^"
"^Well, I wasn't suprised by DietWaterCzar or Hatch, though it did make me wonder why they've never given me one before. You'd think they would've, they've known me long enough. But I also got them from a bunch of people I've never met before! The strangest one of the lot was a guy wearing a kilt. He was Scottish, I guess. He drew a picture of me. It's really nice, if a little creepy.^" More paper rustling.
"^Did you catch his name?^"
"^Umm... I think it was McFinnigan?^"
There was a moment of silence, then, "^Alright. Well, I think we ought to head home. Can you put dinner together for yourself? I'm going to need to leave again as soon as we're done. I have some errands to run.^"
"^I guess. What do you need to do?^"
"^Nothing terribly important. Come on.^"
I swallowed hard. It was now or never. I stepped around the shelves and walked toward the door, reaching into my bag. Of course I saw her instantly. I nearly couldn't breath, but I stopped in front of the door and faced her. "^Excuse me, Hayasaka-san.^"
She stopped and blinked, looking surprised. "^Yes? Can I help you?^"
"^I'd... I'd like you to have this.^" My voice was barely a whisper. "^Happy Valentine's Day...^"
She looked at me for several long moments, then at the small object I was holding out to her. After a moment, she took it, as well as the card. Her cheek wasn't twitching yet, which was good. But she wasn't smiling either. Not that I'd ever seen her smile, but I had been hoping...
After a moment, she spoke. "^Caduceus, right? I should've known that you're in here too frequently just to be a customer.^" I thought she was going to get mad for a moment, and my heart nearly stopped. But then she continued. "^You are pretty observant, though; not many people know about my fondness for Lovecraft. Where'd you get this?^"
"^Um... an American company makes them...^"
She looked down at the Plush Cthulhu for a little longer, then placed it on a nearby shelf and opened the card. She looked at it for a moment, then placed it next to the toy. "^We're closing now. You need to go.^"
I gulped and nodded, and since I didn't trust my voice, I turned and left the store. As I left, I heard her say, "^On second thought, I guess I don't need to run those errands.^"
"^Oh. Okay. I don't understand you sometimes, Erika...^"
I had made it to the end of the block, and stood peaking around the corner. After a couple of minutes, the two beautiful women left the store. I didn't know what I was expecting... it certainly wasn't a green wingtip sticking out of the top of Erika's purse.
And I almost could have sworn she was smiling before she turned and headed down the street.
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