Yuto's POV: 

   The second I'd put my hand on my fortune I'd known that what I was going to see wasn't going to be good. Reading it just confirmed what I'd already knew. 

   Your ability to love and forget will grant you no reward.

   I already forgot about Ayane. She was my first love, that was true, but how I felt about her can't even compare to how I feel about Yukiko.
   And when I came down the stairs this morning and saw how Ryosuke was looking at her......At first I thought that it was just a friendly look. But then I started to look at him more closely. Realization had hit me. Nothing could doubt Ryosuke's feelings for her. Not one bit.
   How come he didn't tell me?
   Ryosuke and I were best friends - or so I thought. I tell him everything. Does he not trust me as much I trust him?
   I look at him. He's looking down at his fortune, smiling and sneaking peeks at Yukiko.
   And then he reads his fortune out loud and I stop cold. He's smiling and laughing now, like he's on top of the world, never taking his eyes off of Yukiko. The fortune in my hands feels like it weighs a million pounds as Kawasaki-san and Yuri talk some more, probably saying thier fortunes. But I don't care.
   This can't be true, I think. I loved Yukiko first; he can't just.....

   "You didn't say yours, Nakamura-san," Yukiko suddenly says.

   A stab of pain hit my chest and I can't help but flinch, thinking of the times that she'd called Ryosuke "Ryouma-chan" like they had been life long friends. I would always be just Nakamura-san to her, would I?

   I tell them I don't want to, but it only makes them more insistent.
   I can feel the anger boiling up inside of me, making my head ring like a thousand chimes. What kind of sick joke was this fortune thing?! How the hell was this stupid piece of paper supposed to speak my future?! This is my life, and I plan to live it my way.

   "NO!" I yell out, and then I grab Yukiko as a flood of people pass by us losing ourselves in the crowd and leaving the rest of the group behind us.

   I would get into some serious crap for doing what I was planning to do.
   There would be consequences, and papparazzi could swarm us anytime.
   But at the moment, I really didn't care.

   I would make this beautiful girl fall in love with me.

Yukiko's POV:

   Nakamura-san is pulling on my hand so hard that I feel as if my arm will pop right out of its socket.
   I'm trying to complain but it's just too hard when we're running through a gross pile of sweaty people of all ages as they walk around with cotton candy and rice balls on a stick and other sticky things that cling on my hair and clothes and won't let go. I also have a feeling that even if I yell out, Nakamura-san wouldn't even pay attention.
   Finally, he stops and I have to bend down and pant for a while before I start yelling the out of him.

   "What.....the hell.....kind...of stunt..." My heart rate slows and I start to breathe normally. "WERE YOU TRYING TO PULL OVER THERE?!?!?!?!"

   I feel someone tap on my shoulder and clear their throat.

   "Uh...You're kind of facing the other way," Nakamura-san says.

   My face grows red, but I maintain my angry face and whirl around. But before I can yell at him some more, a spoon is pushed into my mouth and the familiar taste of shaved ice bursts across my tongue.

   "Yeah, I thought that you would be hungry," he says. "Sorry about dragging you over here with me. I...had some things on my mind." There's a trace of sadness in his voice.

   I roll my eyes. "You think that just because you give me food and apologize and make me feel bad that I should just forgive you?"

   There's a pause.

   "Ah...yes?" he says uncertainly.

   I sigh and pout. "Fine. But then how are we going to find our way back to the others?"

   I see the blurred image of his face shift into a smile; the flash of white teeth entering my line of vision.

   "Maybe you should let me do the searching."

   And then he surprises me by taking my hand and leading me away, much more gently than how he'd dragged me away from the others just a minute ago.
   I remember the last time he'd held my hand, and I had twisted it so hard he had to let go. Why wasn't I doing it now? I feel his smooth warm hand squeeze mine and I blush. It feels...nice. Nicer than it should.

...Do we look like a couple?!

   Before I can react, Nakamura-san holds my hand and pulls me over to some little booth. The voice of a middle-aged man speaks.

   "Ah, konnichiwa! Are you two willing to try this game?"

   "Hai," Nakamura-san says.

   "Okay then, the rules are simple. I will give you three balls. When a target shows up, you have to try to hit it. The prizes are on this rack and they depend on how much targets you hit. Have fun!" There's some motion as Nakamura-san pays the man.

   "Nakamura-san, you're going to try to win a prize?" I ask him.

   He laughs. "No, that would make me look silly! You're going to do it!"

   My mouth drops open. "Eh?! But...I can barely see the targets..!!"

   He laughs. "Dame, I've played this game before when I was young. The targets make a really loud noise when they pop up. Since you can't see, then maybe you can listen your way into winning."

   I'm still uncertain. "Demo......I'm still not sure.."

   He laughs again and then takes my hand.
   I feel my face get hot as he presses his body behind mine.

   "Here," he says into my ear, and he moves my hand to the ball. Obediently, I take in in my palm, feeling its squishiness. "You can start it now," he says to the man, and then a loud ringing noise pirces through the air on my right side.

   Nakamura-san whips the ball to the target and then a ding of victory sounds.

   "I did it!" I say, surprisingly happy.

   "You mean I did it," Nakamura-san says.

   "You did some of it," I admit and we laugh.

   "Oh, the next one's coming," he warns, and then the noise comes from the front of me. I'm the one that moves our hands now, and then the ball flies through the air and hits the target, earning another ding.

   I gasp in joy.
   "I did it again!" I squeal.

   "Okay then, it looks like you're doing just fine on your own," he says, and releases my hand.

   "Eh?!! You can't do that - it's almost going to come again!!!"

   "Too bad~you have to do it on your own," he sings.

   I grit my teeth. "Yuji Baka!!" I yell, and then the ringing noise starts up on the right side, and I use my anger to whip the ball in the direction it came from. 

   And then the bell dings.

   "EH?!" I say, spinning around.

   The man hands me a big round teddy bear and I hug it close to me, smiling.

   And then I feel two big arms wrap around me and I freeze.

   "I knew you could do it, Yuki-chan!" Yuji-chan's voice cheers.

   I know my face is red and that I should be pushing him away right now, but for some reason, I don't want to. And then he moves away and I can't help but feel a bit of disappointment wash over me.

   And as he leads me through a bunch of other places, I can't help but smile at the fact that he'd called me Yuki-chan...

Yuto's POV:

   She called me Yuji!!
   Of course, it wasn't my real name, and she said it only to add "baka" at the end of it, but it didn't matter - I was no longer Nakamura-san!!! Plus, she's letting me hold her hand - "for guiding purposes, only" she keeps on insisting - and she's letting me guide her hand on some games! I swear I'm so happy I think I could yell it out. 

   As we walk by the sidewalk, I hear the familiar strums of a guitar and the thumps of drums.
   Looking to where it's coming from, I make out the scene of a street performance in front of the entrance. There's not much people there, and - the people playing are just kids! Probably five to ten!

   I can already see what's wrong with how they're performing - the singer keeps on bouncing up and down as he belts out the lyrics, so the words come out sort of jumbled; the guitar player keeps on shaking his head around to make his hair fly so he's not really paying much attention to his playing, and the drummer keeps on trying to show off what he can do with a pair of drumsticks (he's twirling them around on his fingers and throwing them up in the air repeatedly.)

   "Chotto - what's going on?" Yukiko asks me.

   "There's a couple of street performers over at the entrance," I explain to her.

   "Oo~can we go see them?" she asks me.

   "Of course," I say, and I lead her towards the music. 

    Nobody's paying much attention to the kids, all of them are just mostly ignoring them and the little hat they'd put on the ground to collect spare change.

   Apparently, Yukiko can see as much.

   "Yuji-chan, they're not getting any money," she tells me. (Plus, I can't help but swoon a little when she says my - fake - name again). "Go give them sooommme!"

   "Hai, hai, wakatta," I say, and walk up to their hat and drop some money inside.

   The kids immediately stop playing and rush up to me.

   "Ah, our first payer!" the little (seven year old?) guitar player with spiked up hair exclaims.

   "Hai, he is our first!" the (ten year old?) drummer that looks a bit like me says.

   "Arigatou, stranger-san!!" the probably five or six year old singer yells brightly. "Arigatou gozaimassuuuu!!"

   "Ah, douitashimae," I say, and start to turn away.

   "Ah - Matte!" they all yell at once.

   I turn back around to see that they are all clasping their hands together and looking like they're begging. "Please tell us your coments on our performance!" they plead.

   Yukiko laughs and pinches one of them on the cheek, and the singer looks at her with sappy eyes. "I think you three were adorable," she says. "What about you?" she asks me.

   "Ah, you guys weren't bad, but there's still some things that you need to practice if you want more people to like you," I say, matter-of-fact.

   Suddenly, they all drop to their knees and bow their heads.

   "Onegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiii~~" they say. "Please teach us~~~!!"

   I chuckle and then tell them what I'd thought what they were doing wrong. "You have to stop trying to show off and just play," I tell them. "You're already good. Just don't try to shove it people's faces."

   Their eyes are widening and they're looking at each other in realization.

   "Ah, could you demonstrate for me?" the drummer says. He's holding out his drumsticks to me. His eyes are pleading, and somehow, they kind of remind me of how I looked like, when I was always looking for guidance and someone to look up to when I was a junior at JE. 

   "Of course, kid," I say, and I ruffle his hair around.

   Sitting down at the drums was like greeting an old friend of mine. It had been - two weeks? - since I'd last played the drums, but I managed quite well. When I started, i immediately lost myself in it, shaking my head to the beat and slamming the base alot. I was almost beginning to forget how fun playing the drums was.

   I think I could have played for about five minutes when I finished, and by then the little boys were looking up at me with wide eyes.

   Then they snapped out of their dream.

   "YOSH! YOU'RE SO GOOOOOOD~~" they say, and the drummer runs up to me and bows, his forehead touching the ground.

   "Sensei!!" he yells, and then holds on to my leg.

   I laugh. "Okay, I'll be your sensei ~" I say.

   "Yatta!!" he cheers, and then he points at himself. "I'm Nao, and that is" - he points to the little singer - " Izumi, and he's" - he points at the guitarist - "Kiyoshi!! We're all brothers, and we want to be a band when we grow up!"

   I can't help but feel touched when I see them all looking up at me, their chests puffed out in pride. 

   "Ah! Help me, next!" the little singer says, and hands me the mike.

   "Ah...maybe I shouldn't sing..." I say, looking around at the crowd that had gathered while I was playing the drums. The hat is b with change.

   "Onegaaiii~~" 

   "Okay, fine," I say, and take the mike from his tiny fingers.

   I look straight at Yukiko and wink. "Yuki-chan, this is for you," I say, and I can see her blush.

   And I start singing.
   The song I sing sin't a song that HSJ had ever sung before, but a song that I had written for Yukiko the first night I'd stayed over at her house, under the light of the lamp, until Ryosuke yelled at me to go to sleep.

   "When we met, it seemed like a coincidence,
   That we were made to find each other,
   I know that it might not make sense,
   But you should know that I like you."

   While I sing, I hear the boys start to play their instruments in the background, in tune with my lyrics.
   Izumu sings around, vocalizing with what I say.

   When we're done, there's a big crowd around us and the hat is overflowing with money.

   The boys look overjoyed, and when I look over at Yukiko, she's blushing and giving me a hesitant smile.

   I face the three. "You know, you guys have a lot of talent. Here," I say, and I hand them each a card for Johnny's Entertainment. "Give this to the front desk and tell them that Nakajima Yuto requests you guys to be Juniors," I say, and at that, their eyes widen and their mouths drop.

   "You - you are - "

   I hold my finger to my lips and wink. "I'll see you guys some other time," I say, and walk towards Yukiko, where we go inside the Amusement Park again.

   There's one thing for sure. I had definitely seen the start of something big with those boys.

Yukiko's POV:

   I know that I had loathed Yuji-chan at first, but now there's a strange feeling that I have inside of me.
   Whenever he looks at me, I can feel my body tingle with joy. I feel my hand in his get clammy with sweat and I have to cringe from embarrassment. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

   As I look at him, I notice that even though I can't see much, somehow, I see him more vividly now, as if my vision only clears a little more when I see him.
   ...Do I like him?

   My heart skips a beat.
   What did he mean when he said that the song he sang was for me?
   He has such a beautiful voice...and he's so talented in music. I had no idea!!
   Listening to him make music was something that I knew that I wouldn't be able to forget through my whole life. My heart can't stop beating...over the fact that I can't seem to breathe when I'm with him, and I can't keep my face from turning the darkest shade of red everytime he looks at me.

   And I realize something.

   I think I like Yuji.

   "Yuji," I say.

   He looks at me, eyebrows raised in surprise. It was the first time that I'd said his nake with no honorifics.
   "Un..?" he says.

   I point at the ferris wheel.
   "Ah...can we go on that ride now? There's something that I want to tell you."

     What will happen now that Yukiko has asked Yuto to the ferris wheel?? How will his fortunes apply to it?
   Find out in the next chapter of LOVE BET!!
                Thank you for reading the ninth chapter!!
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P.S. Sorry if it's kind of forward, but I pretty like it this way. ^_^