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It might not have been so good to keep observing Claire using the crane game machine without greeting her, so, I reflected on that. I don't know if this could be considered as an apology, but…

"Please change place with me for a bit"

"Eh?"

Saying that, I stood in front of the crane game machine in place of Claire, who was confused, and inserted a coin to start the game.

This is something that happened a long time ago, but Hana often asked for dolls or some other things when we went out together. Because of that, I've played crane games many times to get what she wanted, so I'm actually pretty good at this.

When playing a crane game, trying to grab a stuffed doll by the arm is a bad idea. To make sure you get it, although it's going to take several times, it's best to lift the edge of the doll and gradually move it to the goal.

However, there seems to be a better way to grab it in this situation…

As I pressed the horizontal movement button and the vertical movement button in succession, the arm moved to the target location. Then, when the arm was descending to a place a little to the side of the Wolven doll, Claire said.

"If you do that, won't it be impossible to lift the Wolven doll?"

"No, this is fine."

Then, the tip of the arm got caught on the wolven's tag as I planned.

"T-there is such a way…!"

In front of Claire who makes that kind of startled voice, the wolven doll was lifted and fell into the hole just like that. Like that, I was able to get the wolven doll safely.

And when I took the wolven doll out of the crane game machine, Claire said while being impressed.

"I was surprised. I never thought Amane-san would be good at this kind of game."

"Aa, I’ve played it a lot because my little sister often badgered me to. Rather than that, I was more surprised that Claire actually likes Wolven."

"You know Wolven?!"

"–!"

Claire asked while leaning her body forward, causing her hair to flutter in the air, allowing me to smell the pleasant scent of her shampoo.

Noticing I had stepped back inadvertently, I somehow managed to maintain my calm and said.

"A-aa. I watched Majidan after all. Rather than that, you are a bit too close…"

"I-I'm sorry!"

Perhaps because she noticed she was the one who narrowed our distance, Claire hurriedly stepped back with her face blushing. Honestly, a part of me feels happy while the other part feels sad because of that….

Then, in front of me who was perplexed by the conflicting emotions in my chest, Claire was making an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Amane-san. I lost control of myself because there is no one around me who I could talk with about Wolven"

"It’s okay. Rather than that, here"

When I presented the Wolven doll to Claire, she tilted her head, puzzled. Since she didn't seem to understand my intention, I added.

"For you"

"… For me?"

"Aa"

"But, Amane-san was the one who took it. It is against my principle to do something such as unilaterally robbing someone who is the same as me, a Wolven’s fan."

For some reason, even I became a Wolven's fan too. But anyway, I didn't give up and kept giving the doll to her.

"Don't worry. Since I intended to give this to Claire from the beginning, it would be helpful if you receive this"

"… If that's the case"

With a timid expression, Claire received the doll with both of her hands.

I wonder what she was thinking when she stared at the doll silently for a few seconds before hugging it dearly, then looked at me with a gentle smile.

"Thank you very much, Amane-san. This made me very, very happy."

"—-"

At this moment, I realized that my heartbeat quickened when I looked at that smile.