Chapter 56 | I Walked Out Carrying a Mountain of Plushies and She Walked Out Pretending This Was the Plan All Along

[Mission: Just For Today]

[Description: Your student isn’t stupid. He knows you’ve been suffering in that room for three days and he didn’t plan all of this just to buy clothes. He wants to help you forget those worries.]

[Stop running! Stop overthinking! Enjoy the time he prepared for you!]

[Time Limit: Until sunset]

[Reward: Ascension Essence (Super Rare)]

[Failure: None]

’So that’s why he asked to stay.’ Natasha stared at the system panel with a complicated look in her eyes.

She was grateful to Dante for thinking about her. She really was. But there was no way she could tell him that her problem started with him.

[Stop running! Stop overthinking!]

’I thought creating distance would help, but that only made things worse.’ She looked at those words and let out a quiet breath.

Running away from him wasn’t solving anything. She could see that now.

When she first shared her past with Dante, she thought they had reached a point where they could talk freely with each other. Share things. Be honest.

And now she was the one running from the person who understood her most.

All because of her own stupid feelings.

She looked over her shoulder. Dante was standing a few steps behind her, holding bags in both hands, looking at her with a confused expression.

He wasn’t asking why she stopped. He was just waiting for her patiently.

’Fine.’ She said to the system. ’I’ll stop overthinking. I’ll try to enjoy today.’

She wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea. As an awakener over a hundred years old, none of the things here were built for someone like her.

But honestly, none of that mattered right now.

She just needed a break from everything. Even if it was just for one day.

She turned around and faced him.

"Fine." She said, her voice a little softer than before. "Since we’re already here, I suppose we can look around for a bit."

’Phew. I was worried for a second.’ Dante thought, feeling relieved inside while his eyes lit up like a kid who just got permission to stay up late. "Really?"

"Don’t make me repeat myself."

"Yes, master!" He grinned and walked up beside her. "You won’t regret it. I promise."

"How about we try those rides first?" Dante pointed at the roller coaster in the distance, the biggest one in Starline Plaza. It had a massive vertical drop and he could hear people screaming from here.

Just like her, he didn’t have much hope for them. But who knows, maybe she would enjoy one of them.

And he had time until sunset. It was worth a shot.

***

A few minutes later, Natasha sat through the entire ride with a straight face. When they got off, Dante looked at her, hoping to see something. Anything.

"That was it?" She asked with some disappointment in her voice.

Seeing this, he gritted his teeth and took her to the drop tower next.

A two-hundred-foot free fall that shot people straight down at full speed. Half the riders came off shaking. One of the guys looked like he was reconsidering his life choices.

Natasha stepped off and fixed her hat.

"The wind was nice." She had a small smile on her face.

But it wasn’t the one he was hoping for.

He tried the spinning ride after that. The one that pinned you to the wall with centrifugal force while the floor dropped away. The kids were crying when they got off.

Natasha walked out like she just stepped off an elevator.

Dante stared at her as she adjusted her cardigan without a single wrinkle on her face.

’Fuck, I want to slap the person I was a few minutes ago.’ He scratched the back of his head, feeling like a complete idiot. ’She’s a goddamn awakener. What was I even thinking?’

"Is there anything else?" Natasha asked, looking at him with the same unimpressed expression she had been wearing since the first ride.

She wasn’t being mean about it. She genuinely felt nothing.

’This isn’t working.’ Dante shoved his hands in his pockets and thought for a second. He scratched the rides off his list immediately.

He needed to switch the approach entirely.

Then his eyes caught something in the distance and a grin slowly crept across his face.

"Master, have you ever played one of those?" He said, pointing at a claw machine.

Natasha turned to see what he was pointing at and her lips twitched.

Of course she knew what a claw machine was. They were popular among kids. Right now, a little girl was standing on her toes trying to reach the controls.

’Did he give up trying already?’ Natasha looked at Dante’s back as he walked ahead of her. ’Maybe I should pretend to enjoy it a little.’

She felt a bit guilty for showing no reaction to the rides.

He was clearly trying hard.

Dante slid some coins in and grabbed the joystick. He moved the claw over a round pink bear, positioned it perfectly, and hit the button.

The claw dropped, grabbed the bear’s head, lifted it halfway up, and let go like it changed its mind.

"Are you serious?" Dante stared at the machine. He wanted to win one of those teddy bears and give it to Natasha. At this rate, he was just going to embarrass himself even more.

The little girl next to him giggled. "You have to aim for the body, not the head, mister."

"Oh yeah? Show me then." Dante stepped aside.

The girl put her coin in with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. She moved the claw with precision, dropped it right on the body just like she said, and the claw grabbed it perfectly.

Then let go at the exact same height.

"NO!" The girl slammed her little hands on the glass.

Dante looked at her and the two of them shared a moment of mutual defeat.

Natasha covered her mouth, a laugh slipping through despite her best efforts. "You two are hopeless."

"Master, how about you give it a try?" Dante said, scratching his cheek with his finger. ’Come on, Master! You have to try this. I can’t be the only one embarrassed here.’

"Pretty lady, you try it then!" The girl spoke his thoughts out loud, giving Natasha a look that clearly said ’let’s see you do better.’

"Fine." Natasha was amused by her cute actions and stepped up to the machine with a serious expression.

She studied the layout of the toys carefully. Her eyes moved across all of them before picking a target.

A white teddy bear sitting right in the middle..

She moved the claw with precision, lined it up, and pressed the button.

The claw descended. It landed right on top of the bear’s head, wrapped around it perfectly, and started rising.

’See, this is how you do it!’ Natasha’s chin lifted slightly and a smug look formed on her face.

The claw opened.

It grabbed nothing but air.

The bear hadn’t moved a single inch.

"..."

"PFFT, HAHAHA" Dante turned his head away.

’She’s clearly worse than me. What was she laughing at?’

Natasha heard his laugh and immediately tried again.

The claw grabbed a stuffed rabbit by the ear, dragged it two inches, and dropped it.

"..."

Third try.

The claw actually got a solid grip on a bear. It lifted it. Rising slowly.

Natasha’s eyes widened slightly. The bear was almost at the drop zone.

And... it fell.

"HAHAHA! You’re bad at this too!" The little girl pointed and laughed without a shred of mercy. "You’re more hopeless than us!"

’This kid is ruthless!’ Dante was trying his best not to lose it. His shoulders were shaking and tears were forming in his eyes.

He looked like a man about to die from holding in a laugh.

"Hahaha." Natasha stared at the two of them, her body shaking, her smile barely hiding the embarrassment and frustration underneath. Then she looked at the machine. The toys behind the glass seemed to be mocking her.

’There is no way I’m failing at something like this. It has to be because I haven’t played it before.’

With that thought, something in her eyes changed.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of bills thick enough to buy the entire machine. She slammed it on the counter and looked at the attendant.

"Tokens. Give me all of it."

The attendant’s eyes went wide with shock. "Ma’am, that’s—"

"Did I stutter?"

****

Twenty minutes later, Dante walked out of the arcade area carrying so many stuffed animals he couldn’t see over the pile.

Behind him, Natasha waved her hand at the little girl who was walking away, hugging a giant pink bear bigger than herself.

"Bye, pretty lady!"

"Bye."

"Master, aren’t these too many?" Dante said from behind the mountain of plushies.

"We can give them to your big sisters. Put them in the car." Natasha said, as if she had actually been thinking about them from the start.

And she definitely did not get worked up over a claw machine.