Winning the Lottery

"Um... can I ask something? In this kind of lottery event, are you sure there's actually a first prize ball inside? What if it's just a gimmick and we're drawing for nothing?"

"How could that be!"

The female cashier quickly waved her hands, her smile a bit awkward. "We're a legitimate store—our promotions are absolutely honest. The first prize ball is definitely in there!"

"Words are cheap, though."

Kazehara Tetsu spread his hands. "Unless you let me see it with my own eyes."

"Well..." The female cashier looked troubled. This went against protocol.

But faced with a customer's reasonable doubt, she couldn't exactly refuse outright, especially since she herself wasn't sure if the grand prize really existed—after all, in the past few days of the event, no one had actually drawn the first prize.

She hesitated for a moment. "Um... I can ask the store manager with the intercom. Please wait a moment."

She pulled out an intercom from under the counter and quietly explained the situation to the person on the other end.

After a while, she set down the intercom, a relieved expression on her face.

"Sir, our manager agreed. You can check, but please put it back right after."

With that, she opened the lottery box's lid completely, revealing the colorful balls inside.

"See, that gold one—that's the first prize!" She pointed at one of the gold balls.

Kazehara Tetsu leaned in, making a show of inspecting it carefully.

As he looked at the gold ball, his other hand moved in the cashier's blind spot.

His pinky finger scraped lightly against an inconspicuous corner under the checkout counter.

There, a roll of transparent tape used for sticking labels.

A small piece of slightly sticky transparent tape was cleanly peeled off and hidden under his fingernail.

"Oh, so it really is there." He nodded, then reached out, picked up the gold ball, and examined it in his palm.

"See, it even has 'First Prize' engraved on it." He held the ball up to the cashier for confirmation.

"Right, right—I wasn't lying to you." The cashier let out a sigh of relief.

Then, in the instant he placed the gold ball back into the box, his thumb and index finger worked together to press that small piece of transparent tape firmly onto the ball's surface.

After doing all that, his face still wore that harmless, innocent smile.

"Alright, I believe you. Can we start now?"

"Of course, of course!"

The cashier closed the box lid and shook it vigorously a few times to mix the balls thoroughly.

The box was handed back to Kazehara Tetsu.

He reached his hand inside.

Sakayanagi Arisu watched quietly from the side, observing his every move.

The cashier couldn't see what Kazehara Tetsu was doing, but Arisu, standing right next to him, had a clear view.

His hand inside the box didn't stir randomly like hers had. His fingers moved gently, searching for something.

Kazehara Tetsu's fingers glided softly and quickly over the surfaces of the many smooth balls.

He felt the texture of each ball.

Smooth... smooth... still smooth...

His movements seemed hesitant, as if he were carefully choosing.

Until his fingertip touched something with a sticky, foreign sensation.

This is it.

He gripped the marked ball firmly in his palm, then peeled off the transparent tape and left it inside the box.

Even if the tape was discovered later, it would probably be dismissed as something that fell in by accident.

He slowly pulled his hand out of the black box.

A gold ball rested in his palm.

"Wow... first prize! Congratulations, sir!"

Her voice even caught the attention of cashiers and customers from nearby aisles, who cast envious glances their way.

"Lucky me."

A hint of pleasantly surprised smile appeared on Kazehara Tetsu's face.

He handed the gold ball to the waitress, who was already stumbling over her words.

"Here is your prize!" The waitress fumbled behind the counter and pulled out a sealed envelope, handing it to him with both hands. "Have a wonderful time with your girlfriend!"

Kazehara Tetsu carried the shopping bag full of ingredients in one hand and the envelope marked "First Prize" in the other.

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned on her cane, walking unhurriedly beside him, keeping a half-step distance between them.

The evening breeze swept across the campus, carrying away the noise and heat of the day bit by bit.

The afterglow of the setting sun stretched their shadows long across the ground, overlapping together.

Back at the dormitory building, they entered the elevator, and Kazehara Tetsu pressed the button for the third floor.

The elevator stopped at the third floor, and the door slowly opened.

Kazehara Tetsu stepped out first, with Sakayanagi Arisu following behind him.

She showed no hesitation.

Since she had already accepted the identity of "girlfriend," entering her "boyfriend's" room became a natural, as-a-matter-of-course extension of that role.

The hallway was empty. Kazehara Tetsu swiped his keycard to open the door, then stepped aside to let Sakayanagi Arisu enter first.

"Please, come in."

Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, then she calmly stepped inside.

Kazehara Tetsu closed the door, and the "kadak" sound of the lock falling completely sealed the room off from the outside world.

He set the shopping bag of ingredients on the kitchen counter in the small kitchenette, then turned around and said to Sakayanagi Arisu, who stood at the entrance hall leaning on her cane, "Make yourself at home. It'll be ready soon."

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't stand on ceremony. She walked further into the room.

She surveyed the space.

Very simple.

Bare, even.

Aside from the bed, desk, chair, and wardrobe—all standard-issue from the school—there was almost no extra decoration.

The walls were clean white, and the floor had no carpet.

Everything was arranged neatly: the books on the desk were stacked in order, the chair was properly pushed under the table.

It didn't look like the room of a teenage boy. It was more like a standard hotel single—a temporary dwelling, lacking any sense of lived-in life.

She walked over to the bed, her gaze sweeping across the white sheets and pillow.

Then, her line of sight froze.

On the pure white pillow were a few very fine strands of purple hair that didn't belong here.

Sakayanagi Arisu made no reaction. She simply filed this information away silently in her inner heart, then looked away as if she had seen nothing.

She walked to the desk, her eyes landing on the books stacked there.

There were many books, of all different types and genres.

The clear sound of water flow came from the kitchen, interrupting her observation.

Kazehara Tetsu had already started handling the ingredients.

Sakayanagi Arisu walked to the only chair, sat down quietly, and leaned her cane against the desk, like a patient diner waiting for the meal to begin.

She watched the busy back of the figure working in the cramped kitchen.

Half an hour later, three dishes and one soup were neatly arranged on the small desk.

Mapo Tofu, Stir-fried Seasonal Vegetables, Sweet and Sour Pork, and a bowl of Miso Soup.

"It's a bit simple. Make do with it," Kazehara Tetsu said, placing a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks in front of her.

Sakayanagi Arisu picked up the chopsticks. Her movements were elegant as she picked up a piece of pork coated in sauce and brought it to her mouth.

Sweet and sour exploded on her taste buds instantly. The pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

She took a bite of the Mapo Tofu. Fragrant, numbing, spicy—a cascade of complex flavors layered upon each other, stimulating her nerves.

"The taste... is indeed very good."

She slowed her chewing pace and gave an objective, honest evaluation.

This wasn't mere politeness, but genuine recognition from the heart.

"Looks like my skills are still decent," Kazehara Tetsu said, serving himself a bowl of rice and sitting down across from her.