⠀⠀05. fair tickets and imagawayaki⠀⠀

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"SO YOU CAN'T come?" Y/N asked into her phone, a disappointed frown on her lips.

Yuriko's sigh could be heard from the other end of the line. "Y/N, I'm so sorry. You know I don't wanna ditch you like that but something came up and I've gotta go." Hesitantly, she suggested, "Another time, maybe?"

There would be no 'another time' until four years later. Y/N was positive she'd explained that to her friend before. Maybe Yuriko hadn't been that enthusiastic about it after all...

The girl felt disheartened, but she masked it behind a falsely-cheerful tone. "Another time, then," she promised, and with that, she hung up, a tired breath escaping her as her gaze flitted down to the two tickets in her hand.

The Yokohama Fair—a quadrennial fair that appeared at the end of August, it was one that Y/N had wanted to go to ever since she was a child. Despite that, her luck was so bad that each time, she could never fully enjoy it.

The first time she had gone with her father and sister, she was seven. S/N had vomited after eating too much, too fast at the food stalls, and they'd been forced to drive back home without even touching the rides—much to Y/N's dismay.

The second time, when she was eleven, her period had decided to make its grand entrance for the first time. She'd sat down on the roller coaster that she'd been begging to go on for weeks, and moments before it was about to start, Y/N had felt it.

S/N, who had been next to her, had looked over at her with a raised brow, asking why she looked so uneasy. The surprise on her face was unimaginable when Y/N had described the discomfort between her legs. S/N had called the man who was about to start the roller coaster and asked to get off, and then, in the corner stall of the fair's toilets, she'd explained the entire process to Y/N who remained in a bitter mood for the rest of the day, cursing Mother Nature.

Even after another four years later, her luck hadn't seemed to improve and Y/N ended up going down with the flu, and then, at nineteen, possibly the worst tragedy of all hit—one month prior to the start of the fair, around mid-July, her father was been killed. Y/N had been miserable for months to come—she was still miserable any time she thought about it—and neither her nor her sister had felt like going to the fair without their father beside them.

But now, at twenty-three, she had promised herself that she would successfully enjoy herself at the fair. Or at least, that was the plan until something had come up for Yuriko and she'd bailed on her.

Why, oh why, could Y/N just not enjoy one day at The Yokohama Fair with no problems of any kind?

She sighed, staring down at the tickets in her hand once again. S/N can't come because of work, and now Yuriko's busy too. So then who do I give the second ticket to?

It would be a waste of money if Y/N went alone—the fair was prominent around japan, so its tickets weren't particularly cheap. And besides, Y/N wasn't even fully sure if she'd have as much fun all on her own. She could sell the ticket to someone else, but she was pretty sure that was against the fair's rules, and Y/N was not interested in being fined, or worse, going to jail.

Just then, a familiar ringing echoed through the bakery, indicating that a customer had come in.

The girl looked up, eyes landing on Ranpo who made his way towards her. At that moment, a thought struck her—she could go with him! She enjoyed his company, and if he tagged along, the second ticket could be put to good use.

The detective stopped in front of the cash register, his eyes focused not on Y/N, but on the pastries that sat in the display in front of her.

Y/N followed his line of sight and sighed, putting her fair-related concerns to a momentary halt. "Hungry?"

A grin stretched across Ranpo's features. "Yep," he said, popping the P. "You guessed it."

Y/N took out a paper towel printed with the bakery's logo on it from the box beside her and opened up the display. With the help of the set of tongs that lay inside, she carefully picked up the treat—an imagawayaki—and placed it in the paper towel, handing it to him.

"Ooh!" He took it from her and sunk his teeth into the delight immediately, stomach grumbling a moment later to prove just how hungry he was.

"Say..." Y/N trailed off as he looked up at her, crumbs stuck to the corners of his mouth. She held up the two tickets she'd previously placed on the counter, making a clicking motion with her fingers to spread the two pieces of card. "Do you want to come to The Yokohama Fair with me?"

Ranpo blinked a few times.

"I've got two tickets but no one to bring along," she added, hoping he would agree to it. "I was going to go with Yuriko but something came up for her last minute, and she ended up cancelling our plans."

"What's in it for me?" Ranpo asked through a mouth full of the Japanese dessert.

"You get to hang out with me, duh," Y/N replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Boring!" Ranpo yelled, clearly not bothering to sugarcoat his opinion on her. "Nope. I'm not coming."

The girl opened her mouth to try to further convince him, then closed it again. Usually she wasn't so pushy—no meant no, and Y/N understood that well—but for some reason, she wanted to go with Ranpo—and not just to put the tickets to good use.

Was it such a crime to admit that she liked his company and wanted him around?

"You know... There's an entire part of the fair dedicated just to stalls with food from all around the world," she continued, watching as Ranpo's ears perked up at the mere mention of food. She held back her laughter at the sight; he looked just like a cat who'd heard the sound of treats in a jar.

Ranpo finished the imagawayaki in one final bite, gulping it down and then speaking. "In that case, I suppose I can consider it... What day are we talking?"

Y/N resisted the urge to smile widely. If he was asking for the day, then it meant she'd managed to convince him!

"This Saturday," she replied. "Have you got my phone number?"

Ranpo paused in thought, then shook his head. "Nope." Reaching over, he picked up a business card from beside the cash register. "But now I do."

Y/N couldn't keep the smile off her face any longer. "Great! So just call me to confirm whether you're coming, and we can meet up here, and then head to the fair together."

"Okay," Ranpo replied, lifting his shoulders in a light shrug.

Truth be told, while he wasn't too enthusiastic about fairs, this was the most excited he'd ever seen Y/N. Clearly, this was something she really wanted—and for a long time too, by the looks of it—so he supposed he could compromise just this once.

Saturday it was, then.

"By the way, Y/N. Can I get more of that imagawayaki?"

─── ⋅✧⋅ ───

a bit of a shorter filler but if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote :)

[edited, 16/11/22]


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