Win

Seeing his swearing, the boss's expression changed slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he smiled again.

　　"Is it true? Then please come and have a try!"

　　Before Shinichi could speak, the boss put a toy gun into his hand, and then shouted at the audience.

　　"Everyone, a new challenger has appeared! This little brother took the last bullet from the masked lady, claiming to have found a way to overcome the challenge, and will bring you the magic of breaking through the levels! Can he use this? Will this boss lose all his money with one bullet? Please wait and see!"

"Whoooooooooo!"

　　Moved by his fiery voice, the atmosphere that was originally a bit cold warmed up again, and the crowd applauded one after another, and started cheering for the boy in front of the booth.

　　Feeling that he was being watched by many eyes, Shinichi showed displeasure.

　　—There's a lot of routine in business, and you're going to be tricked if you're not careful.

　　Mafuyu looked around. Even though she didn't quite understand the specific situation, she knew that her student was troubled by the current scene.

　　She first pushed away the hand that was tugging at her yukata sleeve, and then bent down, lifting the mask with her fingers, exposing half of her face, Mafuyu whispered to Shinichi.

　　"Give me the gun."

　　Now that whoever was holding the gun was the focus of attention. She wanted to use this method to distract the crowd. If she fired a bullet and left right away, there shouldn't be much trouble.

　　But Shinichi shook his head and said.

　　"I know how to clear a level, the boss probably already guessed it, so he followed the trend and used the crowd's pressure to force me to shoot instead of telling you the strategy and asking you to shoot the last bullet."

　　"Perhaps he thinks my marksmanship isn't as good as yours? So I played this set and gambled on my luck. "

　　"What does this mean, what kind of button..." Mafuyu was stunned, the amount of information Shinichi said was too much.

　　Shinichi looked straight ahead, raised the muzzle of his gun, and explained casually.

　　"I have to say that Sensei's luck is really good, so good that the boss almost lost his cool in the middle, so he passed the level he carefully prepared without knowing why."

　　"Does Sensei remember? Third and fourth bullets."

　　"The third and fourth…" Putting back her mask, Mafuyu looked at the iron frame, starting to remember, "I remember. Because of the blinding light, I missed the two bullets… It seems nothing special?"

　　"The color of the light changed for a moment. Maybe you didn't notice it when you were focused on shooting? I can see it more clearly from the side." Shinichi explains all the tricks of this booth.

　　"The way to clear the last level is with the three buttons on the iron frame."

　　"Just now two bullets hit the doll, bounced back, hit two buttons coincidentally, and the moment the button was hit, the LED light changed color, and at the same time, the boss's expression also changed."

　　"He installed so many dazzling LED lights, the first goal is to block the challenger from aiming, the second goal is to hide the button on the iron frame, and the third goal is to use the light change to notify him that the button is being used by someone else."

　　"Although I don't know why he gave such a hint, his expression only verified my guess and let me find three buttons on the shelf. "

　　This is the result of Shinichi's observation and analysis behind Mafuyu just now.

　　Indeed, the mechanism is very simple, whether it is the LED light trying to hide it or the words and deeds of the boss, as long as someone is paying attention, it is just some unrefined tricks.

　　After what Shinichi said, Mafuyu immediately swept over the messy metal frame, and immediately found three buttons the size of a bottle cap. Two of them had been suppressed, leaving only one intact.

　　She glanced at the boss, and then turned to Shinichi.

　　"Since you found it, let me shoot."

　　Shinichi didn't turn around, and said calmly.

　　"Unfortunately no. As I said just now, he just threw his gun at me to prevent the situation from happening, and used the pressure from the crowd to form a psychological clue, notifying everyone present."

　　"If I don't adapt to the current atmosphere to clear the level alone, and let Kirisu Sensei shoot, even if you really push the button, he still has a reason not to give up the panda and get another reward to fool the masses and us..."

　　Hearing Shinichi start explaining the various psychological knowledge involved in this aspect, Mafuyu couldn't help but fall silent.

　　This is obviously just an ordinary shooting game, why involve so much lore...

　　Was it because she had been a teacher for so long and had too little contact with the outside world, that she could no longer keep up with modern ways of thinking?

　　(Asada is smart, but for some reason, I really can't praise him from the bottom of my heart...)

　　Sighing inwardly, Mafuyu looked around.

　　Indeed, the audience were all expecting Shinichi to shoot, and the atmosphere had already risen to the point where he had to perform. Meanwhile the middle-aged boss wiped his sweat from the sidelines, and saw that the two of them had a serious relationship.

　　After Shinichi finished his explanation, Mafuyu whispered in his ear.

　　"Then shoot. Don't be nervous, it doesn't matter if you miss."

　　"Please don't worry, I'm very relaxed." Shinichi smelled a feminine scent coming from beside him, and he fingered the button on the shelf expressionlessly, "Moreover, who said I would miss?"

　　"Your arms and muzzles are crooked, so you definitely won't be able to shoot." Mafuyu pointed in a serious tone, "Unless you're as lucky as I was just now. But judging by the way the weapon is held, the bullets would have flown right behind the metal frame, without even a chance to ricochet."

　　Shinichi couldn't argue. He knew that his manual skills weren't that great. Whether it's origami or shooting games, they're fundamentally subpar. What Mafuyu said is very likely to happen.

　　"Well, if I miss it, so be it." Even so, Shinichi didn't put down the muzzle of the gun, but half-closed his eyes, supported the body of the gun with both hands, and aimed more precisely, "Then it's just a matter of luck. Maybe it felt really good today, so I won like this?"

　　"Why..." Wanting to ask something, Mafuyu covered her mouth, glanced at his focus to aim, then looked at the giant panda on the iron frame, and fell silent.

　　Then, she said softly.

　　"Asada... Do you really want that panda doll?"

　　Shinichi turned his gaze to Mafuyu who was wearing a mask: "No, didn't Sensei want it? I thought you really wanted to take it off…"

　　Mafuyu said seriously: "So you will help me get it? Why?"

　　Shinichi thought for a moment, then shrugged.

　　"No reason. It doesn't matter if I want to impress the boss, or I'm forced to respond to the unpleasant atmosphere around me, or I just want to shoot guns and have fun, but in the end, I'm standing here with a toy gun, the goal is to take the giant panda."

　　Turning his gaze back, Shinichi looked serious.

　　"What I really want to say is not for you, but for myself."

　　He remembered what he said to Hayasaka Ai not long ago.

　　"——Shouldn't you make yourself happy when you go to the festival?"

Shinichi is unhappy because of the shooting booth boss' cleverness, so he tries to make himself happy.

　　Driven by random reasons like that, he reminded Mafuyu, and due to the development of the situation, he wanted to use his poor marksmanship to press a button the size of a bottle cap in public.

　　For some reason, Shinichi becomes interested in this situation, and temporarily cancels his plan to lead the crowd to surround and suppress the boss after the shooting, so as not to continue his business.

　　Beside him, Mafuyu looked at him quietly.

　　She had to admit that Shinichi was right.

　　Wasn't the reason why she came to visit festivals and play shooting games to relieve stress and make herself feel happy and relaxed during the process?

　　Not to respond to someone's expectations or to prove anything, she just wanted to give up her current teacher's identity and do what she wanted to do the "Kirisu Mafuyu" way.

　　(Yeah, like ice skating in the past... Like giving up ice skating to become a Sensei...)

　　Mafuyu took a deep breath.

　　The next moment, she put aside all doubts, approached Shinichi, and hugged him gently from behind.

　　"?!" Shinichi's eyes widened, and he turned his head slightly.

　　To be precise, Mafuyu put her arm in his arm, pressed her half body up, and carefully adjusted his gun-holding posture. Just as he was holding the toy gun, the muzzle aligned, it was more stable than before.

　　"S-Sensei, is this a bit..." Shinichi lowered his voice.

　　At this time, his whole body was tense, he didn't dare to move in the slightest, he could only let Mafuyu guide him, the soft parts were all attached to him. He meditated on the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, letting himself settle down.

　　Should he say that he has grown up? Mafuyu didn't panic at all, and said calmly.

　　"Calm. Now, don't think of me as Sensei for now. I'm wearing a mask. No one will know that I am in a teacher-student relationship with you."

　　(No, the problem is that you and I both know that we are just teacher and student! And it's not nice to talk as if you're trying to cross a taboo, Kirisu Sensei)

　　Shinichi could only complain in his heart, and reluctantly nodded.

　　The onlookers on the side saw that the two suddenly became such an intimate posture. They also started to fuss and whistle, while the boss seemed to know what Mafuyu wanted to do. His expression became anxious, and he shouted loudly.

　　"Wait a moment! The younger brother said that he wanted to challenge alone."

　　Mafuyu turned her head and pulled off the mask, only showing half of her face, and said to the boss.

　　"Rejected. From start to finish, you yourself said these words, right?"

　　Besides that...

　　She put on her mask, speaking indifferently.

　　"...I'm his friend, and I'm just helping him shoot. He still held his gun. It doesn't break the rules you said at the beginning."

　　"Do you still have questions?"

　　"...No."

　　Even though the boss had clearly heard the youth calling her teacher just now… But who would dare to speak now!

　　Hearing these words, Shinichi wore a complicated expression, and really didn't know how to react.

　　Mafuyu considers him a friend? No matter how Shinichi thought about it, it couldn't be, it was probably an excuse to convince the boss.

　　"If you want to get hold of the doll, this is something you must do... Please don't pay too much attention to it."

　　Sure enough, Mafuyu's calm voice that hid nervous emotions.

　　"Then I leave everything to you." Shinichi said shyly, Kirisu-san..."

　　"...En."

　　For some reason, Mafuyu smiled gently, her tone softening slightly.

　　Then, the momentum suddenly became serious.

　　"Get ready. I'll shoot, don't move."

　　"Good." Shinichi answered with the same seriousness. He strained all the muscles, only his fingers relaxed slightly, and the rest followed his lead, steadily aiming for the third button.

　　The slender finger clung to it, and pulled the trigger.

　　Under the increasingly tense gazes of the audience and bosses around him, Shinichi heard Mafuyu's breathing, felt his temperature and heartbeat, and the various thoughts in his mind gradually receded, leaving only a silent emptiness.

　　The goal in front of him became very clear.

　　Just as he stopped breathing, gunshots rang out.

　　*Bang*

　　...

　　The two walked along the alley where the crowd was thinning.

　　Mafuyu took off the Kamen Rider mask, stared at the giant panda doll in her arms, then buried her face in it, and took a deep breath.

　　Pulling her face, she closed her eyes, and after a while, she remembered that there was someone beside her.

　　Her face flushed, then glanced to the side.

　　"The clouds today are really thick, and the humidity is heavy..." Shinichi, muttered to himself, "It looks like it's going to rain for no reason."

　　"...Possible. If it rains, the fireworks show will be cancelled."

　　Mafuyu reached out to comb her long hair, her expression the same as always.

　　Shinichi as if he doesn't know anything