After that, Tomoko started going to the candy store to try the prize draw every day.
No matter how she tried, though, she just couldn’t seem to win. Over the following days and weeks, she reached into the box time and time again. But every time she took out the gum and blew a bubble, it would burst and reveal one of those slips of paper with the words TOO BAD! on them.
Ugh, another loss…
That day had been no different. Tomoko was walking home from the candy store, disappointed. Was it that hard to win at the Friend Prize Draw, or was she just that unlucky?
At this rate, my only choice is to buy some of that stuff…
She thought back to one of the products she’d seen on the store shelves: Lucky Candy, the same kind the girl she’d run into had been carrying. She’d said they sold it there, and she was right. They had it in two great big glass jars. According to the clerk, the smaller candies gave you a small boost in luck, and the larger ones a big boost.
Each jar was filled with these candies in colorful wrappers. Apparently, the different colors represented different kinds of luck: yellow for luck with money, green for luck with health, blue for luck with studying, red for luck with romance. And finally, the ones in the white wrappers would give you better luck in prize draws.
If I eat one of those candies before trying the draw, I might actually win.
A simple plan, but those Lucky Candies were pretty expensive. Even the small ones were a thousand yen each, and the big ones were ten thousand yen for just a single piece!
The small ones are fine, I guess. But if I’m going to try to boost my luck, I want to use one of the big ones to guarantee I’ll get an awesome new friend.
Just one win was all she needed. Once she had a best friend of her very own, she wouldn’t need anything or anyone else. She had to win big and make sure she ended up with the most wonderful companion she could possibly get.
“I’ll never be able to afford one of those big candies with my allowance, though…”
Tomoko sighed, her shoulders hunched in gloom as she walked along. Suddenly, there was a thump as she bumped into someone, who then fell down on their butt, scattering the things they’d been carrying all over the ground.
“Ouch… S-sorry. Are you okay?” the person asked.
Tomoko once more found herself looking down at the silver-haired girl wearing a neon-pink hoodie and an eye patch with a crossed-out heart on it. And the things she’d dropped were the same as last time—lots and lots of Lucky Candies. Small ones…and big ones, too.
Tomoko’s eyes fixed on one candy in particular, and she drew in a sharp breath. A big Lucky Candy in a white wrapper…the kind that gave you good luck in prize draws. Just one of these was worth ten thousand yen. She wanted one so bad but couldn’t afford it…and now one was lying right at her feet. She crouched down and began picking up the scattered candies.
“Here you go. That’s all the ones that fell over here,” she said, handing them to the girl.
Except it wasn’t all of them. One big white candy was missing from the pile. She’d slipped it into her pocket when the silver-haired girl wasn’t looking.
“Oh, thank you.”
The girl flashed Tomoko a friendly smile like she had the last time. But then she frowned.
“Huh? That’s weird… There’s one missing. I could’ve sworn there was a big white candy in here…”
Tomoko froze.
“Hey, are you sure you didn’t see a big white candy anywhere?” the girl asked.
“No, I didn’t,” said Tomoko, playing dumb. “Maybe it fell in that ditch over there.”
The girl turned around to check, and while she had her back to Tomoko, Tomoko hurried away.
There’s no harm in taking just one. She’s got so many already. She’s probably from a superrich family or something.
She rounded a corner and took the candy from her pocket.
“Now that I’ve got this, everything will be fine…,” she whispered, smiling to herself.
If she’d turned around, she might have noticed a butterfly fluttering just above her head—a butterfly with black-and-pink wings.
But she didn’t. She just headed down the darkening evening streets, holding her candy tightly all the way home.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, Tomoko skipped to the candy shop with a spring in her step. She walked through the door and strode right up to the counter like usual. Except today, she wasn’t the same old Tomoko.
Today, I ate that candy before coming here.
The white candy that granted good luck in prize draws. A big one, for a big boost in luck.
Now I’m even luckier than ever!
Humming happily to herself, she took out a hundred-yen coin.
“One try at the Friend Prize Draw, please!”
“Coming right up.”
The man behind the counter took her coin and went over to the line of boxes, taking one down and tilting it toward her so she could reach the hole in the top. Tomoko thrust her hand inside without a second thought. The Lucky Candy had boosted her confidence, so she grabbed the first piece of gum she found and took it out. It had barely left the box before she tore off the wrapper and put the gum into her mouth.
She chewed and chewed and chewed. She did her best to chew it properly, without getting too excited. When it was soft enough, she began blowing a bubble. As she blew, it grew and grew until it was towering above her head. And inside the bubble, she could make out the silhouette of a girl her own age…
Pop!
The sound of the bubble bursting echoed throughout the store. But this time, it wasn’t a TOO BAD! strip of paper that came out of it.
Instead, standing there was a girl. A girl about her own age, wearing a beautiful blue dress. She had long silky hair, lovely pale skin, and was very, very cute. When she smiled at Tomoko, Tomoko just knew that this girl was sweet and nice and smart.
“Oh, congratulations!” said the man behind the counter. “You’re lucky today. You won the draw, so you get this girl as your brand-new friend.”
Tomoko grasped the empty gum wrapper tightly, cheering Yay! in her head.
A wonderful girl like her—my new friend! A best friend for me and me alone!
Tomoko’s eyes sparkled with excitement. She returned the girl’s smile.
“Um, hi… I’m Tomoko,” she said, feeling a bit shy. “What’s your name?”
However, the girl didn’t answer. Instead, she brought one hand to her mouth and gestured for Tomoko to wait. Then she began chewing something, and a bubblegum bubble came out of her mouth. It got bigger and bigger until it was towering over her head and burst with a loud pop! that echoed throughout the store.
From inside the bubble, another girl appeared. This one had short hair and was wearing an orange T-shirt. She had a different vibe from the girl in the dress, but she was just as cute and also looked sweet and nice and smart.
Tomoko was confused until the man behind the counter spoke up again.
“Oh-ho. You must be very lucky indeed. You won the grand prize. This means you get another friend absolutely free!”