Mischievous Function

The Red (And Green) Thread of Fate

"Of course," he replied with a soft smile. "You're my best friend. We're always there for each other, right?"

"...Right."

"So, then, tell me. What's got you so stressed?"

Fan removed his hand from Test Tube's face and placed them both back in his lap. Test Tube hung her head again and let out a low sigh as she attempted to think of how she would explain this to him. "...Okay, fine," she finally admitted. "I...I didn't want you to know earlier, but..."

"Yes?" Fan leaned closer ever so slightly, his eyes widening in expectation.

"I..." Test Tube stopped as she tried to muster up the courage to say what she was thinking. She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out before opening them again and looking down at the table. "I had a surprise for you."

Fan's expression immediately switched from curious to embarrassed as he suddenly understood why Test Tube was being so secretive. "O-oh...I see," he said, averting his gaze away from her and staring at the table awkwardly. "I mean, if you don't want me to know yet, then—"

"No, no, it's...it's fine," Test Tube insisted, offering a light chuckle. "I...I suppose now's as good a time as ever, anyway."

She took another deep breath and tried to calm her nerves before facing him again. "I was..." she started, "...I was going to ask you...if...i-if you wanted to..."

Fan widened his eyes ever so slightly and leaned forward, cocking his head the tiniest bit to the side as he waited patiently for Test Tube to complete her sentence.

"...to...t-to...w-well, you see, there's this...th-the thing...the thing on...okay, so, this...I wanted to see if...I...golly gee, Test Tube, just spit it out!" She muttered that last part to herself as she balled one of her fists in self-anger. "Th-the thing on Friday...you—me—we...did you...I...I want—"

"You want me to go with you to watch that singing contest on Friday that Balloon and Suitcase were talking about?" he guessed.

Test Tube's eyes widened and she nodded rapidly. "Yes! Yes, that's it!" she said with a pointed finger at Fan. Her blush suddenly deepened as she realized the implications of what she had just asked, and she shrank back in her seat. "I-I mean..." she mumbled, rubbing her arm and looking down, "only if you want to, of course...i-if you don't want to, then that—that's completely fine, too! I just...thought I'd ask and...and see if you wanted to."

Fan let out a knowing smirk and asked, "Is this because they're going to have J-pop singers there?"

"N-NO!" Test Tube huffed defensively. Almost immediately after, she shrank back and stared at the ground, embarrassed. "Well...yes. But you like J-pop too, so don't you start!"

Fan laughed and shook his head, raising his hands up in surrender. "All right, all right, fine. You got me. And...yeah, sure. I'd love to go with you, Test Tube."

Test Tube's blush reddened even further as she felt herself start to sweat. Instead of completely melting down like she felt like doing, she managed to merely smile at him and nod. "Th...thanks."

"Yeah. Of course."

Fan's eyes then lit up and he leaned forward eagerly. "Oh! But as for now, I heard that they have Larval Movieoes' Improved Duper Revengers Rendgame K Outrageous Royal Battle Melee World at War Reimagined Redux The Third Chapter Vinyl Mix With Banjoey + Kazooey As Well As Knuckles 4K Reprise Featuring Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man from the Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man Adventures™ Series with New Spunky Mode: Arcade Edition here. You wanna go look for it and hop on?"

Test Time gasped and gave him a surprised smile. "Larval Movieoes' Improved Duper Revengers Rendgame K Outrageous Royal Battle Melee World at War Reimagined Redux The Third Chapter Vinyl Mix With Banjoey + Kazooey As Well As Knuckles 4K Reprise Featuring Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man from the Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man Adventures™ Series with New Spunky Mode: Arcade Edition? Here? Really?"