Mischievous Function

The Red (And Green) Thread of Fate

That evening, downstairs in the dining area by the arcade...

"Da...da-da...da-da-da-da-da-da—"

"There you are!"

"AAH!"

Test Tube flinched forward and yelped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her hand darted up to take one of her HairPods out and she whirled back to face the figure. "O-oh...it's just you."

"Really?" Fan smirked, sitting down in the seat next to Test Tube and giving her an amused grin. "I'm a 'just you' now?"

"N-no!" Test Tube took her other HairPod out and placed both of them in their case before facing him with a worried frown and waving her hands defensively. "I...I didn't mean it like that!"

"Ah, no, it-it's okay!" Fan chuckled, raising his hands up in front of him and shaking his head. "It was just...just a joke! Heh..."

"O-oh! Oh, right!" Test Tube laughed nervously and brushed her bangs out of her face. "Right, of course...yeah, duh."

They both let out small embarrassed laughs for a few more awkward seconds before Fan took a deep breath and finally asked, "So, are you...doing anything right now?"

"What? Huh? No." Test Tube scrambled to cover the paper lying in front of her with her arm and turned her body to face him, trying to play it off by resting her head in her hand. "Nope. Just...just resting."

"But you usually like to rest in your room, though," Fan pointed out suspiciously.

"Well, maybe I want to...try something new?"

"Near the arcade, though?"

"I...like being around tech?"

"But...people? Ugh."

"...Noise cancellation on my HairPods?"

"Test Tube, I can literally see the paper you were reading from here."

"Huh? A-ah! Oh!"

Test Tube lifted her arm off the paper and quickly folded it up before shoving it in her lab coat and laughing nervously. "Yeah, no, that's...this is nothing."

She could tell from Fan's deadpan expression and unimpressed frown, however, that he was clearly not buying it. "Test Tube, you're a girl with many, many talents," he said with a sympathetic shake of his head, "but lying convincingly is not one of them."

"I..."

Test Tube tried to formulate some kind of excuse, but her heart wasn't letting her. Instead, she just hung her head and stared at the seat awkwardly.

Fan's expression softened from irritated to concerned, and he gently asked, "Are you okay, Test Tube? Is something wrong?" When she didn't reply after a few seconds, he added, "You don't usually lie to me like this. Don't you trust me? I...I thought we were best friends."

"W-we are!" she protested. "And I do trust you!"

"Then why are you being like this? Sure, I'm not as smart as you, but I'm not stupid, either. Don't think I didn't notice how weird you were being in front of Balloon and Suitcase today, too. I just didn't ask you about it because I didn't want to embarrass you."

He gently placed his fingers on the bottom of her chin and lifted her face up to gaze straight into his eyes. "I don't like seeing you sad or stressed," he told her. "It...makes me sad, if...if that makes sense. If there's something wrong, tell me. Please. I want to help."

Test Tube's heart skipped a beat and her face flushed redder than Fan's hair. "I...I just..." she stammered, unable to form a complete sentence in her head. After several moments of continuous gazing, she finally managed to croak out, "...Thank you."