Lucky Exchange - Karinrumi - Boruto (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Lately, Kawaki was visiting a market stand with alarming frequency. Sure, the stand was selling his favourite pastry, but that wasn’t the only reason.

The one selling taiyaki was Sumire. She was his younger brother’s friend. Sometimes, Kawaki spent time with her when his brother was busy making goo-goo eyes at Sarada.

Kawaki met a lot of his brother’s friends and amongst them he liked Sumire the most. She was patient, kind, and understanding. Never raising her voice at him. Boruto’s other friends either matched his temper or had weird quirks; he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand for more than one hour.

So, amongst Boruto’s friends, Kawaki was closest to Sumire. She asked him to help her win an employee of the month award. He agreed to help her, while turning down other ridiculous favours asked by Sarada, Shikadai and Inojin.

Compared to what they asked him to do, Sumire’s request was reasonable. He was actually on his way to the stall she was serving at. It took him some time to get there, but he tried to convince himself it was worth it.

Noticing him from the stall she was attending, Sumire waved in his direction with a wide smile. There were people that visited only to see the cheerful girl. He fastened his pace and got into a queue.

This place was crowded with people wanting to order street food. Kawaki was no exception. Helping Sumire was one thing, but he’d immediately stop if the taiyaki sold here wasn’t delicious.

He waited in the line for an hour before he could place his order. Kawaki hoped the taiyaki wasn’t sold out. The thought dampened his mood.

“Hello, Kawaki!” Sumire brightened at the sight of him and he remembered why the trip was worth it. Seeing the lively welcome for him was refreshing. “Taiyaki and a can of orange soda, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered. It’s not like the order he made was difficult to remember. Still, it was the little things like this that made him enjoy Sumire’s presence in his life.

He felt like she was the most open-minded in getting to know him. Not as Boruto’s adopted older brother. Just simply him as Kawaki. The same thing couldn’t be said about Boruto’s other friends. Except Sarada. However, Sarada was close to being Boruto’s girlfriend, and that meant she was unofficially accepted as a part of their family.

Boruto and Sarada didn’t get officially together, but everyone knew it was just the matter of time before they did.

“Here’s your order!” She handed him a can of orange soda and taiyaki with incredible speed. Suddenly, her eyes widened. “Oh, it looks like you’re lucky today!”

“Lucky?” What did she mean by that? Kawaki’s life was just a string of bad luck until he got adopted by the Uzumaki family. “Hard to believe it.”

“You better believe it. The numbers don’t lie. You’re our ten thousand customer, so you won a special prize!” she said, visibly excited and relieved at the same time.

“Special prize? What’s that about?” he asked. Was there something going on he wasn’t aware of? Thinking about this, the queue to buy his food was longer than usual. Makes sense if it was full of people lining up for the special prize.

It was Sumire’s turn to be confused. “You didn’t know? Our prize for the customer that wins it is a bag of their favourite pastries and a date with me.”

Kawaki blinked. “Had no clue.”

“That’s why I’m happy you’re the one that won! At least I’ll spend time with someone I already know,” she explained. Kawaki sighed. A date with Sumire, huh? That’s why she was so fidgety throughout the entire week.

Kawaki was already visiting the stall at her request. He enjoyed spending time with Sumire too. Going on a date, plus getting full bag of taiyaki, was a good enough trade off for him. If it makes Sumire more comfortable being around him than with a stranger, at least he’d make her feel safe.

“Fine,” Kawaki said, then asked a question, ”when do I need to pick up the prize?”

“On my birthday! That’ll be twelfth of June,” she winked at him.

Birthday? Kawaki didn’t know it’d be so soon. Not like he knew the date before Sumire told him. If he wanted to buy her a gift, he oughta hurry. Sumire’s birthday was just two days from now. “Got it, I’ll see ya then. You have my number. Call me and I’ll come get you.”

“Sure, see you soon!” Sumire energetically waved at him with the same vigour when she greeted him. Kawaki waved back without saying a word. He left the line, opened his can of soda to drink it and saw part of customers leaving the stall after learning someone had already won the prize.

The day to come pick up his bag of taiyaki and Sumire had arrived. Kawaki purchased a gift for her. He wasn’t sure about his choice, but hopefully, she liked it.

They met in front of the market stall she worked at. She mentioned she wanted to experience it as a customer for once.

Kawaki didn’t mind. He liked this place. Spotting her, he walked in her direction. “Hey.”

Sumire jumped a bit, startled. “Oh, hi!”

She was wearing a blue sundress, white sandals and a light brown straw hat with a purple ribbon around it. Her hair was let down, not tied in her trademark braids. Kawaki just was wearing a more-fancy version of his casual clothes.

“You look good,” he complimented her, then gave her a gift he prepared. “Here, that’s for you. Ain’t it your birthday?”

Sumire giggled. “Yes, it is. Thank you.”

She looked curiously at the gift bag, then gasped. She was like Boruto. His brother was very impatient when receiving gifts of any kind and wanted to know what’s inside the bag immediately.

However, unlike Boruto, after peeking inside of the gift bag, Sumire held herself back from opening the gift completely. Instead, she gasped as if she remembered something.

“I forgot! Here’s the bag of taiyaki you won!” she said, handing him the bag. Kawaki gratefully accepted it.

Kind of felt like a gift exchange.

“What do ya want to do now?” he asked her.

“Let’s go around the market, then to an amusem*nt park!” Sumire’s eyes were shining with excitement.

Kawaki supposed indulging her on this day was alright. “Sounds like a plan.”

First, they went to buy food and some drinks in the stall Sumire managed when she wasn’t having a day off.

“Do you plan to order taiyaki and an orange soda again?” she asked him with a hint of amusem*nt in her voice.

“No need for taiyaki when I already have won some,” he answered. “I’ll order yakitori and cola this time around.”

“That’s a surprise. I thought you were the type that likes to order the same thing from one place,” she said.

Kawaki nodded, ”because I am. I just always have one day in a month where I order something different.”

“So it was a right call to save taiyaki and orange soda for you in case you came to the stall.” Oh. That explained why Sumire was so fast in giving him his order whenever he visited the stall.

“Yeah. What do you usually order?” Kawaki was curious. Waiting in a queue with Sumire passed time a lot faster compared to every time he came here alone.

“Always something different! It’s so fun to try new things every once in a while. I enjoy most of the things I try because I’m not a picky eater.” Perhaps that was another sign of her open-mindedness which extended to people.

“That answer fits you,” he mumbled, then felt relieved she didn’t hear him, since it was time to order their food.

After they ate, their steps led them towards an amusem*nt park. The one, Sumire wanted to try out. Kawaki insisted on buying the tickets. Initially, it was Sumire that wanted to do this. Hearing that, he went on an offensive attack saying it was her birthday and he didn’t mind paying for them both. Soon, the girl relented.

“Any ride in particular you want to go on?” Kawaki assumed she’d request going on a ferris wheel or one of the safer rides.

“Let’s go on a superextreme roller coaster!” That assumption was wrong. Sumire’s suggestion would make him experience hell.

“Sure, let’s go,” he answered, not realising the upcoming danger.

He made one of the biggest mistakes of his life by entering that wagon alongside the birthday girl. Fortunately, he followed the safety instructions. Otherwise, he’d lose his life with how fast the roller coaster they were riding was going.

It turned out Sumire preferred extremely thrilling rides, instead of the safer ones. And the superextreme roller coaster wasn’t the only thrilling ride or attraction they went on. By the end of the day, he gained an appreciation for safer rides like ferris wheel.

But Sumire had fun on her birthday alongside him and that was the most important. It was worth enduring all of those dangerous rides and attractions.

“That was the best birthday ever!” she pumped her fist in the air. “Thanks, Kawaki. I’m so happy you were the one that won that prize.”

“Yeah,” Kawaki smiled. “Do you want to see what you’ve got now?”

He was referring to the gift he bought for her and gave right at the start.

Sumire nodded and quickly took it out. “A purple hair tie with rhinestones and a vanilla scented candle! How nice, thank you, Kawaki.”

“Glad you like it,” he really was. “By the time of your next birthday, I hope I can give you something better.”

Sumire raised her eyebrow. “Are you kidding? I already love the gift from you!”

“That so?”

“I know you didn’t have time, but both the candle and hair tie are top-notch!” Sumire put the items back inside the gift bag. “On top of that, you helped me win an employee of the month award and thanks to you, I had a lot of fun today. You’re too hard on yourself.”

Maybe she was right. From her perspective, he already did plenty. So why did he feel he didn’t do enough?

Ugh, nevermind. He’d stop thinking about this. He enjoyed himself, too. “I had fun as well. Give me heads up for the next time you need a favour from me.”

After all, he didn’t mind helping Sumire out when he could spend time with her in return.

“You’d be the first person I would ask!” She smiled brightly at him.

“Happy birthday,” he said, hoping she’d always be able to smile like this.

Their date finished with Kawaki’s birthday wishes and him walking Sumire home. When they separated, he looked at the bag of taiyaki he won.

Oh well, Sumire was right. Good luck has been smiling at him lately. His meeting with her was one of the most lucky things that happened in his life.