Sometimes she could pick up my hints, but that was the most she could reasonably achieve. So how did those two know they would win in the first round...?
Wait a minute.
For a moment, I imagined what would have happened if we’d won that round. Something told me Inaba and Taichi would have kept acting confident regardless.
It felt as though a veil had been lifted.
“You know... maybe we’re overthinking this.”
“I think I get what you’re saying, Chihiro-kun.”
All this time, we’d convinced ourselves that we could never compare to them. But maybe they weren’t actually that perfect. Maybe we should have given ourselves a little more credit.
“It’s not about being better than them. We can win this, Enjouji. Are you with me?”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The third-years all stared at us dubiously. But Inaba was starting to look cautious.
After the first round of bets, we all put in four chips for a total of 12 in the pot. Then it was time to discard our unwanted cards and go for the next betting round. Taichi and Inaba went first.
“Eh... I’d say this is about where we’re at,” Inaba muttered as she added an extra chip.
Let the games begin.
“Is that all?” I asked condescendingly.
“Excuse me?” She glared back. Yikes.
“We’ll call. One more chip.”
“Shiroyama-san, what are you so afraid of?”
“Afraid...?”
“What happened to respecting your senpai, Chihiro? You trying to start something?”
But I ignored Inaba and checked with Enjouji. Our eyes met. I was confident we were on the same page... but I couldn’t read her mind perfectly, of course. Was this the right timing? No one could know for sure. Therefore...
“G-Go for it, Chihiro-kun!”
With her encouragement, I added all 13 chips we had left, for a total bet of 17. Shiroyama, Setouchi, and Taichi all looked shocked. Inaba, however, looked disgruntled. Meanwhile, the crowd started to whisper:
“Oh man, they’re going for it!”
“Finally, another big gamble!”
“Are they sure they wanna do that?!”
“The CRCIFIT never ceases to amaze!”
I could understand their surprise. But Enjouji had given me her blessing, and she didn’t look worried. As it turned out, if you warned your partner about your big bets in advance, they wouldn’t bat an eye.
Our cards were locked in. All that remained was for the others to decide whether they would rise to our challenge.
“What’ll it be, Inaba-san?”
Thus far, Inaba had called all the shots while Taichi sat back and let her. But now, for the first time, she was hesitating.
“You can talk to Taichi-san if you want to, you know.”
Now that the spell was broken, there was no need for them to maintain the illusion. They acted like they could read minds, like they knew each other’s cards, like they were in control of this game... but that was just Inaba’s ploy to scare us.
“I gotta say, I’m impressed the way you two can act like you know you’re going to win, then turn around and actually win. It’s very cool.”
Indeed, my senpai were the coolest kids around.
“But in the end, that’s all it really is, isn’t it?”
THUMP. That was the sound of me dragging them back down to my level. Now my goal was within my reach... and I could see the path forward. All I had to do now was start walking.
“Y-You know, Chihiro-kun... it feels like we’ve caught up to them somehow!”
Was it safe to think that way? Honestly, the two of us were still a little off-track. But at least we were headed in the right direction.
“You’re on.”
Inaba called our bet and put in 12 more chips. If she backed down, she would have had to forfeit the five chips she had already put in. And if Team Setouchi folded, we would stand to gain 27 chips in total, putting us back on track to potentially win the battle. But if they wanted to stay in, that was fine with me. All I had to do was win, and we’d close the gap.
Why hadn’t I gotten more aggressive? It felt like I’d been put on a short leash this whole time. Sure, it was great to have lofty ambitions, but you had to keep a level head and look at reality. No one on earth was permanently beyond reach.
“Welp. Looks like there’s no backing down now.”
“You realize if you lose, you’re out of the game, right?”
“Yeah, but who says we’re going to lose?” Nothing ventured, nothing gained. “We’re going to beat you at some point before you graduate, you know.”
“We, huh?” Inaba smirked.
“Y-Yeah! Both of us!” Enjouji chimed in. Coming from her, it was a rare declaration of war.
“I look forward to it,” said Taichi.
Inaba whirled around and kicked him in the shin. “Don’t encourage them!”
At last, they were starting to act like themselves again.
“Uh, guys?! We’re still here, you know! And we’re staying in!” said Setouchi as she added her chips. The crowd cheered.
“Yeah!”
“They’re really doing it!”
“Go for it!”
Total chips in the pot: 51. There was no strategy left — now it would all come down to luck. If we won, we would surpass Team Setouchi as the runner-up to win. If Team Setouchi won, we would drop out of the game, and they’d go head-to-head with Team Inaba. And if on the off-chance Team Inaba won, it was safe to say the entire battle was theirs.
It was time to reveal our cards.
Setouchi and Shiroyama: three of a kind. Taichi and Inaba: four of a kind. Me and Enjouji: full house.
...Apparently the CRC third-years’ OP protagonist luck hadn’t run out just yet. But one of these days, we’d make up for the year we spent chasing after them. All we had to do was believe in ourselves.
Winner: Yaegashi Taichi/Inaba Himeko
Total Flowers: 46