“Ladies and gentlemen! At long last, I have the pleasure of announcing another installment of our special program! Let the games begin!”
An exceedingly cheerful bunny girl, mic in hand, announced this to the room as she hopped around the stage like a veritable rabbit─the same bunny girl, incidentally, who had treated me so kindly (I was finally starting to recognize her face).
After briefly introducing the two players, she briskly explained how the show would proceed.
Compared to the explanation she’d given me earlier, this version was more of a performance, but I was starting to realize she had a flair for exposition and elucidation─maybe that was why she’d been given the job of MC?
According to the explanation she gave from the stage, Sakiguchi, the “challenger,” was free to choose whatever game he wanted. Of course, his choices were limited to the games offered in the casino, but from the audience’s perspective, this seemed like a huge concession in his favor.
I suppose that impression may have stemmed from a lack of knowledge about casino games, though─maybe they don’t really involve skill or advantage at all.
Anyway, naturally enough, Sakiguchi selected poker.
The game at which he’d racked up such massive winnings, earning him the right to challenge the maestro.
Maybe he was getting superstitious.
“…”
“…”
Huh?
The two players appeared to exchange some words across the table─but since they weren’t wearing mics, the audience couldn’t hear what they said. The fact that the music was cranked up to full volume to rev up the mood didn’t help, either.
If I took off my glasses, I might have been able to read their lips─or not, since I don’t actually know how to read lips.
Just because I can see the stars doesn’t mean I know the name of every constellation─it sounds obvious, but if you want skills, you’ve got to acquire them.
Still, from what I could tell at a distance with my normal vision, this didn’t seem to be their first encounter─and though they both smiled as they spoke, there didn’t seem to be a shred of friendly feeling between them.
“Hey, do you guys know him?” I asked no one in particular.
The delinquent, who seemed to have recovered by that point, was the one who replied. “Just his name─he’s the president of Kamikazari’s student council. I hear he’s a shrewd one, unlike our councilman, but I gotta say I’m surprised he’s running an underground operation like this. As surprised as I am when people say, ‘Whales are almost as smart as humans, so you shouldn’t eat them.’ Almost as smart as humans? Well that ain’t so smart, is it.”
If the satire was back, then he must be okay.
When it came to food-related issues, Michiru the Epicure apparently had some strong opinions.
“Saying you shouldn’t eat them because they’re cute would be closer to the truth. They may not have legs, but they sure have nice tail fins,” declared Mr. Bare-Legs, who was a bit too hung up on legs for his own good.
“And by the way, I don’t know the guy,” he added. “But after today, my opinion of Kamikazari Middle has really improved. Wonder if the student council president has made some reforms.”
“Ha ha ha.” Sotoin just laughed loudly.
Apparently, he had neither information to share nor deductions to offer.
I was used to that by now, so it didn’t bother me.
I figured I could find out more about the relationship between the two student council presidents later by asking our councilman. He’d leapt onto the stage before he could explain anything─and now the game was about to begin.
The bunny girl climbed down from the stage, leaving only the two players and the dealer.
The chairs had been arranged so we couldn’t see the faces of the five cards dealt to each of them, probably to raise the suspense level for the audience─or maybe because if we could see them, the players would be able to guess one another’s hands from our reactions.
In which case, both the contestants and the viewers would probably lose interest in the big showdown.
Each player started with thirty chips, and the game was to continue until one or the other went bust. The ante was one chip, they could trade in cards once per game and each raise once, and neither could bet more than the other player currently had.
…I say that like some expert, but actually I’m not just parroting the bunny girl’s words, I’m parrying them─I know zilch about the rules of poker.
I don’t even know what all the hands are, let alone which are stronger than which─I’ve heard the phrase “royal flush,” but I don’t have a clue what that actually is.
My ignorance isn’t even about poker or blackjack or baccarat specifically. I don’t have friends, so I’ve just never really played cards much.
I don’t get why an ace (1) is stronger than a king (13)─and I sense some sexism in the fact that the king is better than the queen.
Although that may ring a bit false coming from a girl dressed up as a boy.
“Hmph. Don’t ask me. Maybe the king is protecting the queen by taking unlucky number 13,” said the delinquent, introducing his own twisted version of “ladies first.”
I was just thinking how delighted I was to see this sign of his full recovery when he added, “Shit, if I had any money left, I’d bet it all on Nagahiro.”
What sort of nonsense was that! Clearly, he hadn’t learned anything from his mistakes.
Learn your lesson already!
“Stop being stupid, Dojima. If I bet a hundred on Nagahiro right now, I could win back every damn yen I lost tonight.”
Apparently, the delinquent was almost as smart as a whale.
The music changed. They must have a sound guy back there somewhere.
Just how many people were involved in running this casino? I didn’t even think Kamikazari Middle had that many students.
The music was so loud that the players on stage didn’t seem able to hear each other anymore, so they’d resorted to hand gestures like tapping the table to indicate when they wanted to trade in cards, bet, or raise.
A novice like me couldn’t understand much of what was going on, but judging from the excitement of the crowd, the game must have gotten off to a thrilling start.
“…What just happened?”
“Ha ha ha. Nagahiro seems to have set an unexpected trap. Although I have no idea what it might consist of,” the leader said with a bold smile.
“Was it that unusual?”
“Who knows? I don’t know the rules of poker, so I wouldn’t understand anyway.”
You don’t know either, eh?
Then why do you look so bold?
“Unfortunately, you see, only my eye is trained. Not my mind.”
“…Is that why you chose blackjack? Because the rules of blackjack are aesthetically pleasing?”
“Oh no, I don’t really understand blackjack either─I’ve just memorized a few strong hands for blackjack and poker. That’s my secret to success.”
“…”
Um, what did that mean, exactly?
He only knew strong hands, so therefore he was a strong player?
That was a strategy?
While I was busy trying to pick my jaw up off the floor, the first game seemed to have come to an end─and the chips were pushed from the center of the table toward Sakiguchi.
The crowd went wild.
I couldn’t keep up.
Sotoin, on the other hand, was keeping up just fine, or rather, taking the lead by pumping his fist in the air, but it was already obvious that his excitement wasn’t based on much more knowledge than I had.
Maybe he was just happy about his fellow club member’s success, but in that case, why hadn’t he bet on Sakiguchi to win?
Sakiguchi won the second game, too (I think)─was he going to sweep the whole match just like that, and add casino manager to his résumé alongside student council president and club VP? I worried that if that happened, he’d have too many titles (oh, the things I worry about), but then Fudatsuki won the third game (as far as I could tell).
It was now two games to one, but the division of chips had basically gone back to where it started─so perhaps we were witnessing a well-matched tug of war?
As it turned out, that pattern continued.
A big win, a little loss, a big loss, a little win, a sudden windfall, immediately reversed…
Maybe this is simply what better bettors do, but as a novice, I couldn’t help feeling a little bored by the long back-and-forth with no end in sight.
Contrary to the mood of the ever-more-excited crowd, I was starting to think about slipping away to the lounge for a drink.
And that was when the incident occurred.