253 Gambling Match: [Tarot of Fate]
At the first glance upon entering, Kirari immediately noticed the two people causing mischief under the table.
With a somewhat displeased glance at Juraku Sachiko, who was propping her head up and looking at her, Kirari passed by them and went straight to Jabami Yumeko, who was being pestered by Ikishima Midari. She greeted her affectionately: "Long time no see, Yumeko." "Long time no see, Kirari-nee."
If you ignore the fact that these two are about to engage in a gambling match, their relationship afterward would make them seem like very close sisters.
"Cut the unnecessary pleasantries, let's get started quickly." Kirari's deep blue eyes emitted undisguised malice, as if she wanted to swallow Yumeko whole: "Because I'm about to lose patience."
It's enviable how Hachiman Hikigaya has gone this far for her.
But it's precisely because of that, swallowing the two of them together will be the ultimate delight~
Two people with sincere emotions and deep bonds, after resisting, helplessly collapse before her. Splendid~
"Me too. Because such a feast is already laid out before us." Yumeko murmured: "Since the first time I met Kirari-nee at this school, I've been thinking maybe all this was destined a long time ago."
"There is a mutual gravitational pull between us."
The invisible clash of red and blue collided in the air, causing everyone present to catch their breath.
Nishinotouin Yuriko swallowed hard, her expression stiff.
Even though the main focus was Hachiman Hikigaya, why did even Yumeko Jabami bring such pressure?
Behind Kirari, Igarashi Sayaka's face was fierce, fists clenched, furious to the extreme at Yumeko's disrespect.
Gravitational pull or whatever, if it really existed, it should be the pull of love between me and the president!
How dare you, Yumeko Jabami, compete for affection?!
"Alright, alright, look over here!" Yomozuki Runa suddenly jumped onto a rolling chair and zipped between the two women: "Today, I, Yomozuki Runa, will be the referee~ "Both of you are so enthusiastic, very good!"
"Come on~ let's quickly finish the formalities and get started~"
"First, the stakes."
Yomozuki Runa licked her lollipop: "Since this is such an important gambling match, the stakes must be 'all-in'."
"However, since President Kirari promised beforehand not to harm Jabami-san, we will make a slight adjustment regarding the 'all-in' stakes."
Yomozuki Runa glanced at Kirari, signaling her to proceed with the question.
Kirari calmly asked: "Yumeko~ are you happy living at Hyakkaou Private Academy?"
"Very happy! A school where everything is decided by gambling—victory is heaven, defeat is hell.
Everyone lives here with that awareness.
There's no other place like this in all of Japan."
"Hyakkaou Academy is my utopia!"
"I'm so glad you like it here.
An Eden isolated from the constraints of the mundane world, where the only absolute truth is the survival of the fittest through gambling, where everyone must fight with all their might to live—I love this academy deeply..."
Kirari slowly raised her index finger: "Since Yumeko loves the academy so much, if you lose the gambling match, you will be banned from stepping foot in the school~ After you leave, I will help prepare your transfer application, so you can enroll in any other school in Japan you want."
Yumeko's gaze sharpened, catching the meaning in Kirari's words.
Losing the gambling match means expulsion, and expulsion means that the time she spends with Hachiman Hikigaya at most will disappear.
In the next three years, they will be forced to be "long-distance."
No matter how sincere the feelings are, they cannot resist the erosion of time and space.
Two years apart, at two different schools.
Although Yumeko knew that Hachiman's personality wouldn't let him abandon her, could she accept it? Thinking about such a future, Yumeko fell into confusion and fear...
She would be the first to give up—Yumeko Jabami.
Because she didn't want to be a burden to Hachiman Hikigaya.
She couldn't accept that version of herself.
Yomozuki Runa turned to Yumeko: "Yumeko-chan, can you accept this?" "Yes."
By this time, Hachiman Hikigaya had already freed himself from Juraku's magical feet, quickly walked to Yumeko's side, took her hand, and shared his warmth without reservation.
To him, such stakes were not a punishment but a reward.
Maybe having Yumeko out of gambling wasn't a bad thing.
Yumeko looked up and saw the determination in Hachiman's eyes, as if to say: No matter when or where, I will never give up on you.
"Hachiman~" Yumeko's eyes were soft like water, and the sticky atmosphere rippled around the two.
"Ahem ahem." Yomozuki Runa timely interrupted: "Since neither party finds it meaningful, the stakes are settled as such. As for the stakes if the president loses, due to some secrets, they won't be told here."
"Now, let the president explain the gambling rules."
Kirari turned her gaze to Itsuki Sumeragi: "Hime-san, do you have tarot cards in your handbag?"
"Huh? Me?" Itsuki pointed at herself in disbelief.
Unexpectedly, the plan to help the hero defeat the demon king hadn't succeeded. Instead, she was providing tools for the demon king? What is going on!
"I have them." She nodded and took out an unopened box of tarot cards from her handbag, pushing it along the smooth long table towards Kirari, who was seated at the head.
Kirari raised a pale hand and pressed down on the box of tarot cards.
"This gambling match will greatly change the fate of the three of us."
"So, let's do a divination~"
Divination?!
Everyone present was surprised.
A gambling style never heard of before—no wonder it's the president. Even the gambling involved is so imaginative.
Kirari began opening the plastic wrap of the tarot cards: "This gambling match is called [Tarot of Fate]."
"Tarot cards have 22 Major Arcana cards with various meanings. I, Yumeko, and Hachiman will each draw one Major Arcana card."
"The Major Arcana cards are numbered from 0 to 21; these numbers represent points."
"However, from the perspective of the person drawing, an upright card is positive points, while a reversed card is negative points~"
"The final sum of the three cards: if positive, Yumeko and Hachiman win; if negative, I win."
"But there is one special card—"
"The Fool."
"The card numbered zero, a wildcard. It doesn't correlate with other Major Arcana cards.
If drawn upright, the Fool means Yumeko and Hachiman's victory; reversed, it means my victory."
"This single card alone can decide the outcome— even someone in despair has a chance to reverse fate."
Kirari gently brushed the cards on the table, spreading all the Major Arcana cards face up.
With a playful finger, she took out the Fool card, holding it between her index and middle fingers near her lips, displaying the pattern to everyone.
"Tarot cards can predict the flow of time, and these three cards we hold represent the past, the present, and the future."
"Let's divinate—how we view the truth, what our actions mean, and what endings await us, all entrusted to the cards of fate."
Kirari stood at the round table and placed her hand on her chest: "Yumeko represents the past, I represent the present, and Hachiman will represent the future~"
Click—
Kirari pressed a latch, and the center of the round table lowered, revealing a circular space large enough for a person to stand inside. She stepped aside.
"Now, let's begin the Tarot of Fate divination that will decide our destinies."
"OK!"
Yomozuki Runa shouted excitedly, "The gambling match officially begins! Please, Jabami-san and Hikigaya-san, enter!"
"For the first draw, let's start with Jabami-san, who represents the past!"
Yumeko folded her hands over her lower abdomen and calmly stepped into the circular space.
The 22 tarot cards were passed from Kirari to the student council members sitting at the long table.
Each person shuffled the cards once using their best method.
Including Hachiman, the cards were thoroughly shuffled nine times in total, completely randomizing the order.
Even with Hachiman's observational skills, the order of the tarot cards was now impossible to discern.
In other words, no one could remember the order of the 22 cards on the table.
It was complete chaos and disorder.
Just as Kirari promised yesterday, this was a gamble unrelated to skill or calculation.
The outcome was entrusted entirely to the god of luck.
At this moment, the tarot cards returned to Kirari's hands and were laid out in order on the round table.
"This is bad..."
Hachiman sat tensely, eyes fixed on Yumeko. At this point, even he could only pray to the heavens.
With these rules, unless someone has clairvoyance, there's no solution.
"Hmm..." Yumeko pinched her chin and carefully searched within the circular space.
In the end, she sighed: "No way, I can't find any flaw. Then I'll just pick a random one. This one!"
Saying that, Yumeko reached out and took the tarot card facing Hachiman.
Kirari's voice echoed softly: "Not changing direction? You only have one chance, Yumeko."
"Yes." Yumeko answered firmly.
"Then, reveal the card!"
[Upright Magician]
"Score: +1 point!"
"One point?" Hachiman's heart skipped a beat. In this fate-deciding gamble, starting with 1 point was undoubtedly a weak opening.
All tarot cards have upright and reversed positions, and their expected value is always zero.
Getting an upright card on the first draw is already a favorable sign.
Hachiman comforted himself with this, but looking at Kirari's slightly mocking expression made him uneasy.
"Let's continue. Next is the president representing the present!"
254 Yumeko, do you believe in fate?
Kirari Momobami crossed her arms, snuggling close beside Hikigaya, gazing at Yumeko.
She parted her lips lightly: "Yumeko, do you believe in fate?"
"Fate...?"
"Everything from the very beginning has already been destined like this. You will leave Hyakkaou Private Academy, and in the end, Hikigaya will become my plaything."
"We are slaves to fate."
The air seemed to fall into silence. Yumeko smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor denying: "If something like that really exists, that would be quite romantic~"
"I think so too."
"Non-reproducible and unscientific, yet to decisively say fate doesn't exist is also non-scientific."
At this moment, Kirari Momobami seemed to transform into a devout supporter of fatalism.
Instead of continuing the gambling, she seriously discussed fate with Yumeko: "Yumeko, do you know the highest record of consecutive blacks appearing in Russian roulette?"
"It's 27 times. In terms of probability, it's about one in seven billion. The dealer in that Russian roulette must have thought, 'This roulette must be broken, because otherwise, something must have deliberately put the ball into the black slot.'"
"What is it?"
"Fate!"
"No matter the situation, as long as it's not impossible, it can happen."
"When people randomly hit an extremely small probability, they find fate from it. But in the end, fate is just a name given to something that has already happened~"
"Yumeko, now I'm going to let you witness fate."
With these words, Kirari Momobami stepped away from Hikigaya's side. The silent student council meeting room echoed with the sound of her small leather boots tapping on the floor.
Step by step, drawing closer.
Hikigaya's gaze sharpened; the tension inside him reached its peak.
Up until now, during the gambling, he hadn't noticed Kirari using any sleight of hand to memorize the cards on the table.
Is it coming...?
"What's with her confident tone?"
Hikigaya cast a subtle glance towards Itsuki Sumeragi, but seeing her baffled expression quickly erased his suspicion.
There's no way she colluded with Kirari to use some high-tech gadget to cheat before the gambling started.
Hikigaya Hachiman, rarely, fell into a state of confusion.
This helpless feeling when gambling against someone — even he was experiencing it for the first time.
It was as if an invisible great hand was manipulating the fates of him and Yumeko, and besides believing in the blessings fate grants, there was no way to break free.
"Fate... does it really exist?"
Kirari Momobami came to stand in front of Yumeko, her body leaning forward slightly.
Their two warm and delicate bodies seemed about to collide.
Less than a finger's width apart at their noses, Yumeko and Kirari could clearly feel each other's breath.
"Yumeko, what would you call this?"
Kirari moved.
Her fingertips lightly tapped on the "Upright Magician" tarot card that Yumeko had drawn, sliding it slowly to turn it in a different direction.
Then, with her index and middle fingers, she pinched it and flipped it open, revealing the deep blue pattern to everyone's sight.
Because of her position, Hikigaya was the first to clearly see the printed image on it.
His pupils shrank suddenly, and with an incredulous tone he said, "Reversed... The World."
"The score is—"
"Minus 21 points."
A chill ran from Hikigaya's soles up his spine to the crown of his head. This incredible scene deeply shocked Hikigaya Hachiman.
Her gaze, her tone, her actions — no matter how you looked at it, it was like she knew this trump card existed even before flipping it over.
But how exactly did she do it?!
Until now, Hikigaya had been a staunch atheist; it was absolutely impossible for him to accept such an intangible thing as fate.
But the facts before his eyes kept shaking his simple, worldly worldview.
The tarot deck had been shuffled by nine people in disorder, making it impossible to remember the order, yet somehow, this card drawn at an interval of one card was the trump card representing minus 21 points?
Fate or sleight of hand? Hikigaya couldn't tell, really couldn't.
A mountain-like pressure pressed down on Hikigaya's heart, casting a shadow over his brows.
This feeling of complete loss of control, of a fog between him and the truth, was very uncomfortable.
"It's reversed World, minus 21 points! Truly worthy of the president, effortlessly accomplishing what we can't!"
Yomozuki Runa shouted excitedly, "Is it common to draw that trump card in a situation like this? How lucky is the president~"
Sitting at the very end, Itsuki Sumeragi said in a trembling voice, "Drawing minus 21 points here, is this really not cheating?"
Her words echoed the doubts in Hikigaya's mind.
Yomozuki Runa's expression suddenly changed. The cute and lovely little girl's face twisted into a frightening grimace: "Hey hey! did you hear what the president just said? Fate, it's fate!"
"Are you calling cheating just because the situation's a bit unfavorable for Hikigaya?"
After saying this, Yomozuki Runa's expression returned to its earlier happy look as she happily sat back down and spun in a circle. "No worries, I'm absolutely neutral. Even if the one gambling is the president, I won't side with either party. The president's choice just now had no problems."
"All of you here are the best gamblers at Hyakkaou Private Academy. If you don't believe me, you can ask around if anyone saw any signs of the president cheating just now."
Upon hearing this, Itsuki Sumeragi instinctively glanced around.
Even the closest to Hikigaya, Miharutaki Sakuraand Juraku Sachiko, frowned deeply and shook their heads helplessly.
They couldn't see through it, not at all.
Under the watchful eyes of so many gambling experts, if no flaws were found, then the absurd fatalism had to be accepted.
"Right, the president didn't cheat at all~"
"More than that kind of thing, now we should be more concerned about the score." Yomozuki Runa reminded, "The current total score is minus 20!"
"Are you ready, Hikigaya-kun?"
Yomozuki Runa giggled: "If you want Yumeko to win, you have to draw the Upright Fool~ Actually, it's not as difficult as you think. Two of the 22 trump cards have already been flipped. So it's a 1 in 40 chance to win, which is way bigger than the 1 in seven billion chance the president mentioned earlier!"
"Good luck, I believe in you, Hikigaya-kun!"
"Now, draw the last card for the future!"
Hikigaya Hachiman closed his eyes, shutting out external noise, and fully immersed himself in his memory palace, carefully retracing every detail since entering the meeting room.
Actually, Yomozuki Runa was wrong about one thing.
As long as they didn't lose this gamble, it would be acceptable; in any case, Yumeko could not be allowed to leave the school.
Not losing meant either winning or drawing.
Besides the Upright Fool, there was also the "Upright Judgment" card representing the highest points. So, the real probability was 1 in 20.
This probability only looked better numerically; actually hitting it was still very difficult.
"Hachiman, please draw with confidence. Even if you lose this gamble, the one leaving the school will be me. This risk belongs only to me, this pain belongs only to me... And I believe that the bond between me and Hachiman won't be cut by space and time, right?"
"Wrong."
Hikigaya Hachiman reopened his eyes: "This risk doesn't belong to you alone, nor does this pain."
"The two of us are one!"
His gaze burned brightly, as if he had already found a way to break the deadlock.
Those passionate words made Kirari Momobami pause slightly, a hint of displeasure rising deep in her eyes.
Hikigaya Hachiman was her designated plaything, but before becoming that, as a free man, he spoke such a complete confession to another woman, which was... quite unpleasant.
To Momobami Kirari, the spirit and the flesh could be separated.
She could accept Hikigaya's body being possessed by other women, but she could not accept his spirit slipping out of her control.
Only the spirit had to belong to Momobami Kirari.
But now, it seemed Hikigaya's heart had completely connected with Yumeko.
"How naughty~" Kirari's eyes darkened slightly; she seemed to have already thought of how to train Hikigaya.
Hikigaya slowly stepped outside the circle and paced, his eyes carefully scanning the trump cards on the table.
'Actually, it's not that there are no clues at all.'
'When Kirari Momobami introduced the trump cards, she once pinched the Fool card with her finger and placed it near her lips as she spoke. If that's the case, there should be faint blue lipstick marks on the back of the trump card.'
'All that's needed is to look closely, and you'll surely find it...'
'Found it!' Hikigaya's eyes sharpened as he discovered that faint lipstick-like mark on one spot of the round table.
But before he could rejoice, he suppressed that feeling himself.
'Could it really be that simple?'
'A meticulous person like Momobami Kirari would never make such a simple mistake.
She must have noticed that mark and it would be meaningless for her not to remove it.'
'Since she can accurately flip the reversed World card without leaving a flaw in front of everyone, such a crude mark would be completely unnecessary...'
'Generally speaking, such marks are made only by weak gamblers as a last-ditch card for a comeback...'
'Or could it be that Kirari Momobami anticipated I would think this way, and purposely planted this doubt to play psychological games with me?'
What level is she on?!
Calm down, calm down a bit. If I was Momobami Kirari, what kind of mentality would I have?
Hikigaya Hachiman closed his eyes again and skipped the psychological game step, immersing himself in Momobami Kirari's perspective.