What a coincidence. It was far, far too much of one.
Every single card seemed to have been arranged with care, each one needling her nerves.
One or two cards could be chance. But all three? Then… Yukino Yukinoshita didn't even want to admit it.
Still, she went back over the earlier shuffling and cutting. She was fairly sure Lin Ye hadn't cheated or used any power. His perspective only let him see the cards, nothing more. Even as dealer, even if he could see their hands, there was no way he could rearrange the order of the deck like this.
Either Lin Ye's luck was genuinely that good, or he'd used some highly unusual skill. Otherwise, a coincidence like this was impossible.
"Yukino, you don't suspect me of cheating, do you?"
"Yes."
"…"
Rui Tachibana stared at Yukino Yukinoshita, stunned. Wasn't that answer far too crisp, too direct? There wasn't even a hint of cover in it.
If it were her, she didn't think she could ever confirm it so bluntly. She'd have found some reasons and excuses to insist it definitely wasn't so. That was just her nature. Saying yes outright, she felt, would be far too easy a way to lose points with Lin Ye.
"I'm hurt," Lin Ye said flatly.
He looked at Yukino Yukinoshita with a faintly sorrowful expression. The girl with long black hair showed no reaction at all. Rui Tachibana, on the other hand, had her heart in her throat, though a small part of her was relieved too. In a situation like this, wouldn't Lin Ye's good feelings toward Yukino Yukinoshita drop quite a bit?
That would be good for her. Even so, she knew that even if it was good, her own chance of getting a turn was tiny, tiny.
All Rui Tachibana could do was sigh. It hurt.
But however slim and distant the chance, she still didn't want to give up. She still wanted to keep going. That was her resolve.
"Be hurt all you like, but then tell me. Did you cheat or not?" Yukino Yukinoshita kept her eyes fixed on Lin Ye.
"If you think I cheated, then I cheated."
Those sorrowful eyes got to even Rui Tachibana. She felt Lin Ye shouldn't have to look like that. There was no need for it.
"…"
Yukino Yukinoshita's mouth twitched. This guy had changed tactics. Now he'd switched to playing pitiful.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"My answer doesn't really matter. What matters is what Yukino thinks of me."
Yukino Yukinoshita gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. For her, this was honestly a vexing, agonizing dilemma.
Saying yes outright wasn't right. But flatly denying it? However she looked at this round of the game, it looked like Lin Ye had cheated.
"If you say you didn't cheat, I'll believe you."
"If Yukino says I cheated, then I cheated."
Neither of them budged.
Rui Tachibana grew more baffled the longer she watched. She couldn't tell where Yukino Yukinoshita had seen Lin Ye cheat. No matter how she replayed it, she couldn't recall a single opening for him.
Cheating tricks existed, sure, but you'd need some sleight of hand for them, right?
She couldn't work it out. She really couldn't.
But right now, she and Yukinoshita stood on the same side, so she would take Yukino's position as her own.
"Hah… Next round."
Yukino Yukinoshita decided to stop dwelling on it. If Lin Ye wouldn't answer directly, nothing she said would mean anything. She just had no idea what to do next.
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
The next round began. The second round went perfectly normally, nothing like the first. Yukino Yukinoshita decided the first round must have been a coincidence of coincidences.
Then the third round began. Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the two kings in her hand, thoroughly satisfied.
Twenty. Her chances of winning were very good.
"Student Yukinoshita doesn't need another card. Student Tachibana, how about you?"
Rui Tachibana looked at her thirteen points. "I'll hit," she said.
Lin Ye dealt her a card.
An ace.
Yukino Yukinoshita: ???
That would have made 21. She'd missed it by a hair. Was this aimed at her?
"So close, Yukino."
"Hmph."
Yukino huffed, her mood sinking even lower.
"It's just luck. I just happen to be luckier," Rui Tachibana said, hurriedly explaining.
Then she asked for another card.
A ten.
Bust. Gone, just like that.
"Boo-hoo… My luck is so much worse than Yukino's."
It was the only way Rui Tachibana could comfort Yukino Yukinoshita. She'd already lost this hand, but Yukino could still win, and her chances were very good.
Then Lin Ye showed his cards.
A jack and a joker. Yukino Yukinoshita fell silent.
Twenty-one. A perfect twenty-one. And she owed double on top of it.
In that moment she felt more and more certain that she was being targeted.
"Lin Ye, you…"
"If you suspect I cheated, then I cheated."
That left Yukino Yukinoshita with nothing to say. After a moment's thought, she decided to say nothing at all and never bring up cheating again.
If the cards were dangerous in Lin Ye's hands, then she'd keep them in her own.
"Next hand, I'll deal. You're still the dealer, of course."
She and Rui Tachibana were on the same team, after all, two against one.
"Fine. Since Yukino says so, let's do that."
Lin Ye turned to Rui Tachibana. She agreed without the slightest objection. She would stand or fall with Yukino Yukinoshita, no question.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle!
Yukino Yukinoshita shuffled and dealt. Then she looked at her cards, and her eyes lit up at once.
Six and five. Eleven. If the next card was a ten, she was safe.
"Hit me."
She took the top card of the deck and flipped it.
In that instant, Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes went wide.
A ten. It was a ten.
"Ha ha ha!"
Yukino Yukinoshita, long used to losing, beamed. Faced with this, even she, cool by temperament and leaning toward the rational, couldn't hold herself back.
Her smile came from the bottom of her heart, and its brilliance made Lin Ye look a few more times.
"Beautiful. Yukino's smile is beautiful."
Yukino Yukinoshita snapped back quickly and looked a little embarrassed. Then she composed herself again.
"Student Tachibana, you're next."
"Mm."
Rui Tachibana had fourteen. She took one card, a six.
Twenty.
"I suggest you hit. I have a feeling the next card is an ace."
It was Lin Ye who spoke, advising Rui Tachibana to keep going. But how likely was it that the next card would be an ace? What happened in the first round was hard to repeat.
"Don't listen to him," Yukino Yukinoshita said. "Student Tachibana, I don't advise gambling. And with the pressure I'm putting on him, Lin Ye has no other choice. You can play it safe without any problem. Twenty is already very strong."
Rui Tachibana was thinking along similar lines. Twenty was enough. Unless Lin Ye hit twenty-one, then…
"I'll stay."
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Lin Ye, and he flipped over his hand at once.
Thirteen.
"Hit."
A three. Sixteen.
"Again."
A four. Twenty.
The situation now was that Lin Ye beat Rui Tachibana but lost to Yukinoshita, at double the stakes.
"Student Lin, what's your choice? Hit or stay on the next card? It could very well be an ace."
Yukino Yukinoshita smiled faintly. She seemed to be teasing him now, as if urging him to take that card.
"Since Yukino says so, I'll hit."
"Fine."
With that, Yukino Yukinoshita turned the card over.
The next second, the whole table went silent.
Yukino Yukinoshita stared at the card in front of her, and something in her just broke.
An ace. The ace of hearts.
It really was an ace!
Rui Tachibana was thoroughly shaken too.
What was going on? What on earth was going on?
"Yukino, if you say I cheated, I'll admit it, okay?"
Lin Ye got the first word in, which left Yukino Yukinoshita choked with frustration and helpless.
Lin Ye had already said that. What else could she do?
"Do we… still have points?"
After this round, their points had bottomed out. But it was fine. They could still scrape through one more hand. As long as they won, then…
Three minutes later, Yukino Yukinoshita silently took off a layer of clothing, removing her outer garment.
Rui Tachibana fared no better. She'd already taken off a layer too.
"Let's switch games."
"Sure."
Lin Ye was happy to oblige.
An hour and a half later, even their socks had been counted as articles of clothing. Yukino Yukinoshita and Rui Tachibana were no match for him at all, and they'd lost everything, down to the last stitch.
"Yukino, I'll be troubling you tonight."
"…"
She knew exactly what that meant. This scoundrel wanted to do this and that to her again tonight.
She wasn't willing, but…
"If you're not willing, then…"
"Fine."
Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up.
"I can do it too," Rui Tachibana said.
She was taking a stand as well. She didn't know what exactly went on between Yukino Yukinoshita and Lin Ye, but she could guess it was something Lin Ye, as a man, liked very much.
If so, she could accept it too, without any problem. After all, she was already Lin Ye's woman now.
She could accept Lin Ye completely. The problem was that Lin Ye wasn't willing and couldn't accept her.
"I'll split it with you," Yukino Yukinoshita said.
Of course she wasn't going to let Rui Tachibana bow out here. She still needed Rui Tachibana's help.
"Dou Dizhu."
This time she changed her approach again, switching to calculation. If she and Rui Tachibana teamed up against Lin Ye, their odds of winning were still pretty good.
"Fine."
Lin Ye agreed without any trouble.
It was only the result that…
Two hours later, Yukino Yukinoshita was about to faint.
She'd lost. Lost completely.
They'd agreed on a full ten times, and yet she'd still lost everything.
"You… definitely cheated!"
"Yukino, if you can't stand losing, don't accuse me of cheating."
This time Lin Ye's reply was completely different, a whole new tack.
"…"
Yukino Yukinoshita pursed her lips and glared at Lin Ye, showing her displeasure. She was furious. But she could only accept it.
"A gambler pays what she owes."
That single line said everything about her resolve. If she'd agreed to something, she would do it.
But ten times. A full ten times. Just thinking about it made Yukino Yukinoshita go blank. The pressure was enormous.
"As expected of Yukino. I knew you wouldn't welsh."
How could she welsh? She would never, ever welsh.
The card game was over. Lin Ye had won big.
Click…
Then the sound of a door opening rang out, and it caught all three of their attention at once.
The door swung open, and a figure appeared.
It was Haruno Yukinoshita.
The moment Lin Ye heard the sound, he'd used his perspective skill. Having confirmed it was Haruno Yukinoshita, he hadn't said a word.
Otherwise, he never would have let that door open so casually.
"Yukino, you…"
Haruno Yukinoshita looked at the scene in the living room, and her mind went blank for a moment. Her thoughts wouldn't turn over.
To be honest, she'd considered that her sister and Lin Ye might be together without clothes, even doing some kind of exercise. That was perfectly normal.
But what was this?
Right now, both Yukino Yukinoshita and Rui Tachibana were bare.
They were playing this wild?
Could Yukino play like this now? This wasn't like Yukino at all!
Haruno Yukinoshita was certain Lin Ye's scheme had succeeded. Otherwise, how could her sister ever end up like this?
"Ugh…"
Yukino Yukinoshita blushed, red as an apple.
Rui Tachibana was no better off. Having Lin Ye see her body was nothing, but being seen by Haruno, even if Haruno was a woman, left her so embarrassed her face burned and she couldn't compose herself.
If there had been a crack in the floor, she'd have crawled into it right then and hidden there, never to be seen again.
"You two play rough."
Twenty seconds later, Haruno Yukinoshita finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"Um…"
Rui Tachibana tried to explain.
"Not even inviting me to something this fun. Isn't that a bit much?"
Rui Tachibana: ???
What was this woman thinking?
"Lin-kun, if you like playing so freely, you should call me! I can do it too, I want to join in! I want to serve Lin-kun together with Yukino!"
Every single line pressed on Rui Tachibana's limits.
A normal woman couldn't possibly say things like that. What was wrong with this woman? What was going on?
She couldn't make sense of it anymore.
"Sister," Yukino Yukinoshita said, her face stiff, her voice cold, making her displeasure plain.
"Yukino, you're in no position to be angry with me. Look at the state you're in."
The girl with long black hair gritted her teeth, resentful. But she also knew that, in her current state, she honestly had no way to explain.
In the end, she shot Lin Ye another glance, making her displeasure with him clear.
All in all, this was Lin Ye's fault. She and Rui Tachibana bore little responsibility.
"Sister, you've shown up out of nowhere again. I remember before…"
"I was worried about you, of course! Shizuka contacted me again today and said you'd taken leave again, so as your sister, I had to come and see for myself. But who knew you'd be… playing so rough!"
After sweeping her gaze across the room, Haruno Yukinoshita still kept that faint smile on her lips.
…
…
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