95 - Naoko's Perverse Fantasy in Her Mind
"…Do you really know how to gamble?"
Houko's seductive voice echoed in the activity room, while Hikigaya cast a subtle and worried glance at Saotome Mary.
'Not good…'
'The Ougatou sisters have completely figured out the signal between Saotome and me.'
'In this gambling game, it's impossible for me to guarantee a win by myself; I need Saotome's assistance. But her current state…'
Indeed, being caught cheating and then being mocked with a question like whether you can even gamble… For an ordinary student, this might lead to a collapse of resolve and plunge them into an endless pit of self-blame.
But—
With her head bowed, Saotome Mary slowly raised her gaze, looking at Houko with clear eyes, a look of confusion on Houko's face.
"You're right."
"I'm an idiot. If I waited until everything was confirmed before acting, I would never win…"
"Because I'm gambling now. This is gambling. This is my gambling, Saotome Mary's gambling!"
"Thank you for teaching me a lesson, Naoko Houko."
Houko, seeing her with the fiery expression of a protagonist about to power up in the last few episodes of a youth manga, inexplicably felt fear, instinctively stepping back half a step: "Stop saying weird things, Saotome!"
"Hikigaya-san!" Saotome suddenly shouted, "From now on, we have to strive to win. We must earn as many points as possible every round!"
"We need to win!"
Hikigaya's expression was somewhat dazed, his toes subconsciously digging into the floor… Although this was the signal they had agreed on from the start, it only felt truly embarrassing when Saotome Mary yelled it out loud.
But fortunately, Saotome didn't lose her confidence because of Houko's verbal attacks.
'As expected, she's the one I recognize, Saotome.'
Hikigaya Hachiman nodded slightly, offering a silent response.
"Pfft—"
Naoko Houko chuckled lightly, covering her mouth: "Not bad, this is the kind of momentum we need~"
"You have to fight to the death with each other to get the atmosphere heated up."
"Well then, let's start the fifth round."
Naoko Houko looked at Saotome with a touch of fascination.
'She's so cute~'
'Do you want to settle this in Shimotsukiuri Ouri's round? Although it seems hopeless, if we work together with Hikigaya Hachiman…'
'But of course that's impossible~ Cute Saotome. Such thoughts will only come to naught.'
'Because your signal is just too simple to understand.'
As twin sisters, they perfectly played to their strengths. Focusing on pair gambling, they continuously advanced in the art of "signals" in gambling.
Although it wasn't explicitly said, Hikigaya and Saotome Mary's signals had been used several times in front of them, doing a few "collusions," all of which they had noticed.
It wasn't pointed out directly; rather, they thought about using the opponent's information to turn the tables.
A code of this level was simply not difficult for them.
'In most sports, stealing codes is considered a violation of fairness. Because, when viewed from the other side, once the code is stolen, it becomes extremely advantageous for the opponent.'
In baseball games, they had done this more than once. They deciphered the secret codes between the pitcher and catcher, creating favorable situations.
As the captain and ace of the baseball club, they had stolen codes countless times.
'Hikigaya and Saotome's codes, stealing them is easier than breathing.'
'Their code is tapping fingers on the table and the number of taps.'
'Excluding the thumb, starting from the index finger, the suits represented are Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds, with the number of taps indicating the number.'
Just like now.
Naoko, with a glance, saw the motion of Saotome Mary's hands and immediately deciphered her code.
'Next, she's going to play the Spades 6.'
"I'm playing the [Spades 6]."
"Correct!"
"Hehe, it's easy to deduce the rule right away. This will surely make Saotome's expression very amusing and cute…"
'Even though I've tried my best, it still doesn't work.'
'Well... let's set aside the amusement from Saotome for now. The real key point is Hikigaya Hachiman.'
Naoko subtly glanced at Hikigaya.
She had already noticed that Hikigaya was the core. Even the hint for this round was passed to Saotome from Hikigaya. This meant that he had already figured out the rule in Shimotsukiuri's hand.
Currently, he was in the lead, and they had to find a way to make him lose.
Naoko made a decision in her mind and didn't hesitate with her actions:
"Hearts 9."
"Correct."
"Diamonds 5."
"Incorrect."
"Clubs 4."
"Incorrect."
"Hearts 5."
"Correct."
Naoko narrowed her eyes and instinctively looked at Hikigaya's fingers.
If her deduction was correct, combined with the signal Hikigaya gave Saotome, the rule for this round was—
At almost the same time, Saotome and Naoko raised their hands.
"Deduction!"
"Ded…"
Ultimately, Naoko was a step faster. She flicked her short hair with confidence and said, "The rule is [Alternate Hearts and Spades with a face value of multiples of 3]."
She then casually sat back down, propping her long, muscular legs up, and stared at Saotome without blinking. It seemed like she was already fantasizing about what it would be like to turn Saotome into her personal pet after winning the game.
She was different from her sister. Compared to Shimotsukiuri, Naoko actually preferred Saotome.
Her stubborn eyes were full of pure light—this is what made bullying her fun~
So cute~
She eagerly awaited Shimotsukiuri Ouri's announcement of the result.
But, as expected, something unexpected happened.
"Your answer is wrong." Shimotsukiuri's voice was like a straight line, without any fluctuation.
"Alternating Hearts and Spades with even-numbered face values." Saotome calmly stated her deduction.
Originally, she would have needed another round to arrive at the correct conclusion on her own, but fortunately, with Hikigaya's help, she saved a round of time. The misinformation she had provided caused Naoko to lose the game.
"Correct."
"Wha—What?!" Naoko jumped up in a panic, slamming the table. "You're kidding, how could this be?!"