"Are you ready now?" Meari asked as both she and Yumeko drew a new set of cards.

"Rock... Paper... Scissors!" Both girls chanted as they revealed their cards. Two rocks.

"Well, a draw, huh? Time to go to the next card!" Meari mentioned cheerily.

"We... Got a... Tie!" Meari won rock over scissors. That was 500,000 yen for her.

And she couldn't have done it without the help from Ryota. He had signaled the cards that Yumeko had. You sighed and looked at him disappointed. You never understood why all the people here bothered cheating. Gambling is supposed to be all about the risk. Instead, it's about pulling the wool over your opponent's eyes.

"All right! I win!" Meari cheered as she kissed the card. "I knew I trusted you!"

"Oh, my." Yumeko smiled, pushing you to stay and see how this continued. "Either way, I would've lost, right?" She showed two scissors. Meari laughed wickedly at this.

"Better to win when the stake are high. How much do you want to bet now?"

"All right." Yumeko acquiesed quickly. "Let's go... back to two." She held them up.

You were surprised. Two chips didn't seem worth it to you at this point. But then again, Yumeko kept surprising you.

The whole game cycled again with everyone in the room putting in their drawings. And quickly it was back to the beginning.

"Okay, let's go." Meari declared.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" Yumeko won paper over rock.

"Congratulation! You win, Jabami!" Meari didn't look too upset.

Highly suspect.  And you glanced up at Ryota who was sweating now. He hadn't done anything this time either. You leaned over to Ryota, who instinctively leaned back.

"Why help her?" You asked as you hid your mouth behind your hand.

Ryota shivered as your warm breath  hit his ear. You had never spoken to him before. Why now, when he was doing something despicable?

"I'm a house pet. I have to." He whispered back.

You touched his shoulder gently in support. House pets weren't your idea, and you could have easily overruled it, but you wanted Kirari's support and she loved this legislation. It kept her in power and in a position to be with you.

"Alright, what's your next bet?" Meari inquired.

"Well, how about... we go with fifty chips once more!" Yumeko presented with that endearing, everlasting smile that was winning you over quickly. While Yuriko had a pleasant smile, it was more often than not a superficial one. Yumeko's seemed very purposeful. And you liked purposeful. "Will that be alright with you?"

Ryota's face was even more shocked than your own. It was almost funny. Almost.

"Interesting. Yumeko, I like your spirit." Meari switched to using her first name, as if placing a larger bet made them friends. And once again, the game was set.

"Here we go!"Meari started off once again.

"Rock... Paper... Scissors!" A tie. Paper to paper.

"Great minds think alike." Meari noted. "Time for round two."

"We... have a... tie!" Ryota was helping cheat once again. But this time, at the final word he flinched. Now more worried about him, you once again placed your hand on his arm. Visibly, he relaxed. Then, he opened his eyes to see Meari's paper beat Yumeko's rock.

"Yes! I win yet again!" Meari was having a ball tricking Yumeko. At this point it was both painful and boring to watch and you swore if Yumeko bet two chips once again that you would just leave. "Thanks for the 500,000!"

"Damn." A boy near you mentioned. "Meari just collected a million yen."