"He messed up for the last time." Runa continued. "Prez is going to end him."

"Don't say that." You sighed. "Let me have some hope."

"Have your hope. That's the truth." She shrugged.

After perhaps ten more minutes, Kirari was finally ready.

"Now, then... let's pick up where we left off. Itsuki raises ten  billion yen, bringing the total to twelve billion yen." Kirari asserted.

Kaede laid with his head facing the table and his hands in his hair. You were scared for him. You wanted to run down and comfort him. Give him the money. Help him win. Take the fear out of his face. It was wholly uncomfortable to see him in this position.

"If you'r enot going to call, we'll move on to the choice phase. Ready? There is no more you can raise, is there?" Kirari smiled.

Kaede was irate. He couldn't lose his position as a student council member. It was all he had holding him to you. To his position as the vice minister of finances. To have any worth at all in life. And so he did what he had to do.

"If that is so, then I wager my life in return. This is what you wanted, isn't it?" He asked Kirari.

You texted her his amount as well, thankful to give him a fair chance.

"I don't know about that." She kept her cool face on, although you knew that she would be pleased to be rid of him. "Now, then, Kaede, it's a bit difficult to evaluate your worth. If you do become the vice minister of finance, then it would be hugely profitable for us. But you haven't been in good sitting with the maker of life plans. However, it seems that right now, you are." She glanced down at the amount. "Why don't we place your anticipated value at ten billion yen?"

"What a shame." Yumeko smiled. "It seems we've lost the betting round."

"Don't give up on me like that! My life is on the line, remember! If you lose the right to choose... there has to be something else to bet! Something like... oh, I know! Why don't we have Meari and Ryota bet their lives, too!?" Itsuki scrambled to add more money.

"I can't place a value in the hundred million yen range on people without fortune or status." Kirari noted.

"No way..." Itsuki panicked.

"At long last, the pot is settled. Kaede, what is your choice?"

"My choice is, the stronger hand!"

"All the formalities are concluded. The winner will receive the life of the losing player. I will do everything in my power to make that a reality." Kirari's eyes sharpen. "There will be no escape. No matter what."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Itsuki cried.

You smiled. Kaede must have won. This seemed to work out in your favor.

Kaede flipped his cards confidently.

"I reveal... THREE OF A KIND!" He called out and showed three eights. Not a bad hand at all, but definitely not the strongest. "Alright, show your hand, Yumeko Jabami. Tossing a pair of queens, pretending to go for a garbage hand... What do you have? A straight flush?"

"Unfortunately, no such miracle happened. If only it had! It would've been so dramatic!" She smiled.

And you frowned. This felt odd. Why was she pausing. And why wasn't Itsuki actually crying? And why were Yumeko's eyes shining?

"Do you really think Itsuki is doing this just because I incited her?" Yumeko's voice switched.