Good Luck Charm

by CheckRaise

Takeru's a young poker prodigy, so he definitely shouldn't be results-oriented. But things definitely seem to go his way when Hikari's nearby. And when you're playing for millions, why take the chance? AU, TaKari, poker fic.

37. Over The Top

Chapter 37: Over The Top

"The money flows free in Panok!" Daisy said, lifting a thin, vase-shaped glass up to her lips and taking a sip of a yellow liquid. "Who am I to not go with the flow?"

"Well, count Daisy Scott among the remaining players who have decided to break their state of sobriety here, she's taken the leap. And who can blame our remaining players, who wouldn't want to get a little tipsy at the final table of a super high roller event?"

"I've played drunk before," Daisy continued, setting the glass down on the table next to her seat. "But it was always at the home games with my friends, so, just warning everyone, I have practice."

"A bunch of poker players playing for the lion's share of a fourteen million dollar prize pool while inebriated, someone get the blurcle ready."

"Who DOESN'T have practice playing poker drunk?" Lee Kort asked. "That's, like, part of taking up the game, everyone does that at some point." He placed his mostly-empty glass on the table to his right.

"He didn't!" Daisy pointed her thumb over her right shoulder. "My boyfriend, never, not once."

"Yeah, for good reasons," Takeru replied from behind the railing. "Would you like me to tell you those reasons, sweetie?"

"Oh, hush!" Daisy hissed, waving her hand over towards Takeru. "Your 'reasons' got you knocked out of here with no money to show for it, you be quiet today!"

Takeru rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"This is all I'm going to have, I swear, I just want the taste," Daisy insisted, pointing down at the glass. "I'm still operating at...at least ninety-seven percent mental capacity, I'm good." The dealer began whipping cards around the table to each player. "That missing three percent is mostly only used when I play Omaha anyway."

"Well, back to poker, another hand getting underway, first hand back after the break. To recap, we are now seven-handed in the Panok Millions Super High Roller event, each player got into this tournament for one hundred thousand dollars. We had a hundred and fifty-six players to start the day, so signups were actually down a little bit from previous years, but still more than enough to get a very respectable tournament going. Next player eliminated picks up nearly five hundred and twenty thousand dollars."

Vann Whittaker had a glance down at the seven of hearts and seven of spades.

"Whittaker's got pocket sevens, he's under the gun, expect him to open the action. Average stack size is two point two million, give or take, blinds are twenty and forty thousand with a five thousand ante. We're not quite shallow yet, but we're not too far away from the beach."

Whittaker plopped an orange chip out past his cards.

"That orange chip is worth a hundred thousand, out from a stack of about three and a half million. Vann is one of the bigger stacks here."

Flynn Rodgers and Mirza Teletovic both folded their cards.

"Here's another one of the remaining big stacks, Daisy Scott, looking down at...two queens! Big hand."

"Rodgers, Teletovic, and Nanako are all running low on chips, so the last thing any of the bigger stacks want to do is take a big hit and put themselves down on their level. Just outlasting those three players and finishing fourth is worth over four hundred thousand dollars. But I don't think Daisy can play scared with the queens here, I like a re-raise."

Daisy got two orange chips and two silver chips out into a small pile, tossing it out beyond the yellow line on the table.

"And Daisy will indeed put out a three-bet, she pumps the action up to two hundred and fifty thousand. She's got...well, she had a little more than three million before this hand started, so she can certainly threaten the tournament life of some of the other players here. Kyle Bosa folds the button, and Lee Kort in the small blind is having a look down at his hand..."

Kort looked down at the ace of hearts and jack of hearts.

"Well, this is a...interesting spot for Kort, he's got a suited ace jack in the small blind, but he's facing a raise and a re-raise, he could easily be dominated by a hand like ace king or ace queen, and with the current situation at this table, it's not the worst idea to just get out of the way and...protect your stack."

Lee glanced down the table over at Vann, then over towards Daisy.

"He's getting a good price, assuming Vann doesn't four-bet when the action gets back around to him, and...well, Kort can afford it. He's got about four million in chips, he's our chip leader, and he's aware that if he catches the right flop, he could possibly knock another player down into the danger zone, if not out entirely."

Lee tossed out four chips, two orange and two silver.

"He is indeed going to get involved, that gets rid of Nanako in the big blind, and I think Whittaker is going to call here. He's probably good enough to realize that he's behind with his two sevens, but he's getting good pot odds to try to flop a set, and if he fails to hit a seven, he'll be clever enough to get away from this one."

Vann did indeed toss out the extra orange chip, along with two silver ones, completing the preflop action.

"Eight hundred and twenty-five thousand in the middle, this pot is already a big deal. And you just know that the three short stacks are hoping that someone blows up and gets felted here, they love to see the three big stacks get in confrontations. Every payjump counts!"

The dealer flopped out the ace of spades, three of clubs, and five of spades.

"And there's the ace on the flop, that should limit the damage. Vann failed to flop a set, and Daisy must realize that that ace is not a particularly good card for her. She might lose...one bet, but not too much more."

Kort checked, slapping the felt with his palm. Vann did so quickly as well.

"Checked around to the pre-flop aggressor, and I actually kind of like checking behind for Daisy. When you think about it, there aren't very many hands worse than queens that would call a bet here. Maybe you can get a call from jacks, tens, nines, hands like those, although I'm not even sure those hands call."

Daisy slid out two stacks of white chips, pulled a chip off of each stack, and then pushed them into the pot, using both hands to push the wager forward.

"She has bet here, three hundred and eighty thousand, a fairly standard continuation bet, but I still would have preferred a check. About the only benefit from betting here is charging the flush draw, and if Daisy gets called here, or even gets raised, it's going to be really hard for her to know if she's up against an ace or a flush draw, she's basically just guessing."

Kort took a few seconds to ponder things, looking over his chips.

"Now, as it turns out, Lee Kort does indeed have an ace, a pretty good one at that, so I'm sure he's at least calling, and it's an easy decision for Vann to fold. And I think that Daisy will be able to shut down on the turn. She'll still have close to two and a half million behind, a bit above average, no reason to go crazy in a situation where it's easy to imagine you're beat."

Kort pushed out two stacks of nineteen white chips as well, leaving Vann the opportunity to fold.

"And this is a fun encounter here, two very young, yet highly skilled poker players, making their mark on the world of professional poker. They're both twenty years old, most of us are still trying to figure out what to do with our lives when we're twenty, and these two are final tabling a super high roller event against the best in the world."

The turn card brought the jack of spades.

"Very interesting turn card, gives Lee two pair and also completes the flush draw. Improves Kort's hand, but will also make it much easier for Daisy to get away. I imagine Kort's going to lead out here, he wants to protect against a fourth spade on the river, and Daisy has an easy fold. Just shy of one point six million out there. And yeah, these two, very new to the professional circuit, but both really proving themselves."

Lee gathered together seven orange chips from the singular orange stack behind his chips and fired the seven out in a line into the pot.

"Daisy Scott, of course, began her career in the most recent world series, she cashed several times across a few dozen events, made one final table, but...people have a tendency to remain skeptical of young players, even after having some success. I think today will dispel a lot of that, you don't just final table a super high roller without really having some game."

"I feel bad for Kyle Bosa sitting next to her. He's got on a hoodie and sweatpants, sitting right next to her, that's not even fair. He'd look like a bit of a slob even WITHOUT that comparison."

Daisy got together seven orange chips as well and dropped them forwards, past the yellow line in front of her.

"Well...just as I'm talking about how much game she has, she makes a very curious call of seven hundred grand. To be clear, Daisy has the queen of hearts and queen of clubs, she does not have the queen of spades, so she doesn't have the flush draw, and I'm just not sure what she's doing here."

"She has to realize she's not beating anything that Kort could have, right? I'm trying to come up with a hand that Kort could have that Daisy's beating, not coming up with much. Maybe she thinks her club is a spade? Could it be that last three percent of her brain power not kicking in?"

"Yeah, we've all done things like that before, misread our hand, misread the board. I mean, even if she's calling to try to hit a queen, which she shouldn't be doing, if the river ends up being the queen of spades, that's really not all that great anyway, you're still really only beating bluffs."

The river card came up from the deck, the eight of spades.

"The only other thing I can think of is that she's floating with the intent of bluffing the river, and there's a really good river for her to try it. Eight of spades, there are now four spades on the board, very scary board to be involved in without having the flush."

Lee checked, tapping the felt.

"I'm not surprised to see Lee check there, he's definitely got to be concerned about that river card, and...is Daisy going to fire, and will it be a persuasive enough argument for Kort to lay down top two pair?"

Daisy's eyes were downcast, down towards her remaining chips.

"A few weeks ago, we saw her boyfriend, Takeru Ishida, turn pocket queens into a bluff in the Premier League. Can Daisy match that play with one of her own?"

"With Lee checking the river there, she knows that it's...at least somewhat unlikely that he has the flush, and the way the hand has gone, she can certainly represent that she has it. Doesn't take much to have a big spade in your hand, she could just as easily have...pocket queens with the queen of spades and could have played this hand just like she did."

"I'm all-in," Daisy announced.

"AND SHE HAS DONE IT! She has turned her queens into a bluff, and fired her last one point eight million into the middle, and this could be it for her! If Kort calls, Daisy will be out!"

"Yuck," Kort muttered, looking back down at his two cards.

"She certainly realizes that this is a bluff, right?"

"Oh, absolutely, this is a bluff one hundred percent of the time. Even if Daisy has the best hand with pocket queens here, she can never get called by a worse hand, so even if she thought she was winning, she would just check behind. This is absolutely designed to get Kort off an ace, two pair, or basically any hand that isn't a flush."

"I got a real big hand over here, Daisy," Lee said, looking back over towards her. "I really do."

"This is kind of a...kind of a crazy play, isn't it? I mean...there's certainly some logic to it, but...Daisy started this hand with the third biggest stack, and now she's at risk of going out ahead of three short stacks! She could have fallen asleep at the table for an hour and just let those three bust out and made nearly half a million more!"

"Well, the play itself is not crazy, this is a reasonable bluff with some good thought process behind it. What's crazy is the massive amounts of money that she's risking here when she doesn't have to. If she does get called here, she's really going to feel like she set half a million dollars on fire. It's definitely a crazy play because of that, not at all recommended, especially in these circumstances, but at the same time, the fact that it is such a crazy play gives it so much more respect. I mean, how can she possibly be bluffing here given ICM and payjumps and stack sizes and...everything else? Bluffing here seems like such a bad idea, so of course Daisy can't be bluffing here, right?"

"Ace king with the king of spades? You got that?" Lee asked, leaning over to look at Daisy, who was stone-faced. "Ace king with the king of spades. That would make a lot of sense."

"Yeah, that's a hand that Daisy could definitely get here with. Or kings with the king of spades, queens with the queen of spades, king queen of spades...maybe tens with the ten of spades, although I'm not so sure about that one."

"But really, that's it, isn't it? It's one of those hands, or a bluff? She's never showing up with...like, the three of spades or four of spades, that's completely ridiculous, right?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much impossible. MAYBE she's got a...set of aces or a set of jacks, only because she has position. When Lee checks on the river, he's very unlikely to have a flush, so maybe Daisy figures, I'm going to go for thin value with a set, and if he wants to hero me with a hand like ace jack, great, but I doubt he's checking a flush on the river, so I'm going to go for it. But even then, I don't think Daisy gets here like this with a set."

Lee grabbed a light blue coaster-sized chip and flipped it over towards the dealer.

"And this is a great time to use your timebank chip. Each player gets thirty seconds to act on their hand, but each player also gets two timebank chips, which they can use to gain an extra minute. Each player only gets two timebank chips to last the whole day, so you want to save them for a big decision. And this is certainly a big decision."

"Oh, man, you can't do this to me," Lee said, putting his hands up on the sides of his head. "Any non-spade river, I'm ready to play for it all, you just had to bring the spade." He winced. "Kings with the king of spades? Could be that too."

"Remember, all the ICM considerations apply to Lee as well. If he calls and gets it wrong, he's down below one million chips and joins the short stacks, which is a huge drop in equity. Folding leaves him with an above average stack, still a great chance to ladder up and possibly even win. So this is a huge risk by Daisy, but it's also a LOT of pressure on Kort, so it does go both ways."

"If I stick it in there and I'm right, I've got...so many chips," he said wistfully. "But I'm really gonna feel like a moron if I put it in and you show me a flush." He sighed. "Top two pair, by the way." He looked over towards Daisy as he spoke. "Ace jack."

"Daisy gives away nothing. And if she pulls this bluff off, she'll be the chip leader, what a...what a high-leverage spot."

"I think it's going to work too. I think Lee is getting ready to fold, he just can't afford to make hero calls for most of his remaining chips. Too much money out there."

"Y'know, I wonder if Daisy is still sitting there thinking she has the queen of spades and is hoping she gets called."

"Sir, in ten seconds, you'll owe your last time bank chip," the dealer said.

With a grunt, Lee whisked his cards over towards the dealer. "Alright."

"THERE IT IS! Lee Kort releases, and Daisy's our new chip leader! What a gutsy play by the young professional, she...she's showing some real courage in letting that one fly!"

"Did I get bluffed?" Lee asked. "I feel like I didn't get bluffed, but did I?"

"You'll see it on TV later," Daisy replied, sliding her cards over to the dealer. "But, yes. You got bluffed."

"OH MAN! She knew! She KNEW she didn't have a spade, what a...what a gutsy play!"

"Oh, my God," Lee mumbled, leaning back hard in his chair. "Oh, that hurts."

"Seven left in the Panok Millions Super High Roller, and Daisy Scott is your new chip leader!"

OOO

~Takeru~

"Of course I wasn't bluffing," Daisy said, pulling in her two cards. "I have the best hand there, like, ninety percent of the time. I'm never trying to get you to fold jacks full, of course I'm never bluffing that hand off the pot." She peered down at her cards. "Just can't be helped." She glanced up at the dealer and nodded. "I'm all-in."

"Alright, here we go," Takeru said under his breath, watching as Daisy got to her feet. Ken's focus snapped up to the table as well, eyes away from his personal assistant.

"One point one million," Daisy said.

Kyle Bosa looked down at his cards and quickly folded the small blind.

"Alright Mister Kort, it's you and me," Daisy said, stretching her thin arms high up into the air.

"Chance to get you back for bluffing me earlier," Lee murmured, looking down at his cards. "Oh boy, oh boy." He looked back up. "Alright, I think this could be the one."

Daisy shrugged. "Gotta do what you gotta do."

"It's a little loose," he continued. "You definitely have the best hand right now, I'll...I'll go out on a limb and say that." His eyebrows raised up a bit. "But I think I've got to take a shot to get it down to heads up."

He considered things for a moment, looking over at Daisy's small remaining chipstack. "Oh, wow, you haven't used your timebank chips yet."

"Who needs em?" Daisy said.

"Alright. I call." He grabbed a stack of black chips and slapped them forward towards the pot.

"You're definitely not in terrible shape," Daisy said, turning over the five of hearts and five of diamonds. "Whatever you have, it can't be that bad."

Lee nodded, showing the king of hearts and queen of clubs.

"Alright, it's a race," Daisy said, turning over her shoulder to look at Takeru, Ken and Hikari up at the rail. "Racing for my tournament life!"

The dealer slid the burn card out next to the pot, then flopped out the ten of hearts, nine of clubs, and two of hearts onto the board.

Daisy blinked a couple times, then her face wrinkled up a bit. "Oh, that...crap, that made you more outs, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did," Takeru replied. "See, Daisy, when a player gets a hand of five cards that are in sequential order, it's called a straight, and—"

Daisy lowered her right arm to her side, curling her hand up towards her back and subtly extending her middle finger towards Takeru behind her back. "Yeah, I was thinking, that's a good flop, no paint out there, I...and then a jack would have come, and I would have thought, there's another good card."

The dealer turned over the queen of diamonds.

Daisy grimaced. "Well, Kyle here just two-outed me for most of my chips on the last hand, so I am owed a two-outer."

"My two-outer had five chances to hit though," Kyle pointed out. "Little harder this time."

Daisy clapped her hands together nervously. "Alright, she's either gonna hit it or miss it."

The river card, the ace of hearts, completed the hand.

"Good playing with you two," Daisy said, reaching over to shake Lee Kort's hand. "Enjoy the rest of the fight."

Quickly, Daisy scurried over towards the railing, beaming a pearly-white smile as she quickly got over to her friends. "One point one million dollars!" She leapt into the air as she approached the rail, letting Takeru catch her and pick her up over the small barrier. "Seven. Figure. Score!"

"That's how you show these Panok elitists how we roll!" Ken said, clapping her on the back.

"Well, someone had to," Daisy said. "You two donkeys blast a hundred grand into this tournament with nothing to show for it, someone has to do SOMETHING."

"Hey, you didn't even win, so chill out with that talk," Takeru chided. "You made the podium, third place gets you on the podium, but you're a couple heads short of the winner's circle."

"I feel like a winner, and that's what matters." She wrapped her arm around Hikari's shoulders and pulled her in closer to her. "I don't need that gaudy trophy, who wants that thing in their house? Isn't that right, Hikari?"

"Do I have to be the asshole that points out that the trophy looks like a dildo?" Ken muttered, looking over at the glinting reward for coming in first, out on a pedestal a few feet away from the table. "Like, did nobody look at it before they decided to use it?"

"Yeah, so why would I want it? I have plenty of those," Daisy said airily, causing Takeru to snort out loudly. "Okay, but seriously though, did I overplay aces on the second-to-last hand?" She turned to Takeru. "I kinda feel like I might have, maybe I should have just check-called?"

"You're three-handed, it's almost impossible to overplay aces when it's three-handed." Takeru shrugged. "It's just a cooler." He leaned in and kissed Daisy on the cheek. "I really am proud of you, you played great these last two days, best poker of your life."

OOO

~Hikari~

"You might not be able to tell because of the sunglasses," Daisy said, holding the oversized beach ball in her arms. "But every male eye here is on us right now. Probably most of the female eyes too."

"On you, maybe," Hikari replied wryly, arms crossed over her chest, hands on the opposite forearm, looking around at the assorted groups of people gathered around the wading pool. Midday heat baked everything that wasn't shaded, and Hikari enjoyed the contrast of the suns rays on her upper half and the cool water on her legs.

Daisy, wearing her golden bikini, flung the large ball across the pool, towards a group of young teenagers wading around. "No, you look great, I'm serious."

"Everyone here looks great," Hikari pointed out. "It's like there are bouncers right outside that don't let you in unless you have a six-pack or an hourglass figure." She looked over at Daisy. "But you're on another level."

Daisy looked around the pool. "You know how to swim?"

"Not even a little bit," Hikari replied. "If I fall over, please help me get up, because I'm definitely gonna panic."

"Just stand up," Daisy said. "You fall over, you just stand up. That's how they teach you."

Hikari squinted up towards the sky for a moment. "How do you do it?"

"Oh...good genes, dieting, strict exercise, thousands of dollars of skin care—"

"No, no, I mean...the poker thing." Hikari cleared her throat, looking back over at her. "I mean, not that you're any different from any other player, but...how do you put it all on the line like that?"

"You mean in general?" Daisy asked, bending down slightly to put more of her torso under the water.

"Well, I mean, like today, when you did that big bluff with seven players left," Hikari explained. "I've seen...Takeru do stuff like that before too, and at first I just figured it was some sort of...special power that he had. I didn't understand how the game worked then, but...how do you get yourself to do something like that?"

"If I wasn't willing to take chances, I'd find another job," Daisy pointed out. "Or just focus on my modeling and acting career. Gambling is part of the profession."

"Well, sure, but...like, today. You're sitting there, you've got one of the...the bigger stacks in the tournament, there's like...half a million dollar difference between seventh and fourth or whatever it was, you can just sleep your way to your biggest poker cash ever, and you risk your whole tournament on a bluff." She shrugged. "Gambling is one thing, but...how can you take that chance without...without even showing anything. How do you even consider making a play like that when there's so much risk?"

"If you're trying to say my play was bad, then I don't entirely disagree," Daisy said airily, holding her arm up towards Takeru and Ken sitting by the edge of the pool. Takeru threw a sealed bottle of a clear liquid towards her. She caught it in her right hand. "Plenty of good reasons to fold the turn, or check the flop, save chips, outlast the short stacks."

"I didn't say it was a bad play, n-not at all," Hikari protested. "It's a great play, but how do you get yourself to try that? That's what I don't understand."

"Hm." Daisy took a long sip from the bottle. "Well, when you were playing with us a few weeks ago, and you bluffed Sammy with the seven deuce, how did you do that?"

Hikari shrugged. "That didn't mean anything to me, it wasn't even my money. And I'm not a poker player, so...I don't care what happens. You're...this is what you do, this is huge for your career, it's totally different."

"Well." Daisy thought for a moment. "My mother's rich. My father's rich. My stepfather's rich. That helps an awful lot when I'm risking huge sums of money. Not gonna end up homeless if things don't go right."

"Yeah, but still," Hikari replied. "What do you tell yourself in a situation like that?"

Daisy thought for a moment, lip curling around. "I just let it all in."

"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.

"First, I sit there for a couple seconds, and I quickly decide what play produces the most expected value." She took another drink from the bottle. "Do I think my queens are the best hand at that point? Almost definitely not, he's got at least an ace. Do I think he's checking a flush after leading out on the turn? Very rarely, that fourth spade has to scare him. Can I represent a big spade with a half-pot bet the way the hand has gone? Yes." She swallowed down. "And then, once I figure that out, I just give myself five seconds to think about how bad this could be."

"You just let yourself get scared?" Hikari said.

"Right." Daisy nodded. "For five seconds, I let myself just think about it. He's trapping with the nut flush, I'm gonna get snapped, he's going to hero with two pair or something, it's going to be so embarrassing when I have to show everyone I played queens like that, that hand is going to be shown on highlight reels for weeks as an example of a horrible blowup, I'm going to get slammed for ignoring ICM and pay jumps, the public will think less of me as a player...the worst possible things that could happen, I just let myself be terrified about all of it for five seconds." She tossed the bottle back towards Takeru. "And then, once you let all that fear go through you, once you've lived the worst case scenarios out in your head, you can just...you do it. Those five seconds, it really liberates you."

"That's...kind of odd," Hikari said. "Thought it would be the other way around."

"Trying to supress the fear, I don't think that helps you. You can just accept it instead, accept that it's part of it, let it get to you for five seconds...then, you do it anyway." She nodded. "I've always found that useful."

OOO

~Takeru~

"God damn, she looks phenomenal," Ken muttered as Takeru set the bottle down on the ground below his seat. "I can say that, right?"

"Well, you just did, so clearly you can," Takeru replied.

"You don't mind it though?" Ken asked, laying back on the horizontal beach chair.

"Do I look like I mind?" Takeru asked, looking over at his friend. "I know I've got nothing to worry about with you, you can say or think whatever you want."

"Is that a fact?" Ken questioned. "Nothing to worry about with me? Come on, you know better than just about anyone that my track record is pretty sterling. Don't give me that, you don't have anything that I don't have."

"Oh, yeah?" Takeru raised his right arm up in the air, pointing at his forearm. "I believe I have...what is it, four bracelets? You have one. What sane woman is taking a downgrade like that?"

Ken gave a small smile. "Alright, alright, just remember who I slaughtered on my way to that one bracelet." He glanced around the fairly peaceful pool boarder. "So, Brugal it is, then."

"We're done in Panok?" Takeru asked. "You sure?"

"I know, leaving this place is never fun," Ken agreed. "I've seen enough from here. He's definitely got an obscene amount of money here, no question about it. And it can't just be a coincidence that he's got that two seater plane jumping back and forth between here and Brugal. That plane isn't big enough to carry anything of substance, I'm hoping it's paperwork. Might be something of use."

Takeru's forehead wrinkled. "Brugal...don't they have a high roller starting in three days?"

Ken put his arms out to his sides. "That's the beauty of this whole thing, my friend. There are big tournaments everywhere, it's like the perfect cover. Just in case anyone would actually be suspicious of us traveling the world like this...hey, we're just kids who are trying to hit as many tournaments as possible."

"Alright then." Takeru nodded. "So, we follow the trail, and take the world by storm while we're at it. I like it. We'll leave tonight."

The two were silent for a moment. "What do you think about Hikari?"

"What do you mean?" Takeru asked. "What about her?"

Ken shrugged, clearing his throat. "I just mean...the relationship you guys have, it's...is she really just going to follow you around for the rest of your life." He raised an eyebrow. "You don't honestly think that...she's responsible for you running good, do you? Are you really going to have her do this for...fifty years? What happens if you stop running good? You just gonna get rid of her?"

"No, no," Takeru said quickly. "No, she's..." he gestured his hands out towards her. "She's good company, isn't she? She's fun to have around, don't you think? I'd be happy to keep her around even without all the...luck stuff."

Ken put his hand up towards his mouth, chewing on the tip of his thumbnail. "I mean, she's technially yours, but it doesn't really feel like that. I don't know if you can pick up on this, since you're in the middle of it, but...it's a very strange relationship you have with her. You don't see things like this that often."

"I don't think she's unhappy," Takeru said. "I really don't think she's upset with the way things are." He blinked a few times. "I don't even really think about her as my property anymore, she...we're just having a good time. I think she's having a good time, anyway. If you wanna go by-the-book, she's still my property, but that's honestly not even something I take into consideration anymore."

"Okay, but...what do you view her as?" Ken asked. "Is she...is she like your friend? Is she your partner? Employee? Sister?"

Takeru thought for a moment. "You know, maybe...maybe they need to come up with a new word. As far as I'm concerned, we're just traveling the world together and having a good time. Maybe she's following orders, but it's not like I'm forcing her to do it."

Ken bit down on his cheek for a moment. "But just, for the sake of argument...what happens if she were to...suddenly decide she wants more out of life? What if she decided that following you around and watching you play just wasn't fulfilling to her? What happens then?"

Takeru's eyebrows raised up for a moment. "Haven't paid much mind to that possibility. My mind has enough things running through it right now."

"Okay, but...you're empowering her, right? You're treating her like an equal, you're giving her nice things, you're basically treating her like you would a friend, or even your sister, but...if she were to say she wants to do something else. Do you pull rank on her? Is that something you'd feel okay doing?"

"Why are you making me think?" Takeru said, in a faux-whiny tone. "You're making my head hurt. I'm not as smart as you, I get it. Look, I...I really don't see that happening. If she does...I'll figure it out as I go along. But it's not exactly a pressing issue to me."

"Nothing wrong with that," Ken said. "But I just think you should consider the possibility that a life filled with little more than watching you play poker might not be the most desirable. She could end up wanting more." He shrugged. "Just something to think about."