Chapter 52: Epilogue

~Hikari~

"Alright, alright...Emmanuel Mudiay." Takeru's eyes widened for a moment. "I don't know these names, it's...kind of crazy. I've plunged myself into this world, I spend every day paying attention to it, but there's this whole other circuit that never even crosses my mind."

Hikari was perched at the foot of the bed, legs crossed in front of her, elbows resting on her knees and her head propped up in her hands. "His aggression is a little higher than average. Look at his VPIP numbers." She had a large tablet flat on the bed in front of her, the white glowing screen displaying a few charts.

"Yeah, only by a couple percentage points though," Takeru said, leaning over her shoulder and looking down at the charts she was pointing at. "Look at those thin river calls, though."

Hikari looked at one of the many columns on the chart, running her finger along the surface of the tablet. "Interesting."

"Seems like he might be a non-believer type," Takeru suggested. "That's really high." He reached over her and tapped on a couple of cells, bringing up small popup bubbles. "Let's dig into it a little bit."

The lights in the hotel room were dimmed, the light from the tablet doing more to illuminate the room than anything else. It was a good deal more humble than the hotel rooms they spent most of their time in, all of the deluxe suites occupied and booked out two months in advance. Had they been in town for one of Takeru's grand and hugely-significant tournaments, that may have been worked around, but today they were in town for another reason.

"Look at that," Takeru muttered. "Pair of threes, pair of sixes on a four-flush board, ace high, KING high...it's not just a recent thing, either." He swiped up on the tablet. "Top pair of a four-flush and four-straight board, the five of spades on a four-spade board...he doesn't like to fold on the river."

"He's a really good hand reader," Hikari surmised.

"Maybe not," Takeru replied. "Look at the results, he's wrong all the time."

Hikari picked up the tablet, running her finger along the column. "Calls into top pair, calls into the nut flush...okay, yeah."

"He's not a great reader, he just likes to call light," Takeru said. "He hates getting bluffed. These are all tournament results too, not cash games, so it's not just a matter of being able to afford it."

Hikari nodded, setting the tablet back down. "So, he doesn't let bluffs get through," she said thoughtfully. "Good to know."

"He's just been right on most of his calls this tournament, that's all," Takeru said. "So, Mudiay. Makes thin calls."

"So the idea would be to try to get thin value." Hikari looked up, over to her right. "It's all about exploiting tendencies. You learn about your opponent and you play their tendencies."

Taichi, holding a large, globe-shaped bowl half-filled with foil-wrapped chocolates, nodded. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, you should definitely do that. I approve of...of his analysis." He pointed over at Takeru.

"That bowl was full when we checked in," Hikari said.

"Do you have a point?" Taichi asked, going over to the bed and dumping out some of the contents of the bowl on the blanket next to her.

"Well, it wasn't *that*..." she trailed off, looking down wryly at the pile of sweets, before grabbing one and beginning to unwrap it. "So, what do you think of the city?"

"Paralyzing," Taichi replied. "A place like this invites me to do everything. Too many choices, I end up just doing nothing." He looked down at the bowl. "Except eat."

"You'll get used to it," Takeru assured him. "Soon, you'll be spending all of your time in places like this."

"Anyway, uh...Calvin Galloway. Wow, his track record is kind of short," Hikari said, again manipulating the surface of the tablet with a few taps. "Okay, he hasn't been playing too long."

Takeru began to look over the charts. "This is the biggest finish of his career by a longshot," Takeru said. "He hasn't been doing this much longer than you. Six months, only...three more than you."

"Seems like he's the opposite," Hikari thought aloud. "He's aggressive, but...lot of river folds."

"Lemme take a look at all this," Takeru said, taking the tablet and scrolling through some charts on the display. "There's usually a pattern."

"I can't believe you can do all this," Taichi said. "All these numbers, charts...tendencies, putting it all together and using it. You can do all this, and you were forced to spend twenty years doing labor. That's really bad, when you think about it."

"I know. I thought I was stupid too," Hikari admitted airily.

"T-that's not what I meant," Taichi said cautiously.

"No, I'm serious," Hikari replied. "I wouldn't have thought I could even wrap my head around this. Credit the teacher."

"No amount of teaching would do a lick of good to most people," Takeru stated. "Your brother's right, your talents were criminally underutilized for two decades. And I'm not just talking about cards."

"Oh, ew," Taichi said, nose wrinkling.

"Wasn't talking about that either," Takeru said, grabbing one of the foil-wrapped chocolates and throwing it at Taichi's head. "Not that I'm surprised you've got that on the brain. Anyway, he seems like he's a big tournament life kind of guy."

"Tournament life?" Hikari repeated. "He doesn't like getting it all-in?"

"He doesn't mind betting or raising all-in, but...he really hates calling all-in," Takeru said. "Hates calling it off without the nuts. And this tournament is a big deal to him, he's never had a chance to cash like this. This might be the kind of guy who gets intimidated easily."

Hikari nodded.

OOO

"Oh, this is certainly the biggest moment in the careers of all four of our remaining players. None of these four have ever cashed to this amount or gone this deep in a tournament of this significance."

Hikari pushed out one purple chip and two black chips in front of her.

"We've got four players left in the World Series of Poker Circuit Yelsbad Edition, event number eight. Three thousand five hundred players started last week, buying in for five hundred dollars a piece. Next player out gets ninety thousand dollars, but they're all playing for a grand prize of just over three hundred thousand. You might not know these players quite yet, but they're all vying for the opportunity to become known on the highest levels of competitive poker."

A round of eight cards were distributed out to each player.

"Right now, we've got the big blind, Hikari Yagami, in the danger zone. She's got less than twenty big blinds, just a bit more than a quarter of the average stack of the other three players. Emmanuel Mudiay, on the button, currently rules over the table with one hundred big blinds, just a touch over one hundred and twenty million."

With the cutoff folding, Mudiay looked down at the jack of clubs and five of diamonds.

"I'm sure the strength of Mudiay's cards won't matter too much, given he's on the button and the pot's unopened. He's got chips to spare."

Mudiay got together two purple chips and six black ones, pushing them out into the pot.

"Barely more than a min-raise, pushes it up to two point six million. Mudiay has been able to push this table around with seeming impunity for the last hour or so, nobody wants to blow off their stacks right now with a short stack sitting there."

Calvin folded his small blind, putting the action onto Hikari.

"Well, here's the short stack, Hikari, and...if you're not particularly intimidated by this young woman as a poker player based off her short resume, then you should be intimidated by her coach. Takeru Ishida, the prodigy who's absolutely taken the poker world by storm over the last year, is her boyfriend and poker instructor. Can you imagine having something like that on your side in the world series circuit?"

"It's orders of magnitude beyond what any of her opponents have, certainly. I mean, she got all the way here with only a few months of experience and seemingly no background in the game, so it's clearly counting for something."

After looking at the eight of spades and nine of diamonds, Hikari slowly considered her chip stack.

"Well, nothing feels great when you're dealing with less than twenty big blinds, but I think this is a spot to call and try to flop something. Nine eight offsuit against the most aggressive player at the table, not quite enough to three-bet, but...I think you can take a flop."

"Yeah, it's just good enough, and you have to be willing to defend with something. She knows that Mudiay is opening wide. I'd be looking to flop open-ended and check-shove, maybe flop a pair and call down with it."

Hikari pushed in a purple chip, following it with four black ones.

"Six point four million in the pot."

The dealer put down the three of clubs, four of hearts, and nine of clubs.

"Top pair for Hikari. Nothing doing for Emmanuel, he's got some backdoor draws and one overcard."

Hikari tapped the felt a few times.

"Good spot for Hikari to chip up pretty significantly here. She's got a very strong hand on this board, and Mudiay's got right near the bottom of his range. He's almost certainly going to fire out here."

Mudiay, however, waited for a few moments and checked behind, tapping the table a couple times.

"Wow, Mudiay checks it back...very curious. He can't be thinking that he has showdown value with jack high, right? Even if he does, he's never going to realize it."

"It's certainly not standard to check with such a bad hand there...he might have some sort of tell on Hikari, some sort of read that's telling him that she has a nine and isn't folding. Really, on a board that dry, there's not much he should be afraid of except a nine specifically."

The dealer burned and turned over a five of hearts.

"If Mudiay has a physical tell on Hikari that's accurate, then that's really bad news for her. She doesn't need to be dealing with something like that with this short of a stack. Meanwhile, Mudiay makes a pair on the turn, pair of fives."

Hikari looked down at the board for a few moments.

"Ace deuce and seven six just made a straight, but...now's not the time to be scared."

Hikari stacked out four purple chips, then pushed them past the yellow line in front of her, serenely looking up at the dealer as he reached over to count them out.

"Large bet from Hikari, four million into six point four. Trying to price out flush draws and straight draws?"

"That, and maybe getting those draws to shove on you. I'm sure she's going to call it off if Mudiay decides to shove, that's part of the reason to make it so big. Mudiay could very reasonably have ace-high hearts or king-high hearts and decide to jam it here."

Mudiay stared over at Hikari intently, shuffling some purple chips around.

"But what's he going to do with second pair? Pair of fives, jack kicker."

"It's a big bet, but...second pair is often good, Hikari SHOULD bet in that spot with pretty much anything, including a lot of bluffs. I don't think he can fold yet."

Mudiay shoved in four purple chips as well.

"Barring a rivered jack or five, Hikari will be taking in a significant pot at the end of this hand."

"In a way, that five is almost bad for Emmanuel, because now it takes away a lot of his motivation to bluff on the river. Let's say an ace comes down here, Hikari checks, Mudiay shoves his jack high...becomes really tough for Hikari to call. But now that he has a pair, he might just check it back and lose."

"Fourteen point four million out there, twelve big blinds up for grabs. Big deal for Hikari, she's got a bit more than pot left."

The river card came, a king of clubs.

"So...the flush gets there on the river, a third club comes in the form of a king. Neither player can love that overcard."

Hikari looked over at Mudiay for a few moments, then back to her chipstack.

"Yeah, not exactly the best card in the world for either player, I wouldn't be shocked if it went check-check and Hikari just got to win. Maybe Hikari bets something like six million, try to squeeze out thin value."

"I'm all-in," Hikari announced, waving her right hand forward, scattering a few purple chips forward with her left.

"And...so much for that, Hikari SHOVES for more than pot with second pair, no kicker!"

Mudiay looked back down at his cards for a moment, then over at Hikari.

"Time for Emmanuel to utilize that supposed physical read, if he has it. This certainly LOOKS like a flush the way she played it. Albert, what's the logic here for Hikari? On the surface, this seems like a bad shove."

Hikari continued to play with a handful of chips as Emmanuel considered his decision.

"Piecing the hand together, it's very unlikely Mudiay has clubs, given he checked back the flop. And it's also pretty unlikely he called the turn with king high, so he probably didn't just make top pair either. Possibly, she has correctly figured that she has the best hand."

"She has the best hand, but...can she get called by a worse hand when she shoves for more than pot?"

Mudiay counted out a stack of purple chips, considering it.

"Well...Mudiay hasn't folded yet, so...it's at least a possibility, right? He's got third pair, and...it's possible Hikari just feels like he's capable of calling light. He's certainly made a lot of light calls in this very tournament. I mean, how much of a genius will Hikari look like here if Mudiay calls?"

Mudiay bit down on his lower lip.

"He can't actually call on that river. Flush gets there, king highs make a pair, she certainly has some of those...it's a lot of chips!"

"He can afford it, but...yeah, I don't think that king of clubs is a good card to call on. But Mudiay, he's a frequent non-believer."

"I call," Mudiay announced. Hikari slowly turned over her cards.

"And there it is! Hikari Yagami secures a FULL double-up with nothing but a pair of nines!"

With a small nod, Mudiay folded his cards over to the dealer.

"Wow, I...I'm tempted to call that an absolutely brilliant way of playing that hand, but...I might just be results oriented. I mean, that HAD to be a value bet, right?"

Hikari, amid a round of applause from the bleachers encircling the table, began stacking her new chips.

"I get the sense that she knew exactly what she was doing there, but...only she and her coach can possibly know for sure."

"Either way, Hikari is back above forty big blinds, and has gone from life support to contention, all in one hand!"

OOO

Hikari tossed out a purple chip along with four black ones.

"And we've got a button limp. She's mixing it up."

Hikari glanced over her shoulder at Takeru, smiling for a brief moment, before turning back to the table.

"Three players left, three pretty even stacks. Over seventy blinds for each of them. Queen jack of hearts for Hikari, do you like the button limp from her?"

"Um...not typically. Queen jack suited is good enough to raise with when everyone is this deep, you can call a three-bet if you want to and play in position...but as long as you understand how the limp will be perceived and how it might provoke certain plays from the other players, it's fine."

"It's usually something you see from players who believe themselves to be...the best player at the table. I'm not sure if Hikari thinks that, or if it's true, but, it's good to mix it up sometimes."

David Fant tossed in one purple chip after looking at the ten of spades and nine of clubs.

"It can be a play to reduce variance and keep the pot smaller as well, which is sometimes desirable if you believe you have a skill advantage."

Calvin Galloway threw out a stack of six purple chips and four purples, taking back his big blind of one purple and four blacks.

"Calvin doesn't want to let the limp get through, he raises big with a pair of tens. Ten of clubs, ten of diamonds."

Hikari looked over at the stack of chips Calvin had put out, then back down at her own holdings.

"She's definitely going to call with a hand this good. I guess this is part of the reason why it's good to limp, in case someone wakes up with a big hand like this. You can keep the pot smaller and still see a flop."

Hikari flipped out five purples, allowing David to fold.

"Two players to the flop. Already fifteen million in the pot."

Three of clubs, nine of hearts, eight of spades.

"Rainbow flop, nine-high. Beautiful flop for two tens, and a pretty decent one for queen jack of hearts."

Calvin began to get together chips.

"Calvin has been playing pretty aggressive ever since Mudiay got eliminated a couple rounds ago, definitely trying to push the variance, so when he's actually got something, there's no reason for him to play it slowly."

Calvin tossed out seven purples.

"Seven million. You know, there's one ten left in this deck, and I don't want to get everyone too excited, but...if it falls on the turn, we're talking the nut straight against top set. We could see some real fireworks."

"So you assume that Hikari's calling?"

"She's got two overcards, a gutshot, and a backdoor flush draw, playing against an aggressive opponent who is continuation betting. I think you've got to call."

Hikari plucked seven chips from one of her stacks and tossed in a handful of purples.

"About thirty million in the center, we could have a huge change in the pecking order at the end of this hand. Just an hour ago, these two players seemed like the logical picks to be picked off and leave Mudiay and Fant heads up for the title, and now they're tussling over the chip lead."

A four of hearts hit the turn.

"Another card that seems to offer no real threat to Calvin's pair of tens, but that four does give Hikari a queen high flush draw to go with her overs and gutshot."

"Yeah, wow, she...if she wasn't going to fold the flop, then she's definitely not folding now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for her, but...way too many good river cards."

Calvin again reached for his chip holdings.

"An hour ago, Hikari was down to twenty big blinds and was almost out of here. She started this hand with over eighty, quite a massive turnaround for the young amateur. Helps to have friends in high places, it would seem. Calvin's the effective stack, just shy of one hundred million. Still very deep here."

Calvin built out a stack of thirteen purples this time, pushing it over to the dealer.

"Yeah, Hikari's certainly not folding for less than half the pot. It's an effective bet to get more value out of two tens, but it's not pricing out the draws. Easy call with this much equity. No reason to raise yet, when players are this deep."

Hikari tossed out a purple chip, then began constructing a small stack of them.

"We're off to the river, a staggering fifty-six million in the pot, this river card is going to tell us an awful lot about the way this tournament wraps up! Hikari needs a queen, jack, ten, or heart."

A six of spades landed on the river.

"No such luck for Hikari, that six does nothing, she's left with queen high."

Once again, Calvin reached down towards his chips, counting out a wager.

"This is one of the most frustrating things in poker, calling down with so much potential, having practically half the deck on your side, and being left with absolute air after committing all these chips."

Calvin ended up building a stack of twenty-three purple chips, making these his wager into the pot.

"Twenty-three million from Mister Galloway, feeling confident with the overpair. And Hikari, holding nothing but queen high, has two choices. I have to believe she's just going to cut her losses and fold, but Calvin has just about pot behind, so it's not impossible that she—"

"I'm all-in," Hikari said.

"And there she goes! She fires all-in as a bluff, right around a pot-sized raise, putting Calvin's tournament life at risk! And what does Galloway want to do with a pair of tens on this board?!"

Calvin looked out of the corner of his eyes at Hikari for a few moments, then back down at his cards.

"What a huge spot. Call, and you're the overwhelming chip leader. Fold, and you hand over an overwhelming chip lead to Hikari, not to mention he would be folding the best hand...but there's not exactly much he can beat, is there?"

"He can beat a bluff, and that's about it. Very easy to imagine that Hikari has a hand like...eight six, rivered two pair. Slowplayed something like nine eight. Five seven and ten seven are both straights, maybe she has those hands of hearts. She's not doing this with a hand like ace nine."

Calvin pursed his lips, looking down at his remaining chips.

"You definitely feel like a moron if you call and she turns over eight six, I'll say that much, especially with this much on the line. Tens are only beating a bluff, and there aren't a ton of bluffs that make a lot of sense. And Calvin has overpair written all over him, so for Hikari to basically say...I know you have an overpair, and I'm still moving in, it's very strong."

Finally, Calvin picked up his cards and tossed them over to the dealer. Hikari reached down towards her cards, turning them over and putting them face up in front of her, looking around impassively as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"And Calvin lets it go, which prompts Hikari to SHOW THE BLUFF! What a turn of events, Hikari takes a massive pot of chips, and Calvin Galloway is now in a distant third place!"

Hikari began to stack her new chips in front of her.

"What a championship-tier play from the young woman, she really read that situation brilliantly!"

OOO

"H-how can you possibly be surprised when a player who is being coached by Takeru Ishida makes a deep run in a significant poker tournament? I mean, I said this before when we were four-handed, but really...maybe you're not afraid of Hikari Yagami the player quite yet, but I'm sure everyone she's played in this tournament is aware she's being taught by the best in the world. She probably is a very good player, and we just don't yet have a full picture of how good since she's so young."

Fant tossed in four purple chips.

"We're heads up for over three hundred thousand dollars here, Hikari Yagami with a decently-sized chip lead over David Fant. This title's obviously a big deal for both players, not just in terms of money, but in terms of career prestige. Hikari was the short stack with four left, but she's really turned it around with a couple of big hands."

Hikari, after a few moments, placed three purple chips in on top of two that were already in.

"Okay, so we've got a button raise from David Fant with the ace seven offsuit, Hikari defends with king eight offsuit. Hikari started this hand with just over a hundred big blinds, David with seventy-five, so we're very very deep."

Four of diamonds, two of diamonds, five of hearts.

"Baby flop, two diamonds, neither player makes a pair. Hikari has a backdoor king high flush draw, she's got the king of diamonds, and David has the gutshot thanks to the ace."

Hikari tapped the table a few times, prompting David to reach down towards his chips.

"And don't be surprised if David bets and Hikari calls. She's got two overs, a backdoor flush draw, and in a circumstance like this, king-high CAN be the best hand pretty reasonably. She can call and re-assess on the turn."

"Yeah, that king of diamonds might just shift the balance towards making a call. David can absolutely raise the button and then continue with something like nine ten or jack nine, all sorts of hands that king high is ahead of."

Armed with five purples and five blacks, David made a half-pot wager.

"Half pot, five and a half million, I think Hikari's gonna peel once here. If she didn't have the diamond, I think she'd fold, but those little bits of extra equity really matter when you're heads up."

Hikari tossed one purple chip towards the dealer, then began to chase it with the remaining four and a half million.

With the pot now bloated to twenty-two million, the dealer slapped down a jack of hearts.

"There's a brick, ace high is still the best hand...I would expect it to go check-check here, actually."

Hikari pressed her index finger into the felt a couple times, playing with a couple black chips in her palms.

"Yeah, if Hikari has a pair, she's never folding and I think David knows that, so...he'd get called every time he's behind and he'd likely fold out everything he currently has beat. Showdown value, plus a bad gutshot, I like the check."

David tapped his fingers on the felt a couple times as well.

"Alright, Hikari needs a king or an eight to take the lead. She might be able to win the pot with a bluff on a lot of blanks."

A three of diamonds completed the board.

"Okay, so...David makes a straight, but not a particularly strong one. He's the got ace on a two three four five board. Can't beat a six, and the diamond flush draw just came in."

Hikari stared down at the board for a few moments, then reached down towards her chips.

"Yeah, Hikari has about the worst hand she's ever going to have here, so she's going to try bluffing at this. But whatever she does, it has to be big, and I think she's aware of that. David has an ace here a large percentage of the time here, I think."

"Do you like trying to bluff here? Do you think Fant is folding an ace often enough to make it worth it?"

"I'm not a big fan of it, really...I'd probably just give up here. I don't see David folding very often here, and it makes a ton of sense for him to have an ace, so I'd probably just let the pot go."

Two full stacks of purple chips went forward.

"Wow, I might have to...take that back, Hikari bets just less than DOUBLE the pot! That is a MASSIVE bet, and it's not a comfortable bet to be calling with just the wheel on this board."

David pried the corners up on his cards again, then looked at the double stack of purple chips.

"Forty million into twenty two million, I think it's safe to say that...Hikari knows that Fant likely has an ace, and believes she has to bet this big to have any chance of actually taking him off it."

"He can't beat a six, and he can't beat the diamond flush. What's the leveling war like in a hand like this?"

Hikari continued to stare down at the board as David pondered his decision.

"It really does look like Hikari is saying, I know you have the straight, I just made my flush, so I'm trying to get maximum value. And if you're sitting in David's seat, you know that really looks like you might have the bad end of the straight, so...it's really tough. It LOOKS like he has the straight, she's still betting double the pot, how can you feel good about it?"

"Yeah, he's definitely only beating bluffs. There aren't exactly a ton of bluffs left with the diamonds coming in."

David slid his cards over to the dealer.

"Wow, he lays down the straight, that's...great bet. Great sizing to accomplish what she wanted. Brilliant play. Her chip lead continues to climb!"

"Yeah, that took some serious heart, betting that much in that situation."

OOO

~Hikari~

"I call," Hikari said, flipping her cards over and standing to her feet. Ace of hearts, ten of diamonds.

"Alright, we got a flip," David said, turning over the four of diamonds and four of clubs, standing up as well. "You've played amazing today, by the way. Whatever happens here, I just wanna say it, because I have a feeling it's not gonna go well for me."

Hikari turned towards the railing behind her, looking over at Takeru for a moment, before turning back towards the table. "Thank you, you played great too." She put her hands in her pockets. "You started this hand with like, fifty million, right?"

"A little less," he answered. "Close."

"You win this, you're right back in it," Hikari said, as the dealer prepared to put out a flop.

Queen of spades, five of spades, ten of clubs.

The crowd erupted as Hikari took a commanding lead in the hand. She spun around, putting her fist up in the air, then turned back towards the table for a moment. "No runners!" she called out, turning towards the railing and walking towards it, looking at Takeru. "No runners! Four or nothing!"

"If this holds, you sure as hell earned it!" Takeru called out, looking almost as excited as he would if it had been him on the verge of winning a title.

The burn and turn produced the five of diamonds, pairing the board and changing nothing.

Grimacing, David nodded. "I did get two-outed out of event one a couple weeks ago, so I am owed a two-outer!" he pointed out. "Got two-outed for the chip lead and everything!"

"Second place is pretty good," Hikari called out over the building roar of the crowd. "Pretty good. Just saying."

A jack of clubs completed the board. Hikari thrusted her hand high into the air, jumping up a good three feet off the ground, as the crowd exploded. Sure enough, Takeru vaulted the rail and made his way over to the new circuit champion.

"See, nothing to it!" Takeru called out over the cheers of the crowd, skipping up into her and wrapping his arms around her.

"No kidding!" she replied. "If I knew how easy this was, I never would have respected you so much for being good at it!"

Takeru wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her back towards the table, towards the three large bricks of cash and platinum finger ring in the middle of it. He scooped up the small piece of jewelry, examining it for a moment. "Always wondered what these feel like!"

Hikari broke away from Takeru for a moment to go over to David Fant, reaching out to shake his hand. "Great playing, you did really well!"

David nodded. "Enjoy it!"

Hikari swung back over towards the table, sticking her right hand out towards him. Slowly, delicately, he slid the ring onto her finger.

"You've bought me a lot of rings over the last couple months," Hikari said. "But this one feels different, somehow!"

"It feels like success!" Takeru suggested, wrapping his arms around her again and lifting her up into the air. Their lips locked together in a kiss, which he felt for a few moments before setting her back down.

"Miss Yagami, congratulations." Hikari finally looked behind her, the tournament director standing there in a suit, holding a microphone. "You played phenomenally well to win this prestigious circuit event, you deserve every last dollar of the prize money."

"Oh, you think this was something?" Takeru replied before Hikari could, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders. "Just wait until you see what she does tomorrow!"

OOO

AN: Thank you all for reading the entirety of this story. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have one or two other future projects in mind, though I'm not yet sure when they will be produced. Again, thank you all for reading nearly four hundred thousand words of my works.