"Can you guys see me?" Mary says through the cellphone as she waves her hands on the flatscreen TV, which is broadcasting from the other room. The video camera that's broadcasting the feed is pointing down where the cards should be, so I could only see her hands.
"Hey Ikishima," I say to her in a slightly confident tone.
"What?"
"Can we make it so the loser must pay the winner 2 billion yen?"
"Uh... sure. I don't really care about money anyway."
"Great." If I have a chance of fighting the student council, I have to make sure I have the money to do so. If my journey through life ends here, I won't need the money anyway.
"I'm starting to lay the first cards down. Fill your guns, I guess."
I put in zero bullets this round. I have to get a feel for things before I can start shooting. Ikishima puts in at least one bullet, but I can't really tell, and we both put our guns in the hole in the table.
Mary places her cards on the table, face down. I just place my cards in a random order. I don't really care about what cards I place down, knowing it's impossible to tell.
"It's time to reveal your cards!" Ikishima snarls. Her attitude about this si realyl starting to piss me off. Just let me gamble with you with money. She definitely has some kind of fetish for this whole life or death thing, but I want out of it.
We both reveal our cards. I have two matches, and Ikishima has three. A pit forms in my stomach as I close my eyes in fear. Ikishima laughs maniacally as she quickly grabs a gun and fires at me.
Luckily, the gun was blank. It was mine. Ikishima groans as she flicks through the hoels in the revolver to find all the chambers empty.
We reload our guns with the number of bullets we desire and put them in the hole in the table. I put in two this time. Ikishima tells Mary over the phone to make a new order.
Shoot. I don't have any idea what to do next! When Yumeko played this game against Ikishima and tied, Ryota just copied Yumeko's hand, but Ikishima knows that, too. She also knows I'm friends with Yumeko, meaning she's thinking I'm copying my hand from before!
But instead, I'll copy Ikishima's hand. Hopefully, Mary went through the same thought process as I have. I really, really hope so.
We flip our cards over. Oh my god, I got all 5! Ikishima copied my hand, meaning she only got three right. This means I'm safe this round. I grab a gun and hesitate pulling the trigger. Am I really this close to killing a person?
"Oohhh... oh my God, Akari-san. Please, please do it!" Ikishima moans as she squirms on the table. "Please pull the trigger, oh... OOHHH!"
I lose all compassion for her as I pull the trigger. It's a blank. I look at the rounds and see that it was Ikishima's gun, which had four bullets in the chamber. Just my luck.
"It's... ahhh... time for round three, Mary." She's still coming back from her state of euphoria as we fill in our guns. I put three bullets in the chamber and put it into the hole.
Again, I'm not sure what to place, and I just repeat my hand from earlier. Ikishima is breathing heavily as she places her cards sensually on the table. I really am sick of her. I hope this game ends this round.
Mary reveals the cards she placed earlier. Shoot... the cards weren't mine. In fact, it was Ikishima's hand. I only got three right.
Ikishima could barely contain herself as she revealed her cards. It's the correct cards, but opposite. Her hand is the mirror image of the second one, meaning she only got one card right.
"Yes! YES! It's finally happening! The climax of this game- it's here. Akari! I put six bullets in my gun! Make the right choice, Akari!"
I reach into the hole and feel the two guns, and I feel how one of the guns in heavier than the other. Should I really murder this woman in cold blood? I see her breathing heavily. Oh god, now she's touching herself. I take the heavier one and point it at Ikishima.
"Hey Ikishima," I ask her as she stares down the muzzle.
"What... oh my God... ohhh..."
"Why didn't you just kill yourself and give me the money in the first place."
Ikishima moans loudly. "I see you've made the right choice." The moaning subsides. "Just pull the trigger, Akari."
I follow her wishes as her brains scatter the wall behind her. One of the cronies walk up holding a slip of paper. Upon closer examination, it's a check worth 2 billion yen. "Kirari and I will cover up the murder, baby. Don't worry about it."
I vomit all over the table, trying to avoid the check. Did I just really murder Ikishima? I look at where her head used to be and I confirm my suspicions. This really sucks.
I take the check from the lady's hands as I walk over to the next room. There I see Mary, her face as white as snow.
"Let's go home, Mary."
"I just wanted to take a nap after school."
"I'm sorry, Mary, but it had to be done. For Hyakkaou."
Mary runs up to me and hugs me, crying. I hug her back while I hold the check. "Oh yeah..." Mary sniffles. "Let's go cash this before we get vomit on it.
The lady at the bank stares at us as we present a check worth 2 billion yen. Luckily, we didn't have any blood or vomit on our school uniforms, but I assume the average teller doesn't ever see two high school girls give them a check worth 2 billion yen.
Mary and I exchange one last hug as we part ways. I try to eat dinner at home, but I vomit it all out of my system. I lay in bed, trying to sleep, but all I see when I close my eyes is the hole right in the middle of what was once Ikishima's forehead.
