"Let me tell the audience about the stakes!" Yomozuki squeals to the audience. "If Yumemite loses, she has to abandon her seat at the student council!" The audience gasps. "And," Yomozuki continues, "if Kokoro loses, she will have to be Yumemite's assistant until graduation!" The crowd has mixed feelings about this. Some people don't like how I would basically be a house pet, but others are excited for a new cast member.

As we put our two chip blind and Yomozuki hands us our cards, I can't help but think about strategy.

Yomozuki is only using one deck, and she's not shuffling cards after each round, meaning that counting cards is especially easy. For example, three 2s have already been used, meaning there's only one two in the remaining deck. That means this card is mainly safe for giving to your opponent because she can't score a pair, two pair, full house, three of a kind, or a four of a kind with the cards; it's generally much harder to have a good hand with a card that doesn't have a match in the deck anymore.

I look at my cards and swap what I want, and notice I'm one away from a straight. I have a 3, 4, 5, and 6, and J. I'm about to celebrate until I stop myself. I need to abandon two of my cards, so I can't just swap and get a straight that way. I need to see if I can get a straight after I swap with Yumemite. I bet an extra two chips, totaling my bet to 400 million yen, and Yumemite calls. She probably won't give me two consecutive cards, so my only hope is she'll give me a 2 and a 6. If she got a 2, she probably will give it to me, so the chance there's a 2 in her hand is about a 4% chance

We swap cards. I give her my 6 and my J, and she give me a 7 and an 6. I guess she didn't have a 2, but I have a straight, anyways! However, I look at the relatively pitiful sum of money I bet for my hand and curse my low bet.

"It seems like you have a straight now, Kokoro-san!" Yumemite tells me cheerfully. "I can tell from your demeanor. You quickly hid your celebratory attitude when you realized you couldn't keep your 4 card row. Also, I bet you were hoping on me giving you a 2 because there's no possibility for a pair. Too bad you didn't bet high!" She gestures at the four chips she bet. "Good luck on the other rounds, though!" Her eyes are piercing through her veil of her good attitude and sportsmanship. She's out to win, and she's definitely out to make me her house pet.

"Good luck to you too," I respond.

"It's now time for the showdown!" Yomozuki shouts.

Yumemite reveals a junk hand, and I reveal a 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 straight. The crowd gasps for the millionth time, but more because Yumemite correctly predicted my hand than the fact that I had a straight.

Yomozuki announces the result. "Kokoro wins again! Let's go to the third round!"