As seen in the story "" is spoken dialogue whereas '' is thoughts.

A hand shoots out at the sound of an alarm. It fumbles around, looking for the source of the sound. The hand then grabs on to a phone, from which an alarm (Ironside Siren, 'cause who doesn't love Kill Bill?) [1] blares. The hand brings it closer to its owner's face, and quickly silences the phone. The young man, after turning off the alarm, sighs and gets up off his bed. He walks over to the windows in his apartment and opens them up, which he only does due to force of habit. A sudden deluge of light rushes through the man's bedroom. The light illuminates what was in his bedroom, which consisted of a bookshelf, chock full of books, a desk, which had two pictures of the boy and his family, and a queen-size bed, which was firm but not too hard. The teenager then stumbles over to his bathroom, where he cleans up after a full night's rest. He looks at himself in the mirror, where his own dead eyes stare back at him. 'Same shit, new day, huh?' he thought to himself.

After freshening up and wearing his school's uniform, the boy heads over to his kitchen where he makes himself breakfast. It consists of a MAX Coffee (Though he may live alone in Tokyo, he will never lose his tastes!) and Tamako Kake Gohan [2], which is a Japanese dish that consists of rice, eggs, seasoning and MSGs. 'Those stupid westerners may vilify MSGs, but at least we Japanese have enough intelligence to know that MSGs are amazing!' the boy uselessly thought.

The high school student finishes up his breakfast, grabs his backpack, and approaches the entrance to his house. "I'm leaving!" the boy yells out futilely, also due to force of habit. Then again, it has only been a year since he had moved out of his family's house, so it is understandable that this habit still persists.

After exiting his apartment, he heads for the elevator on his floor and enters. He then pushes the button for the ground floor, and the elevator complies. Though it is a modern elevator, it still takes some time for it to reach ground level. But the young man lives on the 15th floor of the 20-story apartment building, so it made sense why that time is taken.

Fortunately, for the sloth-like "young" man, his school wasn't that far from his apartment. In fact, it is a mere kilometer away. On the path to his school, the teenager could breathe in fresh air and enjoy the scenery as he was able to walk along a pathway that had much greenery alongside it. In fact, it was probably the one scenic pathway around for hundreds of kilometers, so truly, he was blessed.

'Hmm, didn't the homeroom teacher say that a transfer student was coming to school today? Ah well, it has nothing to do with me anyways. Besides, I'm a thorough-bred loner, so hell would have to freeze over for that person to even notice me.' The pessimistic teenager chuckled. Though it was a bit extreme, he figured that his analysis was right. After all, he has no friends at all. And having no friends meant that he was a loner (according to society). However, this did not faze the man at all. He thoroughly believed that the conventional friendship is a lie, in that both sides were deceiving one another by placating one another. In other words, friendship is a circle-jerk designed to make people feel good about themselves by tricking themselves and others that they share a "bond". After all, at the first sign of trouble, these so-called "friends" would abandon one another and save themselves, a sign that their "bond" was nothing more than a lie. And the thought of participating in such shallowness makes the young man sick, sick to the core. Thus, he made no attempt to make friends and rejected all advances that others would make in order to become friends (politely, though, as he cared not to make any enemies).

As he internally reaffirmed his moral values, the high school student arrived in front of his school. While he walked past the school's gate, a placard placed on the right side of the gate read "Hyakkaou Private Academy". Though he had passed through this gate for a whole year and some more already, he still read the placard. It seemed as though he couldn't believe that he passed the entrance exam for the school, though that wasn't the case. Maybe for the first week or so, the teenager read the placard for that reason. Afterwards, however, he read it because it became a habit. It seemed that same habit had persisted up til even today. 'Man, what's up with me and habits? I'm not exactly a habitual person, and yet I have so many of them. Eh, whatever. Not like it matters.'

The 11th grade student walked into his classroom, the Hana class, and sat down. His entrance did not elicit any sort of attention, which was perfectly normal. After all, as aforementioned, the loner had no friends. At most, he had shallow acquaintances, but that's all they amounted to in his eyes. Acquaintances. If he had to choose between ensuring the survival of himself or his "acquaintances", he would choose himself in a heartbeat. That just was the type of person this rotten-eyed man was. One with great survival instincts.

After some time, the homeroom teacher walked in and said, "Good morning class. Remember how last week I said that there was a transfer student coming to our school last week? She's here today, and she'll be a part of us for the rest of the year. Make sure you treat her kindly, ok?"

"Hai!" the class responded at once. Murmurs then broke out.

"Ah, so it is a girl! See, I told you guys!"

"Man, I wonder if she's hot?"

"Let's hope she is!"

"Ugh, boys and their stupid fantasies."

"It is nice to gain another female classmate, though."

"Sore Aru!"

For a second there, the young man had PTSD of a short-haired brunette who is a "nice girl". 'Ah well. I probably will never see THAT girl again, so it doesn't matter. And besides, why are they all acting like idiots? It's just another person, so why are they acting like an idol is transferring to our class?' he wondered. However, he couldn't think more about the topic, as the sliding door to the classroom suddenly opened.

Walking in was, ironically, an idol-like person. She was a long, raven-haired beauty with a well-endowed body and smile and glimmering eyes. The young lady walked over to the teacher's side, and turned to face her new classmates.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Hai. My name is Jabami Yumeko, and it is a pleasure to meet you all! I hope that we all can get along well!" the transfer student energetically said.

"Well said, Jabami-san. So, who's going to show her around the campus?" the teacher asked.

Everyone, except for a certain rotten-eyed loner, raised their hands. Some were quite energetic about it, while others were more conservative about it. 'Considering that there are all these clout-chasers out here, it would be easy to determine that I wouldn't be chosen. Nice, I'll take a short nap while my classmates duke it out for the "privilege".' the lazy boy thought. He then promptly plops his head down on his desk.

The teacher looks around the classroom and finds it chock-full with students that volunteered for their own benefit. She sighs, but then her gaze fell upon a certain individual with a visible ahoge, head down on his desk. The homeroom teacher sighs even more noisily, and asks,

"Hikigaya Hachiman, would you like to show Jabami Yumeko the campus?"

The rotten-eyed loner, Hachiman, raises his head and replies clearly.

"No."

Chapter 1- A Man named Hikigaya Hachiman

Original Story and Characters: Wataru Watari & Kawamoto Homura

Author: shaboy54

"Hah?" the teacher exhaled irritably. "She's your new classmate, so why don't you want to show her the campus?"

"It sounds troublesome." Hachiman retorted curtly.

"That's not an excuse to rudely reject showing her the campus! Besides, you probably have nothing to do at all after school, so do it!" she said, speaking in a louder and louder tone as she kept yelling.

"Do I seriously have to?" Hachiman lazily asked.

"Yes. You must do it or else…" the homeroom teacher threateningly said.

"Fine…" he said reluctantly.

Despite his earlier attitude, Yumeko approached Hachiman and greeted him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hikigaya-kun."

"Likewise." the sloth replied.

In reaction to all the fuss the transfer student caused, a student with blonde hair glared furiously at Yumeko and grits her teeth.

The steps of two people echo through a hallway. Then, all of a sudden, the echoes disappear. In its place, a beautiful scenery of nature revealed itself on the pair's right, with lush greenery and a large tree at the center. Natural light from above flows through, providing both warmth and life to those it embraced. At the sight of all of this, Yumeko marvels,

"Wow… This school is delightful! It was a good idea to transfer here."

Hachiman only hummed in response. Initially, he reacted just as similarly as Yumeko did when he first started attending Hyakkaou Private Academy. It was quite the step up from his junior high school, but that only made sense. After all, many of the richest people in the nation sent their children to learn here.

"Say, Hikigaya-kun, is there gambling at this school?" Yumeko innocently asked.

Though he didn't show it on his face, Hachiman was surprised. While it wasn't as though the student body was trying to keep it a secret, they weren't actively propagating the fact that gambling took place at this school. However, within the last year, the school had changed greatly. It had become a den of sin, hoarding, and greed. At this point, after-school Hyakkaou Academy was a glorified casino. It would only make sense that word had gotten out recently that Hyakkaou is a gambling den.

"Yes. There is. But I recommend you to try and stay away from it as much as possible." the man said gravely.

"But why?" the girl replied with a question.

"There is a lot of money involved in the gambling scene here. You can earn a fortune, but you can lose a fortune as well. And if you manage to rack up a debt that you can't pay back, you'll be turned into a "pet", where you essentially lose your free will and the student body that aren't pets can order you around. In addition, it's really easy to become a pet, as many of the students here are stacked as hell, so they could plunge you into debt while enduring no risk to themselves. Really, there are some things to gain, but there is much to lose." Hachiman explained thoroughly.

"Wow, that's the first time I've heard you talk so much! What is gambling to you if you talked so much about it? Have you been a pet before?" Yumeko asked, with a slight, malicious tone to her questions. It wasn't that noticeable, but it was definitely there.

". . . Gambling is something that I had dabbled in previously, but I do not anymore. Also, I have not yet become a pet, and I doubt that I would wish to be one. Honestly, I am disgusted with the whole scheme, and it would be quite the terrible mishap had I not forewarn you about the risks that come with the gambling that occurs here. That is why I spoke in great detail about the whole affair." Hachiman retorted with a formal tone. "However, if you do not heed my warning and gamble, then in no way is it my responsibility to protect you."

"Fufufu, thank you for the warning Hikigaya-kun." Yumeko chuckled while smiling. Suddenly, the smile was distorted into something more disturbing, something more… venomous. "But gambling here sounds fun, don't you think?" the woman said off-puttingly with a strange light in her eyes.

Hachiman started to glare at her, harshly. 'This does not bode well…' he thought. 'This girl, she's plotting something, isn't she?'

"Hey, hey Jabami-san, what school did you transfer from?"

"Jabami-san, why did you transfer here?"

"Jabami-san, let's be friends!"

A group of girls amassed around the new transfer student after school. Their reason being 'to become friends with the new student', but in Hachiman's eyes, they were nothing more than vultures. After all, their true intentions were to gain clout from becoming the new, beautiful transfer student's friend. And yet, as sharp as she may seem, Yumeko didn't pick up on any of the girls' hidden feelings.

"Sure, why not? It's nice to have more friends after all." Yumeko cheerfully said.

All of a sudden, a blonde girl with pig-tails stood up and walked over to Jabami Yumeko. The girl had a smile on her face with her hands behind her back, and all in all, looked welcoming and warm.

"Hi Jabami-san! My name is Saotome Mary, and I hope we can get along!" she said with no visible ill-will on her face.

"Likewise, Saotome-san. I hope we can be good friends as well." replied the raven-haired beauty.

"Hm. Well, we can become good friends if we play a game together. After all, people bond better with friendly competitions."

"Why not? It sounds like fun."

Mary smirked when she heard the transfer student's response. 'It will be fun, but not for you.' she thought. "By the way, you're going to need to bet some money. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be much." 'Don't worry, I'll also ensure to wring you dry of any money sooner or later.'

Hachiman scoffed while sitting in his seat. 'Honestly, this little girl hides behind a useless mask. It's quite easy to read her. But I wonder if Jabami sees through her as well…'

If she did, she didn't show it, as Yumeko's facial expressions didn't change much. Instead, she smiled broadly.

"I don't mind. In fact, I think it's a good thing that we can bet…. fufufu…."

'That's a hell of a red flag if I've ever seen one.' Hachiman thought to himself.

However, Mary hadn't picked on the sign. Instead, she made a couple of shooing hand motions to some of the students near her, which prompted the whole class to move around in a flurry. Some of the girls' classmates went outside and to other classrooms.

"Hey guys, Mary's going to gamble with the new transfer student!"

"Eh, already?!"

"This is gunna be awesome!"

"Sore Aru!"

'Could you just shut the hell up and kill yourself? I don't need any more reminders of that bitch…' the fish-eyed loner thought in vain.

While more and more spectators piled into the Hana classroom, many changes were occurring rapidly in the classroom in question. Curtains were drawn shut, desks were moved, and a enclosed metal box was placed on the teacher's desk. Finally, after about five minutes, all the students had settled down. The number of spectators had grown so much that the classroom was full to the brim. Hachiman had also moved to a corner of the room behind Yumeko. No one reacted to Hachiman nor blocked his view. In fact, the spectating crowd had made a gap large enough for him to see both girls despite the lack of space in the room.

In the center of the classroom, Yumeko and Mary faced one another, each sitting in a desk of their own. They both smilie, but the differences in their smiles were quite apparent. While one was seemingly kind and friendly, the other was hostile and rude.

"So, Saotome-san, what's the game that we're going to be playing today?"

"It's a game called Vote Rock-Paper-Scissors! The way you play this game is simple. Our classmates over here will draw a rock, paper, or scissors on a card. Then, all those "votes" that they made will be put in that box. We'll then draw three cards from the box. Obviously, you won't be able to see what votes you will get until you draw them. Unlike the normal game, you can only use those votes to play. So, if you get multiple of one card, those are the cards that you have to play with. If we both use the same card when playing, then it'll be a tie for that round. Then we'll use the remaining two cards and play another one or two rounds. If all three rounds end up in a tie, then the set will be a draw, and we'll move onto the next set. Since we can't actually choose what move we use, you're going to have to read the flow of the game to win. Now that that's settled, you there, bring the chips!"

The chips were brought forward to the gambling table by a Doggie that Mary had recently bankrupted into pet-hood. He presented a hundred and twenty chips to each better, and promptly moved to stand behind Yumeko.

"One of these chips is worth ten thousand yen. Oh, sorry, are you ok with this amount?" Mary innocently asked.

"No worries, Saotome-san, I am perfectly fine with it." reassured Yumeko.

"Ah, that's good. So, if you do the math, in total, we both can bet one million and two hundred thousand yen. Of course, we don't have to use all of these chips. In addition, since you're new, I'll let you decide the amount of chips we bet for each set. Sounds good?"

"Yes, it does. So how about we start the game? Let's bet two chips for this first set."

The two girls then took two chips from their stash and set it in the center of where their tables connected. In reaction to this, their classmates, the voters, shuffled around to draw on cards. When they finished doing so, the voters took their cards and brought them to the teacher's desk, where the imposing metal box took residence on. They place the cards into the box, and shuffle back to their original standing places. Once every voter has voted, the two gamblers got up and walked over to the box and pulled out three cards each.

'This is a new game… Or maybe it isn't.' Hachiman began to monologue, leaning on a wall while watching the two girls in the middle. 'I got bored watching Saotome turn all these poor saps into pets, so I haven't actually seen her play in a while. That being said, there's no way there isn't a trick to this game… After all, Saotome is quite the cheating bitch. Well, so far, all I can tell that she didn't mention was the fact that there probably isn't an even amount of each type of card. This is because most people use rock as a beginning move, then paper in normal Jankenpon [3]. Based on this, a player can then generalize what most of the cards in the box are, and what their opponent had drawn. In doing so, one would try to outmaneuver the other and draw a card that would counter the card that was the most drawn. Both of these girls are quite smart, from the looks of it, so they both will probably end up at the same place. And so, they'll be at a stalemate unless one has more kinds of cards than the other and plays them well. Then again, there is no guarantee that neither of them won't get a one-of-a-kind draw, and that would affect how they would play that set… Looks are deceiving, eh? One would think that this is a simple game, but once they start thinking strategically, it gets a hell lot more complicated.'

The young strategist broke away from his thoughts when the two girls had literally slammed their cards down on their desks.

'Goddamn. Learn to not shock people so suddenly, you bimbos.' Hachiman internally grumbles.

Yumeko won the first round, and therefore the first set. She used rock, which prevailed over Mary's scissors. 'Strange…' Hachiman thought. 'Did Saotome tank intentionally? If I was in her place, I wouldn't have used scissors…'

"Good job on winning your first match, Jabami-san!" Mary said while beaming at said girl.

'There's my answer.' Hachiman snorted in laughter.

"Thank you." replied the kind girl earnestly. "For this next set, let's bet… fifty chips!"

The class broke out in murmurs, a bit surprised at the sudden increase in chips being used. Mary also was surprised, as it was quite rare for her opponents to do something rash like this. In contrast, the isolated man leaning on the wall had no visible reaction. After all, he alone knew that Jabami Yumeko has a fondness for gambling.

"O-ok then. Let's play another set." Mary responded, a noticeable grin growing on her face while the shock wore off.

The two girls, yet again, slammed their cards on their desks. What was revealed was the fact that they played the same card, rock. After a bit of deliberation on both sides, Yumeko and Mary each pulled a card from their dwindling supply and played. Unfortunately for Yumeko, Mary had pulled rock in to beat Yumeko's scissors.

"Yes! I won!" Mary cheered gleefully. "I was quite lucky to win so much. Do you wish to continue, Saotome-san?"

"Don't worry, I wish to continue Mary-san. Let's bet two chips on this next set." replied Yumeko.

And so the two girls each placed two chips in the center of their desks. The voters voted, placed their votes in the metal box, and the gamblers each drew their three cards. Using those cards, the girls played again. Yumeko won this time, winning only two chips yet again after using a paper against Mary's rock.

"Congratulations on your earnings Jabami-san. However, I won't let you win again!" Mary exclaimed jestingly.

"Thank you Saotome-san. I don't think you would allow me victory again, as for this next set, we'll bet fifty chips!" responded Yumeko with similar energy.

The crowd yet again broke out in murmurs, the difference being that this time, they were louder. Mary, like the spectators, is confused. 'She just lost five hundred thousand yen, and had only gained a small fraction of it back. What the hell is she thinking?' Mary ruminated.

Unlike Mary and the crowd, Hachiman was unfazed, for the second time. 'I see… That's what Jabami's playing at… It's a good plan. I wonder how Saotome'll respond.' Although he could clearly see both girls, Hachiman was unable to see the table that they played on. Thus, in the hopes of seeing said table where he can see what cards the gamblers used, he shifted from his original position to a new one where he could see Yumeko, Mary, and the crowd around them better. 'Oh… so that's what I was missing. I wonder if Jabami figured it out herself yet, 'cause this is just plain rude.'

"Alright. We'll play for fifty chips again." Mary replied, with yet another confident smirk growing on her face.

The voter drew up their cards, headed to the enclosed box on the teacher's desk, and placed their votes inside. Once all the voters had placed their votes, the two betters got up and walked to the box yet again to draw three cards for themselves. Once they received their cards, the girls sat back down at the gambling table and prepared themselves to place down their cards.

"Jan, Ken, Pon!" yells Mary and Yumeko in unison. The two slammed their cards down, much to Hachiman's chargin, and revealed their hand. It was an utter defeat for Yumeko. Mary had placed a rock to counter Yumeko scissors.

Suddenly, hysterical laughter broke out of seemingly nowhere. The source, after a few seconds of confusion on Hachiman's behalf, was found to be Mary. While looking directly at Yumeko, Mary laughed and laughed and laughed. 'Shut up you hyena… This isn't over yet.' Hachiman ominously thought.

"So! You wanna pull out yet! Huh!?" Mary yelled mockingly while climbing over the table to get in Yumeko's face. The mocker's face contorted horrible into an expression of pure hatred, mock, and disdain. It was as though Yumeko was a life-long enemy of Mary, in contrast to the pleasantries that the girl first offered to the former. "You're losing pretty bad, so I wouldn't blame ya if you did! But honestly, that's just be a cowardly move! You're losing horribly, so you may as well and try to regain what you lost. Not like you can take back much. Hahahaha!"

Unlike Mary, Yumeko was the exact opposite. Her face was calm, betraying no emotion. "The game has only started, Saotome-san. Let us continue."

The lack of emotion from her opponent took Mary back, but she didn't let it show on her face. "We'll see how long you can keep that facade on, Jabami-san." mocked Mary.

The duo gambled to the point where Yumeko lost all of her chips. 'It was to be expected.' Hachiman expressed in his thoughts. 'After all, Jabami had fewer chips than Saotome did, so it was a lost cause the second Jabami lost that second fifty-chip set. It doesn't seem like Jabami realized Saotome's cheating, otherwise she would've exploited her by now. Unless… ?'

"Seems like you lost all your chips, huh, Jabami?" Mary said with a sneer and a contorted face. "Hahaha, you lost 1.2 million yen in a simple game! Can't imagine that you would live this down, huh?"

"So I have. But is it okay if I get some more chips?" Yumeko asked with a small, yet unnerving smile.

"Sure, sure. How much?" 'Ah, I can't believe my luck! I may be able to make her into a pet today!' rejoiced Mary.

"About one thousand chips." Yumeko declared confidently.

This time, the whole class was in an uproar.

"One thousand chips!"

"Is she insane?!"

"Does she even have that much money?!"

Even Hachiman was completely caught by surprise, his brows furrowed together. 'What the hell is this woman thinking? Why would she bet that much money? Does she even have it? I did think that she was going to take out more money, but this is just insanity.'

"Are out of your fucking mind?!" Mary yelled vigorously at Yumeko. "Why would you even try to bet that much money?! And besides, you can't place that kinda bet unless you had the money right now. And even if you did, why would bet that much on a stupid Jankenpon match?!l

In response to her furious yells, the raven-haired beauty started giggling. Giggling. Giggling as if she had heard the funniest joke in her life. Soon it turned into full-blown laughter. Laughter. Laughter as if the girl in front of her had said something so unintelligible that she was mocking her by laughing. And finally, her laughter ceased and turned into wheezing. Wheezing. Wheezing as if she had watched a standup comedy performance for hours and was suffering from extreme laughter. She ceases her laughter after beginning to wheeze, clears her throat, and then pulls out a briefcase which she opened promptly. Inside was stacks of yen, thousand yen bills to be specific. These stacks of yen filled the briefcase to its limit.

"I'm afraid I do have that much money, Saotome-san. And as to why I would bet all this money…"

Yumeko chuckles. It is an ominous chuckle, a disgusting one. It signifies the impure intentions of the young lady, who now had a strange red glow in her eyes. To many, it was repulsive, causing the crowd to back away from her. Mary did the same, feeling quite nauseous from the look that Yumeko was giving her. In complete contrast, Hikigaya Hachiman moves closer to her, mesmerized by the glow in her eyes.

"It is because I am now betting everything! All of my savings that was supposed to be only for me! And it feels amazing! Fantastic! Wonderful!" The girl shivers in pleasure, experiencing euphoria like none other. Her arms and legs cross one another, madly shaking as if their owner was suddenly plunged in sub-zero waters."It is this risk that I am taking that gives me this pleasure! So come, Saotome-san! Let us gamble!" Yumeko moans loudly, her whole body writhing.

"Hell no! There is no way I am taking this gamble!" Mary yells back. "Go risk your savings or whatever somewhere else! I don't want to be caught up in your weirdness!"

Suddenly, Yumeko stops moving. She sits properly in her chair and leans forward. On her face grows a toxic and extremely nauseating smile, spanning from one ear to the other. This contorts her face greatly, similar to how Mary contorted her face when mocking Yumeko.

"I see… So now you're the coward, attempting to run away. Fufufu, how the tables have turned."

Mary becomes flustered, extremely angry. 'This bitch! How dare she mock me like this! I'll suck you dry of all your money, and spit all over you when you become a pet!'

"Screw you! You know what, fine, I'll play with you. And I'll win all your money and make it MINE!" Mary sneers with an equal amount of toxicity as Yumeko smiles.

"Good, very good. Let us play." Yumeko drawls the last few words with her smile returning to a normal one, small and pleasant. Her mannerism had changed greatly within the last minute, coming from a state of extreme pleasure to mocking Mary to now being cool and collected. 'This girl has quite the emotion range and control.' comments Hachiman within his thoughts. 'If someone told me that she's an actor, I wouldn't have a hard time believing that.'

'So, this will definitely be their final bet.' Hachiman concludes. 'Jabami probably doesn't have anymore funds, and Saotome is probably playing without even that much at hand. The latter is confident that she'll win, because of her scheme. What seems to be occurring is that Saotome has insiders on the voting team, perhaps 3/4s of the whole squad? That would explain how easily she won during the fifty-chip rounds, because knowing for sure what the majority of cards in the box grants a major leap ahead of the competition. However, the most audacious part isn't the fact that Saotome and the voters are colluding… It is the fact that they are literally cheating behind Jabami's back. Really, she should've noticed by now… She probably did. In fact, that's why she even made the thousand-chip bet, huh?'

As if reading Hachiman's mind, Yumeko suddenly states, "Saotome-san, do you think that I do not know what you are doing?"

Mary, in response, looked confused. "What are you talking about? I've been playing this game normally." she says normally, raising an eyebrow.

"I know that you've been cheating this whole time." Yumeko spits out while glaring furiously at her opponent. "After all, it is quite apparent from your mannerisms that you are doing so. And as for how, it is because you have a good number of the voters under your control. About twenty of them or so? So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I have nothing to say for myself, because you're just grasping at straws. So, does this accusation mean that you want to pull out? Because I won't let you, it's too late." Mary fires back.

"No, no, let us continue. After all, the greater the risk, the greater the pleasure I get back." Yumeko smiles venomously.

After all the voters had voted, the two girls got up for what would be their last draw and their last set. They both walked over to the enclosed, metal box and each pulled out three cards. After doing so, Yumeko and Mary both sat down. Yumeko's gaze lingered on her cards, her expression unchanging.

"No matter how hard you look at your cards, it won't change the fact that you pulled them." Mary says dryly.

"Yes, that is true. I'm merely just surprised that I had pulled these cards specifically." Yumeko serenely smiles back as if she is the modern-day Buddha.

The two girls selected their opening card that may or may not decide the fate of the thousand-chip bet, and yelled in sync,

"Jan! Ken! Pon!"

At the release of the last syllable, they both slammed their cards down on their desks, which made sense this time around. The results, to say the least, were upsetting.

Upsetting to Mary, that is. 'Wait! What?!' Mary had pulled out paper, whereas Jabami had pulled out scissors. 'But the majority of the cards were rock, how the hell does she have a scissors? Wait… doesn't this mean… that I lost?'

As if reading her mind, Yumeko smiled and said,

"You lost, Saotome-san. So, now that I've won, I request that you pay up your due. Which is, I believe, eight million and eight hundred thousand yen after subtracting what you had won earlier."

"I'm sorry…" Mary sullenly says in reply.

"Sorry for?"

"I don't have the money with me right now."

"And?"

"May…" Mary swallows back her pride and looks down. "May I have some time to pay off my debt."

"Hmm, I thought that was the case." Yumeko says cheerfully with no traces of the previous expressions that she had made on her face. "It's fine, your debt is now nullified." She gets up, and out of her chair with her bag slung around her shoulder. "I hope that now we can actually be good friends. So, I'll see you tomorrow." Yumeko says with a final smile, leaving the whole class in shock at what just occurred.

In the student council office, a report is handed to a platinum blonde girl wearing blue lipstick. She looks at this report of the new transfer student and the first betting match that she had participated in. The student council president smiles coldly, with no expression in her eyes.

"It seems that another snake has entered our paradise. Whether theses two snakes will exterminate all of the vermin or plunge the whole ecosystem into a downward spiral, they will have quite the impact."

In the hallway that opens up to nature, Yumeko walks at a rapid pace. However, she slows down and turns around, facing a person who was calling her name whiling jogging towards her.

"Jabami, hold up!" Hachiman yells in order to get her attention.

"Oh, if it isn't Hikigaya-san. Do you need anything from me?" Yumeko inquires politely.

"I just wanted to ask you some questions about that bet that you had with Saotome." the boy breathes hard, as he jogged quite the distance in order to catch Yumeko.

"Really? Then I don't mind answering." A smile on Yumeko's face grows rapidly hearing that Hachiman has questions pertaining to gambling.

"How did you know that Saotome was cheating? How did you guess the number of people that she had under her?"

"Well, I figured out that she was cheating based on her body language. Generally, all honest gamblers have some form of uncertainty showing, no matter how many wins they have under their belt. It was the lack of this in Saotome-san that alerted me. And I actually found out for certain how many people were colluding with her when I realized that around twenty people or so were looking at me. Normally, one would think that Saotome-san, in order to get the cards that she wants put into the box, would give out the orders herself. But if that was so, that wouldn't explain why many of the voters were looking at me and why Saotome-san made no gestures that would show that she is communicating her orders. But then an idea came to mind. What if they weren't looking at me? What if they were looking at the person behind me? So I checked what the person behind me, who was a pet, was doing using a hand mirror. And I found out that instead of Saotome-san giving out the orders, it was the person behind me dictating what cards should be voted for, using a board to show how many of each type of card should be drawn. So, for the last bet, I used my hand mirror to find out what cards were going to be voted for, and worked on from that point." Yumeko explains while stepping towards Hachiman, finally ending up a few steps away from him.

"I see… Then how did you know that you were going to pull out a scissors card?"

"I didn't. I just got lucky." the young woman reveals with a small smile on her face. She steps even closer and closer to the young man, who was now being backed up.

"But that was the best part. After all, uncertainty is what makes a gamble..."

The boy, surprised and furiously blushing, had his back to the wall, with the woman all over him, in his personal space.

"A. Gam. Ble." she seductively breathes, unaware of how close in proximity she is to Hachiman.

The rotten-eyed loner is shocked, not only because she got so close, but mainly because he was wrong. She didn't make that last bet to gain money. After all, if that was true, then she wouldn't have negated Mary's debt. No, instead, what she gained was

Pleasure

Pleasure from the risk

Pleasure from the risk of potentially losing it all

It was contradictory. Even though he was extremely repulsed, Hachiman was also extremely attracted. No, not because of her looks (though he can't deny that she looks beautiful). Neither did his attraction come from her intelligence or her personality.

No, it was because of her courage.

Her courage just to seek a simple thing as pleasure.

A pleasure that she found by possibly abandoning her life.

In a twisted sense, she was possibly the most human-like of all humans that he had ever seen.

After all, what is more human than desiring pleasure for oneself?

And so Yumeko did, by risking her life, her being, her very soul.

It was, to say the least,

Breathtaking.

And so, the young man thought

'I must watch her

through her success and her failure and

Maybe, just maybe

I may learn how to regain my own humanity

Through watching her be human.'

"—Hikigaya-kun, did you also notice it?" asked Yumeko, who suddenly now was a couple steps away from Hachiman.

"Huh?" Hachiman replied. He had been sucked into those thoughts of his, which normally would only happen when he was monologuing. However, the woman in front of him was anything but normal, so it was to be expected that Hachiman was different from usual.

"Did you also notice Mary-san's little trick?" Yumeko repeated, her head tilted slightly due to Hachiman's earlier response.

"Oh, that? I figured it out a while back, when you lost that second fifty-chip set." Hachiman responded while rubbing his head, feeling a bit sheepish for ignoring Yumeko quite rudely.

"I figured that you would've figured it out. After all, it seems that your eyes would be well-suited to exposing tricks." Yumeko declared.

Hachiman's feelings of shame were destroyed instantly. "Well, that's an elaborate way of saying that my eyes are rotten."

"Ehhhhh?!" Yumeko exclaimed in shock. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that! Sorry for being so rude!" She promptly bowed.

The dead-eyed male waves his hand, indicating that he doesn't mind. "It's fine, hasn't been the first time someone told me those words. And besides, you probably didn't mean it. That's just my fault for assuming things."

The polite lady got up and sighed. But then she giggled. Hachiman raised an eyebrow, which prompted Yumeko to say "No, it's nothing."

"If it truly was nothing, it wouldn't have made you laugh so suddenly and loudly, would it?"

"Fair enough. Well, I laughed because it was funny how quickly you reassured me that I did nothing wrong by finding fault with yourself."

"Is that so?" Hachiman asked, more or less rhetorically. 'I guess I was being a bit harsh on myself there. Oh wait… oh no no no, just to please this strange woman, I put myself down! The longer I stay with her, the further I stray away from my own ideals! Dang it, I knew it! All women are bad influences! Except for imoutos, of course.' Hachiman foolishly thought.

"Yes, it would seem so." Yumeko replies earnestly, unaware of the fact that Hachiman retorted sarcastically.

The two then stood in silence, looking at one another due to a loss of subjects that they could discuss about. Hachiman, for some unknown reason, started to peer deep into Yumeko's eyes. Yumeko shuddered, not because she was "creeped out" by him looking so intently at her. No, not at all. Instead, what made her shudder was how piercing his gaze was, searching every nook and cranny of her body, mind, and even soul simply by looking into her eyes. Yet, as sharp as his gaze was, it was completely neutral. Hell, it didn't even feel like she was being looked upon by a human. No, it was an impartial survey, with no bias nor any expectations. In fact, it was so objective, that look of his, that it felt as though it were an alien looking at her. She had no idea what was going through that mind of his, that man. No, "man" could not describe him, a person with a gaze so… so… so lifeless. Rather, it was apt to call him a "being", a word that acknowledged the signs of life he gave off that are barely present. This was the first time that Yumeko has ever received such a look, and although it made her shudder, it also made her curious. Attracted, even. Jabami Yumeko loved to gamble, and got off from the ecstasy of risking her life. It was one of the few things that made her feel alive. But, she also enjoyed solving problems and exposing the cheating strategies of her opponents. It felt extremely gratifying to her when she saw the look of despair on the cheater's face, a sure sign that they knew the gig was up. It could be said that Yumeko also enjoyed mysteries, as the way her opponents would cheat would be an absolute mystery to others. And in front of her is perhaps the biggest mystery, the most elusive problem, the greatest enigma, that she would never encounter again in her life.

She must solve it. Perhaps it will give her a sort of ecstasy that she has never experienced before.

"Say, do you want to be my friend, Hikigaya-kun? You're a nice person, even though you may not act like it, and you're very interesting. It would please me greatly if we became friends." Yumeko said suddenly, having enough of Hachiman's gaze.

"So now you want to become friends with me just for your own pleasure?" The raven-haired student sighed and broke his gaze of of the girl. "I guess it can't be helped. Sure, let's be friends, Jabami."

"Wonderful! But, Hachiman-kun, why don't you call me by my first name and I call you yours? After all, we're friends now!"

"Ehhh, do I have to?" Hachiman, who was a bit nervous, complained.

"You must!" Yumeko complained while invading his personal space, yet again. "After all, we can't be true friends if we don't call each other by our first names!"

Hachiman attempts to back away, but finds that his back was already to the wall, which prompts him to sigh and give up running away. "What are you, American? What the hell are true friends anyway?" Yumeko intrudes even more. "Fine, fine, I'll call you by your name."

"Which is?" Yumeko says cheekily and smiles.

"Yumeko…" the loner mumbles.

"What was that? I couldn't quite catch it."

"I said Yumeko." the loner says a bit more loudly.

"I could almost hear it, but not quite." Yumeko's smile grows bigger, all but giving away the fact that she does hear him.

'This little-!' Hachiman then grabs her by the chin and pulls her face very close to his own.

"Yumeko. There, happy?" Hachiman aggressively says.

". . .yes." Yumeko whispers softly, blushing quite a bit.

"A-ah." Hachiman realizes his blunder and lets go of her face. The boy and the girl turn their heads away from one another, embarrassed to meet the other's gaze. Finally, Yumeko faces Hachiman once more.

"Well, at least now we're friends!" Yumeko said joyfully, with no hidden undertone.

Hachiman's eyes widened a bit, but returned to normal quickly. 'Why does that shock me? After all, she isn't ordinary, just like me.' he thought.

"I suppose so," Hachiman declares turning around, a smirk growing on his face. "It was nice finally making a friend at this school."

"Eh? You haven't made a friend at this school yet?" Yumeko inquires innocently, though in a way that can be quite hurtful.

"Of course not, I'm a loner, so I don't have many friends here. After all, everyone here are assholes." Hachiman retorts, scoffing.

Yumeko beams for no apparent reason, until she states "Then I would be your first!"

"Wording, woman! A few words can cause huge misunderstandings!" Hachiman barks in a raised voice, sharply turning his head both ways to ensure that no one heard her. The coast was clear, allowing him to sigh.

"Fufufu. I suppose so. But you understand the idea." Yumeko teases. "It's getting quite late today, so I'll see you tomorrow in school, Hachiman-kun. Bye!"

"See ya." Hachiman curtly responds and nods.

The two turn and leave, each their own way, but both with smiles on their faces.

Hey there, it's me, Shaboy (yes it's a terrible name, but deal with it). This is my first ever FanFiction that I have ever written, so if there are any mistakes or anything that I can improve on, please let me know by either dropping a review or sending me a PM (I'll try and respond as quickly as possible if you do send a PM). I do intend to continue this series, but this first chapter is probably going to be the only 7k words chapter that I'll ever post for this series. That is subject to change, but for now, I'll stick to 5k (not that there's that much of a difference). As for the story itself, it has been something that was on my mind for a couple of months. Then one day, I thought, hey screw it, this is a good idea, let's write it down. And so here we are… Anyways, thanks a lot for reading my work and I hope you'll continue to do so.

Edit 12/31/20:

So this is my first time publishing on FanFiction, so there were some formatting issues. Not to worry, for I am here! So I fixed the format to how I originally imagined it and also added subtle changes to the dialogue that hopefully enhance the story as a whole (though they aren't big).

Edit 01/04/21:

Happy New Year! I hope that every single one of you guys reading this are in good health and had a nice break from either work, school, or life. I'm afraid that for me, life has been catching up, which prevents me from working on chapter 2. Don't worry too much, as I'll probably be able to start writing from next week. As for when the chapter will actually be released... I hope that I can finish it in two weeks, but who knows for sure? Also, I've realized that I actually made quite a few references, so from here on out, I'll make some notes after every chapter explaining what each reference means and whatnot. That also includes Japanese words and honorifics (although I haven't actually learned Japanese, so it'll mostly be terms). The references I won't explain are the Oregairu and Kakegurui references. Just read or watch the series, they're both pretty good. Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to read my work. See ya around!

References:

[1] Ironside Sirens from Kill Bill, a movie. A sound effect that was played every time the protagonist met one of their enemies. Quite recognizable, at least in the west.

[2] A simple Japanese dish made by mixing MSGs, rice, and a raw egg together. Don't worry, the egg won't give anyone salmonella. As long as you buy the right kind, that is.

[3] Means Rock Paper Scissors in English. Pretty much the same game.

Honorifics Time!

And now for the honorifics explanation! Tbh, I won't introduce so many honorifics. In fact, this may be the first and last honorifics explanation time! Very sad indeed. Anyways, honorifics are quite simple. Most honorifics are titles and formalities that people exchange with one another to show their respect. For instance, when Yumeko talks to Mary, she refers to her as "Saotome-san". -san is basically Mr. or Mrs. and is a common, formal honorific that is used. Another instance would be -kun. Though admittedly less formal, still a respectful honorific in general. -kun is a title reserved for males only, or at least most commonly used for males, as shown whenever Yumeko talks to Hachiman. One final honorific that I haven't used yet, though I may do so sometime in the future, is -sama. A super formal and respectful title, it is often used when the person in question is of nobility or of high status. Some similar English titles would be King, Queen, CEO, President, or Master.