Disclaimer: Characters of Gensoumaden Saiyuki belong to Minekura Kazuya and whichever publishing company she currently is with.
Note: My appreciation to reviewers is at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 4: Courting the Shrew a.k.a. Just who will pokerize whom? Part 2"Care for a game of poker, sir?"
"You might not like my preferred kind of stakes, though," Gojyo replied after recovering from the surprise at hearing that calm voice. It was the longest sentence that voice had articulated this evening, much longer than the grunts and impatiently clipped 'yes' or 'no' heard throughout the dinner.
"Try me," Sanzo said as she sat down on the seat opposite him. Already, a deck appeared out of nowhere in her hand. She began to shuffle the cards, while still fixing him with that new type of look. Gojyo shifted uncomfortably in the couch. The menacing glare had now been replaced with a chilling gaze. It looked like what the squirrel sees when it stares into the eyes of its would-predator the snake.
Hmm, let's see the look on her face when I tell her what the stakes are, Gojyo thought. This woman must be crazy to want to play poker with him after hearing the poker stories [1] he regaled them with just now. Well, he did not see any harm in playing a hand or two with her. It might even help him in his plan. But before that, just to titillate her a little…
"I'll tell you what: Seeing that you're female, and I'm not partial to being accused of taking advantage of a woman - not unless it is out of her own free will, of course. We play one hand. Just one. No ante. One stake: If I lose, we play the game proper on your rules: stakes, variation," Gojyo paused for effect. And what if you lose? Ask me, blondie. I want to hear you talk in sentences, no, in paragraphs. Not phrases. Show me how sharp your tongue can be.
Expecting his desire to be fulfilled was futile. Across the ornate coffee table, Sanzo was now doing the interlocking card shuffle. The sound of the cards from the two halves of the deck flipping over each other went on as she arched an eyebrow. After two more rounds of shuffling, she finally said: "And vice versa if I lose." She launched a coin towards a disappointed Gojyo. It sailed smoothly over the table into Gojyo's waiting hand.
"Flip it. Heads I deal."
"And tails I deal," he countered, turning the florin over suspiciously, and was greeted by another surprise - Sanzo's laugh. Glockenspiel tinkling. Faced with the cool demeanor of the supposed shrew, someone's heart started to thaw. Gojyo shook his head angrily. Don't lose it. Don't lose it, old boy. We are playing for high stakes here.
"Normal coin, is it not?" The enthralling melody that was her laughter ended. In a way, Gojyo was relieved. The spell had been broken. He tossed the coin into the air and caught it. Tails.
"Allow me, my lady," he said with that trademark grin which had never failed to make many a barmaid swoon over him, as he bent over the coffee table to take the deck from her. He caught a whiff of her expensive perfume, which goaded him even more towards his goal. This woman would be the key to the treasury of the richest merchant in town. And she was… class. For the first time in his life, the thought of the barmaids and cheap whores and their equally cheap perfumes did not excite him at all. I want this woman. Plus all that she will bring to me.
"Five-card stud?" Gojyo asked. She nodded, affirming that she had no objection to playing the common variation.
Sanzo watched, hawk-like, as he shuffled the deck. She declined when he offered the deck for her to cut, knowing from what she had seen that cutting the deck would be meaningless when he had already palmed at least three of the cards into his sleeve. He is good at that, I'll have to admit, though not overburdened with common sense, she thought as Gojyo dealt the first three cards to each of them - two face-down and one face-up. With no round betting, he should have just dealt them all five cards - face-up [2]. Well, old habits die hard. Taking up her two cards, Sanzo stared at them expressionlessly. She looked up in time to see her opponent furrow his brow as he studied his own two cards.
"Deal the rest," she said curtly. He gave her a lop-sided smile as he answered: "Yes, my lady." Charming, aren't you? She thought piquantly as he flipped all his cards into view. Bet those three cards you pinched off help a lot.
"Full House, and that's the highest one possible," Gojyo announced smugly, as if Sanzo were blind or retarded or both and hence could not recognize that three Aces and two Kings formed his hand.
Sanzo turned over his first two cards. Gojyo gawked unbelievingly at the revealed cards, which were lying beside Sanzo's other three cards -- three 10's.
"That's… that's impossible!" he stuttered, as he moved to have a closer look at his opponent's hand. It was still there. That ridiculous hand, the legendary Five of a Kind.
"And why not?" Sanzo's slightly irritated voice sounded over his head.
"You cheated!" Gojyo lost his cool for the first time of the night. He pointed to the two Jokers, which grinned back at him obscenely with their wide painted lips.
"Oh?" A dangerous edge appeared in Sanzo's voice. "Like you made off with those three Aces just now?" [3]
For just a moment, Gojyo's eyes flashed guiltily. Why, he never expected a sheltered, pampered lady like Sanzo to see through his sleight of hand. An old-timer, maybe, but this woman? A worthy opponent, if we had met in other circumstances. He recollected himself at that thought. Somehow, the thought of losing to a worthy adversary seemed to ease the agitation at being discovered.
"Well," he threw up his hands good-naturedly. "You win, lady. Name your prize."
He received his third surprise of the evening when Sanzo leaned towards him. He would not have seen it at all, as he was distracted by the view much lower than her face, but the tone in her voice had compelled him to look up from the distraction(s).
"We play strip poker."
Gojyo hardly heard her. His ears seemed to have gone on vacation as he stared, mesmerized, at Sanzo's smile [4].
[1] Not all of them are true of course. If they were, would Gojyo be in the financial dire strait he was in at the moment?
[2] This would have foiled Gojyo - and Sanzo's earlier "efforts", no?
[3] Sanzo's longest sentence. Yet.
[4] This one, and not the distraction(s), is the third surprise. All part of the game.
Note: on poker
All I know about poker, I read from somewhere, or played with my faithful companion, a diy PC. If there are any mistakes, please overlook them and leave me in ignorance. After all, ignorance is bliss, that's what they say.
Reviewers: My appreciation
Evil Laugher: Yes! YAOI is the word, my man!
seikazu aisenai: This fic is about Sanzo and Gojyo, like yours. In a way, I wanted (and still want) to dedicate it to all 3x5 or 5x3 fans out there, but I was worried that the gender change might alienate yaoi fangals (tho' ironically, I'm one yaoi fangal myself).
gearthdead: "Fuxx"? Does that mean this fic suxx or what?
Tooboe luvs Tsume: Now you know.
UltraM2000: Hakkai-chan will turn up near the end (coming soon, I hope). Think of it as a cameo role, mkay?
Brennend; kei: I have promptly slaughtered the fic bunny that gave me that rotten idea in the 1st place. For weeks I didn't dare go outside my house for fear of being devoured by slighted fangals.
koboreta; No-name: Just to whet your appetite for the coming chapters.
Ali: How old am I? Why, I've been writing yaoi since that great bishonen Alexander the Great's time. I even wrote a few pieces about him and his childhood companion Hephaiston (another Macedonian bishonen) which are not really yaoi, because both were really lovers in real life. Heheh. Seriously, Fire Dragon and B-type Scorpion. Look 'em up.
Boroboro: The spirit of the original, the spirit! (Btw, you really like Shaman King, don't you?)