Krieg stopped his counting and looked up at Leo, raising an eyebrow.
"Haven't seen you around here before, are you knew?"
"Yep, but I think I got a pretty good idea on how to beat you."
Krieg's expression turned to amusement.
"Do you, now? Alright. Let me see what you can bring to the table and we will talk."
Leo reached for a bag of coins from his pocket when he felt Mei's hand on his shoulder.
"Leo are you sure? This guy is no joke. You can't back down once you start."
"It'll be fine. Don't worry. I also promise to keep my hood on all the time."
Mei sighed and dropped her hand from his shoulder. He had a determined look on his face so she knew there was no point in trying to convince him.
"Leo really plans on playing?"
"Yeah. Haru, did you properly explain the game to him?"
The boy sent her an offended look.
"Of course I did! Don't try to blame me if he loses."
Mei sighed. "More like when."
"C'mon now, let's have a bit of trust in Leo. Who knows, maybe he is a hidden prodigy at this, or maybe beginner's luck will hit him."
Kaito watched the first round between Leo and Krieg.
"Doubt it." He muttered for himself.
The game lasted longer than the usual game. Mostly because of Leo taking a lot of time deciding on what card to put down next, but also because some of his moves confused Krieg who was trying to understand the approach the red-head was taking. During the game, Leo made some good and some bad moves, but by the time the last round started, Kaito noticed that the match could go either way. He approximated what cards Leo must have in his hand and if he was right and Leo put down his last four cards in the correct order, he might actually have a chance to win.
Leo looked at his cards and smiled.
"What do you think about raising the stakes?"
Krieg raised an eyebrow, interested.
"If I win, you will give Kuro's money back and let Haru enter the bar again."
Krieg and the five friends looked at Leo surprised. None of them expected those terms, especially not Krieg. It made him hesitate and think a little. Why was the boy so confident? Was he actually a professional player but lied to him so that he could catch Krieg off guard? Was he cheating? He could not figure him out.
"And what if I win?"
"Then," Leo started saying as he pulled his hand back and put it inside one of the hidden pockets in his coat. From there he pulled out a gold ring with a red ruby. "You get this."
Everybody's jaws dropped and eyes widen in shock.
Krieg licked his lips greedily. It was totally worth risking having both boys in the tavern than losing a ring like that.
"Deal."
Leo smiled and place the first card down followed by Krieg. Leo nodded at Krieg meaning that he can go ahead and put them in his stack of burnt cards. Krieg did so and placed one of his last three cards down. Leo had to answer with one of his own. Krieg didn't want to finish the round so he put another one down which forced Leo to put one of his own. They both had their last cards in their hand. The last card in Krieg's hand was an Ace, the last point. If by any chance Leo held a 7 in his hand, he would take all the remaining cards and become the winner.
Krieg placed his Ace down. Leo smiled wickedly.
Looking at the crowd he searched for his companions' eyes. Once he saw them, he winked.
Leo moved his hand forward to place his last card. The crowd watched in anticipation as the card in Leo's hand revealed to be an...
...8.
Leo jumped in excitement.
"Ahaha! I seem to have won the game!"
He had a big winning grin on his face and he put his hands on his sides.
Krieg looked at him in confusion but then burst out laughing. It took a moment for the crowd to do the same.
Kuro, Hana, and Haru were laughing too, tears falling from their eyes. Mei smacked her own forehead but couldn't help herself from letting out an amused chuckle. Even Kaito was hiding his laugh behind his hand.
"Ah, kid. You are funny. It almost makes me think of letting you keep the ring."
Krieg said but he still reached for the ring and it in one of his coin bags.
"Please come here again soon."
Leo was confused.
Mei placed a hand on his shoulder trying to turn her amused smile into a sympathetic one.
"Let's go to the bar."
Even though he didn't' quite understand what was going on and why he lost, he followed Mei to the bar. Kaito and Hana came after them followed by Kuro and Haru who were still laughing.
Leo sat down on one of the tall chairs with Hana and Mei on each side. Kaito sat next to Mei and the other two boys, who were now trying to calm down and catch their breath, sat down next to Hana.
"I don't understand."
"You needed a 7 Leo, not an 8. It's fine. You're a beginner, it could have happened to everybody."
"Yeah, but nobody would have delivered it so confidently."
Mei shot Kuro a glare.
Leo looked down sad.
"That... that was a ring from Fuegoleon."
The amused mood died down immediately, being replaced with awkwardness.
Mei wanted to ask him why did he bring something so precious with him and scold him, but she figured that it was not the best
time for that.
"Maybe one of you could get it back! You could play against him and win the ring back."
Kuro raised his hands defensively.
"Don't look at me. I've already lost to that bastard once today and I have no money anymore."
Leo turned his eyes to Haru.
"Sorry, Leo, I can't play. The special cuff that you put around your writs at the beginning of the game is to make sure that you don't use magic to cheat. Once I put that they will immediately tell me I'm using my magic and I will have to reveal myself."
Leo understood so he nodded at the boy. He then turned to look at Kaito. The boy, who had already ordered a beer for himself, was in the middle of taking a sip when he saw Leo look at him. Raising an eyebrow he put the glass down.
"Kaito, I know you don't really like me, but you are my only chance."
"Me?!" Kaito asked surprised by Leo's statement.
"Him?!" Came the equally shocked reactions of his friends.
"Yes! I've heard that you've won every time you played against Krieg before."
"W-Well yes, that's true but..." he wasn't exactly sure how to react since he had never expected Leo to ever ask him for a favor. "I-I don't have any money to pay and I also have a debt here so I can't really—"
Before Kaito could finish, Leo pulled out from his pockets two full sacks of coins. Everyone's eyes grew wide.
"Is this enough to cover them both?"
The friends exchanged looks. Neither of them knew what to say since neither one of them understood what was going on. Did Leo just offer Kaito money so he could gamble?
"U-uh, yeah, I think it's less than this actually but... I still can't... I mean, I don't think..." He was trying really hard to find an excuse to refuse the royal. "I don't think that Krieg will ever bet that ring. He's not stupid. He knows that ring must cost a fortune, more than he could ever gain from us."
Kaito was sure that this time he had it. There was no way Leo carried that much money on him.
Nonetheless, Leo reached out for his pocket again.
"Leo, what the fuck!" Mei exclaimed when he saw the boy pull out a shiny, pink-colored stone. "I thought I told you not to get a lot of money! The prices here are not that high but the possibility of getting robbed is!"
"But it's not even that much, I only brought three bags of coins."
His squadmates gave him incredulous looks. "And the rest I brought because I didn't really know how gambling works so I wanted to be prepared in case I had to gamble something else besides money."
Mei facepalmed.
"But, do you really want to risk that for a ring?"
Hana asked looking at the stone that was almost the size of Leo's fist.
"Well, to be honest, this is worth less than the ring. This stone is way more common than the ruby on the ring. Plus, my brother gave me that ring."
Hana nodded, surprised that Leo came up with something so tricky.
"Why didn't you bet on that earlier instead of the ring then?"
Leo looked at Kuro and blinked.
"Nevermind that," Mei said once she realized that Leo had no answer for that question. "Are you sure you want to bet all this on Kaito? I mean, he hadn't played in weeks and there's a possibility he might lose."
"I know, but..." Leo turned to look at Kaito "Kaito can you win against Krieg?"
He furrowed his brows. "Obviously."
Leo smiled. "Then I trust you completely. Will you please play against him to win back my ring?"
'Why would he have such faith in me? Is he saying that just to convince me to play? But if it was just that, why would he put all of his money on me?'
Kaito looked at his friends for help. Mei and Hana looked at him with sympathy but it wasn't aimed at him but the red-haired boy, pleading with their eyes that he says yes to him. Kuro and Haru were frantically nodding their heads yes and giving him thumbs up. There really was nothing to lose for Kaito. He would get to pay off his debt and play with a royal's money.
With a sigh, Kaito accepted.
* * *
"Kaito that was amazing!"
Mei exclaimed as she hugged the man.
"That was nothing, really," he said trying to seem humble.
They all sat down at a table, waiting for Kuro and Haru, who finally turned back to himself, to come back from the betting table where they were making fun of Krieg and rubbing it in his face that he lost.
"Here," Kaito stretched his arm forward to give Leo his ring.
"Thank you, Kaito," Leo said, "But I want you to keep it."
"What? But I thought--"
"Now that I know that it's in a safe place, I can practice getting better at the cards game so that I can challenge you and win it back. It wouldn't be manly of me if I just asked you to take it for me."
"But I thought you had the ring from your brother?"
"I do. So, it means that I should really try my hardest if I want it back. So what do you say Kaito, can you keep it until I can beat you for it?"
The boy huffed amused. He closed his fist around the ring and put it in his pocket.
"As if that will ever happen."
Leo smirked. Hana and Mei shared an amazed look before they smiled. Maybe Kaito was finally warming up to the boy.
The group spent the rest of their evening at the bar. Haru and Kuro joined them shortly and they all shared a meal.
At some point, the two men left the bar for a few minutes, and when they came back they gave Leo a pink wig with two ponytails, saying that it will be less annoying than staying with his hood on all the time. Leo took it thanking the men and put it on. They all laughed at him together with Leo who realized how ridiculous he must be looking. The wig did not stay on Leo's had the entire time they stood there. It got passed around from head to head until it stood on all of their heads, even on Kaito's for a couple of seconds, which made Kuro almost pass out from laughing.
Mei was surprised how easy Leo managed to fit in, seeming as if he had been their friends for years. She was glad that he did not take offense at Kuro's jokes or Kaito's rude behavior from before. It really showed her that she had greatly misjudged Leo and that maybe they could even become friends.
All in all, Mei was sure that from that point onward, her relationship with Leo was about to change.
