"Ka!" Nao gasped, her tongue scorched on the still hot tea. As eyes moved her way, she wasn't sure if she was feeling warm from heat or embarrassment. "S-sowwy..." Nao moped, tongue catching the cooling air. Celes had her hand to her mouth as she giggled, while the boy in the cap was biting his lip as he tried not to laugh.
Urquhart seemed to stare for a brief moment, before he continued, "Ahem. As I was saying, the name of the game is Tribute Poker." Withdrawing a deck of red backed cards from the briefcase, Urquhart grabbed it before the dealer went back to passing out the chips. Smacking the base against the table, he cracked open the fresh box before dumping the cards into his hand, beginning to shuffle cleanly.
"Now, while you might familiar with your standard varieties of Poker, but today you shall be playing under house rules, heavily derived from the Anaconda variant. And like its name, if you aren't careful you may be swallowed up, for only the player with the most chips in their possession in the end will be moving on the the next round!"
With all the chips handed out, Nao briefly added it up, counting...one two three four...ten chips each stacks, with ten stacks together. Nice and even. Urquhart stepped back as the dealer stepped forwards, beginning, "Now that you each have been given your loan of 100 million yen in the form of these chips, we shall do a practice round as I explain the rules." The dealer shuffled the deck a bit more before placing it down, allowing Urquhart to cut it. Picking it back up, the dealer began to pass the cards around.
"Firstly, all players will be given 6 cards each." Nao watched as the cards were flicked around, until each hand was delivered. Picking up her cards, she gave them a look. While the Queen of Hearts was nice, and the Eight of Spades a bit out of place, she had a nice run with the other four. With the Two of Hearts, the Three of Spades, the Four of Diamonds, and the Five of Spades, she was one card away from a Straight, though chances are it would be pretty low. As a smile came to her face, she quickly remembered the game and tried her best to act natural. Glancing up, the boy in the cap seemed to be unhappy with his lot, while Celes and Akiyama didn't seem too fussed one way or another.
"The next exchange will serve as the first hand of two, two hands making up a set. For this practice game, we will only place one set, but the genuine article will consist of ten hands within five sets. So, if you would, we will enter the first passing phase: please choose three of your cards and pass them along clockwise to the next player face down. Please do not take the cards until the signal is given after all players have successfully passed their cards."
Nao's hidden smile dropped to a frown: now things weren't looking as good. Though her run was nice, now she had no choice but to break it up. Then that Queen in her hand stared her down: should she really pass a valuable face card? But keeping it would mean breaking up her run even more...
Sadly, she decided to give it up, passing it along with her Eight and her Two, keeping the Five, Four, and Three. As she placed the by the boy, who had placed his three remaining cards down, and was resting his head on his fist, elbow on the table. Once Nao placed his cards, he glanced down at them, before reaching for them. "Ah!" Nao gasped. That was definitely against the rules!
Realizing what he was doing, the boy stopped, before adjusting his sitting, leaning back in his chair away from any cards, his face sour. Somehow feeling like she'd done something wrong, Nao asked, "Um, excuse me..."
The boy blinked, before answering, "Osamu Gai."
"Ah, thank you."
...
After a bit of silence, Osamu asked, "Did you need something?"
"S-sorry, never mind," Nao mumbled.
In silence, the last few cards were passed, before the dealer finally mumbled, "Take your cards." Reaching over, Nao picked up hers, granted by Akiyama, lighting up once again. Alongside her run of Three to Five, she now had a Six of Clubs, a Seven of Spades, and a Nine of Clubs leftover.
Before she could get attached, Urquhart said, "Now, in this next round of passing, you will send along two cards."
Biting the inside of her lip, Nao had become too attached to her Straight to give up now, passing along the ends: the Nine and the Three. There was a bit less waiting this time: Osamu passed his cards really quickly, but Celes seemed to take a long time compared to everyone else. Once the cards were passed, the dealer gave the signal, and Nao took up hers, finding herself with the Ten of Clubs and the Eight of Hearts.
Urquhart ordered, "Now, for the last round of passing: a single card, please."
Nao didn't hesitate to drop her Ten, but once again Celes seemed to be taking a little bit, eyeing the card Osamu passed her carefully.
Once she passed her card, the players were allowed to take the last one, Nao finding an Ace of Diamonds. Normally that would be a good thing, but it didn't go with her hand at all! While she was getting ready to pass it, Urquhart spoke, "Normally, we would begin the betting, starting with Ludenburg-san. If she were to make a bet, she would need to use the minimum amount of ten chips, or 10 million yen, though there are no blinds forcing a player to bet. However, in these practice rounds, I will ask the players to show their hands. Ludenburg-san?"
With a light sigh, she revealed Two Kings, one Nine, and three Twos (including the Two of Hearts Nao had passed along). "A Full House," she said plainly, as if bored.
Then was Akiyama. "Three of a Kind." He had thee fives, a King, a Jack, and a Nine."
When it was her turn, Nao showed off, "A Straight." Four through Eight.
Osamu clicked his tongue, tossing his hand on the table. Except for a Four of Clubs, they were all five cards Nao had passed along. Urquhart announced, "High Card Queen."
Celes giggled, "You are quite lucky there is no betting this hand."
Urquhart concluded, "In a genuine game, Celestia Ludenburg would have been the victor. However, in this hand, you have only played a fraction of the game." Reaching a hand out, he silently requested Celes' cards. Stacking them, Celes passed them together, Urquhart unfolding them before placing three of them down on the table: the Nine of Clubs, the King of Clubs, and the Two of Hearts.
"This rule concerns the namesake of the game: tribute. During any of the passing rounds, you may place a card from your hand face up on the table, allowing anyone to see it. This is not a free action, however: you must throw a fee into the pot to do so. The sacrifice is by no means cheap: cards numbered Two through Eight cost five million yen, or five chips. Cards numbered Nine through the Jack are ten chips, while the Queen, King, and Ace require fifteen chips. This fee doesn't count as a bet, however: if you plan on taking part in a hand after making a tribute, you still need to supply the minimum ten chips."
"Hah? Who the hell would do that?" Osamu grumbled.
"Excellent question! It seems foolish, but the benefits could very well be worth it. You see, a card on the table in front of you will not move until you decide it. You may return it to your hand at any time after being dealt your cards and before showing your hand after betting, but if you don't, it persists: the tributed card will remain there even as the deck is shuffled for the next round! You risk losing the chips put in the pot for the sacrifice, but with clever planning and a bit of luck, it could be well worth it, though a miscalculation or misfortune may result in a bust. If you have no chips to play, you will, quite simply, lose."
Nao titled her head, but she couldn't think of any ways to use it at the moment. Osamu also seemed unhappy. Celes however, beamed, "My my, isn't that a fascinating little rule? But I wonder: would utilizing these tributes allow players to have seven cards in subsequent hands?"
Urquhart answered, "This is not the case. A tributed card counts as a spot in one hand. If you were to have these three cards tributed, for instance, then you would only be able to have three cards in your hand: the minimum before the first passing phase. They will not count to your final hand until you return them there, however."
"Shall we try it? Let us begin the next hand!" Movements as light and mesmerizing as before, the dealer passed out the next set of hands.
Once she had her six, Nao took stock of her hand and winced: it wasn't good. Two of Clubs, Two of Hearts, Three of Hearts, Five of Spades, Seven of Spades, and the Eight of Spades. She was only going to be able to keep half, and nothing seemed worth tributing. As she passed along her Seven, Three, and Five, Akiyama spoke up.
"I'm making a tribute." He put down two cards: a Five and a Six, each of Clubs. Afterwards, he briefly looked at Celes, who's red eyes glanced down at the tributed cards for a moment before returning to her own hand.
Under his breath, Osamu muttered, "What are you doing?" Nao trusted that Akiyama was going somewhere with this, but still.
Noticing her eyes, Akiyama said, "It's still the mock game: I didn't pay a thing."
Awkwardly, Nao laughed, "Aha, that's true..."
After more deliberation, Celes finally made her passes, and the players took their gains. As Nao picked up her cards, she reeled.
The Ace of Diamonds, the Ace of Clubs, and the Jack of Hearts.
"A-Akiyama-san!" Nao blurted. Nothing he was doing made any sense.
He chided, "Keep your cool." Sensing Celes' gaze on her, Nao took a breath, before taking a sip of her tea, now at a nice temperature. Her mind a bit clearer, she looked her hand, trying to choose her passes. However, there was also...she could tribute freely here! Looking back at Akiyama's two tributes, she wasn't sure what good that was, but she did have two pairs, so...
"I-I'm also making a tribute." Swallowing, Nao gingerly put down one of her Twos. It's just a mock game, it's just a mock game...
Celes raised an eyebrow, while Osamu was busy trying to pay as little attention to the game as possible, his passed cards already by Celes.
Once the next set of passes were made, Nao looked at her new cards and started to glow: two Twos! She had Four of a Kind and two Aces! Passing along one of her Aces, she awaited the next phase eagerly.
The fastest phase done with, Nao took her last card, the Three of Spades, before Urquhart began, "As this is the last hand of the mock game, I will point out that your tributed cards will not carry over this time only, so I would recommend re-adding them to your hands before you reveal them!"
Listening, Nao took back her Two card as Akiyama took back his two cards. Once everyone was ready, Celes revealed, "Yet another Full House." This one was the stronger, however: three Kings, two Threes (one of them formerly Nao's), and the Jack of Hearts (another of hers) on the side.
Akiyama put down his hand with disinterest. It was a single pair of Fives, including one of the ones he'd tributed.
Nao burst out, "Four of a Kind!" A Three, an Ace, and four Twos!
Looking down, she finally noticed that Osamu's hand was already laid out: a pair of Eights was all he had.
"And so Nao is the winner of this hand!" Urquhart concluded.
As Nao giggled in the glow of her win, Akiyama reiterated, "Still just a mock game."
Passing her cards along to the dealer, Celes moped, "My my, what good luck you have!" Leaning back into her chair, she grasped her teacup before sharing, "I have something of a history with gambling, you know, even though I'm only sixteen. My luck is usually something to behold." Taking a sip, an eye cracked open as Celes lower her cup, remarking, "I wonder what luck...no, fate has in store for today."
With the wind taken out of her sails, Nao could only wait as the dealer began to shuffle. Urquhart nodded, speaking, "Typically, after the completion of a set, I would allow the players to take a ten minute break to freshen their minds, but for now I am going to let you keep playing the next set as I take a leave. I shall be back within moments if their is any dispute." Nao blinked, a bit surprised, as he got out, the players now alone with the quiet dealer.
Putting her fingertips together, showing off a metal finger guard as the dealer began to pass out the next hand, Celes suggested, "I'm certain we can play a nice, civil game without our Host."
Fist firmly knocking on the table, Osamu leaned forward, his energy showing as he growled, "For real now."
"Not so sure about that," Akiyama snipped. Nao kept quiet as the last of her cards came in.
Once again, she had another run: Three of Diamonds, Four of Spades, Five of Hearts, and the Six of Diamonds, with the Ten of Spades and the Queen of Hearts too. Thinking back to her previous dilemma, it didn't quite work out, as Celes ended up with a Full House. If she got another one this round then that would have been the third in a row.
Looking over to Akiyama, he had settled on which cards he was passing over, but didn't look like he was going to make a tribute quite yet. There wasn't a rule against talking, but Akiyama wasn't loosing his lips either. Taking a look at the others, Osamu was noisily tapping the butt of his three card hand against the table while Celes' was running a finger of her free hand around the edge of her cup. Finishing off her own cup, Nao did the same as before, sending off her Queen, Ten, and Three.
At the signal, she took her cards from Akiyama, feeling mixed as she saw the Ace of Clubs, King of Diamonds, and Ten of Clubs. She was regretting her move now...she should have known!
Almost in mourning, she passed along more of her straight, the Four and Five, before awaiting what Akiyama had left to give; although she wasn't too happy about relying on him as usual. Osamu seemed flustered, but she couldn't read Celes or Akiyama, unsurprisingly.
Taking her two cards, she would never admit that she was disapointed in Akiyama, but a Ten of Diamonds and a Nine of Spades wasn't much to go on. Passing along her Six, she could only wait.
In less than a minute, the final passes were made. As Nao was preparing herself to show her sad hand, Celes noted, "Ah, I'm still next to the dealer, so...it would be quite boring if no one bet. There aren't any blinds after all, so I'll open with the minimum of ten chips."
"Call." Akiyama didn't hesitate.
Nao however had little choice. "Fold..."
Osamu studied his hand, flicking his thumb against the corners of his cards before stating, "Fol-...no, I'll call."
Pale lips curling up, Celes responded, "Check." Akiyama and Osamu made no change, calling Check as well.
Celes giggled, "Poor Nao-chan. If I may ask, what lot did you end up with?"
Lightly bowing her hand, Nao lowered her hand, her Tens on top. "One pair."
Glancing to her side, Celes requested, "Boys?"
Akiyama made no move, but Osamu proudly showed off a Ten amongst a mishmash of card suits from Three to Seven. "A Straight!"
Nao moped under her breath, "My Straight..."
Lowering his hand, Akiyama showed off a Jack along with a straight of his own, however there was one difference. "A Straight, Eight high." Osamu gawked for a moment before he flipped his hand over, the cards scattering to the table as he threw himself back into his chair.
Celes scoffed, "Such disrespect." She flashed her hand, "You are in the presence of ladies."
Ace of Hearts, Ace of Spades, and Four Queens.
The dealer passed Celes her surplus of chips while Osamu sputtered nonsense in disbelief. Akiyama seemed to shed a drop of sweat, and Nao was glad she'd dropped out.
"Ufufu, don't be too surprised. This is more typical of me than my showing in our previous hands," Celes gloated as she passed her cards back to the dealer.
Once the players had surrendered their cards, the dealer began to shuffle before passing them out. Worried, Nao looked to Akiyama. As the pile of cards in front of him grew, he insisted, "Just play it cool for now."
Celes huffed at him as the dealing finished. Nao gave her hand a look: Three of Diamonds, Five of Diamonds, Eight of Hearts, Nine of Spades, Jack of Spades, and Queen of Clubs. Keeping the higher cards, not to far from a straight, she passed along the Five, Three, and Eight.
Once again, Celes was the only one taking her time, the sound of her metal finger guard tinkling against her cup seeming to count down to her choice. Once she finished, the cards were passed, Nao taking a look at her new cards: the Eight of Spades, the Jack of Clubs, and the King of Diamonds.
Satisfied with her face cards, she was about to simply pass, but her extra Jack was watching her. Should...should she Tribute it? Being stuck with five cards wasn't so bad, and maybe she could use it later?
Taking it from her hand, she tilted her head at Akiyama, who'd already made his choice of passes, a finger tapping at the table. Sensing Nao's eyes, he looked over, seeing her loose card, before shaking his head. At bit more at ease, Nao kept it, passing her Eight and Nine to Osamu.
Picking up her next two cards, she found two Sixes, one of Clubs and one of Diamonds. Mulling it over...the best thing she could add to her hand was a Jack, which would give her a Full House, right? She'd need an Ace and a Ten to get a straight, and there was no hope of that now, so she passed along her Queen.
Everyone's hands taking shape, Nao got her final card shortly: the Six of Spades. That was the next best thing! It was a Full House.
"I'll start betting with the minimum," Celes recited, putting her chips forward.
"Fold," Akiyama stated.
Put on the spot, Nao felt Celes' eyes poke into her. She took another look at her hand: it was winnable! Placing a hand on one of her stacks of chips, she moved to push it forwards, but her sense nagged at her.
Celes was doing amazingly well: her worst hand thus far had been a Full House. Wasn't she doing too well?
But Akiyama was up to something: he gave her most of the Full House for a reason. He wanted her to win, right?
Wait, Celes couldn't have cheated! She had to give up her half her hand, so it's not like she could have drawn exactly what she wanted...
Not quite able to put it together quite yet, Nao didn't want Akiyama's efforts to go to waste. "Call," she dared, pushing ten chips forwards.
Osamu grunted, "Fold."
Celes glanced at the modest pot, noting, "Ah, just us two girls this hand then?" Eyes wandering, she wondered, "Still, you were so hesitant. Is that hand worth...11 million yen to you?" About to slide a single chip into the pot, she turned to the dealer, asking, "Such a small amount is suitable, yes?" The dealer nodded, and she shoved her chip forwards.
Nao was starting to sweat: the anaconda was moving to swallow her. Even though it was such a tiny increase, it was such a large amount all together. But this was only the second hand: she wasn't going to give up now. Not completely.
Looking up at Celes, not flinching from her red eyes, Nao began, "I don't really know you. Either of you. But you don't know us either. Akiyama-san and I have been winning our rounds of the Liar Game and using our winnings to pay off the debts of the other players who can't participate anymore. I might not be good enough to win the Liar Game on my own, but I still want to go to the next round and help the others who are trapped in this game. Maybe we can...work together?"
Celes stared for a moment, before giggling, "Is this some joke, Nao-chan?" Her stare did not falter, so Celes dropped her smile. "How disappointing. I thought you might have some spirit, but this early into the game and you're already trying to guilt us in compensation for your lackluster abilities..."
"No, trust me!" Nao cried. Celes was silent, closing her eyes, while Osamu acted as if she hadn't spoken at all. Disappointed, Nao insisted, "I'm not giving up."
Placing her hand down, she conceded, "I fold."
Celes scoffed, "That is quite the opposite of not giving up." Osamu snickered. Nao kept silent. In time...
After a moment, Celes requested, "Well...you must have had something in your hand, yes?"
Nao revealed her Full House. "My my, that isn't quite 11 million yen after all. How sad. Perhaps you will have better luck next time."
As she moved to pack up, Akiyama suddenly spoke, "One sec." Showing his hand: a pair of Fours along with junk in the form of a Two, a Three, a Five, and a Ten, Akiyama asked, "You aren't just going to take your break without showing your cards, are you two?"
Osamu clicked his tongue. "Whatever gets your rocks off, man." High Card Queen of Clubs, a Two of Clubs, a Seven of Diamonds, the rest cards Nao had-
Wait.
Nao passed him...
...
Before she could process it, Celes giggled, before stating,"You read me like a book, Akiyama-san. After all, how could we move on without our set of players knowing what a hand worth 11...no, 100 million looks like." She fanned it out in front of her. A Straight Flush, Eight of Hearts through Queen of Hearts, a Nine of Spades hidden behind it, as if in shame.
"Oh come on!" Osamu grunted, hopping up from his seat. The dealer passed Celes her chips, setting her total at 130, leaving the others tied at 90.
The dealer croaked, "You have ten minutes. Please be on time."
Akiyama didn't waste a second, hopping off his chair and moving for the door, Nao not letting herself get far behind. Moving from the well decorated game room, they went back into the dusty office complex, going down a few doors before moving into another room. It was yet another one man office, this one nearly stripped bare, nails for hanging decorations still on the walls, along with strings of cobwebs.
Sinking to her knees, Nao sighed, moping, "What are we going to do?"
Leaning against the wall, Akiyama wondered, "What happened to the toughness while you were giving your usual Nao-isms back there?"
Nao almost blushed. Toughne-
Nao stopped. "Nao-isms?" she repeated. Shaking her head, she stood up, returning to the important topic, "But what are we going to do?"
Akiyama asked, "First off, I want you to tell me what you passed to that kid. Everything you can remember.
Nao gasped, "Ah! Last hand I gave him two Eights. Not at the same time, but..."
"Yeah, Osamu passed one along to Celes, and it ended up in her winning hand. What else did you pass him?"
Nao took a moment to remember before listing off, "Three of Diamonds, Five of Diamonds, Eight of Hearts, Eight of Spades, Nine of Spades, Queen of Clubs."
Akiyama thought for a moment, before concluding, "That doesn't add up at all, does it? Celes passed me Two Sixes and a Five first thing, so that means her best possible hand would have included the Queen, Jack, and Ten of Hearts, meaning Osamu must have passed her the Nine and Eight. You gave him that Eight, so, if you had a Two and a Seven, would you honestly pass a Nine on?"
Nao agreed, "That..."
"I'm positive they're working together."
"Ehhhh!?" Nao gasped. She couldn't envision it: they seemed like they were from two different worlds.
"Just think about it for a moment: that would explain her 'luck', easy. It worked for you too: a Full House isn't bad, and you won the second round of the mock game."
Nao nodded, agreeing, "I knew I was getting too many good cards." Pouting, she recalled, "I had to fold in the first real hand though..."
Akiyama began, "That's fine, there's a bit more we can do. Tributing is something we can work to our favor." A confident smirk probably aimed at Celes came to his face as he laughed, "Heh heh heh, no. With what I have in mind, we'll definitely bring down her 'luck'."