Title: Consulting the Yen

Summary: The yen is all-knowing, the yen is all-powerful, and a damn good way of settling an argument…unless you lose, that is.

Word Count: 806

A/N: Some language to watch out for, those of you sensitive to that. Otherwise, enjoy. : )

She had a sneaking suspicion that sometimes he started these ridiculous arguments with her just to be a contrary ass, and she was of the opinion that he was excellent at it.

Being a contrary ass, that is.

"You're being ridiculous," she informed him, fighting the urge to whack the smirk off his face.

This was proving to be very difficult.

"Why Chiisai, I'm just stating facts," he dryly replied.

Excruciatingly difficult, as a matter of fact.

"You're making that up," she accused, glaring at him.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

Okay. This was getting her nowhere.

"Fine," Tokio said abruptly, zipping her purse open and fishing out her wallet. "We're going to settle this once and for all."

"Oh?" he inquired, one eyebrow raised as he watched her.

"Uh-huh," she replied, digging through her billfold to find what she was looking for. She found it and snatched it up with a triumphant "Ah-ha!" and held it up for him to see.

He stared at it incredulously for a moment, before shifting that incredulity to her.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Not in the least," she assured.

"You want to flip a coin?"

She sent him a dry look.

"Because what we were doing before was so much more mature?"

He sent her a sullen look that told her he saw her point and agreed with her, but he wasn't happy about it, and he damn sure wasn't going to say he agreed with her out loud.

Tokio decided she could live with that.

"Call it—heads or tails," she ordered, getting ready to flip it.

"I don't think so," he said, snatching it from her. "How do I know you won't cheat?"

"Well you aren't going to flip it either," she said, snatching the coin back from him. "I don't know that you won't cheat."

They eyed each other suspiciously for a moment, then nodded:

"Third party," they said in unison.

"Neutral," Tokio added.

"Naturally," Saitou agreed. "So who's it gonna be?"

"Not Shiori-san—conflict of interest," Tokio decided thoughtfully. "Probably best to pick someone random."

"Who's doing the picking?"

"Me," she said.

"Are you crazy? Why do you think I wouldn't let you flip it in the first place?!"

"You'd just scare anybody you asked," she pointed out, and he paused, then sent her that same sullen look again.

"Fine," he muttered. "So pick someone already."

She ended up picking the man on Saitou's right, and smiling at him in a coaxing manner to get him to agree, since Saitou's expression had moved from mild annoyance to "I'm-going-to-rip-your-heart-out-of-your-chest-and-EAT-IT." She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought the change in expression might have occurred when she'd asked the guy on her left (who'd taken one look beyond her, presumably at Saitou, and then quickly and violently declined), since up to then, he'd been okay.

Or as okay as Saitou could be, anyway.

So the man agreed and flipped the yen, and Tokio called "Heads" while it was in the air. The man caught it and slapped it onto the back of his hand and looked.

"Lady's got it," he said.

"The hell she does," Saitou snapped. "Flip it again."

"Uh-uh, one flip," Tokio said.

"You cheated," Saitou accused.

"Oh I did not! How could I have cheated? I didn't even touch it!"

"You flirted with the flipper."

Her jaw dropped.

"I did not!"

"Did too."

"I did not!"

"I watched you!"

"Well get your eyes checked 'cause I didn't flirt with him!"

"My eyes are fine."

"I beg to differ."

"I know what I saw, Tokio."

"No you don't, you deluded psychopath."

"Sticks and stone, Chiisai."

"Don't call me that!"

The man, nervous now, coughed.

"Uh, so you want this back?" he asked cautiously.

"No," Tokio said tightly, eyeing Saitou balefully. "You're flipping it again—heads I was flirting with you, tails I wasn't. And after that, you're flipping it again to see if this ahou needs to get his eyes checked—which he does."

"I don't need a fucking yen to tell me you were flirting with him—I know what I saw," Saitou tightly snapped, returning her glare with interest.

"We're flipping the yen again!" she snapped back, then turned her glare on the man watching them in stupefied horror. "Well?"

The man, startled, immediately did just that, obviously not wanting anything to do with her temper.

When Saitou left fifteen minutes later, Tokio had won their original argument and the one about him needing his eyes checked, but he'd won the one about her flirting with the guy flipping the yen.

And judging by the smug, self-satisfied look on his face, he was fine with two-to-one.

"Stupid yen," she muttered sourly, dropping it back into her wallet.

Tch. Now even her own money betrayed her.