And another three days.

Next Update: 24/05/2013

...

Equivalent Exchange, Karma, No such thing as a free lunch...

Someone once told me, 'Life offers no freedoms; everything it grants, must be summarily paid for, and every act comes at a price.'

With a quick, forceful series of hand movements, Ryo gave everyone a pair of cards.

Ryo himself had the Ace of Hearts and King of Spades. "This time, Rika, I won't be fooled." He smirked, confident that the red-head would pick up on the gist of his thoughts.

Henry held the Jack of Diamonds and Five of Hearts. "Again?!" He inwardly muttered, though he knew that he would have to use it, or lose. (3900) (100)

Kenta had the Three of Hearts and Queen of Spades. (4300) (300)

Takato held the King of Clubs and Two of Spades, and knew he'll have to fold with that hand, as asking whether Wrap-Around straights were fine would give his hand away.

Jeri had the Seven and Nine of Diamonds. She didn't understand the game very well, but from what Rika had told her, this seemed like a good hand.

Rika held the Four and Ten of Spades, and cringed inwardly.

Kazu had the Five of Diamonds and Seven of Spades.

"Fold," Takato groaned.

"200," Jeri tentatively said, adding the money to the pile. (6200) (500)

"Fold," Rika muttered, more than a bit disgruntled.

Kazu, however, knew that there was only one reason for her immediately doing so, which likely meant that he was off to a much better start than the red-head. "Call." He grinned, confident he would win, though neither Henry or Takato shared his confidence, as while the sweet-tempered brunette was a relatively unknown quantity, in terms of poker-skill, what she'd done so far suggested a decent amount of talent at the game, neither of which boded especially well for Kazu. (4600) (700)

"I'm in," Ryo grinned. (5400) (900)

"In," Henry sighed, adding a hundred yen to the pot. (3800) (1000)

"I'm out," Kenta said.

First betting round over, Ryo removed the top card, and placed the Ten of Hearts, King of Diamonds and Jack of Spades.

"Check," Henry said, expecting that they would call his bluff, and lose a good deal of money that he needed, to escape his losing position.

"I'll fold," Jeri spoke, calmly giving Ryo her cards, surprising the others.

"I'm folding too," Kazu followed suit. "Crappy hand.

"We figured." Rika drawled, earning a annoyed look from Kazu.

"500," Ryo smirked, with no traces of hesitation what-so-ever, and with a pair of rough movements, greatly contrasting Rika's graceful touch, he burned the top card, placing the Five of Spades as the Turn card. (4900) (1500)

Seeing the Jack and Five, Henry smirked, somewhat akin to a predatory grin, as he knew his victory to be assured. Why this unsettled Ryo as much as it did, he'd no idea. In the corner of his eye, he saw Monodramon study the game, a mildly disinterested smile on his partner's face, though with a strange glint in his eyes, that showed a disconcerting amount of interest in the game. "400." (3400) (1900)

"Call," Ryo replied, deciding to shrug off his discomfort. (4500) (2300)

Ryo burned another card, and placed the Two of Clubs as the River card.

"150," Henry smirked. If he won this hand, he'll be much more likely to win the entire game. (3250) (2450)

Ryo wondered whether it was wise to call his bet, with only a pair of Kings, while Henry most likely had something far better, eventually deciding, against his better judgment, to do so, as even if Henry won, he'll still have more than enough, to stay in the game. (4350) (2600)

"Pair of Kings." Ryo grinned. However, his grin dropped, when Henry showed his two pairs, Jacks and Fives.

"I win." (5850)

About a minute passed, before Ryo decided to remove his shirt, blushing heavily, as he'd never been shirtless in the company of others. At least, he didn't remember doing so, as he could never recall much before meeting ENIAC and Monodramon, and what little he could, was hazy, and riddled with missing pieces.

Rika gasped, when she saw Ryo's exposed torso, and the others understood why, as Ryo's upper body held more than a few scars, with a particularly nasty one below his pectoral muscle. He was definitely hot, Jeri thought, admiring his chiselled six-pack abs, but there were just so many scars...

"Oh," Jeri whispered, uneasily. Why people considered scars to be sexy, she'll never understand. "Wow..."

"Yeah," Takato agreed, uncomfortably glancing at his abundance of scars.

In hindsight, Henry supposed injury was unavoidable, though not to this extent, as Ryo had been alone, with a berserker Ultimate-level Digimon, for a year, against countless foes, Rookies, Champions, Ultimates and Megas alike, and Henry suspected that receiving those injuries had been infinitely preferable, to Digivolving Cyberdramon to its natural Mega form.

"What the hell happened to you, Ryo?!" Rika demanded, audibly concerned, earning a confused look from him, before he realized what she was referring to.

"What, these?" Ryo asked, tracing a small scar on the side of his stomach, with his finger, as she nodded in response. "Training accidents in the Digital World, nothing serious." He reassured the visibly worried Tamers, who didn't seem too convinced, though they decided to drop the matter, and Ryo handed Henry the deck.

01: Ryo. 4350 Yen. Wearing: jeans, Boxers.

02: Henry. 5850 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, jeans, boxers.

03: Kenta. 4300 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, jeans, boxers.

04: Takato. 5000 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, jeans, boxers.

05: Jeri. 6200 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, skirt, socks, cap, bra and panties.

06: Rika. 4700 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, jeans, socks, bra and panties.

07: Kazu. 4600 Yen. Wearing: Shirt, jeans, boxers.