Toa was beginning to find this situation very unbelievable. He was trapped in a stairwell with the only man who was ever able to give him any trouble, they were both reasonably tipsy, and now bets are being suggested. This was like something out of a fever dream. Yet, despite the unlikely scenario, he was intrigued. You could always get him out of bed for a good gamble. "What kind of bet?" he asked.

Itsuki was taking a gamble just by bringing this up. This was by far the worst idea he's ever had, but his loosened inhibitions were also loosening his tongue.

"A pretty high stakes one. If I win, then you give me one of your full bottles. If you win, then I will give you one of mine". Tokuchi seemed to contemplate this for a moment before nodding his approval. He pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket. Itsuki couldn't say he was surprised by a person like Tokuchi carrying around a deck of cards. The only problem was he didn't know many games, and he had a feeling Tokuchi wasn't thinking "go fish". "Have you ever played Egyptian Ratscrew?" Tokuchi asked. It just so happened that he had.

They sat down facing each other, and split the cards evenly between them. Tokuchi started the pile, laying down a five of spades. Itsuki countered with a 6 of hearts, and the round progressed as such until Tokuchi laid down a king of spades. Takami laid down his only face card, a queen of hearts. Tokuchi quickly slapped the pile, grabbing all the cards for himself. When Itsuki was about to say something, Tokuchi shrugged and said "It was a marriage. You put a queen on my king". He decided to let it slide, and watched as Tokuchi started the next round. They continued like this for a while, building up the pile until one of them remembered a rule and slapped it. After five or six rounds, Itsuki had significantly fewer bottles than Toa. That would not do. It was then he knew what he had to do. After placing his cards on the ground, Itsuki looked at Tokuchi with a predatory gleam in his eye.

"We've been playing this for a while. What do you say we switch to something else?" Tokuchi put down his cards and began to cut and shuffle the deck.

"Sure. What do you want to play next? Poker? Blackjack? Swedish Shrubbery?"

"Nah, I had something a bit more physical in mind" Takami stated. Tokuchi looked a bit taken aback.

"Listen" Tokuchi began before Itsuki cut him off.

"How about the first man to do thirty sit ups win?" He suggested. Tokuchi looked unusually relieved for someone ungifted in the athletic department. Tokuchi shrugged his assent, and lay down on his back. Takami joined him, and with a word they were off. Just as he reached thirty, he shouted "Done" and looked over at Tokuchi, who was struggling to sit up. "How many did you get to?"

"Twenty nine" Tokuchi said, a bit faster than usual.

"So it was pretty close, then!' Itsuki said, taking a couple of Tokuchi's bottles. "How about we go again so you have another chance" he suggested. Tokuchi shook his head at that.

"I think I'm done with sit ups for the night" he said, trying to will the contents of his stomach back to its rightful place.

They sat like that for a while, trying to think up other ways they could gamble, but both were far too drunk and tired to be coming up with anything.

"How about we try to bench press each other?" Takami suggested. Toa shook his head at that. There was no way he was lifting that heavy bastard up in this state. He was getting tired of these low stakes bets, anyway. They could only entertain him for so long.

"How about something a little more challenging, with higher stakes" he suggested wearily. Takami seemed to be okay with it, as he sat upright very quickly.

"That sounds good to me. I do have something in mind. Name your bet" he said, getting excited.

"What is yours?" Takami asked expectantly.

"Three hundred million yen, and a favor" Tokuchi said, feeling himself wake up and sober up a bit. Takami met his eyes and smiled.

"If I lose, I will give you three hundred million yen and a favor". It was here where Itsuki had to steady himself. "If I win, you come help me bring the team together again. You don't even have to help us reach the championships. We just need to get our focus back entirely". His words were met with a blank stare.

"If you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that again, then why are you asking for my help?" was the other man's reply.

"Because it could be interesting" Itsuki insisted.

"Not interested" Toa huffed, effectively ending the conversation. Before Takami could come up with another price, Tokuchi turned away from him.

Toa was at a crossroads. On one hand, three hundred million yen could buy more flashy cars and gold chains. On the other hand, the thought of going up against the Lycaons made him feel a certain way, and he did not like that. That was behind him now, and going back meant losing a piece of himself. But he did have fun. Toa made a decision. He was drunk and tired enough to say

"If I do lose, I won't be a player". Takami perked up at hearing this.

"You could be a consultant, or an assistant coach, god knows you've had enough experience coaching a team" he responded. Toa finally acquiesced.

"What kind of bet"?

Itsuki sprung up from where he had been sitting, and stood over Toa.

"I was thinking" he began before he was cut off by a loud bang. Someone from the floor above them had entered the stairwell. The party must have ended. "Wait!" He cried, "I left my card key in my room, can you let us through?" The man took in their rumpled, tipsy state, sidled by them, and swiped his card at the door before moving on. Itsuki lunged for the door, opening it. He gestured for Tokuchi, who had been picking up the bottles both empty and full, to go through first. After pausing in front of his door to punch in his code into the keypad, he stepped inside, with Tokuchi close behind him. After depositing his precious cargo on the nearest flat surface, Tokuchi turned to face him.

"I suppose that the bet is off now, huh" Tokuchi stated. Takami faced him and shrugged.

"Not necessarily, I'm still down if you are". Tokuchi cocked his head at this.

"So what kind of bet were you thinking?" he asked warily.

"I know just the thing" Itsuki murmured, grabbing a duffel bag from his closet. "Follow me". This time as they left, he made sure to tuck his key into his pocket. He could not have this happen again. The elevator ride down was silent, as was their trek down the block.

As they reached the nearest park, Toa narrowed his eyes. They were heading towards a bare bones baseball diamond. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going. After Takami dumped his duffel bag on a bench, he pulled out a bat and a ball. "I was thinking we could play that one outs game you like so much" the other man said. This was definitely not going the way Toa thought it would.

"That's hardly fair" he stated, irritated. "We both know you can hit my pitches". Takami gave him an unsettling smile.

"But this time, how about we switch. We both know you are terrible at batting, and I am a terrible pitcher. That way, we will be on an even playing field". Now that sounded more interesting. Tokuchi had only ever batted a few times in one outs, and that had been a while ago. He had batted in the league games, but that was different. He could have a slight edge, as he might have a bit more batting practice than Takami had pitching practice.

He nodded his assent, and picked up the bat. He grabbed a rock from the ground, and scratched a rough rectangle in the concrete below the cage to represent the strike zone. Ignoring Takami's scandalized look at the sight of the vandalized property, Toa adopted a closed stance over where the plate would be, and readied himself for the first pitch.