The library in Mai's house was rich and had really useful books in it… There were books on many matters in there and some of them were even hundreds of years old… Sure the Vatican would like to have a couple of those in the secret libraries. However even all those books sometimes seemed useless… That was how Joey was feeling right now… He had an entire library with countless books but even all those books in shelves weren't useful to him… He had the impression that the secret he was seeking for was lieing into that damn book but the Latin scripture was different from anything he had ever seen before… Not only was it in Latin, but also it was written in a strange cryptographic way and he had to figure out how to translate it. It appeared that the more he red about it, the more complicated it became. Not even those books Mai had given to him, helped him much. Most of the text was still a mystery. He sighed in frustration and leaned his head back. His back and his shoulders were killing him in pain from the hours he had spent in that library.
"Uugh…" he mumbled, "Damn…"
"You cursed…" he heard a female voice
He turned his head to see Mai Valendine… Oh that woman definitely knew how to get his attention with those clothes of hers. She smirked and continued…
"…Not very well, mind you, but you're supposed to be a monk. You shouldn't curse at all"
She was smirking teasingly. Joey smirked back
"Actually I am not even a friar. I can curse all I want…"
Mai chuckled and the next thing Joey knew was that she was massaging his shoulders. Joey couldn't hold back a long moan of pleasure as he felt all the tension leaving his shoulders and he leaned his head back.
"How is it…?" she cooed in his ear
"Hmmmnn…this is heaven…" he mumbled, "…I think that…ohh…I'll start believing that I should honestly try to be come a monk…oh, God…so…so I will be able to have this kind of feeling non-stop…"
She chuckled.
"Oh, don't… If you do…who's going to sleep in my bed…?"
Oh that woman sure knew what to do… The next moment she was in his lap and they were making out passionately. Joey knew that he wouldn't mind go all the way but… He reluctantly pulled back.
"Sorry, hottie but gotta go and see how Yami's doing…the last time I checked he was drinking again… I gotta make sure that he is alright. Besides we need to eat as well."
She pouted playfully but then nodded.
"Yes…I guess…"
She got off him and Joey got up, stretched himself a little and finally walked out of the library…and out of the house to the snowy night…
Yami was indeed in his room, obviously drunk, but not dead drunk like he was the previous time. At least he hadn't drunk a variety of spirits. He had only drunk absinthe till now. Mainly because he had Bakura to be worrying about so he wanted to make sure that he would sober-up as fast as possible. He had gone back to the inn right after the encounter with Bakura. Damn that Bakura! Weren't already enough those that he had in his mind? Then the door of his room opened to reveal Joey's form.
"Hey man…" Joey greeted him
Yami simply moved his head.
"Come on…let's go down and have something to eat…I am starving and there sure are many people down there!"
Yami raised a brow.
"What do you mean Joey?"
Why would so many people gather in the inn's dining room anyway?
"You haven't heard? There is a game going on down there"
"Game?"
"Yes…some guy that is master to dice and cards is downstairs and they are betting money and playing games…"
"Gamble?" Yami questioned again, "Who is the guy?"
"Haven't seen him before but he matches with the description you gave me, Yami. He is as tall as you are more or less and he has white hair and brown eyes…."
Yami's eyes widened in surprise.
"Bakura!" he hissed
What was Bakura doing down there? Gambling?
"That damn werewolf-hybrid!" he growled and he would have run down if Joey hadn't hold his arm
"Easy man… Calm down…" he told him, "Let's don't attract much attention… Besides he hadn't killed anyone…"
"Yet!" Yami finished his sentence.
"Whatever. After all you're still recovering… Come on…"
Yami thought about it and then looked at the flask in his hand. He concluded that he was rather inebriated to fight right now and also he didn't want to remain wounded for all eternity. Even if his wounds had almost healed right now… And also he had days to eat properly…mostly because of his drinking…
"Fine…" he agreed, "Let's go…"
Down at the inn's restaurant there were indeed lots of people gathered around the same table. Bakura was sitting there and he was laughing really satisfied with the outcome of the game. Yami was sitting by a table some meters away and he was drinking beer from his cup while watching them. His eyes were watching their every single move! Bakura was eating and drinking beer while he was challenging them to games with cards or dice…and he always won… Yami growled in frustration and took another good sip from his beer. He had finished eating and he had ignored Bakura for too long! But honestly he was starting loosing his temper with him! Bakura laughed triumphantly and loudly when he won for one more time. The moans of protest and disapproval from his opponent were heard as well.
"I win again!" Bakura said triumphantly, "Now pay up like we said!"
Yami greeted his teeth as he took another sip. He could see on the table that Bakura had gathered a small fortune on that table. Yami knew though…he could see what was going on there… He looked up to see Tea as well that was watching them and Joey talking to her… Yami frowned when he saw Bakura challenging another man… He was doing this…in his presence…no…knowing that he was there! He couldn't take that anymore so he got up from his chair angrily and walked to his table. Tea and Joey saw this and got alarmed but Yami was closer to him and reached the table in no time. He slammed his hands on the table angrily, scaring the men around and making Bakura smirk.
"That's enough!" he said when he slammed his hands
Bakura grinned.
"Hey, Yami! Wanna play too? It is getting interesting!" he mocked him
Yami growled angrily and with a swift move he pushed all the plates and cups off the table and they fell on the floor with a tremendous noise that attracted everyone else's attention. However among the others, the dice fell on the floor and landed to…the right number again
"I knew it!" Yami growled, "Your game is rigged, isn't it? You were cheating from the very beginning!"
However Bakura grinned again and picked the dice from the floor putting them in one of the pockets in his trench coat.
"That proves nothing!" he said with self-confidence because he saw that not all the people around him turned to look at each other suspiciously.
He grinned again and continued.
"It could be pure luck that the dice fell on the correct numbers. This doesn't prove that I am playing a rigged game!"
Yami growled in frustration. He didn't want to admit it but he was right. He couldn't prove it. Bakura smirked.
"I'll tell you something…why don't you play with me?"
"A game?"
"That's right! If you want to prove that I am a cheater…the best way to prove it is by playing the game!"
Tea touched his arm.
"You don't have to do this…" she whispered to him
"Fine!" Yami said nevertheless without paying attention to her, "Bring it on!" and sat down to the chair right opposite Bakura
Bakura grinned.
"Whoa, whoa…easy there. First of all you must have something to bet on. I do not play games if I don't have anything that is worth my time!"
Yami didn't say a word. He just let a bag fall on the table. The bag made a loud noise. It was full with golden coins! Bakura's eyes shone with greed.
"Good. Good! You're on!"
"Get the dice out so we can play!"
"No…" Bakura grinned, "We will play with these!"
He pulled out of a pocket of his trench coat two pairs of dice…with ten sides! Everyone seemed confused. They hadn't seen such dice before! Bakura chuckled.
"The rules are simple. We take turns rolling these dice. The red dice is the one who shows the first number and the white one shows the second one…the smallest the number, the best it is. If you get the red dice to zero, that is called a "Critical" and it is really good roll. The best is zero-zero that is called "Super Critical" and it wins everything! Nine-nine is a "Fumble" and you lose everything! Are you in?"
Yami held the small dice in his palm.
"Bring it on!" Yami said, "But we will make the bet a bit more interesting…"
Bakura's grin became bigger.
"I am listening"
"If you win, you can have me and do whatever you want with me, and of course you get your money but if I win, you will return the money to the people you stole them from, you will walk out of this door and you will not come close to the village! Do you accept?"
Bakura laughed loudly.
"Great! That's exciting! Of course I accept!"
"Game start!"
"Here I go!" Bakura threw his dice
The two dice started to spin like two small tops…and finally they stopped. They stopped at a 0-6.
"Critical!" Yami whispered
Bakura grinned.
"Roll!"
Yami rolled his dice once and the dice showed 1-7. Bakura laughed
"Looks like I win this one!"
Tea bit her lip and the rest of the men were holding their breath as the two gamblers placed new money on the table. Bakura rolled again. The same way. Another Critical. This time it was 0-8. Tea was now really nervous… Had he really bet everything…in a game of pure luck?!
"Hehehe…looks like I win this one too Yami! Roll your dice!"
Yami looked at him expressionless and then…he smirked! Bakura's brow raised. Yami smirked again and…he rolled the dice he was holding. The dice were spinning like two tops on the table. The dice stopped…in 0-3! Bakura's eyes widened.
"Th-this is…could it be…" he thought
"What's wrong Bakura?" Yami questioned him with a smirk
Bakura clenched his teeth
"Nothing!" he growled, "Critical 0-3 allows you to roll once more. If you roll more than 4-0 I get my chance to roll again. If not you win and I give you some more money!"
Yami picked his dice and smirked again making Bakura frown. Yami rolled the dice again. The dice started spinning again…after a little the red die stopped at…8. Bakura grinned.
"The red one stopped at 8…no matter what I wi-…"
His thought was caught in the middle when the white die that was still spinning, hit the red one making it spin again!
"What?!" he thought, "The white, spinning die hit the stopped die and changed the value…! This technique…!" he said the last phrase out loud
"That's right!" Yami said taking a sip from his flask, "One of the many ways to cheat with dice… The "double hit" technique!"
Yami grinned.
"This applies for your criticals as well!"
The dice now stopped at 0-1! Bakura gasped.
"I can't believe that Yami knows this "double hit" technique"
"You learn a lot in Vatican don't you?" Yami chuckled
"So he was cheating from the very beginning!" someone said from the audience
"Yes" Yami replied, "The 10-sided dice are shaped like small tops or double flowers with five petals… They are then split to an even and an odd side" Yami explained
He took another sip from his flask
"In this technique it is important when you spin the die, to allow the even side to be on top."
"I get it!" Joey said, "Then it won't stop to an odd number! The chances are one out of five to have a zero as well!"
Yami nodded and rolled again.
"Also, the "double hit" technique has another trick. You give a strong roll to the die that represents the ones column. The dice that had a weaker spin will stop first but…if it stops to a number more than zero…the stronger dice will hit it and change the number again!"
"But…" Tea now interfered, "How can you control the direction the die moves? What if they hit when you don't want to?"
"You control the spinning die by vibrating the surface you are playing on" Yami explained, "For example, you can hit the table with your elbow or your knee"
And to prove it he tapped the table with his elbow softly. The die indeed hit the stopped one again. Yami looked at Bakura with a smirk taking another sip from his flask
"With this technique, you can change the dice as many times as you like! Too bad, Bakura! If you can cheat…I can too!" he said triumphantly
Bakura hissed in frustration but regained his composure.
"Fine…fine…" he said, "From now on…we will roll the dice like this…"
He let the dice fall from his hand.
"…We will simply drop them… Spinning will be prohibited…"
"Sounds good" Yami smirked with his arms crossed over his chest
The protests from the people around weren't enough to make the two gambles stop. After a couple of rolls, Bakura said
"I put all the money on the table!"
Yami responded to that by placing the rest of the money on the table as well.
"Now that we both did this, we will roll at the same time. The best roll takes it all!"
"Well said!" Yami accepted
Bakura smirked and then "by accident" he dropped his dice on the floor under the table
"Oh! Excuse me…" he smirked.
Yami raised a brow as Bakura bent down to pick the dice up. However Bakura put the dice back in his trench coat and when no one was looking, he took out two new ones…this time…rigged ones… He straightened himself up again and smirked.
"Sorry about that! Let's roll!"
Yami frowned his eyebrows suspiciously. He held the dice in his hand and closed his eyes… No one knew what he was doing or why. Maybe he was concentrating to the game…maybe he was even praying for his luck. However he was simply standing there…without doing anything… Bakura's heart was beating loudly along with the others… He had started to lose his patience with that gambler! For sure he was a tough opponent! No one had ever predicted his dice techniques…and also he hadn't expected to see someone that actually knew how to play with the ten-sided dice! As far as he knew there were a few people who had seen them, hardly once in their lives…not master their techniques…! However then he remembered… Yami was a Hunter…an Executioner that was hunting down monsters for the Vatican…that actually lived in Vatican. Therefore it was the only natural for him to know things that common people hadn't. Vatican was hiding almost every kind of thing down in its basements… He was also an excellent gambler and gamer! That made him excited and frustrated at the same time!
"Hehehe…But with these dice I can't lose!" he thought
His hand was clenching the dice so hard that his knuckles turned white.
"Come on! Roll it! Roll it dammit!" he was thinking, "Roll it so you will be mine forever! I will torture you as much as I was tortured! Roll your dice dammit!"
Yami opened his eyes slowly
"Here goes…" he said in a low, calm voice
Bakura grinned. Yami and Bakura threw their dice in the air at the same time
"Dice Roll!" both said in union
The dice flied in the air and landed on the table again…they clattered on the wooden surface…they rolled a little and…finally they stopped. Yami's dice had fallen to 0-0…and so did Bakura's… It was a draw! The audience seemed to be ready to have a heart attack or as if they had forgotten how to breathe. Bakura's grin appeared
"We have the same! We both roll Super Critical! We both win…but we both take the bet from each other!" he yelled triumphantly
However then…a soft cracking sound was heard…and Bakura's dice…cracked, broke and turned into dust!
"Wh-What?!" Bakura exclaimed.
He had clenched the dice so hard a few minutes ago, that he had forgotten his werewolf strength and he had clenched the dice with all that strength. The dice broke under all that pressure. Yami smirked
"Too bad Bakura!" he chuckled, "You rolled a Super Critical you said? I don't see such thing! No dice, no roll! And I win!"
Bakura growled in frustration.
"Now…" Yami pulled all the money back to himself, "…Now do as we agreed! Get out of here and out of the village! You won't die out there anyway!"
Bakura kept shaking in frustration for a few seconds but then…the smug smirk returned to his face.
"Fine" he said, "You win this time Yami…however we will meet again…and believe me that the victory will be mine! This is not over…Hunter!"
And with those words he left the inn laughing loudly… Yami tapped his fingers on the table and then growled.
"Alright! That's it! I am gonna kill him!" he growled as he was ready to stand up
Tea had ran to him and hold him
"No Yami! Please calm down! It's over now…it's over…you won…" she told him almost pleadingly.
Yami sighed. He took a breath to calm down. Nothing is over, he wanted to tell her…but he didn't say a thing…
"Yami…?" she questioned him
He didn't answer again…he simply clenched his teeth in anger.
"…What are you going to do now…?" she whispered again
Yami sighed.
"I am going back to my room…" he said in a low voice, "I had a bit too much to drink…"
And like nothing happened he took his money, leaving the rest to their owners, and walked up the stairs back to his room…
Another chappie! Finally! I should have updated it sooner! Sorry for that!
Hehehehehhe! Since I got Bakura in here I couldn't possibly not to put the dice game here! For sure it was an exciting game for the audience there! Yami knew how to play with the 10-sided dice because probably the Vatican had many things to the several secret rooms...it was gathering objects from all over the world so probably they had some there and Yami learnt how to use them when he had some free time or something! As for Bakura...he too had a talent I guess!
I hope you liked it! Inspired by the Yu-Gi-Oh Season 0 Episode 26 if I recall correctly! More will come as soon as I can!
Please review me! Enjoy!