"You really should have gotten another suit, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru ignored his nagging mother to the best of his abilities, stoically combing his hair with middling success.
"Look, it barely fits you. And look how crumpled it looks below your left arm! Maybe we should iron..."
"We already ironed it two times. It won't look any better." Shikamaru cut her off. - "Look, mother, dresscode says we need a suit and a tie. Thats what i got. Suit and tie."
"It looks horrible."
"I'm not there to impress people with my superior fashion sense, I'm there to win some money."
Shikamaru had this argument with his mother before, and he was really not willing to have it again. He knew that she wanted him to look presentable, but right now he really didn't have the mind for it.
"You know, he's right." his dad chimed in from two rooms away, barely audible. "Playing Poker is not for making friends."
"You shut up!" his mom shouted back. "What if he meets a cute girl? Dressed like this?"
"Hopefully he takes away her money!"
Yoshino gasped audibly before furiously heading towards the father of the pineapplehaired men, clearly looking for an argument. Shikamaru cackled to himself and sent a silent thanks to his father, who seemingly tried to give his son some time for himself.
Looking into the mirror, Shikamaru absolutely could see where his mom was coming from. His suit, for a lack of a better word, looked like shit. But it was cheap, and at the casino you had to follow the dresscode. Not that Shikamaru knew why you could wear an incredibely expensive suit and be rejected because of a missing tie, while he got a suit and tie from a second hand store for around 50 bucks and get in.
He sighed, figuring that his hair wouldn't look better then this, and started putting his cosmetic belongings into his bag. He could still hear his parents arguing about if he could ever find love like this when he walked in, bags on his shoulder already.
"I'm gonna be off now."
His mother jumped up, immediately ready to say something about the suit again, before coming to her senses and just hugging her son goodbye.
"Remember, son, we're proud of you, regardless what happens. Don't pressure yourself."
His dad just gave him a warm smile.
"We'll be rooting for you! Take it easy, you got this!"
Shikamaru just gave them both a loving smile, hugged his mother one last time and then turned around. The car was already waiting, a big spade on the side of the car.
"Konoha Poker Youngstars", was plastered below it, together with the date of the event (starting tomorrow, going on for a week) and the matching website ( ).
As he sat down within the car and gave the chaffeur his invitation aswell as his id, he heard the words of his parents echo within his head.
Take it easy. Don't pressure yourself.
He almost felt like laughing if he wasn't around a complete stranger driving him around. Instead, he just clenched his fist in silence and iron determination.
I will win this tournament or die trying.
-
Authors Note:
Just writing this within an hour because my ass can't sleep with the rain going mental on my windows. I'll probably only write more if people want more, so if ur interested, let me know!