Editing Kakegurui Trip Fulltext (section)

==Chapter 5, part 8==

Hana... The strength of your play... incredible.
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I first met Hana a couple of months ago. It was a rainy day and somebody has shoved her into a muddy flowerbed. She was sitting in it with all her clothes dirty and was crying quietly. Her housepet tag swayed with every sob. 
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It was as if I was looking at a version of my past self. I had never given up, however. Hana looked like she did. She had noticed someone had approached her but kept her face hidden. She wasn't looking at me and she no longer cared that her clothes would stain more, the longer she sat there.
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I was searching for someone like her. It wasn't that I felt anything special for her. There were plenty of other housepets around, after all. Hana just seemed perfect for what I had in mind so I made my choice then and there.
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''"Your life"'', I said.
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Hana was startled and looked at me fearfully.
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''"You have given up on it, haven't you?"'', I continued.
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Hana averted her eyes.
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I bent over and whispered to her. ''"And if you haven't yet, it's better to do it now. No matter how much you struggle, nothing will change. You will be oppressed, used and then discarded. It's inevitable. Maybe just take the shortcut and get it over with, huh?"''
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''"I'm scared of death"'', Hana managed between sobs.
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''"But then there will be no one to throw into the mud. Which is scarier; being treated like garbage your whole life or end it all on your terms? You'll come to accept the abuse eventually if you endure it long enough, but do you really want to?"''
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''"...I..."'' Hana wept uncontrollably. Her tears were washing the mud from her cheeks. ''"I can't kill myself"'', she said, clenching soil in her fists. ''"I can't go on like this but I can't end it either. It's terrifying either way."''
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''"You are indecisive and weak. If you can't make up your mind about such a thing, why not give your life to me instead?"'', I said, extending my right arm to her.
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[[Image:Kakegurui.trip.07.kifune.mitarai.webp|frameless|right|300px|Kifune meets Mitarai]]
She looked puzzled. Then she tried to wipe her muddy face with her muddy arm and took my hand.
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This was the trick I used to recruit Hana. A trick that would not have worked on me even in my most desperate moment. I would have rather died trying to dig myself out of the pit of misery, than surrendering myself to someone like that. Nobody deserved to be above me. I, Kifune Izayoi, would be one of the rulers. Playing servant for someone was out of the question. The success of the Kansankai was proof that it could be done. In time, any problem could be solved and any threat to my success could be eliminated in some way.
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Hana was one of us now and was helping out with the casino. It was however crucial that nobody knew that. At school, she acted like a secret agent of sorts. She never spoke to me or any other Kansankai in person. All contact with her was though the phone.
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Hana continued to be bullied and I could have stopped it. Her assailants were obviously pathetic losers themselves and I had ways to lean on people. I did nothing, however. It would raise suspicion if it became known that she was protected. For the plan to work well, everybody needed to think she was an abandoned deadbeat who only had her own willpower to thank for her success. She would look just like me.
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Hana would be the perfect tournament winner. Nobody would place bets on her, nobody would suspect she was co-opted and nothing would need to be paid out. I probably didn't have to worry about anyone figuring out she was actually unskilled at poker, either. As the champion, she would have enough clout to refuse any game and not be pressured into one. 
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The tournament prize and the side bet rules were great publicity. We would look so generous while in reality we would only be taking in money. Sure, maybe someone might bet some small amount on Hana as a joke, but that would be a negligible loss.
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Now that Kirari had forced in an actually neutral dealer for the end of the round, the plan was shot. Not all was lost, however. I fully expected Hana to be a complete pushover without the cheat in place. I was wrong. She was playing brilliantly. She was being outclassed by Yumeko in the long term, but not by much. Nobody would think that Hana didn't have the right to sit at the final table of the tournament.
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''"Reveal your cards, please"'', Sayaka continued.
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''"Yes!"'' Yumeko eagerly reached for her cards, but then stopped herself. ''"Igarashi-san, would you allow us to enjoy this moment to the fullest? Could I please flip over the cards slowly, one-by-one?"'', she asked Sayaka.
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Sayaka hesitated and then gestured towards Kirari.
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Kirari was still seated and had the same satisfied look. She briefly closed her eyes and nodded with a smile.
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''"Thank you!"'', Yumeko said cheerfully. 
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So what hands did they have?<br>
Yumeko didn't change any cards so that suggests at least a straight. This is of course disregarding the mind games. Yumeko's move could have been purely provocative, but that seemed far too reckless, even for her.<br>
Hana looked spend, like she could have fainted from the pressure and exhaustion. She had proven to be a shrewd player however, so I had hope she was not mindlessly stepping into a trap here. She changed three cards so she should be holding at least a pair.
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My future, the casino's future, Hana's future.... All of those would the depend on the outcome of this hand.
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Yumeko flipped her first card. It was the ace of diamonds, so she had a strong high card at the least.
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My heart was beating very fast and I felt like bugs were crawling over my skin. My fate was to be decided by something I had no control over and this scared me like nothing did before. My mind was racing and it was as if the world unfolded before me in slow-motion. Every card flip seemed to be taking an eternity.
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Yumeko flipped her second card. King of diamonds. Everything remained possible, including a royal flush.
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I felt nausea well up inside of me. Surely she didn't... 
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Yumeko flipped the four of clubs. What she had was worse than a straight. 
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I was now nauseous and euphoric at the same time.
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Yumeko flipped the four of spades. She had a pair at least.
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My feet took on a life of their own and I stepped like I was about to run away. I stopped myself just in time. It must have looked like a clumsy stumble to any onlooker.
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While revealing her cards, Yumeko had been looking at Hana. For the last reveal, Yumeko looked straight at me with wide open eyes. Thy were like twin back holes, an unstoppable force of nature, pulling in everything around it. With a wide grin, she flipped the four of hearts, making her hand a low three-of-a-kind.
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I wanted to vomit. I wanted to run away. I wanted to scratch every inch of my itching skin. I wanted to curl up on the ground and cry.<br>
With irregular breath, shaky footing and a racing heart, I stopped myself from doing any of those things. It was not known to the public that the tournament was rigged and there was still hope it would stay that way. I needed to look neutral.
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I tried to calm myself down by doing the calculation in my head again. Paying the 500 million Yen and all the side bets on Yumeko would be extremely painful but not the end, necessarily.
If would be salvageable if our investors were in a generous mood and if Yumeko wouldn't make a public fuss about needing to wait for her money. Those were big ifs, but there was hope. If things could be resolved quietly and privately, the casino would stay open and there was an outlook on a profitable future. One that was further away than I'd hoped, however. 
We couldn't open the casino to the general public. Though, perhaps the hotel and beach on their own could bring in modest profits whenever the weather was fair but there were no school holidays.
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The calming down worked. I now at least knew how to proceed if Hana lost.
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Sayaka kept speaking with a flat tone. If she was feeling anything, it was probably relief that her job here was almost done. ''"Jabami-sama has three-of-a-kind fours. Mitarai-sama, please reveal your hand too."''
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Hana revealed with a single move.
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''"Mitarai-sama has three-of-a-kind sixes and wins the tournament. Congratulations"'', Sayaka said without any flair.
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The crowd gasped. Then there was a long applause. It was clear that the winner was not the favorite, but people seemed happy enough to have witnessed such an exciting tournament.
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Kirari was slowly clapping from her chair with the same faint smile she held throughout her presence here. <br>
Yumeko stood up and clapped enthusiastically.
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Hana look dazed. On her face was a mixture of relief and disbelief. She was staring at the flipped cards on the table with wide open eyes. You could still see her shoulders move along with her heavy breathing.
She didn't turn her head to me but found me with her eyes. With the tension now gone, I saw exhaustion and pride on her face.<br>
Tears were welling up in my eyes. I felt shame for underestimating her so much. 
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Yumeko went around the table to grab Hana by the shoulder and shake her hand. ''"Congratulations! It was a blast playing with you. I had a wonderful game! It's a memory I'll cherish forever. Thank you!"''
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The audience was still applauding. ''"You actually beat Jabami!" "Tech me poker sometime!" "Mittens! That was amazing!" "Congratulations!"''
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And with that, Hana the Mittens was no more. I'll have plenty of cash to buy her out of housepet status. She was no longer a secret agent so there was no point for her to keep the tag. She will be reborn as a full member of the flourishing Kansankai and stand by my side as I achieve my goals.
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Yumeko and Kirari knew the tournament was rigged but I didn't think that would be a problem. All we have to do is open up the decks with the fake factory seal and fix the compromised shuffling machine. All evidence would be gone in 5 minutes.<br>
Only a couple of the staff were in on the cheating. They were all loyal and wouldn't betray me. 
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The next financial report to our investors will look delightful. From now on, it would be smooth sailing for me up to my graduation. My success was assured.
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When acting as dealer, I didn't wear the walkie-talkie to not create the impression that there was some hidden communication possible. I also instructed the staff to not interrupt the final table proceedings unless there was some dire emergency.<br>
Now that the tournament was finished, one of the staff was standing outside the barricade around the table, urging me to approach. He was clearly upset about something.
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I walked over to him. ''"Yes, what is it?"''
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He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to whisper in my ear. ''"I-I'm sorry, Boss... Someone had placed a bet on Mitarai last second."''
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''"So what?"'', I hissed back. ''"That's not a problem. A minor payout is accounted for. There was bound to be someone who did foolish things like that on a whim. Don't talk about such things here in the open. People might..."'', I was saying, but then saw the tears in his eyes. 
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Before the final round started, I had checked the status of the side betting. As expected, nobody had bet on Hana. It seemed someone had sneaked in a bet after I left for dealer duty but before the round began.
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''"The g-girl who took the bet didn't realize. She was just told that a-all bets were welcome and that there was no l-limit"'', my staffer was sobbing in my ear.
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''"How much?"'', I asked with wide open eyes.
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''"The b-bet was 200 million Yen, so the payout is one billion. B-boss... Kifune-san... What will we do?"''
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My heart started pounding in my chest again. ''"That's ridiculous"'', I hissed at him while staring at his desperate expression.
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The nausea was back. I took a breath and closed my eyes.<br>
''"Who did it? Who placed that bet?"'', I asked him with a weak voice.
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''"It was that famous guy..."''
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