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Volume 8, Chapter 2: Human Nature Put to the Test Part 8

And just like that, the game of Old Maid started. The players being 1st years, 2nd years and 3rd years. Being made to cook breakfast entails waking up early. Since each school year is scheduled for two turns each, being able to win 5 rounds and lose only 1 would lead to a favourable outcome. In the worst case scenario, winning 4 rounds and losing 2 would still be acceptable.

"Playing cards in silence isn\'t really fun so let\'s chat".

Nagumo proposed that.

Having received the deck that Keisei had shuffled, Nagumo started dealing out the cards.

"I\'ll be dealing the cards for the first round but starting from the second round onwards, the loser will have to shuffle and deal out the cards".

Everyone nodded their consent. From the moment he entered this room until now, Nagumo has yet to look at me even once. It probably means that despite having made contact with me during the winter vacation, Nagumo doesn\'t really think much of me.

"Also, the 1st years who aren\'t playing should feel free to make yourselves at home. Being nervous around your seniors all the time will have an impact on you tomorrow".

He said that but still, we were unable to kick back and relax like we had been doing a while ago. Kouenji alone slept, not paying any attention.....

From the bottom bunk, I decided to observe the game being played.

"Even if this is only a game, it\'s not like the 1st years can just afford to lose, senpai".

"Unfortunately, I\'m not the lucky type. Don\'t count on me too much".

"It\'ll be fine, senpai. Because I think you\'re all relatively strong. You\'re not bad enough to lose both the first and the second round".

Despite it being a game of cards where one doesn\'t know what hand they\'ll be dealt, Nagumo\'s still brimming with confidence.

The first round proceeded smoothly and soon enough they were halfway through the game.

"Done".

The 3rd year, Ishikura, succeeded in ridding himself of all his cards. Vice President Kiriyama was next and then Nagumo finished third. The 2nd years\' victory was decided early on, putting more pressure on the 1st years.

"Done".

Hashimoto bowed towards the 3rd years and brought forth two cards of the same value. Now the only remaining players are Keisei and Tsunoda from the 3rd years.

I felt the mood was rather tense for a game but still, they calmly proceeded. Two cards left in Keisei\'s hand and a card left in the 3rd year\'s hand. In other words, Keisei\'s the one holding the Joker. If the 3rd year ends up picking the Joker, then that would mean Keisei wins. However.....the card that Tsunoda picked after some deliberation happened to be the winning card.

"Alright, this clinches it".

"I lost".

The first round ended with Keisei\'s defeat and with that, the 1st years are now saddled with the task of making breakfast once.

"Let\'s calm down. Just losing once or twice doesn\'t mean anything".

Hashimoto said that to Keisei as though cheering him up. Keisei replies with a nod but he seemed apologetic about having lost. He may be thinking about the possibility of losing another round.

"I told you earlier, didn\'t I? The loser has to gather up the cards and deal them out".

"I-I\'m sorry".

Keisei, who forgot that, panickedly picked up the cards. The second round started soon after. From my position, I could see the hand of the one of the 3rd years. He\'s holding a Joker.

He kept the Joker until halfway through the game but after some time, it passed to a different student.

And then...the remaining two players ended up being Kiriyama and Keisei. Now that he\'s engaged in a one-on-one for the second time in a row, it looks like Keisei couldn\'t help himself and ended up getting nervous. To top it off, judging from the number of cards remaining, I could tell that Keisei\'s the one holding the Joker. Hesitantly, the 2nd year, Kiriyama, slowly grasped a card. Keisei did his best to keep up a poker face but seeing the card that\'s being taken from him, his face fell. And within the span of a few minutes, the 1st years suffered consecutive defeats.

Yahiko, who had been assessing the situation, signalled Keisei for a switch.

"Maybe it\'s better if you switched".

After those words came from Nagumo, Keisei obediently switched out with Yahiko.

"I\'m not very good at playing games like this. I\'m sorry but I\'m leaving it to you".

Keisei, who bears the responsibility for the consecutive losses, observed the 1st years\' battle from behind. Of course, even Yahiko would be nervous when facing down his seniors. However, perhaps it has something to do with him usually treating Katsuragi as a senior, he seems rather calm. Still, that might not have much of an effect on the outcome of the game. I don\'t know how much skill factors into a game like this but you\'d need a tremendous amount of luck to not draw the Joker.

"I\'m starting to feel like giving the 1st years this one".

Nagumo said, perhaps feeling sorry since he had been winning consecutively.

"By the way, Ishikura-senpai, how\'s the club doing?".

"You don\'t have any interest in basketball, do you?".

"No such thing. Of course, my interest in it isn\'t to the extent of my interest in soccer though".

"This year we\'ve had some athletic 1st years joining so we may be able to expect great things next year. We didn\'t really achieve much this year after all. It\'s pathetic to admit this as the captain though".

There are several 1st years who have joined the basketball club but in all likelihood, he\'s referring to Sudou when he spoke of athletic 1st years.

Sudou\'s hard work seems to have attracted the attention of even a retired 3rd year.

"I\'m looking forward to that".

"You seem to be focusing solely on the student council though. Don\'t you have any lingering feelings for soccer?".

"It\'s not like I was aiming to make it as a professional. Besides, I can continue playing soccer wherever I want. It\'s just that the role of student council president at this school is really attractive for me".

"It\'s great that you\'re working hard at the student council but I have misgivings about you picking fights with Horikita".

"Picking a fight is not my intent. I want to be acknowledged by my senpai who I\'ve idolized for a long time now. Those pure feelings are all I have".

Ishikura gave Nagumo a glance but then immediately turned back towards his cards.

"I\'m first this time around".

Smoothly losing all his cards, Ishikura ended up as the first victor.

"I\'m done too".

Right afterwards, Yahiko also seems to have gotten his cards in order as he happily discarded his last two cards.

In order for the 1st years to win, everything now rides on Hashimoto. His cards seem to be steadily decreasing but in the end, what\'s really important is the Joker and who\'s holding it.

"Alright".

After the 2nd year senior who finished third, Hashimoto also finished up.

"Oh, the 1st years have won for the first time. Congratulations".

"Thank you very much, Nagumo-senpai".

The ones left in the end are the student council president, Nagumo, and Tsunoda from the 3rd year. However, Nagumo has the advantage. There\'s a 50% chance this concludes the match.

"Well then, excuse me".

Nagumo said that as he grasped the card on the right without any hesitation.

However, what he ended up grabbing was the Joker.

"Too bad".

The 3rd year, Tsunoda, picked the card on the right just like Nagumo did earlier when Nagumo extended the two cards in his hand.

"This clinches it".

As a result, the Joker was left in Nagumo\'s possession and the 2nd years ended up suffering a defeat.

"I\'ve been beaten. Then shall we go for a fourth round?".

Nagumo, without any bitterness, made preparations for a fourth round.

"The 1st years have won for the first time with this. How about I have you lose again? You\'re our juniors after all, so I\'d like you to take over our duties".

Saying that, Nagumo began dealing out the cards.

"If I recall, Sudou\'s from Class D, isn\'t he? Who\'s from Class D here?".

While the cards are being dealt out, Ishikura asked that and looked over towards the 1st years.

"Ahh, we\'re Sudou\'s classmates".

Keisei said so while glancing at me. And then he immediately added this.

"Just one thing, starting from this month we\'ve been promoted to Class C".

One wouldn\'t normally care much for the affairs of a school year that\'s not theirs. But when Keisei said that, Ishikura was impressed while looking surprised.

"So you\'ve been promoted from Class D to Class C, huh? That\'s impressive".

"Of course, not too long after enrolling, this year\'s Class D ran out of class points though".

"And you still got yourselves promoted to Class C. Good going there. How large\'s the gap between you and Class B?".

When Ishikura asked that, Keisei stopped answering.

"Please forget it. This is a group comprised of all the classes. It\'s my bad for bringing an incendiary topic into this".

He apologized. Certainly, this isn\'t a topic to bring up in a place like this. For Ishizaki and the others from Class D who fell behind us, and for Class B, this surely isn\'t a fun topic to discuss.

As a result, the 1st years barely joined the conversation and most of it revolved around Nagumo and the 3rd years. The fourth round. When four out of six people finished up, Nagumo called for a stop.

"The remaining players are two 1st years, huh? There\'s no need to play this to the end anymore, right?".

No matter who wins, it doesn\'t change the fact that the 1st years will lose. Yahiko and Hashimoto put the remaining cards back into the deck. Even though we\'ve managed to beat the 2nd years led by Nagumo once, the 1st years still lost thrice. Initially, we\'d only have to cook breakfast twice. But thanks to this game of Old Maid, that number\'s increased.

If we lose again, we\'d be burdened with even more.

"Shall we switch?".

Hashimoto requested a switch with another 1st year and stepped down. There probably aren\'t many 1st years willing to play with this gloomy mood going on.

"I don\'t want to waste time. It doesn\'t matter who, just join. You there".

I had been observing the match when Nagumo looked at me and beckoned me over. Of course, I\'d like to decline but this isn\'t exactly a situation where I can afford to do so.

Regardless of whether he intentionally picked me or randomly picked me, I should probably accept.

"Sorry, Ayanokouji. I\'m counting on you".

"Sure".

Three of the 1st years have already played so it\'s not really strange even if I happened to be picked.

Besides, this is just for fun, just a game and it\'s just about who wins and who loses. As we switched, Yahiko asked me to deal out the cards. Shuffling the cards, I dealt them out awkwardly.

"Alright then, this is the fifth round. I\'d like to beat the 3rd years too. Let\'s put our backs into this, 1st years".

Nagumo gave rough words of encouragement. I looked at the cards in my hand and assessed the situation. When I did, several of those cards had the same value but I also ended up drawing the Joker.

As long as I don\'t do something to push this onto the 2nd years or 3rd years, I stand no chance of winning.

I\'m not very familiar with playing cards but there\'s something I\'m curious about. In a way, having drawn the Joker right away may turn out to be a good thing. After the check, the match started right away. The game proceeded turn by turn but there\'s no sign of anyone drawing the Joker from me.

Occasionally, a senior would grasp the Joker but then they\'d immediately let go. However, on the fifth turn, the Joker was finally drawn from my hand. The senior who drew it looked at me for an instant but then immediately regained his calm and continued with the game.

This time around, Yahiko\'s the first one to finish up and I finished second after him.

"So the 1st years got the drop on us, eh? Maybe the tides have turned".

In the end, it boiled down to two 3rd years going against each other. Or should I say, everything went as Nagumo had hoped. One round left. As a 1st year, I\'d like to avoid losing anymore than we already have.

"Next round\'s the final one".

"I\'ll start dealing".

As Ishikura started dealing out the cards, Kouenji called out to Nagumo.

"President Nagumo".

"What\'s the matter, Kouenji? Do you finally feel like joining in?".

"I\'m feeling a bit curious. I suppose I\'ll see how this final game plays out".

He said so arrogantly but Nagumo paid no mind to that and only listened to what he had to say.

"How it\'ll play out?".

Nagumo, while looking at the cards being dealt out, glanced once at the participants.

"This may be a game, but they\'re still up against experienced senior students. There\'s a good chance the 1st years will lose".

He answered. And with that, Kouenji laughed and closed his eyes as though in satisfaction.

In all likelihood, the majority of the people here failed to understand the meaning behind Kouenji\'s question. Only the senior students seem to have grasped the situation. I racked my brains thinking about what I should do in regards to this fight. If I rely only on luck, then I\'m practically guaranteed to lose. However, if I take action to avoid such an outcome, I may end up drawing Nagumo\'s attention. I checked my cards.

One of those cards is a card that I\'ll definitely have to lose if I\'m to win. It\'s the Joker that spells defeat.

"As for the 1st years, I\'d like to finish them off with three losses. But four losses also works for me".

Nagumo\'s words don\'t sound like he\'s just randomly saying them. The final round starts in a clockwise direction. The players discard two cards each.

In about 1-2 minutes, the outcome will probably be decided.